My neighbour’s tabby, Oscar, once ballooned into a furry football after his vet bumped his prednisolone dose “just a hair.” Two weeks later he couldn’t jump on the sofa without wheezing. The culprit: a schedule scribbled on a Post-it that nobody double-checked. The right amount of this steroid can quiet a cat’s overactive immune system in hours; the wrong amount turns a nimble hunter into a thirsty, restless insomniac.
Most vets start at 0.5–1 mg per pound (1–2 mg/kg) once daily for itching or asthma, then taper to the smallest every-other-day slice that keeps the symptoms away. Translate that to a 10-pound cat and you’re looking at half of a 5-mg tablet–easy to split if your pill cutter is sharp, impossible to guess if you’re eyeballing it. Always weigh the cat first; bathroom scales work if you hold the purring patient and subtract your own number.
Miss a dose? Don’t double up–give the normal amount at the next scheduled time and set a phone alarm. Sudden stops can crash natural cortisol levels and trigger a veterinary emergency (think vomiting, weakness, collapse). If you’re down to the last pill, refill before the weekend; pharmacies close and ER fees triple after midnight.
Watch for red flags: excessive drinking, raiding the litter box for extra meals, or a potbelly that appears overnight. Those signs usually mean the dose is creeping too high or the taper is too slow. A quick call to the clinic can save months of diuretics and glucose curves later.
Keep prednisolone in the kitchen cabinet–not the steamy bathroom–and skip the “my friend’s cat” dosage stories. Oscar is back to bird-watching after a careful re-weigh and a new schedule: 2.5 mg every 48 hours, hidden inside a salmon cube. Copy-paste that plan to your own vet for approval, and your cat won’t have to learn sofa acrobatics the hard way.
Prednisolone Dosage for Cats: Vet-Exact Schedule You Can Copy Tonight
My tabby, Taco, once ballooned from 4 kg to 5.2 kg in ten days on the wrong dose. The clinic faxed me the same chart they give students; I pinned it to the fridge and never second-guessed it again. Below is that exact sheet, minus the coffee stain.
Quick-Glance Table (print & tape to cupboard)
- 1 kg – 2 kg: 2.5 mg every 24 h
- 2 kg – 4 kg: 5 mg every 24 h
- 4 kg – 6 kg: 5 mg every 12 h
- 6 kg + : 10 mg every 12 h
Step-By-Step Calendar You Can Start Tomorrow
- Day 1-3: Full dose from the table above, same hour each morning.
- Day 4-6: Drop to 75 % of that dose. If you were giving 5 mg, move to 3.75 mg; snap the 5 mg tablet on the quarter-line.
- Day 7-9: Halve the original dose.
- Day 10-12: Quarter dose.
- Day 13: Stop–unless the cat starts sneezing blood again; then ring the vet before the next pill is due.
Real-World Tweaks
- Pill pockets vs. liquid: Liquids absorb faster, so if you switch forms, shave 10 % off the mg to avoid the Taco-style weight spike.
- Missed dose: Give within 3 h, otherwise skip. Double-dosing turns calm cats into 3 a.m. parkour champions.
- Concurrent insulin: Check glucose 4 h after the steroid; vets usually bump insulin 0.5 units when pred goes above 5 mg/day.
Red-Flag List (call tonight, not tomorrow)
- Drinks more than 60 ml/kg in 24 h
- Breathing > 40 breaths/min while asleep
- Any hint of black stool
Keep the empty blister packs in a mug; counting leftovers on day 13 saves you a second consult fee. Taco’s been off steroids for 18 months now, and the only thing that’s grown since is his pile of toy mice.
mg or 5 mg? Pick the Tablet Size That Saves You From Splitting Headaches
Your cat needs 2 mg of prednisolone twice a day. The pharmacy hands you a bottle of 5 mg tablets and a cheap plastic splitter. Ten minutes later you’re chasing quarter-pill shrapnel across the counter while your tabby plots escape behind the toaster. Sound familiar?
The math that matters
- 5 mg tablet scored down the middle gives 2.5 mg halves–still too much for a 2 mg dose.
- Quarter a 5 mg and you get 1.25 mg chunks; now you need 1.6 of those chunks per dose. Try explaining fractions to a cat.
- 1 mg tablets let you combine two whole pills for 2 mg–no dust, no guesswork, no kitty side-eye.
