Hi Pam,

Lily Marie (or the Devine Ms L, as she prefers to be called) has been on
Dexamethizone for 4 years.  This was used to treat the asthma and subsequent
Inflammatory Bowel Disease.  The downside to this is that eventually, if the
dosage is high enough, for long enough, the cat has a chance of developing
diabetes, which Lily now has.

The steriods do make them eat a lot at least initially.  Lily kind of looks
like a football with legs.  Lily doesn't seem to eat that much now, but she
does look "fat" and weighs more than I think she normally would.  She was on
Dex and Breathine until we came to Colorado and I took her to CSU in Ft
Collins.  She had become borderline diabetic and CSU tried to give her a
less systemic steriod.  We soon discovered that the Dex was masking severe
arthritis and she had to go back on to a higher dosage of Dex to manage the
arthritis.  She has recently been diagnosed with colitus (also an autoimmune
disease) so we're back up at CSU and they are trying to find some other
medications because they don't want to increase the Dex.

Since we moved to Colorado last year she's had a tough go.  I think the
stress from the trip out and relocating precipitated some of the conditions
which have shown up.  I always knew she didn't feel well sometimes, but was
not in a position to take her to a teaching hospital where they could
thoroughly investigate what was going on, so in one sense the move was good
for her, even though she's had a bit of a tough go.

If you are within a reasonable distance to a vet school, you might consider
making a visit to get a second opinion.  They are up on the latest medicines
and procedures and might have an alternative to steriod use.  It is also
possible to get your cat tested for allergies, which sometimes is the cause
of asthma, perhaps there is an alternative treatment.