Anyone have a dog on prednisone - long term usage?

[Pea-n-Me]

It would be helpful to know more specifically what exactly the problems are and what you've tried. I take it you have a 5 yr old Lab (from your avatar)?

Dogs take lots of things long term. I did a quick search around and it seems that long term use of prednisone in dogs isn't uncommon for many conditions.

I would second the suggestion of seeing a holistic vet as a second opinion. I take it you've tried different foods and baths and such. I know that some skin conditions can be autoimmune in nature and that immunosuppresion is necessary to keep them in check. There are some alternative medications that can work but cost is generally prohibitive (since they are extremely expensive), whereas prednisone is fairly cheap, which is why it's often used.

I think if it's very low dose, it works, and your dog seems to have no ill effects from it, it will probably be fine. I'm sure your vet will monitor his condition and if there's a way to get him off it, he will. I'd still keep trying myself to figure out a solution as well.

 

[kerstfan1]

my dog also has skin troubles and itching my vet would not want him on pred for long times due to troubles it can give for his organs he is now on atopica which is also not good but better then pred

 

[maxiesmom]

I thought I would share with you all that I now have another dog on Prednisone. My Lab Emma has become anemic, and pred is used to help her blood cells regenerate. When this all started she was on 2 pills a day, and right now we have her down to 1 pill a day.

My vet said that Prednisone is the absolute best choice to help manage Emma's anemia. Along with another drug that they usually give chemo patients. But he does have us doing frequent blood checks, so hopefully we can keep her anemia under control without too many side effects.

 

[usnuzuloose]

My little one was having so many problems, he was on it for a week, but I cant afford it. He is on beadryl, 3 times a day. I also changed the dog food, which is a one carb, and one protien. His skin is improved 99 percent, and no longer itches like he used to. He has an occasional sneezing. I just had to experimanet

 

[Valley Twin]

Puppyupolis Nutt (PNutt for short), our coonhound-sheltie-shepard-border collie mix has been on 5 mg pred every other day for 3 of his 6 years now. He has some mild discoid lupus on his nose and it's the only thing that keeps it in check. No major side effects so far. You can see him coming down off of it on the "off" days, but nothing major and it's the only treatment we've been able to find that keeps the condition from worsening.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

My terrier (just turned 16!) has always had allergies. We identified her food allergies early on (now eats grain-free food) but she also had allergies to grass and pollen and mold. Last year she was so very itchy from spring until winter and the vet put her on prednisone. It was awful for her! She was lethargic and wouldn't eat anything! We finally put her on Atopica (cyclosporin) and it was amazing! Over the winter we got her down to one pill every three days, but now she is taking it daily along with Claritin and she is happy, healthy and itch-free! Expensive but totally worth it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

OK, I didn't realize Atopica was cyclosporine. In human medicine we actually call it cyclosporine! That is the medication/immunosuppressant I was referring to in my earlier post. Does anyone mind sharing how high the cost is for that these days? Because it's generally very expensive. (At one point one of my dogs was going to go on it but it cost $500/month - that was about 10 years ago.) It can also have side effects with long term usage.

 

[kerstfan1]

i pay 75 euro (about 85 to 90 dollars) for 15 tablets which is good for 45 days

 

[kerstfan1]

my vet says the side effects of atopica are better then those of pred so and im glad he is not on pred as he had many side effects which in turn meant i slept very little

 

[Pea-n-Me]

i pay 75 euro (about 85 to 90 dollars) for 15 tablets which is good for 45 days

So you only give one every 3 days? What is the dosage, if you don't mind me asking? That does seem very low dosage depending on the strength. (Many people take several a couple of times a day.)

 

[JessicaR]

Just wanted to say the OP is over a year old.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Just wanted to say the OP is over a year old.

Ah, thanks for pointing that out. I didn't notice.

I wonder how the OP's dog is doing now? Hope for an update!

 

[kerstfan1]

So you only give one every 3 days? What is the dosage, if you don't mind me asking? That does seem very low dosage depending on the strength. (Many people take several a couple of times a day.)

he is on 100 mg but it is mainantance he started with one a day and we went down as we noticed his symptoms went away and we decided that it was best to stay on this dosage to not have them come back because we dont want to hear him scrath his back from 20 meters away and he did it that hard

 

[mamamary]

Ah, thanks for pointing that out. I didn't notice.

