? Budesonide- Help & info please

Background: Baby has been OTJ for one month. She was diagnosed with IBD mid summer. After trying everything under the sun to no avail; her vet prescribed budesonide. (Steroid) I’m also giving probiotics & metronidazole transdermal.
I started the budesonide Thursday afternoon & she hasn’t slept much since. Her appetite is on overdrive & she’s not being very nice... Hissing & growling at me if I pick her up etc. Not her normal behavior. Well I have to say I’d be angry if I hadn’t slept for a couple days! On a good note, she had a formed poo but was still light in color & stinky this am. And her bg yesterday was 77. Has anyone had experience with this med for their cat? TIA.

 

I haven't yet had to give my cat budesonide for his IBD but I probably will need to in the future. My previous cat who also had IBD was on pred and she had the exact same reaction as your cat is having now to the steroid. It took a decrease in dosage and her body getting used to the med for her to go back to her old self. She was very agitated at first and barely slept. I think this may be a typical reaction to any steroid.
It gets really frustrating with IBD. My cat is currently having an IBD flare up after a whole year of being maintained really well on diet alone. I just hate this disease.

 

Yes I agree. I’m going to go down a couple ml on her dosage for a few days. She needs to sleep. I really wasn’t expecting this much of an effect as she is on a small dose already. .5 What diet is your kit on that worked so well? I’m sorry you’re having problems again.

 

Canidae Pure duck pate was what he was eating. I like it because there is no carageenen or guar gum added. It is easy to digest and has no other things added. Unfortunately he seems to be getting tired of it and there really is no other protein I haven't already tried on him. Crap! I actually went out this morning and bought a whole duck ($25.00) to simmer for bone broth for him. The butcher thought I was having a fancy party but I told him it was for my cat. Ha I've already spent well over $10,000.00 on him since I adopted him when I figure in ER visits, hospitalizations, food, blood work, ultra sounds, and endoscopy. Who would have thought I would end up with two cats in a row with IBD. Sorry for venting- this has been a bad morning for us. I hope the decrease in dosage works for your kitty. I know many on here have used the budesonide on their cats. Maybe someone will come on to help. Weekends are slow on the board. My guy is in remission from diabetes right now so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I’m glad he’s in remission, & hope it continues. I understand the food problems as I’ve purchased just about everything & she doesn’t like it. She’s eating chicken & lamb now. It’s great that you’re taking such good care of those kitties- spoiled babes.

 

Pricey babies! But couldn't live without the little furry creatures.

 

You are right!! Thank you for your replies, I appreciate it!

 

I have used budesonide on several of my cats, both diabetic and not. For some of the diabetics Had to increase insulin dose a little. I saw improvements in their feces and none had any adverse effects otherwise,

 

@Larry and Kitties - thank you for that info. I’ll be speaking with my vet on Monday to see if we need to introduce a little slower. She seems quite sensitive to any meds. A cat needs what a cat needs, as they say...

 

What dose are you giving of the budesonide? My Neko took it with no problems and a lot of improvements. Her vet thought budesonide dosing tending to be on the high side.

Have you checked out: http://www.ibdkitties.net/

 

@Wendy&Neko . She is on .5 ml. once a day. The bottle says 2mg/ml Susp 15 ml fish. Yes on the group; I have joined on Facebook.
She barely slept for the first couple day, better today. I’m hoping she’ll adjust with time but I’m going to call my vet tomorrow. Did Neko have to stay on the budesonide for the rest of time? Thank you for replying!!

 

Yes, Neko stayed on budesonide the rest of her life. We weren't sure if she had IBD or small cell lymphoma. You have to do a endoscopy or surgical biopsy for a definitive diagnosis, and her heart couldn't have anesthesia at that point. Her heart also couldn't have prednisolone, hence the budesonide. It might have taken her a few days to get used to the med, but she also started some heart meds at the same time.

Sounds like 1 mg of budesonide a day is your dose, I think we went down to 0.75. The compounded liquid makes that easy to do.

 

I have read about the possibility of small cell lymphoma. I will cross that bridge ... for now I’m just wanring to lower her dose. I don’t know how to figure the weight/amt. difference my syringe is 1ml & I’m to give her half .5. So you’re saying she’s on 1 mg. Hmmm, I think we need to start a little lower as she’s still showing eating, not sleeping as much, & she’s very touchy/grouchy. Thanks again Wendy - as always your advice is superb!

 

You're welcome. My girl was a great teacher.

 

I guess I spoke too soon as after an ER visit Wed night my guy is now on Budesonide. He is not agitated at all in fact he is very lethargic. I'm thinking that it is most probably the metronidazole he is also on because one of the side effects is lethargy. It never ends with IBD kitties. I'm just hoping it doesn't pull him out of his diabetic remission he has been in for a good while. How is your kitty doing now?

 

@Lillie -Oh no! What happened? How is he feeling now?
Well I hate to say but day 7 on budesonide; our OTJ ended. She had been in remission for only 6 weeks approximately. Baby had been on transdermal metronidazole for quite awhile when she was first diagnosed. I can’t say that it helped one bit though.
But by day 3 she was finely getting some much needed sleep & her attitude improved. She still wanted to eat every 3 hours so I cut her back a bit & started giving her Stella & Chewys raw dehydrated chicken crumbled. I have to say her stool is at least 80% better. I called the vet when her bg went up,!asking that maybe I could lower the dose of budesonide but she said not until she’s 100%. So I started back on Lantus .5. I just really hate it for her. She wouldn’t even sleep with me last night. She runs if she hears the test strip bottle open.!She lost her eyes so she has to run slow or she runs into something. It really is all too much sometimes & seems like she can’t catch a break! Let me know how your kit is doing!

