Never say never. In the right place it's an incredibly useful and effective drug.Knowing what Prednisone did to my grandmother and mother, I wouldn't want my cat to have it.
How useful a drug is means nothing if it carries a high risk of heart, kidney, and liver failure and diabetes and a much safer option is available. Using your logic, the FDA would never recall any drugs that killed people after being approved.Never say never. In the right place it's an incredibly useful and effective drug.
That balancing act is not as risky with a different type of drug. Yeah, there is a risk with every drug, but the risk is more severe with steroids. If that was not true, I would have just told my vet to keep giving Wilbur steroid shots for the rest of his life.All drugs are a balancing act. Steroids are powerful drugs, and easy to abuse, but used correctly they are life savers and life enhancers.
Treating a cat with steroids is completely different than treating a human with it. It affects cats quite differently than people, and in many cases can mean the difference between life and death, or at a minimum, a comfortable life.Knowing what Prednisone did to my grandmother and mother, I wouldn't want my cat to have it.
It would have to me life or death for me to even consider it.Treating a cat with steroids is completely different than treating a human with it. It affects cats quite differently than people, and in many cases can mean the difference between life and death, or at a minimum, a comfortable life.
Same here. There are alternatives to it I would consider first.I was just talking about steroids in general for any purpose. Nobody told me the benefits outweigh the risks for something that is not life-threatening.
I've seen many situations where steroids have been very, very beneficial with minimal side effects.It would have to me life or death for me to even consider it.
That does not make it right to give a cat steroids when a safer kind of treatment is available. Sometimes steroids are necessary, but not every time they can be used. I would only want my cat to be on steroids if there was no other treatment option.I've seen many situations where steroids have been very, very beneficial with minimal side effects.
Nope. We actually used it alot as an ear mite treatment, but the downside to that is that the cat or dog should be tested for heartworm if they aren't on a preventative already. The reason being, if an animal, cat or dog happened to have heartworm and was given the preventative they could get an influx of dead worms clogging their heart and lungs. That's a different story, but as a rule unless an owner wants the other benefits of revolution we chose other dewormers and flea preventatives. In fact, we hardly sold many revolution boxes because it was expensive, and most cat owners didn't want to deal with the heartworm aspect of it. That may have been just our area though. We never saw a case of heartworm in our area in cats, but the makers of revolution or heart gard require a blood test prior to administration. If you are looking for a heartworm preventative with other benefits like dewormers and flea control Revolution is a good product.Kattie, are you saying cats are only allowed to use Revolution if they have a high risk of getting heartworms?
Why does it matter whether a cat gets one thing for fleas and something else for heartworms or Revolution for both? I can understand money, but not the safety issue.Nope. We actually used it alot as an ear mite treatment, but the downside to that is that the cat or dog should be tested for heartworm if they aren't on a preventative already. The reason being, if an animal, cat or dog happened to have heartworm and was given the preventative they could get an influx of dead worms clogging their heart and lungs. That's a different story, but as a rule unless an owner wants the other benefits of Revolution we chose other dewormers and flea preventatives. In fact, we hardly sold many Revolution boxes because it was expensive, and most cat owners didn't want to deal with the heartworm aspect of it. That may have been just our area though. We never saw a case of heartworm in our area in cats, but the makers of Revolution or heart gard require a blood test prior to administration. If you are looking for a heartworm preventative with other benefits like dewormers and flea control Revolution is a good product.
Owner compliance is the issue mostly. Since Revolution is a topical like frontline or advantage, owners will treat it the same way. They may give Revolution for a month or two because of fleas then skip a month and give it maybe a few months later. Well that is fine with Frontline and Advantage because they just kill fleas and ticks, but with Revolution it is a danger because if the cat was off of it and then was infected with heartworm, then to go back on it again could be dangerous. Just like giving a heartworm positive dog heart gard. That is why heartworm tests are always done before giving the preventative. People think that just because it is a topical that it works the same, but that isn't true. We had issues with owners even after explaining over and over, that we chose not to use revolution unless it was warranted because of multiple things. Another thing I personally noticed and some clients reported was lethargy for a day or two after applying. May just be a coincidence, but it is a heavy duty drug that does lots of stuff, so we didn't like prescribing it unless it was truly needed.Why does it matter whether a cat gets one thing for fleas and something else for heartworms or Revolution for both? I can understand money, but not the safety issue.
I agree! I have always used the Advantage-Multi on Angel to cover heartworm treatment as well as fleas, but after reading on here that a few people thought Revolution worked better, I tried it for a couple of months instead. After using it a couple of times, I noticed that the place I put it had less hair, like it had caused some to come out.Owner compliance is the issue mostly. Since Revolution is a topical like frontline or advantage, owners will treat it the same way. They may give Revolution for a month or two because of fleas then skip a month and give it maybe a few months later. Well that is fine with Frontline and Advantage because they just kill fleas and ticks, but with Revolution it is a danger because if the cat was off of it and then was infected with heartworm, then to go back on it again could be dangerous. Just like giving a heartworm positive dog heart gard. That is why heartworm tests are always done before giving the preventative. People think that just because it is a topical that it works the same, but that isn't true. We had issues with owners even after explaining over and over, that we chose not to use revolution unless it was warranted because of multiple things. Another thing I personally noticed and some clients reported was lethargy for a day or two after applying. May just be a coincidence, but it is a heavy duty drug that does lots of stuff, so we didn't like prescribing it unless it was truly needed.