Allergy Again?, Are Cortisone shots bad for cats? Options

[Doreen]

A few weeks ago I posted about Mitsi's allergy, red skin which she scratched until bleeding. The skin above her eyes is red again, after a cortisone injection 2 1/2 weeks ago. She hasn't really scratched it too much yet, no blood drawn so far, but I was wondering if cortisone injections are bad for cats... how often can they have them without worrying about them having them too frequently? I know it isn't a good thing for humans ongoing...

I will just let her be if she doesn't draw blood and doesn't appear too stressed, but just in case, I was wondering if another vet trip would be in order.

[Winscar]

No help from me Im afraid Doreen just (IMG:style_emoticons/default/catmagic3.gif) that things settle.

Winnie did have something that looked similiar and he too had injections but it didnt really appear to help. He also would pull literally pull with all his might at his fur. As he aged it got worse that at one stage my beautiful blue Birman boy was just that on the right side but turn left and he was a sphinx!!!!! Only ever did it the once that bad but I decided leave it be. No one could give me an answer or a solution.

[Patricia L]

Lots of people are on cortisone long term for asthma, skin conditions even arthritis. There are some long term side effects, but in small doses most of them are manageable, probably the biggest issue can be the development of diabetes.
Testing the blood and urine regularly for sugar is needed if they are on it long term.
Boy was on small doses for his bowel issues when I first took him in - he was on a reducing dose for almost 3 months...and never had any issues. If it starts getting into years then much more likely to be problems.
I am not sure how often vets use the injections, or if they go onto pills if the problem is longer term.
I'd certainly go back to the vet if the problem starts up again, getting control of it is going be be far easier if it is in the early stages rather than waiting until the condition is severe.

[catsmeow]

Doreen it would be worthwhile chatting to your vet who knows Mitsi and be guided by them. I asked the same question when Dootie got his cortisone shot and he's had a second one since then. He has settled down a lot with his itchies but I am keep an eye on him anyway.

[Doreen]

Thanks Gloria, how long was it between injections for Dootie? I am concerned because it has only been 2 1/2 weeks for Mitsi, and I don't want it to get too bad.

[catsmeow]

Doreen, it was about 18 days. I had to take Dootie back to the vet because he had vomited and vomited the previous night and asked the vet about a top up cortisone shot while I was there.

[charleycat]

I've used this with Lucy and had brilliant results:

Skin Allergy Relief

This is from HAMPL and they have quite a range of remedies if you want to try traditional treatments. They're very good at responding to any queries you may have too.

[aboutTaya]

Taya was on cortisone tablets for almost a couple of months. When she first started showing orijen symptoms she also displayed some hip/leg pain so the cortisone was for that. Unfortunately black saturday happened and our vet lost so much in the fires so where we were going to go back to the vet on Monday we needed to continue treatment for a while longer until our vet was ready to see clients again (we received advice through the vet nurse over the phone but of course until Taya had been physically checked it was safer to keep going with the course of treatment). After seeing the vet we then needed to wean Taya off the cortisone so eventually she was getting half a tablet every third day. All up it took about seven weeks. I can't say whether or not she had any side effects - she had so many other problems going on but her stools and weight gain remained fine during this period (she was also on antibiotics, denosyl and a vitamin/mineral powder). We didn't think Taya would be on the cortisone long term, but because it was about relieving pain and inflammation it was important. I guess maybe discussing whether or not it would be a long term situation, the dosage amount (maybe half a tablet every other day for a month would be a low enough dose to help control the problem) would have to weigh in heavily. Which I guess means a vet trip is in order. I hope this is just a one off thing and Mitsi's skin clears up soon.

[burmeselover]

Long term daily use of cortisone in tablet form can certainly lead to unwanted side effects or health problems. This is why dogs and cats who require long term cortisone use (e.g. to treat auto-immune disorders, severe allergies) must have routine blood tests and health checks to pick up any problems early.
However, single injections of cortisone at fairly infrequent intervals are very low risk for side effects.

Cortisone is actually a normal hormone produced by the adrenal glands in every human, cat and dog. It is used to help treat many different conditions and when used appropriately and the pet's health is monitored correctly, the risks are quite low.

[Doreen]

Thanks everyone, I have started her on Amoxycillin Trihydrate ointment, her eye is just about swollen shut. The vet said to give it a go for a few days instead of another injection at this stage. If that doesn't work I will give the holistic site a call, thanks Jen. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/flowers.gif)

[aboutTaya]

Oh the poor dear! Sending some (IMG:style_emoticons/default/catmagic3.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/catmagic3.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/catmagic3.gif) for Mitsi and hoping this does the trick to clear her eye.

By the way Doreen did you see the topic in the cat news section about how to walk your cat...I think Harley would approve.