Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My cat was recently put on amoxycillin for an upper resp. infection (she just finished a 10 dy cycle). Vet also said she was dehydrated and her kidney function was slightly off, so has me giving her Lactate Ringer's soln daily.

Her appetite has not been what it should be between being sick and the meds. I have been giving her Nutrical and babyfood through a syringe but I also asked the vet if there was any type of meds I could give her to stimulate her appetite. I was given a steroid called Prednisonol (I think that's the spelling).

I can't figure out why they gave me that for appetite issues. All the information I'm getting on it states it's to be used as an anti-inflammatory and I've also seen it stated that it should be kept away from cats with kidney issues!

My normal vet is out of town for the next week so this was given to me by another vet in his office. She is not familiar with my cat's case, but she did look at the records and I metioned the kidney issues. Do you know if this medication is actually supposed to be used for appetite stimulation? And is there a possiblity for it to actually add to her kidney issues? I don't want to wait a full week for my vet to get back and I haven't had any luck reaching the vet's office to verify that I got the right treatment!

Thanks for your help!

Hi There,

Yes, steroids are sometimes used as an apppetite stimulent, although Periactin (cyproheptadine) would be more likely to be used by most vets. Often, cats on steroids for other reasons will start eating more, though.

I think that giving your cat steroids short-term should be fine. I have had cats with kidney failure on steroids with no problems at all. One of them also had IBD, and needed steroids for years, given every other day. Her kidney function remained stable during that time.

It's obviously how much you love and care for your baby, and I really feel for you. Seems like it's been just one thing after another.

BTW, if the kidney values are only slightly elevated, it MAY be due to the dehydration itself, and not actual kidney disease. Liver and kidney values can sometimes be slightly high in dehydrated cats.

Take care, and I hope your baby's appetite returns soon!

Regards,
PHKitkat

Thanks for your response. Yes, my girl has been having a rough time lately. I guess it's only natural that being 19 yrs old, she is going to be a more high-maintainance than normal.

I feel that the kidney values are due to the lack of eating and drinking. She was diagnosed with kidney failure once before and after 2 weeks on fluids she was back to normal.

As I am typing, she is eating her dried food. It's the first time she has done that in awhile. She is actually now ignoring the pureed baby foods I left for her. I'm hopeful that is a move in the right direction. I will still keep her on the nutrical until I see some weight gain.

Yes what you vet is doing makes some sense. I have a cat who has been on pred for about a year for a different problem. It can cause them to over eat fairly badly and they have to be watched...even watching thier intake will cause weight gain...so if your cat needs that I can see where the pred will help short term.

Simply put...the liver puts out a substance called glycogen that is akin to sugar...it causes a spike in the blood sugar of the cat/person taking the pred and two things happen...it causes this sugar in the blood to be converted to body fat and it also causes the pancreas to put out insulin which will cause hunger.

Believe me...keeping my cat from over eating has been a big battle and she is still substantially overweight. It's just a necessary evil because of the condition she has she cannot live w/o the pred.

hope this info helps and good luck with the cat.
Deb
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Deb
owned by Booger and Tiny Dancer and the mom of the late, great Kakel