Prednisolone Given With Food

[KarenKat]

hey everyone! So our 10 yr old tabby with suspected IBD was prescribed prednisolone. The instructions say to give with food, however we are currently free-feeding dry and he has never liked treats. The goal is to go to all wet food at set meals, but that will take some time.

Do I need to give the pill with food, or can we give it to him and it’s ok as long as he has access to food all the time? I know it can cause increased appetite, but are there side effects if he hasn’t eaten recently?

 

[LTS3]

If you know your cat's appetite is good, then you can just give the pred and let your cat whenever he feels like it. Once you're on caned food and on a schedule, you can just give the pred right before feeding.

 

[KarenKat]

Thanks, LTS3 ! We didn't want a meal to stop us giving him the pill, but at the same time didn't want to cause any harm if he hadn't eaten in a little while. His appetite is pretty good, fortunately.

 

[Jem]

Usually "take with food" is because without food, it can cause upset stomach. If you give it to him and he has not eaten anything, he may then NOT eat because he feels ill. And that's a whole other issue.
You mention he's not crazy about treats but does he get excited for wet food? If he gets excited about wet food you could start transitioning him on it right away by giving him a small portion, let him gobble it up then give him the meds. That way you know he at least has something in his stomach.
Something else you could try, especially if you are going to be putting him on wet food eventually, is stop the free feeding, for example, during "working hours". That way he'll be hungry when you get home, you can give him his wet food portion, give the pill, and voila! Pick whatever schedule works for you, for a "break from free feeding", that will encourage him to be hungry enough to eat a good portion of wet food before you give him his meds.

 

[LTS3]

My cat also takes pred for IBD. The dosing instructions have never said to take with food. It's best to check with the vet on if the pred can be given without food but you know the cat will eventually eat.

 

[KarenKat]

Unfortunately, he loved only chicken which made his diarrhea worse. The vet recommended sticking with rabbit, and so far without a chicken topper he hasn't tried any of the wet food.

We bought an actual raw rabbit yesterday (they are not cheap!) and we plan on baking or boiling it and seeing if that interests him. If it does, that's definitely an option to top or treat him into eating wet food. Good idea on the working hours, that's the plan going forward.

 

[1 bruce 1]

If you're absolutely 100% not sure about food intake with this medicine, I'd ask the vet to be safe.
Our guy takes it at about .4-.5 ML a day and we always give it first, then give his food but sometimes he doesn't eat. It's never caused a problem that we've seen and our vet told us that so long as he eats something during the day of the dose, he's good!

KarenKat , we have rabbit on order. Not cheap but it can be bulked out with other meats provided you cat can tolerate those meats.
But the cats LOVE rabbit and go crazy for it. Sad that the dogs rarely get it but they're too busy hogging down elk and leaving me with a pathetic little bowl of noodles for my own dinner

 

[KarenKat]

Thanks 1 bruce 1 ! We haven’t tried rabbit yet, so we went to the fancy grocery store just to see if it took. If it does, we can look at cost effective ootions. He’s just a hard cat because his two true loves are bed and chicken, and by a twist of cruel fate he can’t have chicken!

It’s great your guy is good eating with the medicine that day, Trin has always been at least kibble motivated, and we will watch that he eats that day. Thanks!

 

[maggie101]

My cat took prednisolone fruity flavored liquid with her food.smells just like fruit juice! She loved it

 

[1 bruce 1]

Thanks 1 bruce 1 ! We haven’t tried rabbit yet, so we went to the fancy grocery store just to see if it took. If it does, we can look at cost effective ootions. He’s just a hard cat because his two true loves are bed and chicken, and by a twist of cruel fate he can’t have chicken!

It’s great your guy is good eating with the medicine that day, Trin has always been at least kibble motivated, and we will watch that he eats that day. Thanks!

You're very welcome my friend!
I hope he can find something that makes his tummy happy.
Baby Girl as a youngster would barf up rabbit but as a young adult she's fine.
My two more material loves in life are sleep and food, and I can relate to a cat that can't have his favorite foods. Good on you for finding something this guy is happy with and tolerates as well.

 

[basschick]

HK let us know that pred is the worst tasting thing in the known universe. then i discovered you can get a transdermal cream and gently rub it into the cat's clean inside ear flap. it made things much easier.

 

[LTS3]

KarenKat says she has the pill form of pred to give. That's usually not a problem to give with a bit of pill dough. Other forms of pred are available at a compounding pharmacy if she needs something else, like a chewable treat or gel.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

hey everyone! So our 10 yr old tabby with suspected IBD was prescribed prednisolone. The instructions say to give with food, however we are currently free-feeding dry and he has never liked treats. The goal is to go to all wet food at set meals, but that will take some time.

Do I need to give the pill with food, or can we give it to him and it’s ok as long as he has access to food all the time? I know it can cause increased appetite, but are there side effects if he hasn’t eaten recently?

