Vets advice if poss please re Prednisolone

[TheIronLady]

Hi, cat had been very very ill for last few weeks. Takes Pred for feline Asthma, was diagnosed with heart failure just before Christmas, then two weeks ago have very enlarged liver.

On our last visit to vets I was given more pred - it was supposed to be 5mg, half to be given every second day. The next day, I noticed pills were larger and had 40 printed on them. My others are small and have 5 printed on them. Pretty sure cat ate a couple of mouthfuls of food with a half of the one that had 40 on it.

I am wondering if we have been given the wrong strength.

Do you also know exactly what the sysmptoms would be if cat had had a half of one of the '40mg', would this cause severe breathing difficulties, fluid in the abdomen / lungs?

Obviously this isn't the whole story but just wanted to ask this first. Thanks

ok im a nurse not a vet, but hopefully one will be along for you shortly.

first thing is to phone the vet. hopefully it is just a different batch of tablets perhaps made by a different company. and there is no problem. 40mg pred tablets are quite a high potency to be stocked by a vet practice.

so worst case senareio, your cat usually has 2.5mg of pred, every other day. and now it seems like he has taken 20mg in a single dose. so 8 times his normal dose?

prednisalone is metabolised by the liver so if he was having liver problems prior to this there is potential for further damage, and liver failure can lead to fluid accumulation in the abdomen. but tbh im not qualified enought to comment on if an overdose would definitly "cause" fluid accumulation.

BUT - PHONE the practice - hopefully its just a new batch of tablets.

Tks for your reply mad4maincoons.

I think you have confirmed my worst fears.

I did call the vet Tuesday night as I was getting moggy's many pills ready for the week. Obviously vet advised not to give but he would need to see pills to identify them so I was due to take into surgery tomorrow.

A half of one of the '40' pills was given to moggy by mistake but I didn't realise & only found out today. I had asked my adult son to add 1/2 'small' tab to the other pills I had put in the pill dispenser. He got mixed up (I don't blame him) & the long & the short of it is, moggy deteriorated so rapidly over about 15 hours during Wednesday evening/night that we took him to be put down Thursday morning; the poor things abdomen was so swollen that he could not lie down & spent all night sat up, he was exhausted & cold, I couldn't even cuddle or really stroke him as it made him purr which caused his breathing to become much more laboured. I have not stopped blubbing for two days.

I want to write to the vet to tell him of my grievance purely so as to avoid this ever happening to anyone else. I don't know if vet made the mistake or the male nurse who gave them to me.

Although I had already made the decision to have him PTS when I felt his quality of life was diminishing, we were trying more meds, just had to make sure I was making the right decision.

Oh my Lord.

I am so sorry, IronLady

By all means do take it up with the vet - you can also take it up with the BSAVA if you wish. I'm not qualified to say whether the wrong dose would do this to your cat, but I am so sorry that you lost your cat under such distressing circumstances.

Sending you all my best x

Sorry - not the BSAVA, the RCVS Too upset to think straight in acronyms

So sorry to hear this Iron Lady, what an awful thing to happen, especially as you weren't even able to cuddle him at the end

I did a quick google search and 1800petmeds says this about overdose:

"What happens if I overdose the pet: Seek emergency veterinary medical treatment. A single large dose of prednisolone is unlikely to cause symptoms or death. An overdose is more likely to occur due to large doses being taken over a period of time. Symptoms of overdose include weight gain, panting, increased thirst, hunger and urination, vomiting, diarrhea, and Cushing's syndrome"

A couple of the other sites that came up said the same thing, that one high dosage is unlikely to do too much harm. But of course with him already being ill, it's hard to say what affect it could have had

I would be tempted to call another vet to ask their opinion, and of course do as bella suggests and ask the RCVS.

Thanks Bella32.

Thats what I read too MrsL123.

I do think though as he was taking pills to reduce the accummulation of fluid and that his liver was very enlarged anyway, I think it is more than likely that the overdose did cause the accumulation of more fluid but then again I am not a vet so cannot be certain.

I wait a another day, see a vet comes along to advise.

I am sorry - it's so awful losing a beloved pet in 'normal' circumstances, let alone any question over his care.

Giving you a bump in case beautifulgirls or any other vets are around.

Hope you're okay

Thanks Bella32

So sorry for you, how terrible

I am a vet and hope that I can offer you some reassurance.

It's correct to think that a single high dose is unlikely to cause significant problems. In fact, extremely high doses of steroids are sometimes indicated for very ill animals. I suspect from what you've said that your poor cat was deteriorating anyway. Often the end can be extremely quick.

I would encourage you to discuss this with your own vet though, to put your mind at rest and "debrief". They will never mind answering your questions.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss.