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Give him time to get used to the medicine. Pred is a strong drug. And lots of pred is going to throw him for a loop until his body adapts. Part of that adaptation is turning down the production of his own steroids. Do not off-road of freestyle the pred dose because that can hurt him if he is adapting or adapted to what he was getting. Whatever you are hearing from unlicensed non-veterinarians simply write it down and run it past Dr B. He’s the professional. They are not. A professional would never prescribe a treatment plan or a dosing schedule of a cat they have not personally examined and reviewed the case history.
PROBABLY (I am also an unlicensed nonprofessional) the rationale behind a high dose of pred is to knock it down quickly and then taper the dose quickly too. I don’t have an issue with a high dose of steroids. I do have an issue with leaving it high. It should be tapered to something more manageable for the long-term and let chemo do the heavy lifting. Chlorambucil is a safer drug for the long-term (in my nonprofessional opinion!)
For now, Geoffrey just needs a week or two to get used to this drug and the dose. If you think he’s not eating or drinking enough, call the vet.
In the short term, write down your questions and concerns with pred and the dose and whether there is a plan to reduce the dose to something more manageable. Do not change the dose yourself.
In the medium to long-term, pick up a baby scale and start weighing him no more often than weekly. In the absence of any other symptoms and sometimes pred and chemo cover them up well, his ability to maintain or even regain lost weight will be one of the biggest predictors of how well the SCL is being controlled. If he can maintain or gain weight, you’re not doing so bad. Of course that depends on adequate intake and absorption of nutrition. So anything that interferes with that (nausea, anorexia, butt or gut symptoms) should be discussed and worked out with your team—not strangers/nonprofessionals on the Internet.
PROBABLY (I am also an unlicensed nonprofessional) the rationale behind a high dose of pred is to knock it down quickly and then taper the dose quickly too. I don’t have an issue with a high dose of steroids. I do have an issue with leaving it high. It should be tapered to something more manageable for the long-term and let chemo do the heavy lifting. Chlorambucil is a safer drug for the long-term (in my nonprofessional opinion!)
For now, Geoffrey just needs a week or two to get used to this drug and the dose. If you think he’s not eating or drinking enough, call the vet.
In the short term, write down your questions and concerns with pred and the dose and whether there is a plan to reduce the dose to something more manageable. Do not change the dose yourself.
In the medium to long-term, pick up a baby scale and start weighing him no more often than weekly. In the absence of any other symptoms and sometimes pred and chemo cover them up well, his ability to maintain or even regain lost weight will be one of the biggest predictors of how well the SCL is being controlled. If he can maintain or gain weight, you’re not doing so bad. Of course that depends on adequate intake and absorption of nutrition. So anything that interferes with that (nausea, anorexia, butt or gut symptoms) should be discussed and worked out with your team—not strangers/nonprofessionals on the Internet.