Can steroids actually cause diabetes?

Just wondering what other members have heard. Our vet said it could, but he has asthma and we want to start treatment. Our boy was diagnosed as transient diabetes (per my previous post right below this one, as I questioned it to!) And I worry this was turn it into full blown diabetes, especially as he's already at risk.

All environmental factors are gone. He is on wet and some EVO dry. Litter is fine, no dust or pollinators in house..haven't done allergy tests though. He is pur mr. Heavy duty, but were trying!

 

Please also see what I posted under your other thread about asthma.
It sounds like you are not super happy with the advice you are receiving from your vet. With a cat that could potentially have multiple complex health concerns, it's really important to get a vet you trust and communicate openly with, if at all possible. Having a vet you doubt is only going to add stress to your life, which no one needs. I would suggest you consider getting a second opinion, maybe even from a cat specialist vet: http://www.catvets.com/cat-owners/find-vets-and-practices

 

And yes, some types of steroids do increase risk for diabetes. Most people would probably say that if the asthma is severe enough, it should be treated first, and then you can worry about potential diabetes. It all depends on the cat and the severity of the asthma.

 

Did your vet mention inhaled steroids such as flovent? There are a couple of wonderful yahoo groups called Feline Asthma Inhaled Medication (FAIM) and Feline Asthma you might want to look into. They have been a godsend to me and have taught me everything I need to know about safely controlling Pudden's asthma.

It is very important to treat the asthma since it is a progressive disease and can become life threatening if left untreated. It is true that traditional steroids can cause diabetes, but it is very important to control the asthma. If diabetes does occur it can often be reversed once the cat is weaned of the steroids.

However, inhaled Flovent does not cause diabetes and is the most effective treatment for feline asthma. It is what the yahoo groups recommend and use to treat their cats. Flovent is given using a chamber called the Aerokat. Youtube has tons of videos of cats using it. My Pudden is on flovent and doing beautifully, her last day on oral steroids will be the 27th. She unfortunately did develop diabetes from the oral steroids, but I am hopeful she will go into remission soon.

 

Some steroids can cause diabetes; most steroids can raise blood glucose. Squeaker became diabetic after 3 DepoMedrol injections in one year. That being said, there are some conditions that require the use of some form of steroids: asthma, IBD, steroids are used in cancer treatment. The best course is to treat the concurrent issue even if it requires the use of steroids, and monitor BG daily.

 

The short answer is yes, steroids can cause diabetes in some cats, and nearly certainly cause diabetic cat in remission to come out of remission (or a cat with "transient" diabetes to have full blown diabetes). The largest contributors are two of the most commonly used steroids, prednisolone and dexamethasone, but other orals can also cause blood glucose to raise. I had a night where Bandit's BG rose 100 points because he was grooming my other cat and ingested a very, very small amount of Orpheus's ear drops that contained a steroid that had gotten on the fur around his ears.

That said, there are some life threatening conditions that absolutely need to be treated with steroids because those conditions are more serious than the diabetes. Bandit was in that position back in March when he was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, and he needed to go on prednisolone and immunosuppresants or he would have died. Once he started on the steroids, his blood sugar shot right up into the 300s and he had to go on insulin, and his insulin need lowered as we slowly lowered the prednisolone dose. I think he was up to 1.5u of Lantus on his full dose (10mg), and went down to 1u on 5mg, and so on. He went back into remission about a week after we stopped the prednisolone completely.

I would second trying out the Flovent--I know there are members here that have used it with their diabetic cats with good results. As far as I know, it doesn't raise BG like the oral steroids will. Cyproheptadine (an antihistimine) and cyclosporine (an immunosuppressant) have also had success with asthma in some cats, so you might also want to see if one of those works before going to the oral prednisolone, which I would say should be your last resort if none of the others works because of your cat's diabetes. I do know that cyclosporine isn't really recommended for long term use, because it's an immunosuppressant.

 

Thank you for the info! I did not k ow there was s a type of steroids, inhaled or not, that would actually not cause diabetes. So your saying your Pudden did not get diabetes from the imhaller, but instead from the oral? How could you differentiate (maybe starts at different times)?

Could you link me to that group? Thanks so much!

 

Thnak you for all the I do, everyone!

 

Here is a link to the group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/felineasthma/conversations/messages Let me know if it doesn't work.

Only a small amount of flovent can get into the blood stream which can not cause diabetes. It is truly a blessing for a diabetic cat with asthma.

Poor Pudden's case became so severe that she was put on 10mg a day of prednisilone (oral steroid) on top of the highest dose of flovent. I was fearful to take her off he prednisilone and that the asthma would become uncontrolled again, but she is now only on flovent and so far doing well. The vets are positive the oral steroid was the cause. We are hoping now that she is off she will go into remission.

 

Fingers and paws crossed for Pudden to go OTJ!

 

Thank you!!!