Can a cat be on prednisolone for their whole life?

[epitomeofadhd]

Hi there, how is everyone doing. Newbie here. I am fostering a cat/shes probably mine now that is giving me some problems, and apparently the previous owner so thats why she was given up. She will throw up her food after she's eating, but not right away, like 30mins or so after eating. She is currently on random wet foods twice a day, mostly LID, with dry food to nibble on, which is Nature's Variety Chicken Raw Boost. She's six but apparently this has been going on since she was one, and I got her at around three. This is what I have done in the past three years I have had her:

1) Tried a slow feeder
2) Ran through all the proteins
3) Tried every LID food out there
4) Tried prescription food
5) Tried some kind of raw variety

The only thing that helped a little was the prescription food, but she refused to eat it after a week. I waited three months between changing foods to make sure the previous food was causing the issue. X-Rays and an ultrasound were normal, blood work showed elevated kidney levels, but thats it. She was given prednisolone to try (about three months ago) and everything just...stopped. She stopped throwing up, she gained 4lbs, and her kidney levels returned to normal. I think thats everything I can remember. I am saving money to get more invasive tests done and to see a specialist but my questions are:

1) Can she stay on prednisolone for a long time
2) If those meds work, would more invasive tests (ie biopsy/upper endoscopy) really be necessary

Please keep in mind I just lost my job and unemployment is being an ass, but I am trying.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I think this is something you should talk to your Vet about. Yes, a cat can be on them long term, BUT, are there risks? Yes. This medication suppresses the immune system, so there are higher risks for infections, mainly UTI's, and some cats develop diabetes. There are other things that can happen simply because their immune system is suppressed.

One thing to think about though is quality of life. If she cannot keep any food down without this medication, then what are your choices? If she's fine on it, but it may shorten her life, isn't that better than having her live throwing up after every single meal? BTW, this sounds a whole lot like IBD. Have you checked into any IBD sites? This one is very good https://www.ibdkitties.net/feline-nutrition/ They do discuss medications along with diet. I know you already said you have tried allkinds of things, but maybe there is still something you haven't tried

 

[LTS3]

I would stick to one brand and one protein of food for now. Too much variety can bother sensitive tummies. Dry food can bother some tummies, too. Can you stop feeding the NV for awhile and see if that makes any difference?

Pred is typically given for a short period of time before it's tapered off. My IBD cat occasionally needs a course of pred to control symptoms before he goes a few months without it (). He'll likely need pred for the rest of his life but since it's only occasionally and not for very long each time, I'm not worried about long term side effects.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I would also suggest 3-4 smaller feedings a day. That can sometimes help when nothing else does. And it is certainly worth a try!

 

[epitomeofadhd]

I would also suggest 3-4 smaller feedings a day. That can sometimes help when nothing else does. And it is certainly worth a try!

I would stick to one brand and one protein of food for now. Too much variety can bother sensitive tummies. Dry food can bother some tummies, too. Can you stop feeding the NV for awhile and see if that makes any difference?

Sorry it took a bit to reply. Unfortunately I have tried a one protein thing, with vomiting tapering of a smidge before resuming. This is the order of same proteins I did. It was for both moist and dry. If moist didn’t have matching dry, she just got an extra serving of moist.

1) NV LID Rabbit and Turkey (only cuz she gets bored)

2) NV LID Rabbit

3) Merrick LID Chicken

4) Natural Balance LID duck

5) Hills Science Diet Digestive (didn’t even lick)

6) Hills Kidney (didn’t even lick)

7) Royal Canin Digestive (ate for a week)

 

[epitomeofadhd]

I would also suggest 3-4 smaller feedings a day. That can sometimes help when nothing else does. And it is certainly worth a try!

She would barely eat maybe 3 oz twice a day and rarely nibble on dry. I tried more smaller portions throughout the day, but the food went to waste.

 

[fionasmom]

I agree with keeping her on the pred until you are able to get more information. This does sound like quality of life, at least for now, and she probably feels better on it.

 

[dkb817]

I can't speak too much to the meds, but I can say that my last girl (who had megacolon) never could tolerate wet food - no matter how slow, fast we tried to give it, what kind of dish it was served from, etc. It's possible that your furbaby might not be able to tolerate it either

 

[alzycat]

I would stick to one brand and one protein of food for now. Too much variety can bother sensitive tummies. Dry food can bother some tummies, too. Can you stop feeding the NV for awhile and see if that makes any difference?

Pred is typically given for a short period of time before it's tapered off. My IBD cat occasionally needs a course of pred to control symptoms before he goes a few months without it (). He'll likely need pred for the rest of his life but since it's only occasionally and not for very long each time, I'm not worried about long term side effects.

Hi! I know this is an older thread, but my IBD cat has been on Prednisolone for years now (tapered down to 2.5mg per day), but I'm wondering if it's contributing to her chronic diarrhea... given your reply here saying that you don't give it to your cat every day, I'm curious to know if your vet advised that or if you just tapered it down to nothing on your own? I'm suspecting that the long-term Pred in my cat may be causing her the diarrhea, but my vet has advised against going any lower than 2.5mg/day, as much as I'd like to try it...

 

[fionasmom]

Long story with ins and out, but the point is that my vet cut back on Chelsea's pred because it did eventually cause diarrhea.

 

[LTS3]

Hi! I know this is an older thread, but my IBD cat has been on Prednisolone for years now (tapered down to 2.5mg per day), but I'm wondering if it's contributing to her chronic diarrhea... given your reply here saying that you don't give it to your cat every day, I'm curious to know if your vet advised that or if you just tapered it down to nothing on your own? I'm suspecting that the long-term Pred in my cat may be causing her the diarrhea, but my vet has advised against going any lower than 2.5mg/day, as much as I'd like to try it...

I give updates on my cat to the vet daily via his secretary. Based on symptoms and frequency, the vet will advise me to start pred at X dose for X amount of time. Then as symptoms decrease, the vet will advise me what decreased dose to do and for how long. Eventually the the pred dose is decreased low enough that it can be safely stopped and symptoms will be gone.

My cat has never had diarrhea on any amount of pred. Chicken will so he doesn't eat that any more. If your cat is eating chicken or any number of things that can cause tummy issue, you may want to feed something else. Adding a probiotic and Saccharomyces boulardi can be helpful for IBD cats.