Diabetic Cat on Prednisolone

[kwkelley]

My senior girl, Kiki, has been on prednisolone 2.5mg. daily for several years for IBD. She recently developed diabetes and started on Lantus insulin. We have decided to taper and withdraw the prednisolone and give Cerenia 6mg. every other day for vomiting. How long will it take for the prednisolone to get out of her system and hopefully start to see decreasing blood glucose levels?

 

[Larry and Kitties]

The prednisolone should be cleared in a couple of days.
I would talk to you vet about using budesonide, a steroid, since that should help with the IBD and should have little effect on BG. I have had two diabetic cats on budesonide and it has little effect on BG/insulin needs.

 

[Manuel]

Hi there - I'm in much the same situation as kwkelley (recently diagnosed diabetic cat who has IBD and has been taking prednisolone for 3-4 years). Do I take it from both of your posts that prednisolone increases BG?

kwkelley, I'm not sure whether you've tried weaning Kiki off pred in the past, but when we have tried to do so with Emma she just goes back to vomiting. Another comment: the vet mentioned that pred sometimes itself can lead to diabetes, and that my cat's chance of remission is stronger if it is indeed the pred causing the diabetes. So, best of luck to you if you are successfully able to stop using pred!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Yes, prednisolone will increase blood sugar numbers. I even noticed a small increase in my non diabetic cat when he went on pred (because I could test him too!). My girl Neko was also on budesonide, it's locally acting in the GI system so less likely to impact blood sugars. It didn't impact Neko's numbers either, but I have seen one or two cats here for whom it does, just less so than prednisolone.

By the way Cerenia can be given every day if needed.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I second what Larry said. Minnie had IBD and was on budesonide. You can also try ondansetron if Cerenia doesn’t work and you can give both daily since they work differently.

 

[kwkelley]

Update: Kiki is doing great on the Cerenia 6 mg. every other day. No vomiting in the past 2 weeks, which is great for her! Bad news is her blood sugar is still running high, even on 2 units of Lantus insulin twice a day. I always thought her sugars were higher because of the prednisolone but apparently she is still diabetic and will continue to need the insulin. Overall, though, I think she is feeling better so now we just need to get the sugars down a bit. Thanks to everyone for your responses.