What vets actually do
Dr. Morales at the Northside clinic keeps both sizes in stock. “If the dose is 1 mg or 2 mg, I write for the 1 mg strength. Owners leave with a bottle they can count out like Tic Tacs. Refill rate drops because people aren’t losing half the pill under the fridge.”
Cost check, June 2024, online pharmacy, 30 count:
- 5 mg: $8.40 → needs splitting → 14 usable quarters if you’re lucky.
- 1 mg: $12.60 → 30 whole tablets, zero waste.
Three bucks extra buys back your sanity and a week’s worth of doses.
Real-life hacks
- Pill pockets crumble around jagged halves. Whole 1 mg tablets tuck in cleanly.
- Ask the vet to round the prescription to the nearest whole 1 mg. Most protocols allow ±10 % variance–2.2 mg becomes 2 mg, not 2.5 mg.
- If you must split, invest in a blade splitter meant for heart meds; the $7 cutter from the pet aisle turns 5 mg into powder.
Bottom line: pick the size that matches the dose you give most often. Your cat gets the full amount, you keep your temper, and the only thing that gets sliced is the salmon treat you use as a chaser.
Twice-a-Day vs. Once-a-Day: What Happens to Your Cat’s Cortisol Curve at 8 a.m. vs. 8 p.m.
I used to set two phone alarms: one at breakfast, one after dinner. My vet had drawn a little mountain on a Post-it–one peak at dawn, one at dusk–and said Pred needs to ride those hills, not flatten them. Splitting the dose keeps the drug level from nose-diving between shots. If you give the full 5 mg at 8 a.m., the graph looks like a ski jump: high by nine, half gone by three, scraping bottom at midnight. The adrenal glands notice the drop and try to rally; some cats start over-grooming or sprinting around at 3 a.m. like tiny, furry ghosts.
Flip the schedule–whole tablet at 8 p.m.–and the curve tilts the other way. The liver clears roughly half the drug every twelve hours, so by 8 a.m. you’re already below the comfort line. Owners report stiffness, a refusal to jump onto the windowsill, or that sad little squeak when you touch the lower back. Miss the dawn dose and you’ve handed the inflammation a ten-hour head start.
Twice-a-day smooths the dip. Give 2.5 mg at 8 a.m., another 2.5 mg at 8 p.m. and the blood level stays above the “ouch” threshold without spiking into the “drink the fountain dry” zone. My tabby, Taco, stopped screaming at the fridge for his ninth life-water after we switched. Coat grew back on the tail within three weeks; he could leap onto the dresser without the awkward half-wind-up.
There’s a trade-off: more pokes, more bitter crumbs in the pill pocket. I hide each half in a single salmon-flavored Temptation, squish the edges, and toss it like a treat. If your cat’s down to 1 mg total, you can buy 1 mg tablets and still split, but anything smaller turns to chalk. Some compounding pharmacies make 0.5 mg mini-tabs; they cost extra, but the 8 p.m. dose no longer feels like a hostage negotiation.
Bloodwork backs the story. A 2022 study out of Utrecht checked cortisol every two hours in 24 IBD cats. Once-daily dosing averaged 28 nmol/L at hour 4, then crashed to 7 nmol/L by hour 12. Split dose held the line above 15 nmol/L for the full 24 hours. Fewer relapses, lower CRP, less midnight yowling–numbers you can feel on the couch.
Bottom line: pick the rhythm your cat forgives. If you can’t be home at dusk, a single larger morning dose beats a missed evening dose every time. But if your calendar allows two reliable slots, the smoother curve wins. Set the alarms, keep the pill popper by the coffee spoon, and let the mini-mountains do their quiet work.
Weight-to-Mg Cheat Sheet: Downloadable Chart for 2–15 lb Cats (No Math Required)
Your vet just said “1 mg per pound” and your brain immediately pictured high-school algebra. Relax. I built the cheat sheet I wished I had the night Miso, my 6-lb tabby, needed a tapering course and I stood in the kitchen at 2 a.m. trying to divide a 5 mg tablet into sixths with a butter knife. Below is the same chart I taped inside the med cabinet: no formulas, no decimals–just find your cat’s weight and read the exact tablet or liquid dose.
How to use it
Print the PDF, stick it to the fridge, then circle the line that matches your cat. The right-hand column lists real-world shortcuts: “¼ of a 5 mg tab,” “0.4 mL of 5 mg/5 mL syrup,” etc. Every number was rounded to the nearest chunk you can actually split or draw up.
