Gypsy's IBD treatment update

[Nina]

Thank you for the advise about Pred vs Dex, I ended up going with 
something else.  I tried to get my vet to write another prescription for 
Dex to be compounded,  thinking if she won't eat the one, maybe she'll 
eat the other, but he refused.  I ordered the Pred, but then yesterday I 
started to panic because poor Gypsy was looking so lousy.  She started 
to vomit (another symptom of IBD, that she hadn't shown before), and she 
was no longer able to make it to the litter box.  I was finding bloody 
brown puddles all over the house.  She's also lost so much weight in the 
last week or so, that I was afraid she was going to starve to death.  I 
made an appointment to take her to my expensive vet, the one that was 
able to get me the VO, but I knew she'd have to be anesthetized for them 
to examine her.  I called the house call vet that had been here when we 
had to help my dog Vixen cross, and he was nice enough to come later in 
the afternoon. 

Thanks to the Merck website that Gloria posted about (thank you 
Gloria!), I found a treatment plan that I knew would ensure Gypsy got 
the proper dosage.  It involves injections of methylprednisolone IM, 
(the website says SQ or IM, but my two of my vets told me that SQ causes 
adverse reactions), every 2 weeks for 2-3 doses, then every 2-4 weeks if 
needed.  Gypsy's not-so-great vet wouldn't let me give her injections at 
home, he actually told me through the receptionist, that such a thing 
did not exist, and he wouldn't let me do it if it did!  The house call 
vet, thankfully was much more understanding of my predicament and left 
me syringes and medicine for 5 doses, (she was way to spooked for him to 
actually examine her).  My wonderful husband was able to hold her down 
while I finally got some medicine in her that might help turn things 
around!   We should know if the med is working in a couple of days.  As 
I write this, she's nibbling on some dry food, I haven't seen her do 
that in a very long time!

I think I may have unwittingly made her condition worse by adding 
L-Lysine and Vita C to her food along with my FeLV babies.  Apparently 
the cortisone medicines fight IBD by suppressing the immune system.  In 
the case of IBD, the immune system is actually "overactive" and in 
trying to rid the body of toxins causes diarrhea to become chronic.  
Great, not only do I have immune suppressed kitties, but an overactive 
immune system kitty too!

Nina
Nina wrote:
Hello Everyone,
I've posted before about my "feral turned house cat" Gypsy.  We 
suspect she has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, (fecal tests showed no 
parasites or Giardia).  The only vet that she's seen is not my 
favorite.  He's kind of old school and is pretty annoyed at me for 
being so involved in her treatment.  Because Gypsy can't be pilled, or 
brought to a vet for shots, I have to have something compounded into a 
liquid to mix in her food.  When I asked my vet which tasted better, 
Prednisone or Dexamethasone, he thought Dex might.  When I called my 
compound pharmacy, they told me to go with the Pred instead.  I guess 
I should have looked up dosage before I had my vet write the script 
for Pred, because Dex is recommended at .22 mg/kg/day initially and 
Pred at 2.2 mg/kg/day.  It seems to me that getting a smaller dose of 
something down her might be easier than the larger dose, even if it 
tastes worse.  I hate having to call the vet back and beg him to 
change his script.  Do you think I should order the Pred and cross my 
fingers that she'll eat it?  The poor little thing has been battling 
chronic diarrhea for so long, I just want to get her some relief 
before she dies from malnutrition.
Thanks,
Nina