Cat prednisolone: Should I start before or after my vacation?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Rilke. I typically wait two weeks, but this can vary based on the length and dose of the prednisolone course. I would her ask her veterinarian to know what is best for her specific case. I hope this information helps!

Hello, and thanks for your question. These are very similar medications, but prednisolone is best for cats, as they are better at digesting that than prednisone. Prednisone isn't harmful, but prednisolone is better in cats. Hope this helps!

Unfortunately, we are legally prohibited from telling you to medicate your cat in the absence of a physical exam. It may be that the Pred may help, but there is the possibility that the symptoms are not related to a prior diagnosis/condition. Having Lincoln rechecked by your veterinarian would be the safest course of action. At the very least, contact your veterinarian and discuss the symptoms.

It would help to know what medical condition she is taking the steroid for - if she has a life-threatening auto-immune disease, for example, then I would definitely not want to skip any doses since this could cause a relapse of her disease. But if she is taking the steroid for allergies or some other condition that is not as serious, then it would probably not cause any harm if she misses a dose or two - you might see some recurrence of her symptoms, but this would not seriously jeopardize her health. It would also help to know specifically what steroid she was taking (prednisolone, dexamethasone, etc) since different medications stay in the system longer than others. If you want to post again with more details, we can try to give a more specific answer.

It depends how long he was on it. If he was on it for less than a week, you can stop it cold turkey. If it was longer than that, you can respectfully tell the vet that you are concerned about iatrogenic (meaning medical treatment caused the issue) Addison's disease (underactive adrenal gland). Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

If he was on 12mg of prednisolone for 10 days straight and then it was suddenly stopped, then yes that could be part of the problem, but its also possible that he is still ill from the original disease. I would strongly recommend that you take to your veterinarian; it would be useful to recheck a physical exam and some blood tests. They may recommend running a baseline cortisol to ensure that stopping the pred is not the cause of current symptoms. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

I would try to pill Lio with the prednisone. When medications are ground up, it's hard to know if he actually ingested the entire dose, not to mention that prednisone can be pretty bitter. I also responded to your question about Lio's x-rays. Since your vet prescribed prednisone, my guess is that they're most concerned about asthma or other inflammatory issues within the lungs. Albuterol is a bronchodilator, which is used to dilate the airways, making it easier to breathe if constriction of the airways is present. I would assume that your vet prescribed this for your other cat's coughing spells (that's typically how I prescribe it), but definitely confirm with your vet in case they have another use in mind.