Steroids- worried about my cat

[largeprintagathachristie]

Anyone had experience of a cat on steroids? (Prednisone 5mg).

The medication is working perfectly to control what it’s supposed to - chronic vomiting- but she just seems SO sleepy.
She is drinking more and weeing more, as I had expected, but is much less active. She’s been asleep for the last six hours. Usually she’d be interested to coming to watch us have dinner, sit on a few laps in front of the telly, etc

Don’t want to miss something.

She’s about a week in to a three week trial of the steroid.

It may also be that I’m not adjusting to her being older. She’s about 12.

I would definitely have a chat with your vet. Obviously at present a phone conversation is easier anyway. Steroids are great for treating but can have side effects. Did the vet do bloods etc before starting the treatment?
Drinking and peeing more can be a sign of diabetes (this is a worst case scenario and from my own experience). When our old cat had pred it made her eat loads which she did need to do but I don't recall an increase in drinking or peeing.

Your cat could get secondary diabetes from steroids. It's quite common, she should get used to them slowly it just depends whether the cure is better than the condition.

I have a cat who has been taking steroids for two years now. This is not normal at all and he is monitored for it by the vet.
In the first two weeks he did seem more sleepy and got a bit bigger, but in the meantime he is back to his normal weight and normal activity levels. He is 15 years old though so the activity levels may not be directly steroid related. Ring your vet and they may suggest lowering the dose and have the same benefits. Mine went from once a day to every other day. I sometimes try to reduce it further but the symptoms come back immediately (very bad itching which then causes wounds because he scratches and chews constantly in the same spots).

Depending on other conditions she has it could potentially be that the steroids are doing their job correctly but now that they have calmed the condition it is treating it has uncovered something else.
For example thyroid medication gets the hyperthyroidism under control but often then kidney issues are more obvious because the thyroid symptoms have been controlled. It's not caused kidney disease but now the symptoms are more prevalent.

Or the dose needs adjustments.

Or steroid use in felines can lead to diabetes but usually long term use.

I'm not a vet. My advice is to give your vet a call, they will either advise on the phone or get her in for tests.

Prednisone led to congestive heart failure in my cat so I would be very cautious about long term use.