pulmicort and Cat-Diseases

Steroids administered PO and intramuscularly are associated with development of congestive heart failure in cats without prior signs of heart disease, but criteria to identify cats at increased risk for steroid-induced heart failure are not established.. Cats administered steroids PO for 5 to 7 days will develop increased N terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentration and heart size.. Ten client-owned cats.. Observational cohort study. Cats intended to initiate at least a 5-day course of steroids administered PO were consecutively recruited.. Steroids administered PO to cats are not associated with differences in absolute concentration of NT-proBNP (baseline: 49 pmol/L [range, 24-1013]; after steroids: 85 pmol/L [range, 46-1367]; P = .23), blood pressure (baseline: 145 mm Hg [range, 116-163]; after steroids: 145 mm Hg [range, 115-230]; P = .94), nor blood glucose concentration (baseline: 125 mg/dL [range, 92-254]; after steroids: 144 mg/dL [range, 114-307]; P = .43), but are associated with increased median left atrial dimension (baseline: 1.26 cm [range, 0.96-2.03; after steroids: 1.38 [range, 1.03-2.20]; P = .02) and mean left ventricular internal diameter (baseline: 1.55 cm [standard deviation-SD, 0.28; after steroids: 1.72 cm [SD, 0.28]; P = .03). Six of 10 (60%) cats had a percentile change in NT-proBNP >60% after steroids, and 3 of 8 (38%) cats with baseline BNP <100 pmol/L had an NT-proBNP >100 pmol/L after steroids.. Increased heart size and percentage change in individual NT-proBNP concentration suggests plasma volume expansion secondary to steroids administered PO in cats. A serial assessment of an individual cat's change in NT-proBNP might be clinically useful for judging risk for volume expansion.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Budesonide; Cat Diseases; Cats; Drug Administration Schedule; Echocardiography; Heart Failure; Prednisolone

To describe the long term use of inhaled budesonide in cats with naturally occurring asthma and chronic bronchitis and to measure its effects.. Owners of 43 cats diagnosed with asthma or chronic bronchitis, which had been prescribed 400 µg of inhaled budesonide twice daily, were contacted and information was retrieved by a questionnaire. Nineteen cats still receiving inhaled budesonide after more than 2 months were re-evaluated clinically and underwent barometric whole body plethysmography and adrenocorticotropic hormone-stimulation testing.. In 20 of the cats, therapy had been withdrawn by the owners. Cats (n=23) still receiving inhaled budesonide improved clinically and 19 cats that were reevaluated had significantly lower basal PENH (P=0·048) and higher PCPenh300 (P=0·049) values than before treatment. Corticosteroid-induced side effects were not observed in any cats but hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression was detected in 3 of 15 cases.. Treatment with inhaled budesonide was well tolerated, resulting in improvement of clinical signs and barometric whole body plethysmography parameters. Although inhaled budesonide therapy was found to cause suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in some cats, no cats showed clinical signs attributable to corticosteroid side effects.

Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Animals; Asthma; Bronchitis; Bronchodilator Agents; Budesonide; Cat Diseases; Cats; Chronic Disease; Female; Male; Plethysmography, Whole Body; Treatment Outcome