Steroids For Allergies?

[Rainy]

hi guy firstly i need to say im not second guessing my vet im just interestded in others experiances and how you have handeled it.

I have a 6mth old staffy boy and about a week ago he started to try and chew his back "feet" off i was concerned that this was off charater so when i went to the vet to get his stiches out today (was just desexed) i asked about it she offered that it may be an allergy and to start a steroid treatment and see if that makes a differance

written on the bottle is: Macroione tablets 20mg and to take 1/2 tab once a day for 3 days then 1/2 tab every second day

The only time i have heard of steroid use is in humans with some pretty serious side affects what kind of side effects should i look out for and is there any treatments i should try aswell

thanks for your help sera

[Kavik]

Yep Diesel has allergies and is currently on Macrolone

[Cavandra]

Steroids given to growing babies is a big NO NO !!!!

Surely this would be the LAST resort,only for a dire straights situation.

Wash & dry his feet regularly, cut out all grains, cereals,corn, rice, pasta from the diet, if he is on dry food look at the ingredients, if it has any of these things stop feeding it...........

Figure out the cause.

[puggy_puggy]

I would try a human antihistamine first. Claratyne (one tablet a day) works best for my itchie boy if he is bad.

I also would be taking a look at what you are feeding. Do you feed dry food? Many people have found that by switching their dogs diet to either a RAW or BARF diet can eliminate skin problems.

I would only use cortisone as a last resort and then only for very short spells.

[Garloch]

Yep - cortisone in small amounts for a full grown dog. Not in a puppy as a first choice. It can cause Cushings Disease in susceptible dogs.

Google it. I had a susceptible dog. Not a good outcome.

For the itchy feet, simple tinea powder has been known to work wonders.

Polaramine (for humans) also works well. If you give them too much they will be very sleepy.

Maybe you could ask poeple for their suggestions as to dosage. I'm sorry - I don't know.

[Staff'n'Toller]

You could actually go back and ask for some Cortavance Spray, topical cortisone that is much safer and will give you your answer about whether it is allergy based or not.

If they look at you blankly then it might be time for a second opinion.

Mel.

[peigirl]

Steriods should be your absolute last resort after youve looked at diet, environmental factors, shampoos etc. True allergies are also something that are not normally present (though there are exceptions in severe cases) in puppies under 12 months of age, nor are they diagnosed with symptoms that have only been present for a week.

Do a search on this forum for itches and/or allergies, you will find plenty of info.

[Rainy]

Thanks every one iv stoped the sterorids

and have just got a new bag of dry food for him called purina supercoat it has beet pulp and yucca insted of pasta in it i have also found a place that dose roo mince for dogs would this be better for him then canned food?

You could actually go back and ask for some Cortavance Spray, topical cortisone that is much safer and will give you your answer about whether it is allergy based or not.

If they look at you blankly then it might be time for a second opinion.

Mel.

thanks mel im heading in to town monday so i will go ask for the spray insted

[sumosmum]

Hope your dog will be better soon. I also hope that you have got some useful information from searching. Good Luck. I just wanted to say that steroid treatment should NOT just be stopped if it has been started. Steroids need to be gradually cut back and the dog weaned off of them. Suddenly stopping steroids can do more harm than having your dog on them in the first place. You should consult your Vet about ceasing steroids if you intend to stop the course early, or use them differently than the prescribed dose you have been given.

ETA You should consult your Vet about ceasing or changing any medication which has been prescribed. It is very dangerous to muck around with this sort of thing. Especially steroids.

Edited July 10, 2008 by sumosmum

[sas]

My dog has been on a low dose of Cortisone for the last 8 months I think, he got it whilst he was still growing.

It was our absolute last option, we tried everything we could think of.

If I could turn back time, I would have got the allergy blood testing much sooner than we did.

If it's diet, well you can't rule that out for a while yet most likely as it can take 12 weeks for the body to de-tox, food allergies are pretty rare as well.

Could be a simple contact allergy, where washing the feet with malaseb and apply an anti-inflam cream where possible.

The Cortivance Spray is worth a try, still Cortisone but safer and only intended to use for short-term issues, Neocourt cream is also another thing people use short term.

[sas]

Hope your dog will be better soon. I also hope that you have got some useful information from searching. Good Luck. I just wanted to say that steroid treatment should NOT just be stopped if it has been started. Steroids need to be gradually cut back and the dog weaned off of them. Suddenly stopping steroids can do more harm than having your dog on them in the first place. You should consult your Vet about ceasing steroids if you intend to stop the course early, or use them differently than the prescribed dose you have been given.

ETA You should consult your Vet about ceasing or changing any medication which has been prescribed. It is very dangerous to muck around with this sort of thing. Especially steroids.

We haven't had issues with cutting the dogs supply off to cortisone, Vets haven't had any issues with taking dogs off Cortisone.

Cortisone in tablet form is a drug that you can administer as you wish, up the dose when neccessary and lower the dose or cut it off where you can.

I'm not sure what you're referring to when saying it can cause more harm than good, I think you're confusing Cortisone with Crack or something?

[Flaves]

Steroids given to growing babies is a big NO NO !!!!

Surely this would be the LAST resort,only for a dire straights situation.

Wash & dry his feet regularly, cut out all grains, cereals,corn, rice, pasta from the diet, if he is on dry food look at the ingredients, if it has any of these things stop feeding it...........

Figure out the cause.

