Prednisolone And My 10yo Bitch

[baileyb]

Hi all

I have an unusual problem and am hoping that some light can be shed on it for me.

My 10yo ESS bitch has been an adhoc user of Pred over her lifetime for skin issues and it also helps in the relief of her arthritis.

However, the last time I put her on it, she was incontinent for the whole six nights she was taking it. I spoke to her vet today and she told me that Pred shouldn't have any effect on sleeping patterns nor should it cause any form of incontinence. She stopped being incontinent the night after she completed the course.

I am aware that Pred does cause dogs to comsume more water but this doesn't seem to be the case with Cleo.

Has anyone has this problem or come up with any reason this would be happening?

Looking forward to your comments.

Liz

Edited November 6, 2012 by baileyb

[Mim]

My 13 year old was taking Pred and was urinating all over the place after starting it. We put it down to her degenerative nerve disease as she was losing control of her legs but maybe it was due to the Pred?

Interesting question.

[Cleo's Corgwyn]

My girl has been on pretty heavy doses of pred for an auto-immune disease, and she was certainly drinking very high amounts of water, and had her one and only accident inside while on pred. I took the blame for that, as she was drinking huge amounts, and we weren't used to how much she needed to out, but it was certainly linked to the pred.

[*kirty*]

Yes, my mum's Dalmatian became incontinent while taking pred for an ear infection. The vet didn't believe mum that it could be the tablets and made her get full bloods for her dog, and said it could be kidney failure or cancer!?! A day or so after stopping the pred, no more accidents.

[Aetherglow]

It does make some dogs drink huge amounts, and all the extra fluid needs to come out at some time. My girl did, and the only time she's been on it was when she had an inflamed eye at about 13 months old, so no issues due to age.

[Christina]

Yes it did this to me when I was on it for 5 weeks but not at first. I did manage to get to the toilet though, 22 times one night was so scared of dehydration & horror diagnosis.

After numerous frantic tests which revealed nothing it stopped the instant I came off it.

One tentative explanation was that during this time I never had a twinge of my usual constant backache so it may have froze/blocked some of the nerves that control the bladder.

The usual backache came back instantly too when I stopped them.

An odd experience but no harm done. May be similar for your dog. They can only guess if nothing else shows up to be wrong.

[zeebie]

Not only did my dog become incontinent he commenced passing blood frantic trip to AH vet -> tests for UTI negative but poor little man was very distressed re the frequent painful urination with all the blood in it another injection sedated him and after 48hours the original injection of the steroid had passed so NO MORE EVER cortisone for this dog.

On the topic of the prednisone/cortisone/prednisolone/corticosteriod and any other name it may masquarade under (especially in the vet world), it is a potent anti imflammatory drug settling any tissue inflammation or excessive release of histamine in allergies by reducing the inflammatory response of the specific capillary walls when an allergen is suspected. So basically it is definately targeting smooth muscle which means bladder wall, hence the possibility that if doggie can hold 300mls of urine and wait X number of hours before needing to go, with the dampening down of the sphincter response in the bladder, doggie may find only 100mls and 'gotta go' kicks in, in aging dogs where there is a more likely change happening in this area anyway you get the accidents/dribbles etc. This drug definately triggers a response from the naturally produced cortisol in the adrenal gland, this in turn triggers all the other hormones in the body hence why long term use in humans and dogs can lead to diabetes occuring, it also upsets the balance of salts(blood eletrolytes), and so dogs drink copious amounts and appetites become stimulated so it is a vicious cycle and a drug that should only be used for short term and then only if there is no other alternative.

It also causes bone break down (osteoporosis ) in long term and short term high dose use . In humans it has caused psychotic episodes and in animals some have gone from being loving family pets to aggressive monsters - scary

Edited November 10, 2012 by zeebie

[Greyt]

Like Zeebie says, the side effects can be intense. My mum and my dog were both on huge doses for years. For those two specifically, it had life saving and positive quality of life effects as well as the negative effects. I got used to cleaning up after my dog and the poor thing would sometimes go whilst lying down so she would effectively bathe in her own urine. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fun caring for her but you do what you have to do because they need you. in her older stages, when Sasha was on Pred = full of life and almost like her old self. Not on Pred = lifeless. The choice for me was easy, but understandably, possibly not so easy for others.

Good luck with your dog.