4/10, Vesper, AMPS 59 (our first green AMPS), +4 76, +6 71, +8 82

Kelly and Vesper said:
still on prednisolone. I'm so nervous to switch it because she has been doing so amazing, but I need to pull the trigger.
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Ummm, maybe not...its working and you're seeing greens. I would encourage you to get a few PM cycle tests, at least a +2. Is he getting the steroid in the morning or the evening?

@Wendy&Neko what do you think? Should Kelly still consider switching to Budesonide even with the greens on prednisolone?
 
Prednisolone should be tapered down slowly. That can help you stay ahead of dose changes. I've not seen prednisolone used for pancreatitis. If there is no other reason to stay on pred, I would try to taper it off. Is the 2.5 mg a pill or liquid? That impacts what size pred dose changes you can make.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Prednisolone should be tapered down slowly. That can help you stay ahead of dose changes. I've not seen prednisolone used for pancreatitis. If there is no other reason to stay on pred, I would try to taper it off. Is the 2.5 mg a pill or liquid? That impacts what size pred dose changes you can make.
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It's a pill, and she gets 2.5mg every morning. Here are the instructions the vet gave us for tapering off:
  • Prednisolone, 5 mg tablet: Once you get the budesonide, reduce the prednisolone to 1/2 tablet by mouth every 48 hours and then discontinue after 1 week.

  • Budesonide, 1 mg tablet: Administer 1 tablet by mouth every 24 hours. This is a less potent steroid. You will need to get this from Chewy.com as it must be compounded. Only overlap with the prednisolone for 1 week.
After 1 week, Vesper should just be on the budesonide alone.
 
It would have been easier to try 1.25mg per day, but hard to get any accuracy with cutting a tablet. Oh well, it is what you are dealing with. Do you have the budesonide? I got mine compounded to liquid, made it both easier to give and easy to reduce the dose. Budesonide tablets are impossible to cut in half. It crumbles, I got a lot of what I called bude bits.

It sounds like you will be doing the pred taper and starting budesonide at the same time, which should be less impact on the BG than tapering pred without budesonide. Though hard to say. Neko didn't get any numbers bump from budesonide, but some cats do.

If you can't monitor well during the transition, you could lower the dose by 0.25 units as you start the transition. If you can, wait to see what happens and reduce if a reduction is earned.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
It would have been easier to try 1.25mg per day, but hard to get any accuracy with cutting a tablet. Oh well, it is what you are dealing with. Do you have the budesonide? I got mine compounded to liquid, made it both easier to give and easy to reduce the dose. Budesonide tablets are impossible to cut in half. It crumbles, I got a lot of what I called bude bits.

It sounds like you will be doing the pred taper and starting budesonide at the same time, which should be less impact on the BG than tapering pred without budesonide. Though hard to say. Neko didn't get any numbers bump from budesonide, but some cats do.

If you can't monitor well during the transition, you could lower the dose by 0.25 units as you start the transition. If you can, wait to see what happens and reduce if a reduction is earned.
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Okay I think I will start this on Monday, when I can monitor her closely. We have visitors this weekend, and I'll be more distracted. Thank you for your guidance, I'll let you know how it goes!
 
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