Prednisone

[Pudel]

Our GP once told my mother that cortisone was a really good drug, with a bad reputation. Yes it has side effects, and if you don't need to be on it you wouldn't be, but is you need to be on it, it makes a huge difference to quality of life and in some cases life expectancy. I have been on pred forte eye drops on and off (I self dose as required under medical orders) since 1995. It will probably cause glaucoma and cataracts, but I was blind (legally) so blindness in the future is a small price to pay for being able to see now.

Good luck, I hope it does not become necesssary, but if it does, at least know that this is one drug that the benefits outweigh the negative side effects in the majority of cases.

[kiesha09]

I've been to the vet tonight and feel much better about things. He will go onto 5mg twice a day for three days with the view of reducing the dose from there. Hopefully we'll be able to slowly reduce it to a 1/4 tablet every two days.

He starts on Thurs (after the previcox is out of his system) so hopefully it works and it goes to plan!

[kiesha09]

I've been to the vet tonight and feel much better about things. He will go onto 5mg twice a day for three days with the view of reducing the dose from there. Hopefully we'll be able to slowly reduce it to a 1/4 tablet every two days.

He starts on Thurs (after the previcox is out of his system) so hopefully it works and it goes to plan!

[sas]

No experience with dogs but I'm a paediatric nurse and give it to the kids at work with asthma etc. Just remember pretty much every single drug has possible side effects and especially when not used correctly. The drug company needs to tell you these for legal reasons but I doubt it's ever stopped anyone who needs it from using it. Anyway sorry, not very helpful but I have never seen a child have adverse effects from prednisolone (that's the name we use) :-) Good luck

No experience either with dogs but I use it for myself as I have severe osteo and rhumatoid arthritis in pretty much every joint in my body from my jaw to my toes.I have been on it a long time and yes it has some side effects but so far I've been lucky.It has given me a new life free from pain,so if it can do that for my dog I would use it.

My 4.5 year old Dane has Osteo and Cortisone is a life save for this as well as the primary problem of skin allergies as to why he's on it in the first place. He needs a dose of Tramal that exceeds the highest dose reccomended to control his Osteo discomfort so the Costisone definately helps us there!

[OSoSwift]

Yep we use Pred and Tramal as the NSAID's don't go anywhere near reducing pain!

Although when he is on Pred it is a rare occassion we need to dose him with tramal.

[Perry's Mum]

I have used Prednisone for myself rather than my dog and it was fantastic for the relief of arthritic pain - I had not realised how much pain I lived with until I took that for a while - made life much pleasanter.

[Vehs]

D was on pred for about 2 weeks - he was a completely different dog, very subdued and miserable - he would barely even wag his tail when I got home , a minor side effect was increased thirst.

Luckily he was only on the pred while he was being diagnosed and there was different medication that was considered more successful for his condition than the pred (and a lot costlier!)

[Rappie]

I've been to the vet tonight and feel much better about things. He will go onto 5mg twice a day for three days with the view of reducing the dose from there. Hopefully we'll be able to slowly reduce it to a 1/4 tablet every two days.

He starts on Thurs (after the previcox is out of his system) so hopefully it works and it goes to plan!

Is dosing scheme from the specialist or your regular vet?

As someone else said, prednisolone is a very good drug with a bad reputation. It does it's job well, but is frequently used inappropriately. All drugs have potential side effects, however the long term side effects of steroid administration as generally seen with very long term treatment and/or at high doses. For skin conditions or acute inflammatory conditions, short reducing courses are indicated (initial dose for 3-5 days, then reducing over 1-2 weeks). For most immune mediated diseases though, a long reducing course is indicated, often a minimum of 8-12 weeks. I started my own dog on prednisolone for inflammatory polyarthropathy in March with a dose reduction every 2-3 weeks - he's only been on an alternate day dose for the last 2 weeks.

[SmoothieGirl]

Bronte was on it on and off to control her skin barrier dysfunction until the dermatologist found a better way to manage them. With out it she was very uncomfortable and really wasn't enjoying just being a young dog. She's now on a relatively safe drug, but still has 6 monthly bloods to monitor the side effects.

Her appetite was significantly increased on it. My best advice is change the diet to a leanish diet. Maybe move to roo or venison (bit pricey) if you feed meat and bone and find a low cal dry food if you feed that. That way you may be able to feed a little tiny bit more food to help with the hungers, but still maintain a healthy weight for the dog.

Good luck, I hope things improve for your lovely pooch.

[JackieW]

Jamie was on it to raise his BG (he had insulinoma - is this what your ferret has, Amstaff Ambition?). He was on it for 14 months, as low a dose as I could make it but towards the end he was getting nasty skin problems from it, plus rear end weakness. He probably would have been getting that at his age anyway but my vet thought the Pred was making it worse. Then his BG started dropping and we didn't think it was fair to try to raise the Pred when Jamie was already having side effects, plus the vet said more Pred might not necessarily raise the BG anyway, so I had to make the decision to have Jamie pts. RIP gorgeous boy, gone 2 years on 11 June.

[kiesha09]

The dosing scheme was given by my regular vet. Now that he has been diagnosed the specialist recommended that they look after the ongoing management.

We started on Thurs and within a day saw some remarkable differences. Day 3 and I have my normal boy back.

Tomorrow we drop down to 1 tablet a day.

I really haven't noticed any Side effects. He always had a massive appetite and it hasn't become any worse, haven't noticed him drinking or peeing more so that's good news.

[Hunny]

My old staffy, Daisy was on Macralone (cauterzone) from about 10 years old, for about 3 years. She has severe arthritis in her spine, hips and tail and spurs everywhere.

When she started on the tablets, she had a huge appetite and thirst but it settled down when she went to a maintenance dose. It made her like a puppy again and that is when we realised how much pain she was in. The vet said it was our last resort as nothing else had helped.

We had to help her over the rainbow bridge earlier this year, I thought she might have had Cushings but it didn't come up in the blood tests. She did have a big tummy though considering she was hardly eating in the end.

Another product I used towards the end of her time was Technyflex, a NZ green lipped mussel powder. That perked her up for a while as well.