 

Oh and @Lillie - are you giving him the S Boulardii probiotic too? A lot of people have great luck with it. Baby will not eat her food with anything different on it. I mix 1/2 capsule with water & syringe it. Just an FYI... i hope your guy stays in remission!

 

Becky, I’m sorry Baby is back on insulin, but I’m glad her stools are improving. Does the vet think she will have to be on the budesonide long term?

 

@Sharon14 - She said that when her stools are at 100% call her back, then we can cut the dosage down a bit. I guess it’s trial & error Sharon. I will push for lowering dose gradually; eventually & see if she all is well. I guess if the poos return... we go back up. Ecid. Im using the metro transdermal but that didn’t really help before. Just using it &!its about gone. I’m also giving her the probiotic (syringe with water) 1/2 cap once a day. And B12 shots each week. E-gads! WE hate medicine!!! Lol
Thank you Sharon - we enjoyed a few weeks of no pokes!

 

I'm so sorry to hear her OTJ ended. Poor girl. Leo just slowly over the summer started a mild IBD flare up which usually ends on its own but it continued with inappetence. I had to switch his food to a single protein limited ingredient turkey but had to do it fast so he ended up with diarrhea and vomiting. Hence the ER visit. Luckily his specialist owns the hospital so she was able to see him the next morning. Time for Budesonide which we had been putting off due to his great success with the duck food but this disease seems to change constantly and in cycles. I do have probiotics and digestive enzymes which I need to start again on him. He never tolerates the metronizadole very well so I think I will be discontinuing it. How did your girl lose her eyes? This must be difficult for you taking care of her. It does all just seem too much sometimes and I broke down in tears in the ER. It was a very hard night in the ER with animals being hit with a car, people bringing their pets in who had to be euthanized, people crying, It just all got to me.
Is there a chance your girl could go into remission again-even though she's on budesonide?

 

It’s very sad & nerve wracking to be in that environment. Every time I try to coax Babybinto a new food I have to start with a tsp. Ornit will cause her to go more!!
Baby had iritis & glaucoma. We fought it with drops until the vet suggested énucléation. It is very painful & unfortunately they cannot stop the progression in cats. She does really well getting around but definitely more afraid & cautious.
You just never know with diabetes. All I can do is treat the persisting issue (diapoo) & if one day she is able to be weened off the steroid; she could go into remission. I just hope so but some cats need a small dose of steroid forever. Good luck with your kit.
Is Leo diabetic? If so you can add your signature at the bottom to tell us about him...

 

Initially I was only on the board for a short time as he went into remission very quickly with prozinc and discontinuing the dry food. He has been in remission for a while. I check in now and then because there is a lot of useful info here for everything. Yes I've heard glaucoma can be very painful for cats so there isn't much choice at some point other than to do the surgery. Poor girl- it's good she has you.

 

Good for you; to be in remission! Congrats! You are right about all types of info. and very smart peeps! I wish you luck with Leo & I hope he’s back to normal soon without adding any steroid! Thank you

 

We did end up putting him on budesonide at the ER hospital so I guess he is now on a corticosteroid. He is already doing better. Even though his IBD is mild the cyclical flare ups reek havoc on his system.
Will need to monitor his BG periodically now and just pray the diabetes doesn't come back.

 

@Lillie - I really did know that as you described her behavior was much like Baby’s! I had a memory lapse, Senior moment! I think I’ve been a little discombobulated since I saw we needed insulin again. Sorry... I sure do hope his bg doesn’t raise! Fingers crossed..

 

It's ok- I've been the same way since I saw the price of the delayed release budesonide- Yikes!! Do you know of a reasonable priced place to order the budesonide? I'm going through Wedgewood Pharmacy and they usually aren't too bad for their pet meds but if it is anything like what the hospital just charged me I'll go broke between Leo's meds and his expensive cat food!

 

@Lillie - My vet ordered through Wedgewood. It is the fish tasting liquid & $45. I was not aware of time released?!? Be sure to ask for the sugar free one. I did not know to do this when it was ordered. But someone mentioned this after I had received mine. I have not asked my vet about this. I will just have to use this until I need more. Could you tell me about the time released?!

 

I usually do order through Wedgewood but Leo's vet won't be calling in the script until Monday which means I won't have enough of what she gave me to get me through until they send it. I have to get more from the vet hospital until then. They charged me $50.00 for 14 pills! I'm guessing vet hospitals mark up meds a lot like regular hospitals do. She only prescribes Budesonide in delayed release capsules because she feels it needs to slowly be released to bathe the whole digestive tract. She put him on .5mg capsules twice a day. I'm hoping the pharmacy price is less than that-

 

@Lillie I know it took a week to receive my bottle... you can look up the cost on the website. I am sure it will be cheaper! I wish Baby would pill easily but she starts backpedaling that tongue the minute it’s touched! It makes sense that a long acting pill would work better! Keep me posted if you can on how Leo is doing. Have a great Sunday.

 

The vet tech at the hospital showed me how to pill a capsule and I had been doing it wrong. I coat it in butter and shoot it with a pill popper straight down the middle of his mouth over the back of the tongue. I have had no problem pilling him since. He swallows it straight down now. I was always going in on the side where his tongue would block the pill.

 

@Lillie... I was shown with pill popper & propping her mouth from the front & placing it on her tongue. Baby’s difficult & I’m not coordinated I guess!!! I would have to do it if there’s no other way. She is a sensitive kit, she’s hiding from me & wont sleep with me since I started her insulin again. I just hate that!

 

Cats are so complicated. So hard to figure them out.