KarenKat - Your instructions say to give with food, so I would follow that! My cat is on Pred and the multiple vets we've worked with the past few years all gave instructions to give her Pred pill alongside some food. We do it just before a small meal. Pred messes a bit with the gastric juices, and it's good for the stomach lining to also be working on some food and not just on the Pred pill. One long term side effect of Pred usage can be inflammation of the stomach lining, or ulceration. You'll want to avoid that from eventually happening. Food helps.

We also were instructed to give the Pred doses at the same times each day.

 

[KarenKat]

*sighh* So there's a topical form I can use? We just spent a long time trying to give Trin his pill and he just kept spitting it out. He's a strong cat! We have a pill shooter and tried a little butter and it was a no go.

I'm sure we can make it work sometime today, but it doesn't seem maintainable for a daily pill. We also don't want to traumatize the poor guy. I plan on getting some pill pockets today at the pet store, and I might try dipping it into a little chicken broth or something since he tends not to try any type of treat. The rabbit was not rejected yesterday when we tried it on top of his kibble, but it was also not embraced - so using that as a delivery method won't work.

We will call the vet tomorrow and see what other forms we can try. I like the idea of the ear cream, or even a liquid that we can add to food or administer into his mouth that may be easier on all of us.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I've never given Milly Pred just "straight". It tastes awful so you want it surrounded by a yummy-tasting treat. Or you can put it into a little gel capsule, which can be bought online.

I've lucked out that she will eat pill pockets, so I put half a pill into a pill pocket.

When she is fussy and snuffs her nose up at the pill pocket at times, I make what I call "pill pocket popcorn balls" --lol!-- by crumbling a freeze-dried raw treat and rolling the pill pocket (w/ its enclosed Pred) in that (e.g. coating the pill pocket in crumbled "freeze-dried dust"). I usually use Vital Essentials freeze-dried Duck Liver treats, since those are pretty soft and you can crumble them.

 

[AtJack23]

My 11 yr old boy kitty also takes pred for IBD. They never said to take it with a meal but he’s always gotten it first thing in the morning before breakfast. I break the pill in half and wrap each in a tiny piece of bread and dip in chicken flavored baby food and he gobbles it right up. I follow up by giving him more baby food and then his wet food (Instinct). He’s been perfect since!

 

[maggie101]

*sighh* So there's a topical form I can use? We just spent a long time trying to give Trin his pill and he just kept spitting it out. He's a strong cat! We have a pill shooter and tried a little butter and it was a no go.

I'm sure we can make it work sometime today, but it doesn't seem maintainable for a daily pill. We also don't want to traumatize the poor guy. I plan on getting some pill pockets today at the pet store, and I might try dipping it into a little chicken broth or something since he tends not to try any type of treat. The rabbit was not rejected yesterday when we tried it on top of his kibble, but it was also not embraced - so using that as a delivery method won't work.

We will call the vet tomorrow and see what other forms we can try. I like the idea of the ear cream, or even a liquid that we can add to food or administer into his mouth that may be easier on all of us.

I used a compound pharmacy for the liquid flavored. It cost me $52

 

[LTS3]

FYI both varieties of Pill Pocket contain chicken. I believe you said chicken causes diarrhea in your cat? There are non-chicken pill dough you can buy off Amazon and other places. I use this one Pill Paste for Cats - Bacon Flavored The dog one is the exact same thing. Just something to be aware of if you order the cat one off Amazon and get the dog one instead like I did last week I don't recommend the Flavor-doh brand (too crumbly and dry) or Tomlyn / Vetroniquol (both owned by the same company, product is exactly the same with differently labeling and pricing, and the liver powder is chicken).

Wedgewood Pharmacy has a bunch of options for pred: Prednisolone Medication & Information for Animals, Wedgewood Pet RX, Wedgewood Pet RX A local compounding pharmacy may have a similar selection. Compounding is a bit pricey so just be aware of that.

 

[KarenKat]

Thanks! I’ll check out the pill dough, it’s hard to pin down but it did seem like chicken made it a lot worse. Good to know there are non-Chicken options.

 

[KarenKat]

I don't think this pill is going to happen. Or if it does, it won't be consistently every day. His poop was back to almost liquid on Tues, and I decided to try and get a pill in him. I tried treats, salmon pill pockets and some cheese. He was interested in the cheese, but not enough to even try it. He wouldn't even look at canned pumpkin which I hoped might help.

Then I watched a video on how to make a kitty burrito and tried that. He squirmed so much I never even made it to opening his mouth. After a few hisses he escaped and ran off. This is very discouraging, I know he is in distress but I can't do anything about it.

I called the vet and she prescribed the liquid form. I guess it comes in chicken flavor (artificial) so maybe this will be less traumatic for both of us. Not sure what I can do if this doesn't work. He's obviously not well, and he's lost 0.5 lbs since last May. He's also fairly grumpy, and beats up the new cat when he's not feeling well.