Comments on: Prednisolone Use In Dogs & Cats

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 05:09:18 +0000

In reply to Christian. Hi Christian. If the signs were caused by prednisolone, they should go away soon. Otherwise I would be looking for another explanation. Good luck.

By: Christian

Christian — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 21:23:08 +0000

Hello, my dog was recently put on a relatively short course of Temaril-P to help with sinus inflammation. She was taking two doses a day for five days, then tapered to once a day for four days, then every other day until the bottle was gone. All in all, about 2 weeks or so including the tapering off period. On the third day of Temaril-P use, she developed the panting/lip licking/restless symptoms associated with prednisone. These symptoms appeared to be less severe as she tapered off. However, the morning after her final dose, she started panting abnormally. It lasted longer than it usually did and continued for an entire day and a half, with some breaks. I took her to the emergency vet. They said she seemed slightly dehydrated and gave her fluids. The panting stopped and only occurred again once or twice after that. I took her to her normal vet and they could not find anything wrong with her. She has been off of Temaril-P for over a week now and she is still licking her lips a lot and will do the occasional pant. It’s almost as if the side effects never went away. I can’t believe side effects would be this long lasting for such a short time on Temaril-P. Is it normal for a dog to continue to lick her lips and pant after being off of Temaril-P for a week? Have I messed with my dogs hormone levels by doing such a short prednisone treatment?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 21:17:55 +0000

In reply to Sam. Hi Sam. Prednisone is in fact converted to prednisolone in a single step during metabolism and therefore both drugs work the same in the body at the same dose. There is generally no need to taper off prednisolone for courses of less than 10 to 14 days.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 15:46:10 +0000

Do dogs on prednisolone need to be tapered off like prednisone? My 50 lb dog received 20mg for ten days to treat inflammatory response to injections but dis not give tapering off instructions. I recall vet tech saying it wasn’t necessary as with prednisone.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 07:37:07 +0000

In reply to Allan Gilbert. Hi Allan. I have successfully operated on dogs requiring cruciate surgery who are on immunosuppressive medications. The main problems will be the risk of infection and delayed healing. Since GME is such a serious disease, it’s not advisable to take any risks if your vets think the medication is required. Therefore, it comes down to how much of a problem the ruptured cruciate ligament is for your dog. If it is interfering with his quality of life, then personally I would do it but of course I do not have all of the information to make that decision. Good luck.

By: Allan Gilbert

Allan Gilbert — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 05:10:48 +0000

Hi there , I’m in Australia. Currently our JR xchi is on 2.5 mg Pred Monday Wednesday and Friday along with 20 mg Leflunomide to manage mengio encephalitis, exuse my spelling. He has a torn acl in the left leg which is stable and not painful. My question is can he undergo surgery to repair the left rear leg ? He is 11 yo old.

Kind Regards
Allan

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 28 May 2022 21:50:37 +0000

In reply to Marina. Hi Marina. Generally, 4mg/kg is as high as the prednisolone dose ever needs to go, and usually only for short periods of up to one month before tapering. Side effects are pronounced anywhere above 2mg/kg in most dogs. In your case with MMM your vets are acting appropriately for such a serious disease but perhaps it’s now time to investigate a second immunosuppressive drug together with a lower prednisolone dose.

By: Marina

Marina — Sat, 28 May 2022 09:32:08 +0000

In reply to Charles.

What is the highest dose you may use? My Tasha has MMM (masticatory muscle myiositis), autoimmune desease. First therapy started two years ago (she has 10,5 kg), 3mg/kg/day for a week, 2mg/kg/day another week, 1mg/kg/day 4 weeks and then slow weaning, the whole teraphy lasted 7 months. She was great for 16 months without drugs, and then we had relapse, exactly the 2 years after first time . Vet put her on the much higher doses and for a longer period this time, 4mg/kg/day for 17 days, now we are on 3mg/kg/day for 2 weeks, and vet wants us to be on that dose for a 4 weeks!
Tasha lost almost all muscle mass, she is so flabby and weak, her liver findings are not good, hunger is unbearable. But her jaw function is not 100% recovered and we should proceed with high doses.
Do you have experience with MMM and what do you think of dosing so high? Is that professional practice in some cases? What to do to prevent her of that side effects? Thanks in advance,

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 01 May 2022 21:51:38 +0000

In reply to Charles. Hi Charles. GME is extremely serious and often causes early death. Keep in close contact with your vets to find the right dose.

By: Charles

Charles — Sun, 01 May 2022 16:31:03 +0000

Hello doctor. Our 4-year-old have a poo has gme. The neurologist put her on 2.5 mg twice a day and her lethargy and clumsiness went away. The vet reduced the amount to 2.5 mg once a day and the symptoms returned. My question is can we keep her on 2.5 mg twice a day indefinitely or will she eventually suffer from the side effects and shorten her life? Thank you sincerely