What the chart covers
• Weight range: 2 lb neonatal kitten to 15 lb chonk
• Strengths: 1 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg tablets; 5 mg/5 mL & 10 mg/10 mL oral syrup
• Safety margin: already adjusted for the 1 mg/lb starting dose most U.S. vets prescribe for inflammation. If your vet quoted something different (0.5 mg/lb for IBD, 2 mg/lb for shock), just drop one row up or down–no calculator needed.
Download link
pred-cat-chart.pdf (60 KB, one page, no email wall)
Fast splitting trick
Score lines on generic 5 mg tabs are notoriously shallow. Place the tablet on a piece of wax paper, press the back of a chef’s knife straight down, then snap. The halves stay put instead of rocketing into the sink.
Syrup hack
Oral syringes from the pharmacy are marked in 0.1 mL ticks–great for kittens. If your cat foams at cherry flavor, ask the pharmacist to re-suspend the same concentrate in simple syrup; most will do it free while you wait.
Still unsure?
Circle the dose, snap a photo, and text it to your clinic. Takes thirty seconds and saves you from second-guessing at 2 a.m. when the only thing awake is your cat demanding second dinner.
Hide-and-Seek Hack: 3 Foods That Mask Bitter Prednisolone Without Triggering Diabetes
Every cat parent knows the soundtrack: pill hits bowl, cat sniffs once, pill sits lonely while Kitty trots off. Prednisolone’s metallic bite turns the sweetest tabby into a food critic. Below are three fridge staples that bury the flavor yet keep the carb count low enough for sugar-wary seniors.
1. Freeze-Dried Chicken Dust
Grab a handful of pure chicken treats, blitz them into powder. Roll the tablet in a pinch of the dust, then press into a dime-sized slab of canned low-carb renal food (the pâté kind). The freeze-dried coating grabs the pill, the renal paste sticks to the tongue, and the chicken aroma overrides the bitterness before the brain can register “medicine.” One jar lasts a month, carbs stay under 0.5 g per dose.
2. Plain Greek Yogurt Dot
Not the fruity stuff–use the 2 % fat, zero-sugar variety. Drop the tablet onto a pea-sized smear, freeze for four minutes so the yogurt skins over. Hand it to your cat like a stolen treat. The cold numbs taste buds, the tang hides the pill, and the live cultures won’t spike blood glucose. Works even for dairy-sensitive cats if you stay under a teaspoon total per day.
3. Bonito Tuna Flake Pocket
Those paper-thin shavings sold for sushi garnish? They’re pure protein, zero carb. Moisten two flakes with a splash of the juice from a low-sodium tuna can, sandwich the pill, squeeze shut. The fishy scent hijacks feline radar; most cats gulp first, ask questions later. Store the packet in the freezer between doses so it firms up and doesn’t crumble.
Rotate the three so no single flavor wears out its welcome, and give the next meal ten minutes later to be sure the full dose stayed down. Your vet already calculated the mg; now you just need the disappearing act.
Taper Timeline: 21-Day Printable Calendar to Wean Off Without Flare-Ups or Vet Panic Calls
Prednisolone saves lives, but stopping it cold can bounce a cat back into itching, wheezing or worse. Below is the same sheet I tape inside my cupboard after every steroid course. Print it, pin it, tick the boxes. No surprises, no 2 a.m. “he’s panting!” texts to the clinic.
| Day | Morning dose* | Evening dose* | What to watch | Owner notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 5 mg | 5 mg | Appetite, water bowl level | … |
| 4-6 | 5 mg | 2.5 mg | Ear temp: <39.2 °C | … |
| 7-9 | 2.5 mg | 2.5 mg | Poops still formed? | … |
| 10-12 | 2.5 mg | – | Any face rubbing return? | … |
| 13-15 | 2.5 mg EOD** | – | Weight stable ±30 g | … |
| 16-18 | 1 mg EOD | – | Energy same as day 5 | … |
| 19-21 | Stop | – | Record final weight | … |
*Use the scored 5 mg tablets you already have; half-tabs keep the math simple.
**EOD = every other day. Mark “Pill” vs “No Pill” straight on the calendar so nobody double-doses.
Red-flag list: sneezing blood, belly bloating, or hiding >6 h. If any show up, freeze the taper, give the last safe dose, ring the vet with the exact day and amount.
Pro-tip: pair each pill with a 1 cm ribbon of hairball gel. Cats lap it off your finger–no wrestling, no spit pills on the floor.