I wonder how the OP's dog is doing now? Hope for an update!

Hi. OP here. Baxter is still on pred. - 1/4 pill every other day - so its a very low dose. I could not afford to keep him on Atopica and it wasn't working correctly anyway. Baxter has been excellent except about 3 weeks ago he started in with some hotspots that he hadn't had in months and months. So I'm bringing him into his vet on Wed. to see if he needs an antibiotic. He had been gaining some weight so we've worked on that too and he has lost a nice amount.

Sorry about everyone else's dogs with allergies

 

[mickeysgal]

My dog has food allergies. Licked his one paw raw. Has terrible yeast infections in just one ear. Has been on Atopica and a low dose steroid. So far, it seems to be working. We've had to start him on a food that he's never had before to completely cleanse his system. Duck and Potato from Science is what the vet started him on. No treats of any kind other than the Duck and Potato...none, nada. Makes it sort of hard when the other dogs get treats, my little guy gets a small spoon of the Duck and Potato canned food.

Let me tell you...this has been one expensive treatment overall.

He's 10 and I expect him to be on the steriod the rest of his life. He's that bad with his allergies.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

OK, I didn't realize Atopica was cyclosporine. In human medicine we actually call it cyclosporine! That is the medication/immunosuppressant I was referring to in my earlier post. Does anyone mind sharing how high the cost is for that these days? Because it's generally very expensive. (At one point one of my dogs was going to go on it but it cost $500/month - that was about 10 years ago.) It can also have side effects with long term usage.

Mmmmm, yeah, I may have misspelled cyclosporine!
My dog takes one a day now, and in winter every other day. my vet charges $34 for a box of 15. She gets one a day now/every other day in winter.
Expensive, but we are all happier when fuzz girl is not scratching herself raw.
Even taking added Claritin, she sneezes every time she goes outside!

 

[pitbullmommy]

if you don't mind me asking how much prednisone does baxter take and how often?I have a pitbull that has serious skin allergies and has had to have emergency surgery on an infecrion recently caused by the skin issues or he would have died they gave him 36 hrs to live without that surgery..they changed his food to grain free hypoallergenic and put him on prednisone everyday 10mg...I've skipped a day or two once because I couldnt get to the pharmacy and he went from being itch free to the neurotic chewing and itching again.but I've read all kinds of articles online about the side effects and I reallly am scared of them.he's not even 3yrs old yet and he almost died from a skin infection..prednisone saved his life but it'll possibly shorten it too and I'm stumped.I've read about long term use in dogs most say to to dose him every other day.baxter and bravo(my pitbull) sound like medical twins..he's also been to the vet numerous times for itching and skin sores costing me well over $2000 but he's my baby and he needs to live a comfortable healthy life with his mommy.

 

[mamamary]

if you don't mind me asking how much prednisone does baxter take and how often?I have a pitbull that has serious skin allergies and has had to have emergency surgery on an infecrion recently caused by the skin issues or he would have died they gave him 36 hrs to live without that surgery..they changed his food to grain free hypoallergenic and put him on prednisone everyday 10mg...I've skipped a day or two once because I couldnt get to the pharmacy and he went from being itch free to the neurotic chewing and itching again.but I've read all kinds of articles online about the side effects and I reallly am scared of them.he's not even 3yrs old yet and he almost died from a skin infection..prednisone saved his life but it'll possibly shorten it too and I'm stumped.I've read about long term use in dogs most say to to dose him every other day.baxter and bravo(my pitbull) sound like medical twins..he's also been to the vet numerous times for itching and skin sores costing me well over $2000 but he's my baby and he needs to live a comfortable healthy life with his mommy.

Hi. Baxter's pred. is 20 mg but we had gotten him down to a 1/4 of the pill every other day. He just recently had a relapse on his skin after many months so he is currently on antibiotics and the vet upped his pred. to 1/2 pill every other day. Oh and he just hurt his arm so he is on painkillers and will prob. need to see the vet if he's not improved in a few days. It's always something!