Is 2ml of prednisone twice daily a safe dose for my 13lb cat?

I do not recommend giving any pets any human medications without specific instructions from your vet. Steroids have to be given carefully in order to obtain the correct therapeutic effect and they must be weaned off it when finishing a course. This is a discussion best handled by your veterinarian.

5 mg is within the dose range for prednisone use in cats. It is typically given on a tapering (decreasing) dose. You may see increased thirst and urination, increased appetite or even panting. These side effects will resolve once the medication is finished.

Yes, that is a typical decreasing dosage program. While steroids are not recommended for long term use, cats have less problems with them than dogs. Also long term use generally means many months or years. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care get answers to your veterinary questions.

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.

You have a very valid question. Here is the problem, your kitty does not have a diagnosis for why the cell counts were low. This makes it difficult to know how to taper meds like pred nor how long to provide treatment. Has your kitty been tested for feline leukemia/FIV? Was there any additonal testing done other than a CBC? It really would be important for you to discuss your concerns with your family vet who should be open to a discussion about a med that can have long term side effects. We typically do slowly taper drugs like pred for several reasons and your vet will be able to tell you why he or she picked that particular tapering schedule. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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!

Dexamethasone is 7 times stronger than prednisolone and has an increased rate of GI upset or stomach ulcers. Typically on prednisolone is used in cat because prednisone is broken down to prednisolone--so it is easier to start with the broken down form already. Prednisolones are specifically used when talking about lymphoma due to the potential side effects of dexamethasone. Dr.s chooses one over the other base on preference or what you are treating -- specific diseases have research to back the use of one--lymphoma does better with prednisolone. You will not see a fast improvement with just prednisolone or even if you added stronger chemo. It is a slow progress no matter what. Just using prednisolone you can see a good appetite, no change in diarrhea, no added weight gain. It merely suppress the cancer cells temporarily and helps them feel better. Even with other chemos, it is long term process with slow results---2-4 months to see improvement with the diarrhea in severe cases. They stay on the medicine long term and the doses can be alternated based on how each patient responds