Prednisone

[casmeow]

One of our oldest cats, Wilber, is on prednisone for inflamed bowel disease. For most of his life he's been overweight. His weight has ranged from 15-20 lbs. Now we've noticed that he seems to have dropped some weight since being on the predisone. I know with humans, weight gain usually occurs instead of loss. We notice the weight loss primarily in his face and some around the middle. I just wondered if any of your babies ever had a weight loss from predisone?
His eating habits really haven't changed - except for when he gets a stomach ache - then he has the med each day for 5 days, instead of every other day - which usually gets him back on track.

[Karen]

I can only speak to prednisone use in humans - myself! The weight gain associated with it seems to be a result of it making some people VERY HUNGRY all the time. Fortunately, I have only been on it briefly and for emergencies, but it did affect my appetite very strongly! Maybe it's the opposite in cats - it just makes him not want to eat - have you noticed a change in the amount he eats? Interestingly enough, my brother, who has been on prednisone in similar circumstances to my own, had it cause a complete lack of appetite! If it is that different between two genetically-connected people, I wonder how common each reaction is in kitties!

[hp]

One of my cats was on prednisone for a similar condition. He also tended to "become smaller". I've heard that prednisone can lead to a loss of muscle tone and bone strength. My cat is only five years old, so I chose to take him off the prednisone after several months. He seems to be doing fine.

[casmeow]

This is an update on Wilber. We took him to the vet two days ago for more predisone. I told the vet I was concerned about his weight loss - so he ran a cbc and bloodscreen. Today we got the news that the bloodwork showed either leukemia or a type of lymphoma. Needless to say we're devastated and will be going to an oncologist to discuss quality of life and possible treatment. We decided we would not put him thru cruel treatments. The vet did tell us that animals seem to survive chemo treatments much better than humans for unknown reasons.So we would like any input anyone may have. Thanks.

[dogncatluvr]

Casmeow,

I'm so sorry to hear about Wilber. I have no advice to give here as I've never been through this with any of my cats. All I can say is the best to you and Wilber. May I ask how old he is?

[casmeow]

"Big Wil" is almost 13. We sort of went thru this in 1987 when one of our cats, "Emerald" had diabetes and had to have insulin shots every day. He survived for 5 yrs after the diagnosis to the age of 17. Hopefully Wil will have as good luck as Emmy did.

[EileenKay]

Sorry to hear the bad news.

This would be a good board to ask your questions about chemo: http://www.i-depth.com/P/u/uw07317.frm.cathelp.html