I agree.

Steroid use in young dogs can cause susceptabilty to picking up other types of infections.

[sas]

I think there needs to be a bit more education here on the use of Cortisone and the fact the Cortisone is usually issued in very low doses where it does not act as an immune supressant.

[SparkyTansy]

I would think that the vet would have offered other solutions to just starting on Cortisone, however I do not think that it is absolutely necessary for him to come off it.... It should be a last resort IF you can see it helps and if you have figured out the root cause. Simply putting them on cortisone without knowing the original problem will only mean it happening again and not knowing what it is from.

Some dogs can usually have cortisone to stop itching and prevent spread of infection to other areas before it becomes infected... perhaps this is what this vet was trying to do but i would have at least looking into what may be causing it first. It can be a number of things, from contact, to inhalant allergy (atopy) to a food allergy. Allergies are so hard to diagnose and sometimes I feel that some vets just don't want to try and they try the easy way out instead.

perhaps if you don't find the root cause yourself (try food eliminating diets, checking bedding, washing powders, your garden etc), you should consult a dermatology specialist vet who sees many varying cases every day and will give you the right direction into diagnosis, THEN options for treatment...

[SparkyTansy]

I also agree with sas, they are given low doses, and if not initially, they are usually worked down to a lower dose. Some dogs who's only way out was cortisone, can be given various supplements such as Omega Oils, which can often stretch the dose out, and sometimes can entirely cut it out in certain seasons...

[sumosmum]

Hope your dog will be better soon. I also hope that you have got some useful information from searching. Good Luck. I just wanted to say that steroid treatment should NOT just be stopped if it has been started. Steroids need to be gradually cut back and the dog weaned off of them. Suddenly stopping steroids can do more harm than having your dog on them in the first place. You should consult your Vet about ceasing steroids if you intend to stop the course early, or use them differently than the prescribed dose you have been given.

ETA You should consult your Vet about ceasing or changing any medication which has been prescribed. It is very dangerous to muck around with this sort of thing. Especially steroids.

We haven't had issues with cutting the dogs supply off to cortisone, Vets haven't had any issues with taking dogs off Cortisone.

Cortisone in tablet form is a drug that you can administer as you wish, up the dose when neccessary and lower the dose or cut it off where you can.

I'm not sure what you're referring to when saying it can cause more harm than good, I think you're confusing Cortisone with Crack or something?

lol, no, not confusing it with crack. I do not know anything about crack.

Steroids should never just be stopped suddenly. The dose should be tapered at the end so that the body's own system can kick back into action naturally. If cortisone is suddenly stopped the effect can be similar to Cushings. When cortisone is taken, the body slows down producing its own form of it and the synthetic takes over doing the job. The body makes its own natural cortisone which is needed for the body to function correctly. By tapering the dose, the body slowly gets back into producing the correct level to function. This will be explained to you by a vet if you ask them. It was explained to me by my vet and by a doctor.

Last paragraph of this link

http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/cd...icosteroids.htm

Last paragraph under dosage, towards the bottom of the page.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...;articleid=1422

If you do not want to go through the heavy reading of this article, go to the bottom of page 6, start of page 7

http://www.utskinvet.org/pdf/Corticosteroids.pdf

Hope that helps.

[Danois]

Angs has been on cortisone since aged 13 months - so 7 months now. He is on a low dose too and I have no other options for him.

From what I had read - cortisone use should be tapered off with a gradual reduction in dose.

[Rainy]

oh crap so is it bad that i stoped the steroids he only had the first 1/2 tablet so only one dose. the only other thing that i can think of that may have triggered it is that the clover in the back yard started to flower recently could this have caused it arrgh im getting confused should i get a second opinion?

once again thanks for the advice everyone

[Staff'n'Toller]

Yes it definitely should be tapered off which I is why I can't stand people who get on here and scare new dog owners because they are scared of the drug themselves.

Very short courses of cortisone do little to no harm, the point is to stop the chewing/scratching cycle and let the area heal for a few days which often clears up the problem.

Food allergies are generally a reaction all over, more often on the trunk, ears and head. Chewing PAWS ONLY is much more likely to be allergy or irritant based reaction and is rarely food related. Some people need to do more reading from peer reviewed dermatological Vet articles before they try to diagnose on here.

Cortavance is a newer and much safer option as it is a topical treatment and does not enter the bloodstream, that said, I wouldn't have issue with using a weeks' worth of macrolone on any of my dogs.

Mel.

ETA: Keep going with whatever your Vet has prescribed, and mow the clover, you might find that solves the problem.

Edited July 10, 2008 by Staff'n'Toller

[sumosmum]

Steroids given to growing babies is a big NO NO !!!!

Surely this would be the LAST resort,only for a dire straights situation.

Wash & dry his feet regularly, cut out all grains, cereals,corn, rice, pasta from the diet, if he is on dry food look at the ingredients, if it has any of these things stop feeding it...........

Figure out the cause.

I agree.

Steroid use in young dogs can cause susceptabilty to picking up other types of infections.

I also agree, I would not be trying steroids first, especially in a young dog. The above is very good advice.

My previous comments were regarding the stopping of medication suddenly mid-course.

I think cortisone is useful to get a condition under control if it is for example a raging skin complaint, but other options are always good to try. I do not think cortisone really cures anything, but it relieves symptoms, reduces inflammation and gives some relief with discomfort while it is working.