My cat gets depo shots every other month as the only thing that eases
his skin allergy problem.  I haven't heard about what you described as
a possible side effect but anything is possible.  The thing I'm
worried about is diabetes, or his inability to manufacture his own
cortisol (I think that is right, but I can't remember the exact
wording).  Can you keep us posted?

<< HELP! Considering the long-term nature of the Depo-Medrol, and the inability
of vets to understand what is happening, _any_ insight would be greatly
appreciated!

-S >>

Wow, that's strange.  So, none of the vets have a clue?  What are they
suggesting, just wait and see?  My oldest kitty had a reaction to a shot of
depo-medrol about 9 years ago.  He had his because of vomiting also.  A couple
of days later the fur started falling out under one of his eyes so that he
looked like he had mange and he developed this icky looking bloody spot in the
lower part of one of his eyes.  I think he was having some sort of ocular
hemorrhage.  The vet at the time was also stumped.  It did all go away after a
couple of weeks, about the time that the depo-medrol should have been clearing
his system.  I much prefer oral prednisone to depo-medrol because of this
experience.  I would certainly think it's possible that you are correct and it
is a side effect.  Steroids can be wicked and they can be life-saving both.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human."  (Loren Eisely)

I would suggest attempting to get to the root cause of the problem, which
according to your post seems to be vomitting.

What are you feeding him?

Diet can be a surprisingly influential factor in a cat's health, affecting
many things, including vomitting. Dry food, most often fed for the
convenience of the owner, is often a causing factor in ill health of cats. I
have first hand experience with this. I always fed my cat the most premium
dry food I could find. Acne, urinary problems, then 5 months of diarrhea
ensued. After several hundred dollars of vet bills, I decided to educate
myself on various newsgroups and websites. When I switched to a high quality
canned food with lot's of real meat (not by-products) the diarrhea stopped
overnight, no acne, and his coat became remarkably more lusterous and darker
in color. His energy and happiness level became very noticably greater.

Cats need meat, period. Good meat, not by products, not large quantities of
grain. Many cats will seemingly do OK on dry food, but I'd bet anything they
would do noticeably better on a good high quality real meat-rich canned
food. The ultimate diet would probably be a raw meat diet, the domestic
cat's natural species-specific diet.

Bottom line, there is a root cause to your cat's problem. In my experience,
many vets have a proclivity to treat symptoms, therefore bypassing the root
cause. My cat endured round after round of medications to no avail. A good
diet made all the difference.

Hank