Withdrawal Symptoms After Prednisolone?

[Mama of Thor]

hi everyone,

New to posting on here. My 4 year old male cat was put on prednisolone (form of prednisone) on Nov. 9th because he was scratching under his chin so much he opened up his skin. He did great on the steroids and the sore closed up. He took 2 pills every 12 hours for 5 days then 1 pill every day for 5 days then 1 pill every other day for 10 days (5 days with the pill). He had the last one on Tuesday and about 6 hours later he scratched and opened up the sore again. The vet said to keep and eye on him so I’ve been working from home and he hasn’t scraped since Tuesday but today he slept basically all day, hasn’t begged for food and when I put his dinner out he sniffed and went back to bed. This is unlike him, he’s very food motivated, so I brought his treats to the bed to see if he’d eat them and he did but vomited them up about 20 minutes later. He lets me touch him and doesn’t seem to be in pain, when I started wrestling with him with my hand (a game we play all the time that he loves) he play fought a little but then went back to bed. I’m wondering if anyone has had experience with this in the past or if I’m over reacting? I’m a nervous cat mom so I’ll probably take him to the vet if he misses breakfast but hoping you all might be able to ease my mind tonight. Sorry for the super long post, just wanted to be as detailed as possible.

 

[Mama of Thor]

Update: he had some of his wet food and seems a little more perky. Hoping he’s back to normal tomorrow. Would still like to know if anyone experienced this with their cats?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I've never had to give any of my cats this medication, but I did read that some of the side effects can be vomiting/nausea and loss of energy. Also, diabetes can develop, possibly more so if the cat was pre-diabetic before starting the steroid. It might be a good idea to have him checked for that, just in case.

Here's where I got my info: Prednisolone Use - Beware Of Side Effects ! ! !

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

hi everyone,

New to posting on here. My 4 year old male cat was put on prednisolone (form of prednisone) on Nov. 9th because he was scratching under his chin so much he opened up his skin. He did great on the steroids and the sore closed up. He took 2 pills every 12 hours for 5 days then 1 pill every day for 5 days then 1 pill every other day for 10 days (5 days with the pill). He had the last one on Tuesday and about 6 hours later he scratched and opened up the sore again. The vet said to keep and eye on him so I’ve been working from home and he hasn’t scraped since Tuesday but today he slept basically all day, hasn’t begged for food and when I put his dinner out he sniffed and went back to bed. This is unlike him, he’s very food motivated, so I brought his treats to the bed to see if he’d eat them and he did but vomited them up about 20 minutes later. He lets me touch him and doesn’t seem to be in pain, when I started wrestling with him with my hand (a game we play all the time that he loves) he play fought a little but then went back to bed. I’m wondering if anyone has had experience with this in the past or if I’m over reacting? I’m a nervous cat mom so I’ll probably take him to the vet if he misses breakfast but hoping you all might be able to ease my mind tonight. Sorry for the super long post, just wanted to be as detailed as possible.

This is a very responsible way to taper off of Prednisolone, and he was on it short-term -- so I am not sure about any huge withdrawal symptoms. The best thing to do is to check with your vet, mention the vomiting after treats, and that he isn't as hungry as is usual for him. See what the vet says.