Old tomcat with stomach cancer - why Prednisone?!

rita-rabbit

I took my cat CHI (approx 16) to vets because he had lost so much weight & was avoiding eating & pawing @ his bowl & then walking away from it. He was put on a drip & discharged with antibiotics & Prednisone & an antacid (to be taken 1 hour before Prednisone) the diagnosis being:

not eating due to bad teeth - tartar - as this would need to be sorted with gen anaethetic I was told to wait & see if he picks up
or
IBD
or stomach cancer

he's finished the antibiotics & he reacted so strongly to the antacid I started giving him slippery elm bark instead.

I've just googled the Prednisone & one of the side effects is nausea!:eek: As he seems happier in himself I'd started to give only half tablet with food (which I am giving him with teaspoon). More recently quarter at a time. today he vomited quite quickly after feeding him & I decided to google the only prescribed meds he's still on. A contraindication says: not beneficial for cats with stomach problems or ulcers - no wonder he's not interested in eating & still throwing up periodically:mad:.

I'm also giving him an infusion I custom made: oatstraw, nettles, lemonbalm & rosehip. Having read this I'm tempted to give minimal doses of the meds & ask for something else instead - next week.

Ideas welcomed.

meritaten

sorry - deleted because I misread part of your post.

Redacted

Prednisone is a corticosteroid anti-inflammatory and is one option available to reduce the symptoms of IBD. I would ask your vet if it was prescribed because they think IBD is more likely, or if they are trying to rule it out.

(Btw, I've noticed with most of the prescription drugs I've ever been given, nausea is listed as a potential side effect. The question really, is whether it's a common or rare side effect)

Artytarty

Why bother with the vet at al? Seems like you've got it all sewn up yourself.

krlyr

A good vet should be happy to explain why they've prescribed certain medications, so if it wasn't clear (or perhaps your mind was reeling a bit from the mention of cancer), phone and ask for clarification. You're paying for a service, afterall.

Lots of medications have some funny side effects. We often take Paracetamol for headaches - yet one of the side effects can be headaches! That's not to say everyone who takes it will get a headache, but during studies, some people did so they have to list it.

Steroids can often stimulate appetite, so nausea certainly isn't an issue for every person/animal.

My suggestion would be to speak to or go back to see your vet and find out more details about his treatment plan so you understand why he wanted you to go down that route. If it was for diagnostic purposes, and you've changed medications and doses all over the place, you may make it difficult to pinpoint the actual issue (and, yes, it's great if your cat is cured by your alternative options - and I certainly wouldn't rule out natural alternatives if they work - but if it's a bit of short-term discomfort to rule in/out longterm treatment, you may just be prolonging the issues).

missbiggles1

rita-rabbit wrote: »

I took my cat CHI (approx 16) to vets because he had lost so much weight & was avoiding eating & pawing @ his bowl & then walking away from it. He was put on a drip & discharged with antibiotics & Prednisone & an antacid (to be taken 1 hour before Prednisone) the diagnosis being:

not eating due to bad teeth - tartar - as this would need to be sorted with gen anaethetic I was told to wait & see if he picks up
or
IBD
or stomach cancer

he's finished the antibiotics & he reacted so strongly to the antacid I started giving him slippery elm bark instead.

I've just googled the Prednisone & one of the side effects is nausea!:eek: As he seems happier in himself I'd started to give only half tablet with food (which I am giving him with teaspoon). More recently quarter at a time. today he vomited quite quickly after feeding him & I decided to google the only prescribed meds he's still on. A contraindication says: not beneficial for cats with stomach problems or ulcers - no wonder he's not interested in eating & still throwing up periodically:mad:.

I'm also giving him an infusion I custom made: oatstraw, nettles, lemonbalm & rosehip. Having read this I'm tempted to give minimal doses of the meds & ask for something else instead - next week.

Ideas welcomed.

I don't see the point of taking an animal to the vet and ignoring their advice. As for refusing to give your old boy the medication prescribed for him that seems to me to border on cruelty.

peachyprice

Maybe your home made remedies are reacting with the meds?

rita-rabbit

ok

another side effect is dehydration.....

I'm going to phone the vets tomorrow. Chi is doing better off the meds & with herbal stuff & bone broth - he actually went outside & basked in the sunshine for a few hours today! I haven't given him any tablets today - just fluids: infusion, slippery elm & chicken broth. I'm going to try him on some raw meat puree tonight before I go to bed

rita-rabbit

the antacid smells rank - I told the vets he freaks out when I gave him that & they said it's ok not to use it anymore. So I used the slippery elm instead (as it lines the stomach).

I took him back to vets last friday cos he was even thinner & either runny poo or vomiting & vet said - oh yes his stomach feels like there are deffo lymphomas in there - consider having him put down. So i spent the bank holiday weekend coming to terms with this but also intensively putting fluids into him & giving him lots of tlc. He perked up when I gqve him some leftover meds from Mias op: Vetergesic because I didn't want him in any pain. Note: I took Chi to the vet the Friday morning & in the evening I phoned up for more pain relief to be told that the Predenione has pain relief inside it. It was only this wkend i googled the Predesnione & read all this stuff as seeing poor Chi seem to improve with less of it made me wonder - esp when he had it coming out of him both ends minutes after giving him a quarter of a tablet!

I started on the infusions after the vets stays he was so weak. I've increased them to get him eating.

Note: I make herbal infusions for myself after months of research. When Mia got sick I did alot of research about what can be useful for cats & so they have 1 custom made for each of them.

Mias: lemon balm & oatstraw - cos she had overactive thyroid & not long had operation to have the larger part removed.

Chi's: lemonbalm, oatstraw, nettles & rosehip.

I think I will go solo for now tbh - the infusions & tlc seem to be doing a better job.

rita-rabbit

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I don't see the point of taking an animal to the vet and ignoring their advice. As for refusing to give your old boy the medication prescribed for him that seems to me to border on cruelty.

I followed it to the letter & he got worse:eek:

meritaten

rita-rabbit. If you believe your remedies are working for your pet and the vets' are making him worse, then you have every right to refuse to give them to him. Just as every human has the right to refuse 'medical treatment'.
You know your pet best and will know when they are improving or not.
Vets are mostly wonderful but they are NOT infallible. Some pets just do not respond to medications in the way they are supposed to - just like humans.
Do let us know how Chi gets on.