Prednisone risk for diabetes

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drjsiems

drjsiems

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I have a 12-year old non-diabetic cat (Boomer) that was diagnosed with FAD (flea dermititus) today. The vet wants to give him a low dose of Prednisone orally, but I told her no and that we needed to try something else first. So we are using a topical antibiotic and topical prednisone. Boomer is a male neutered orange tabby that weighs 13 pounds (not overweight according to the vet) and that eats canned Wellness only - not a scrap of dry food. I do not want him to develop diabetes. How likely is it, then, that he would he would develop diabetes if we have no other choice to give him oral Prednisone if the topicals are not effective?

Thanks,
Judy, Jake (In remission from diabetes), and Civvie Boomer
 
Hi Judy,

I am very judicious with my use of steroids in cats - especially for FAD. In my rescue work I have dealt with a whole bunch of FAD cats and have never found the need to use steroids.

Taking it one step further, I have dealt with some AWFUL (see the link below)

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=miscpictures

bloody, mangy cats that were also not treated with steroids. I just removed the biting critters (fleas or mites) and the cats lived happily ever after as long as they stayed flea- and mite-free.

That said, I have not seen your cat and so my statements are general ones.

One could argue that if a cat that was ripping himself up like "Happy" in the pictures linked above, that you would want to consider the use of a steroid to break the 'itch cycle' but I would argue against giving an immunosuppressive drug to an animal with open wounds.

To answer your question, many cats are given pred that do NOT develop diabetes so it is not a 'given' that they will. It depends on the cat...the dosage...and the length of time that the cat is on the medication.

Still...in general...I think it is major overkill for FAD, in most cases.
 
Keep in mind that I am used to dealing with 100% indoor cats that can remain flea-free if the environment is treated properly.

If I was dealing with an outdoor cat, of course he would be kept up on his flea meds (Advantage, Frontline Plus) but the problem with those meds is that they are not REPELLENTS. So...the flea has to bite the cat to die...and that can trigger FAD.

So..in those cases, where a cat is outside and is super sensitive to flea bites, I can see where steroids *may* be needed but I would also consider the use of antihistamines before steroids in these cases.
 
Thanks, Dr. Lisa, for the good information and for giving me the peace of mind that there are other choices to treat FAD, e.g. antihistamines, than using prednisone if the antibiotic and prednisone TOPICALS I am currently using are not effective. Boomer was treated with these topicals at his vet about five hours ago, and I will treat him with them again tonight. I think they might be working already since I am keeping a very close eye on him and have not seen him scratching! I am also washing all of the pet bedding and am wondering if there are fleas all over my house and I have to have them professionally removed. Neither of my cats or my dog have ever had flea prevention, but Boomer does now - the vet put Frontline on his scruff today. Do you think that my almost 19-year old cat (in remission from diabetes since April) and my
4-year old beagle should also have this prevention? My beagle recently had kennel cough she most likely got from being at doggie day care for a couple of days a few weeks ago; makes me wonder if that's also where the fleas came from.

Judy, Jake, Civvie Boomer, and Emma the beagle
 
All animals in the area have to be treated or you will be spinning your wheels....

Also, I favor Frontline Plus due to the fact that it has a growth regulator in it.
 
really does depend on the cat. harry had horrible, horrible flea contact dermatitis. he was so sensitive to flea bites that one bite could continue to wreak havoc months later. i have pictures from that period. for him a 10 day course of prednisolone really was the only thing that helped. he lost a lot of weight and couldn't groom himself properly and was just miserable.

harry has never been diabetic. because i had a diabetic cat i tested all my nondiabetics once a month. subsequently harry had to go on daily pred long term (from 2.5mg SID to 5mg BID at different points) and his blood glucose level went from an average 52-54 to 72, so he's still at a very nice blood glucose range. only time he's ever been higher is from vet stress at a vet visit.

in some cases it's more likely that the cat is genetically disposed towards diabetes anyway. i think the diabetics we've seen here who were steroid kitties got a HUGE dose of steroid that slipped them into diabetes but i'm not sure how often a smaller daily dose could do the same thing. we'd more likely see a diet-controlled former diabetic slip back into diabetes from long-term steroid use but not necessarily a civie.
 
Well - I had a diabetic cat Norton, who needed daily Prednisolone for inflammation from a brain tumor. It really helped him feel better, and we carefully watched his blood sugar and did not need to increase his insulin.

One of my civilian cats has allergies - which cause him to scratch and lick himself raw when flaring up.

During a really bad attack, only a steroid injection gives relief.

For "maintenance", we have tried a variety of meds over the years - Vetalog works the best, but we have also tried Atopica, medrol and I forget the others.

We avoid fish and beef foods, and all our cats are indoor only, but haven't eliminated the source.

Some years 1 or 2 injections are enough - some years, 3 or 4 injections. We have had the same vet for 13 of Mauser's 14 years.
 
I had my civi Snowball on a course pred for a skin problem. He was sort of diabetic when I adopted him (he was on Glipizide). I raised his BGs to over 200 but they went back to normal after the pred was stopped. My diabetic Thunder finished a course of Pred for a skin problem. As expected, it played havoc on his BGs. After two o three weeks after stopping the Pred did his BGs com back to his normal diabetic BGs.
 
Re: Prednisone risk for diabetes - Revolution?

Dr. Lisa and all,

The vet called me this morning to check on Boomer. I was wrong about his preventative treatment. The vet used Revolution rather than Frontline as I had stated. Dr. Lisa, when going to treat my other cat should I insist on Frontline Plus as you stated or should I stick with Revolution. Since this vet is a cat's only vet, my dog has another vet. Can the same preventative be used on my dog?

Thanks everyone,
Judy
 
Frrontline is a topical that does not get absorbed systemically.

Revolution does get absorbed into the system and is, therefore, overkill and less safe than Frontline IF the only target is the flea.

If your vet also wanted to cover some internal parasites, then Revolution would be a reasonable choice.

Unless you are worried about internal parasites that would be killed with Revolution, stick with Frontline + something to kill the tapeworms which 99.9% of all cats with fleas will have. (Revolution does not kill tapeworms.)
 
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