Depo medrol and the elderly cat ...

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has any advice or good ideas.

A few years ago my cat Cassie started having depo jabs for an allergy. She basically would start sneezing, it would get progressively worse over a couple of weeks and then a shot of depo and she'd be fine for up to about 9 weeks.

Over time that gap has sometimes shortened, until last time when she only went 4 weeks before she needed a top up. But this time it hasn't really worked, although it's helped, she is still sneezing when she grooms or eats. Her appetite is good, she is nice and plump and her bloods showed no signs of any kidney problems etc.

I'm worried about what happens if the depo stops working altogether. We're not sure what the allergy is exactly, and I don't really want to start the process of numerous tests at her age. She's nimble, and for her age (16 1/2) she has done fantastically.

Any ideas on anything else we might be able to try? It may be that she has become immune to the steroid? Seeing as she's been having it for so long.

Any opinions/help VERY welcome!

 

have you tried ZD food? It's prescription (i.e. vet) and comes in wet and dry but is pricey.
I'm getting the depro shot for one of my fosters tomorrow as she has food allergies. Her former owner chose to drug her with antianxiety meds for the past 4 years rather than switch to an allergy food for her.
So I'm learning how this works....you need to do a food trial first (up to 12 weeks) on an allergy food, only the allergy food is to be fed. No other food, no treats, no people food, etc. If the cat does better on this food you know it's food related.
But my foster digs at herself and pulls fur out. I would think sneezing would be more airborne than food related. Try wiping her coat down daily with a damp washcloth. Or if she'll let you just hose her off with warm water every few days.
Allergens can stick to cat's coats causing them to have allergy problems.

 

Mary is right you need to do a food trial to find out if it is a food allergy that's the easiest. At least you can rule that out if it continues after 12 weeks. The hardest thing for me was not giving them any treats while you are doing this.
I have also had to do food switching long ago and it worked. Alot of reading of the food bags and trialing several different ones I ended up on Nutro Max. (All of my fur babies are on Nutro max Cat and Nutro Natural Choice for dogs)
I also used to wipe my babies down with the damp clothes that you can get at the pet store that are used between bathes.... that helped keep the dander down and allergens and with doing that it helped my own allergies to them in the process.
I do think that over time they could be getting used to the shot.

Good luck keep us posted

 

Hi and thanks for your replies. There seems to be no irritation with the fur/skin, it's almost like the fur gets up her nose and makes her sneeze. The sneezes get bigger and bigger, the longer she goes without her steroid!

I would worry about changing her food, as she used to be extremely sick before I found the food she has been on for some time. More or less everything she ate came back. Sometimes the steroid makes her sick for a day or two, but usually that's about it now. Also, can you just switch foods, doesn't it have to be done gradually?

I feed all mine dry food which is down all the time, but guess if it came to it we'd have to just have a couple of feeding times a day for a while. I will mention all of this to my vet when I see her, which will be fairly soon as she's my neighbour!

 

you should add some wet food to her diet. Dry only isn't always the best...cats need the moisture from wet.
Sounds like an allergen problem.
Before doing the shots again I'd try just wiping her down with a damp washcloth every day (no perfumes, no chemicals) to see if that might help.
When I called my vet this morning about the shot they told me it's only effective for a few days anyway.

 

Thanks Mary,

The only problem is, the wet food made her really sick. I will try wiping her down though. Would sensitive non perfumed baby wipes be ok, or should I use a flannel with warm water only?

 

I've been wiping Cassie down daily with a damp cloth, and she absolutely loves it. I've also made sure that she gets a good comb daily too, and even though she doesn't lose a lot of fur at the moment she seems to be better than before. She's also having a pinch of bisolvon a day and so far so good. So thanks for the suggestions, I will keep it up and see what happens!

 

sounds good!!! She probably realizes she's feeling better.
Get a zoom groom - love those

 

zoom groom???

 

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