Cat Taking Cyproheptadine Long Term?

[BluenIsaacBoys]

Hello!

My cat Blue, who has kidney disease, was ill a couple of months back and wasn't eating. My vet put him on a couple of appetite stimulants (mirtazapine and cyproheptadine), along with a steroid to get him to eat. He responded very well to these and I am happy to say he is doing much better. We were able to lower the appetite stimulants to a quarter Cypro a day. He continues to eat well, is active and seems to be feeling good.

My question is, has anyone had a cat take Cypro or another appetite stimulant indefinitely/long term? Are there any side effects I should worry about? I'm going to check in with my vet and ask about this, but don't really want to rock the boat by taking Blue off of the pills or cutting him back since he is doing so well. Thanks for any advice!

 

[white shadow]

Hi BluenIsaacBoys !

Here's a snippet from "The Oracle" of all-things-kidney-cats that should give you some ease:

You may choose to use cyproheptadine for a few days and then see if you can manage without it, but if you find you need to use it on a longer-term basis, this appears to be safe, though its effectiveness may gradually reduce, and the cat may sneeze as the effects wear off. If you use cyproheptadine longer term, monitor BUN levels (which you are probably doing anyway), because these may occasionally increase when using cyproheptadine.
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Persuading Your Cat to Eat - Cyproheptadine

That piece is taken from an entire section entitled "Persuading Your Cat to Eat" and. if you scroll up the page you'll get a sense for the detail, thoroughness, science references and therefore the reliability of that site.

Now, the author of the site also sponsors a specialized online community for people with kidney cats. I an tell you from personal experience there that there's really no other better place for experienced info, advice and support in dealing with CKD. This will explain how that group 'works': Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Tanya's Support Group This is their homepage: Tanya's Feline CKD Support Group Homepage. (Because they use email as an 'operating platform', I find it best to use a new/separate/dedicated email account for these groups - that helps manage the info flow.)

Hope that helps !
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[BluenIsaacBoys]

Thank you! I have checked out this site before and found it really helpful, however I didn't see this specific section on appetite stimulants. I would really prefer to keep giving them to him rather than rock the boat and risk his appetite going down, especially since it seems pretty safe. Thanks again!

 

[white shadow]

I'm not surprised you didn't come across it in there earlier.......that's a tome!

And, that's where participating in 'their' online group becomes an advantage.....those folks 'grew up' with Helen's site and know it like the back of their hands! They'll respond to your questions and refer you to read more as needed. On top of that, they're 'around' 24/7/365. General forums like this are great, but you won't always get the same expert advice.

Managing CKD is really a balancing act...when kidney function reduces, the usual/normal natural balance is disturbed, and it takes knowledgeable experienced advice/info to be able to intervene and restore that equilibrium.

Meantime, neither would I be tinkering with what's working!

(You might want to share the Tanya site with your Vet....if reliability should be an issue, the recommendations near the bottom of the homepage should be most reassuring.)
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[Cathie]

Hello!

My cat Blue, who has kidney disease, was ill a couple of months back and wasn't eating. My vet put him on a couple of appetite stimulants (mirtazapine and cyproheptadine), along with a steroid to get him to eat. He responded very well to these and I am happy to say he is doing much better. We were able to lower the appetite stimulants to a quarter Cypro a day. He continues to eat well, is active and seems to be feeling good.

My question is, has anyone had a cat take Cypro or another appetite stimulant indefinitely/long term? Are there any side effects I should worry about? I'm going to check in with my vet and ask about this, but don't really want to rock the boat by taking Blue off of the pills or cutting him back since he is doing so well. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Cathie]

My kitty Tay, Tay just took it...how long before it works...she has kidney disease and hyperthyroidism and is eating the pits...just waiting for this to kick in...can anyone give me some ideas. She lost her appetite more in the last 4 days, the mirtazapine lost its effectiveness so vet just put her on Cypro. Any thoughts..