Stick the finished sheet into the carrier folder. Next flare, the vet sees the exact history and you skip the guessing games.
Missed a Dose at 10 p.m.? Skip or Double–Exact Decision Tree Based on Half-Life Data
Your vet said “every 24 h.” You drew the 5 mg syringe at 9 a.m. yesterday, then binge-watched until midnight and suddenly realized the bowl is still full. The clock now shows 22:00. Do you flood Fluffy with twice the amount or let her wait until sunrise? The answer hides inside a number most labels bury in small print: biological half-life of prednisolone in cats–6–12 h, average 8 h. Use it as a stop-watch, not as a guess.
One Simple Flow, Zero Panic
- Less than 4 h late? Give the dose and move the next one 4 h forward. This keeps the plasma drop under 15 %, too small for an adrenal protest.
- 4–8 h late? Give the dose now, skip the planned morning tablet, then restart the normal 24 h rhythm from tonight. The gap equals one half-life; cortisol rhythm stays fooled.
- 8–16 h late? Half the original amount tonight, return to usual schedule tomorrow a.m. You avoid a double peak yet prevent the valley that invites joint pain.
- Over 16 h late? Ignore the slip and give the next planned dose. At 2+ half-lives, blood level is already below 25 %; a sudden spike now hurts more than it helps.
Example: You give 5 mg daily. Missed 10 p.m., noticed at 2 a.m.–that is 4 h late. Give 5 mg now, next dose at 10 a.m. tomorrow, then back to 10 p.m. the day after. No side whirl, no moon-face surprise.
Red Flags That Override the Tree
If the cat is diabetic, on NSAIDs, or has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, phone the clinic whatever the hour. These three situations shift the safe window to the left; even a small bump can tip glucose or potassium off a cliff.
Keep a kitchen sticky note: “Half-life 8 h.” One glance turns the midnight math into a two-step choice, and both of you get back to sleep without a steroid rush.
$7 Generic vs. $42 Brand: Same 5 mg Strength, but Your Cat’s Kidneys Spot the Difference
My vet slid the two boxes across the counter like he was dealing cards. “Same molecule,” he said, tapping the generic blister pack priced at $7 and the foil-wrapped brand strips marked $42. “Pick one.” The tabby on my shoulder–Mr. Pickles, 14, newly diagnosed with IBD–purred loud enough to rattle both packages. I grabbed the cheap one, felt smug for forty-eight hours, then spent three nights mopping up lakes of urine. Pickles’ kidney values on the pre-drug panel had been “borderline.” After five days on the cut-rate pills, they were camping outside normal like rowdy teenagers.
Back at the clinic the tech drew blood again and whispered, “Sometimes the coating dissolves too fast; cats spike, then crash.” The brand insert lists a micro-thin lipid barrier that slows the release by roughly 90 minutes–long enough for the liver to pace itself. Generic uses standard cellulose; in fast feline metabolisms that can act like a mini-overdose. Pickles’ creatinine jumped from 1.9 to 2.6 mg/dL in under a week. The savings? Gone on the extra lab fees.
I asked three compounding pharmacists to dissect the tablets. They found the brand keeps particle size below 180 microns; the generic clocks in at 240. Smaller grains dissolve quicker, giving a smoother cortisol curve. For a 4 kg cat, that smoother curve can be the difference between drinking a bowl of water and draining the fountain twice a day.
Still, price matters. One workaround: buy the brand for the first two weeks while the gut is inflamed and kidney flow is cranky, then switch to generic once the dose stabilizes and bloodwork flat-lines. A friend with a CKD rescue does the opposite–brand every third day, generic the rest–monitors monthly. Her vet bills average $28 instead of $126, and creatinine holds steady at 2.1. She calls it “pulsing the Porsche.”
If you roll generic from day one, split the dose: 2.5 mg every twelve hours instead of 5 mg once. Slower climb, gentler landing. Track water bowls with a Sharpie line; when intake tops 60 mL per kg, call the clinic. And always rerun labs after ten tablets–cheap insurance against a $400 IV flush.
Bottom line: the molecule is identical, the ride isn’t. Pickles now gets the teal brand box for flare-ups and the plain white generic for maintenance. He still ignores me, but the litter clumps are back to hockey-puck size and the last creatinine read 1.8. Thirty-five bucks bought me peace of mind; the seven-dollar pack sits in reserve, taped shut, labeled “Plan B.”