prednisone for my dog

[mangieandmollie]

my 9 year old dog has been on prednisone for 6 weeks for ITP and we are weaning her off now. She is shaking and looks scard is this a side effect

[Mylilchi]

I have an older chihuahua, recently he had a shrieking spell like someone kicked him, the he became scared and shaking and clinging.  Thought it may be neck problems.  Anyway, he was on prednisone, like a half every other day.  Then they increased it to a whole x 2 a day...(1 mg) tabs.  He seems worse, I want to take him off so I going to wean him.  He's also on gepantin.  For pain?  I'm not sure..he doesn't seem to be in pain, just fear.  He will be quietly resting and then he jumps with a squeak and runs to climb me and shakes a lot.  He also has not been sleeping.

[Misfits4Me]

Although Pred has side effects, what you describe sounds more like an allergic reaction to the antibiotic....You need to call your Vet & ask them which they think it is...Please, let us know.....I'm curious, too!!  Karla

[Boliobeagle]

My dog (5 year old beagle) was diagnosed with kennel cough last week. He is taking pretnizone and an antibiotic. I have spent the last 3 nights up with him as he can't seem to get comfortable and is urinating sometimes in his sleep. He also has dropout eyes and the whits are red. He is breathing funny and the tip of his tongue is stuck out. He is coughing very little now but seems to be getting worse in other ways. I am thinking it is the pretnizone, he only has one dose left. I am thinking about not giving him his last dose which is 3 pills or just give him one a day over 3 days. Any one have similar reactions with there pet?

[Boliobeagle]

My dog (5 year old beagle) was diagnosed with kennel cough last week. He is taking pretnizone and an antibiotic. I have spent the last 3 nights up with him as he can't seem to get comfortable and is urinating sometimes in his sleep. He also has dropout eyes and the whits are red. He is breathing funny and the tip of his tongue is stuck out. He is coughing very little now but seems to be getting worse in other ways. I am thinking it is the pretnizone, he only has one dose left. I am thinking about not giving him his last dose which is 3 pills or just give him one a day over 3 days. Any one have similar reactions with there pet?

[DarbiesMom]

I read your post on the "grief and loss" page posted July 8, 2014. I am truly sorry. Your words were lovely & heartbreaking.

I wish you peace and hope pup is healed...

Fondly,
Lynne & Darbie

[DarbiesMom]

I have recently joined discussions on skin allergies as I hope to help others be wary of potential hazards.

My female lab mix ( 8 yrs old and very healthy at that time ) suddenly came down with terrible itching in July 2012. Her ears, belly and genital areas were very red and hot to the touch. At that time, our lawn, as well as nearby neighbors, were recently re-sodded with "great quality sod", but in fact within weeks, there was an influx of mushrooms and mold. The lawns were then "treated" with chemicals" to kill the mold issue which eventually killed the grass, and so on...

I truly felt this was the cause of Darbie's skin inflammation and suffering.

The vet felt otherwise and treated Darbie for "food allergies". She was placed on antihistamines, antibiotic & steroids ( capsules) , plus an RX topical ointment which temporarily soothed her itching. Darbie's diet changed to Hills ZD, which resulted in black, tarry, soft stools and chronic UTI's. I continued to question the environment, but vet said " systemic", so whenever Darbie showed symptoms of itching and misery, they would continue to push steroids and antibiotics. I finally said stop, no more. I researched internet, started bathing her with Malaseb/ Mal-a-ket shampoo and saw a remarkable change. I changed vets.

On advice from the new vet, Darbie got a cranberry supplement to help with her chronic UTI's, baby wipes to clean her "areas" after she did her #'s outdoors and was placed on a new diet as after her blood work, she was diagnosed with Canine Kidney Disease/Failure. She is now looking at stage 4 CKF. Darbie & I are faced with a difficult future.

Please, as Jeff said, find out what the base problem is. Get a second opinion if necessary. I hope you can find answers for your pup in simpler, preventive measures rather than going down the route of excessive steroids, antibiotics and RX diets which may not be for the better. Please exercise all options.

My very best to You & Pup,

Lynne & Darbie

[Jerry_NJ]

Are you working on identifying what stimulates the allergic reaction?  

The ear problem sounds like it might be Yeast, does it smell bad?  Some describe smell is like corn chips - not sure that is a bad smell.

Our Westie usually gets his prednisone via a shot (injection) and the effect is immediate - not more itch.  

We use a dog ear wash to clean his ears (he has little hair in the ears so it is relatively easy to clean) and use a prescription drops.. this is ongoing.

Our dog has never had any withdrawal from prednisone, but as said in recent bouts he has gotten it via an injection.   I guess that wears off/down on its own.

The base problemis finding what causes the skin reaction.  We're not there yet and have explored food protein allergy - nothing, and we feed only on grain for kibble and quality canned foods which have little or no grain content.. still looking.  We may try a blood test to identify allergies.

[HeyBabe1956]

   My dog has been on prednisone for 5 wks. and he eats well but throws up every day, mostly just saliva. He has also been on antibiotics for the same for skin allergy. He licked his penis to the point that it was full of blisters. He has a cone on and it is almost healed but he has black stuff in one ear again even though he is on meds. I t started with his penis, top lip and ears.
Is the throwing up from the meds?

[Angel715]

I have a 9 year old Labrador who is taking Prednisone for Masticatory Muscle Myositis. Is it a little bit of shaking or a lot? Does it happen when she is walking or just when laying down? While my dog was on prednisone I noticed she was shaking while she was laying down and was unresponsive for a couple minutes. After a few minutes she was responding and acting normal. The vet warned us she might have mini seizures and I'm not sure if that's what is was or not. This only happened a few times and it was on the week that she first started taking the steroids.She has now been on steroids as  needed for 5 months and has not had that happen again. I'm not sure if it was caused by the Prednisone or something else.The vet checked her over and said she is okay. You can search online for dog prednisone side effects or call your vet and discuss dosage, side effects, and what the cause might be.

[Margot49]

Definitely can be  a side effect.  Did you Vet suggest you stop the Pred? Did he/she tell you how to gradually reduce the dosage and over what period of time?  If I were you, I'd give your Vet a call to discuss this and determine the best way to reduce the meds.  

[lindapalm]

Years ago we had a dog on Prednisone, and weren't told to slowly wean her off.  She, too, was shaking uncontrollably, and almost bouncing off the walls.  I definately thing its a side effect.  Are you very slowly weaning her off?  Maybe you could go even slower than the vet suggests.