Our cat and his asthma

Question
QUESTION: Hello. We have an orange male tiger cat that has gotten springtime asthma every year since he was around four years old. He is now nine. He only gets the asthma for about a month and half every spring. Our vet has us give him 5 mg of Prednisone once a day for three days and then gradually reducing it. He also takes 50mg of aminophylline twice a day. This morning we gave him his 5mg of pred and his 50mg of amino. He then had his second 50mg of amino this evening. He has been perfect all day up until a couple of hours ago (hence why I'm still awake). He is coughing and coughing. I just gave him a half of a pred, which is 2.5mg. Is this okay to do? I'm very worried that he may require more of the pred than what the vet is telling us to give him. I spoke with the vet tech today about this and she said that he should be given one 5mg pill once a day for three days, then a half for three days, and then a half every other day. This never seems to be enough for him. Any suggestions as to what we should do? I'm so worried about him and I hate hearing him hacking like this. It sounds just terrible! Thanks!

~Allison

ANSWER: Hi Allison,

The dosage for prednisone is very flexible and is basically calculated as needed. Unless your cat is dramatically undersized, he is on a very conservative dose for an asthmatic cat. Most adult cats with asthma will start on 5mg twice a day and begin to taper down after several days. In general, it's best for cats to start with an injection of a steroid to jumpstart the anti-inflammatory effects that the oral medication will continue.

Your cat won't be harmed by taking a tablet twice a day (or one and a half doses a day), as long as he has no other medical problems, like diabetes or cardiac problems. But you should definitely tell your vet that the lower dosage had no effect and you feel a higher dose is necessary. This way, it can be noted in his history, and you won't run out of the medication too soon.

If he doesn't respond to the higher dose, you may want to see about getting him in for the injectable, or discuss a change of medication.

Good luck!
Jessica

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your super fast response, Jessica! I gave him the half of a Pred last night which seemed to do nothing. He had a full 5mg dose this morning and is now fine. So it's okay to give him two 5 mg doses a day, one in the morning and one at night? How long should I keep him on that dosage? When should I begin to reduce it? Even though he has had this springtime asthma every year since he was around four, he NEVER does well with just 5mg a day. He has no other health problems and he is a very large cat that weighs around 12/13lbs, maybe more. I haven't weighed him in a while.

Answer
Yes, my asthmatic cats have normally stayed on 5mg twice a day for at least 5 days. If well-controlled, they then drop down to one tab once a day for five days, and then half a tab for 10 days, and then finish out the month on a half tab every other day schedule. But one of my cats suffered asthma from August through October every year, and she stayed on the higher dose the whole time. It was the only way she could be maintained. Whatever the smallest dose needed for your kitty to be controlled is, that's the right dose for him.