Is it safe to stop my cat's prednisone cold turkey or should I taper?

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would not recommend just stopping the prednisone. It is best to decrease the dose by 1/2 every 3-5 days until Nugget is receiving 0.5 mg every other day for at least 3 doses. In the mean time, Nugget might do well with Buprenorphine, another pain medication that is safe to use while decreasing the prednisolone. Please discuss this with Nugget's veterinarian, but do not stop the pred. cold turkey.

Is there a reason you want to stop the prednisone? I would recommend not stopping it and if you feel it is better to stop the prednisone then I would recommend weaning off of the prednisone. I would discuss how to wean the prednisone with your veterinarian. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center.

Your dog should be weaned off Prednisone slowly. In many ways, prednisone is similar to the corticosteroid hormones cortisol and aldosterone produced by the adrenal glands located along each kidney. Because of this, when taking prednisone, the adrenal glands start decreasing their production of cortisol. It would be too shocking for the adrenal glands to find themselves out of the blue in need of producing cortisol in large amounts again, so by tapering the prednisone gradually, the glands are given some time to resume their normal function. The main risk is what is called an " addisonian crisis" or "iatrogenic hypoadrenocorticism" which can be life threatening and can cause the dog to go into shock. This can happen when the prednisone is stopped out of the blue and the adrenal glands are dormant because they weren't given a chance to gradually become active again. When this happens, the dog's potassium and sodium levels get unbalanced. The sodium levels start to fall, while the potassium levels start to rise. High potassium levels can have a detrimental effect on the heart and can lead to circulatory collapse. Affected dogs may appear weak, lethargic, they may vomit, have a low, irregular heart rate and may go into shock and even collapse. Affected dogs need to seek immediate emergency treatment to correct the electrolyte imbalances and possible low glucose levels through supportive care consisting of fluid therapy and careful monitoring. Rapidly-acting corticosteroid medications such as prednisolone sodium succinate or dexamethasone sodium phosphate may be needed. This whole ordeal can be easily prevented by gradually tapering the dog off the steroids. Dogs on prednisone for quite some time, need to be tapered even more gradually. The vet will tell owners how.

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!

When a cat is on steroids, they are getting corticosteroids from this medication and as a result, the adrenal glands stop producing them. When a cat suddenly stops steroids, the adrenal glands won't simply start making these hormones immediately. Without these hormones in his system or a way to make them, he can go into shock or die without emergency medical attention. Do not let him miss days of it.

Hello. This is a reasonable thing to do, but please discuss this with your veterinarian first. Your vet has all the particulars on your cat's condition, so for me just to say its OK to start cutting back on a medication without having any information on why the medication was started in the first place would not be right & may be harmful to your pet. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello, prednisone is a steroid that although beneficial for some things it also has alot of side effects and needs to be used carefully and under the instructions from your veterinarian. The dose Kitkat is getting now is higher than most other doses prednisone is used for. It should be fine to stop the medication now after today but monitor her drinking habits and overall activity. If she seems lethargic, not drinking or drinking too much, not eating, then she needs to be seen by her veterinarian immediately. Back injuries can recur, so in the future, before starting medications consult with your veterinarian first. Additionally. even though Kitkat is feeling a lot better, she needs to continue strict rest for at least 2 weeks to allow her back to heal. That is no running, jumping, or rough playing with other dogs. Hope this helps and best of luck.