Temaril P And Excessive Drinking/urination

[Guest BarneysMom]

I posted a week or so ago about Barney's constant scratching, biting and licking himself and saw our Vet about it on Saturday.

I wanted to get her opinion first before trying Benedryl on him, since he is also hypothyroid.

 

She did a skin test to rule out mites and said that it is probably environmental allergies. She thinks it could be seasonal, and prescribed Temaril P, and explained how it was an antihistamine and low dose steroid (prednisolone) combination. I was a little worried about that, especially since his initial dose seems very high to me: he is getting 8 of those pills a day for five days, then 4 a day for 5 days and then 4 every other day until gone. I was wondering if it was necessary, since he has not actually scratched himself open yet.

She also gave us a special shampoo called Oxydex, and told us to bathe him once a week for at least 4 weeks.

 

Barney was still scratching a couple of hours after his bath and first dose of Temaril - pretty much as usual.

And then I realized he started to drink a lot. We don't have a fully fenced in backyard yet, so Barney has to "tell" us when he has to go out, if it is "unscheduled". He hasnt had to tell us in a very long time, since he got used to his schedule and he is let out about 6 times a day, plus his daily walk.

But now he is at the door at least once every hour when he is active. At night, he can manage 5-6 hours and then has to wake us up. (He can usually hold it up to 9 hours at night.)

 

This is his third day on Temaril. I called the vet and she was surprised that he is reacting to the Temaril so strongly. She said the pred is the reason for his thirst which results into constant urination, but since it is such a low dose, he must be very sensitive towards it. As long as he gets as much water as he needs, it would not be harmful.

 

I was just wondering, did anyone's grey here develop an excessive thirst on Temaril? His scratching actually did get better today, but he is still scratching and biting himself occasionally. Is that normal? I thought it would pretty much stop while he is on the medication at least.

 

Sorry for the long post - any thoughts?

 

Patty

[fritofeet]

I would be very careful with the Temeril since your pup is hypothyroid. I am not a fan of it, as my experience with it and my hound (non grey) was not good, but he was on thyroid meds as well plus had cancer that we didn't know about at the time. It does help some dogs, but I would not be afraid of talking to your vet about it again and asking if you should be seeing more improvements by now. I don't remember a lot of drinking ect, but our dog would let himself out. The biggest for us was the behavioral changes, which were not a good thing. I do remember the first week of the Temeril was the first time he had slept through the night without itching and waking us both up, so I do remember he had fairly immediate relief. Some of the itching and scratching is a behavior thing after awhile, so if your grey has been scratching for awhile this may be the case. It is really important with the prednisone not to stop the drug cold turkey because that can cause problems too.

 

It is a very difficult thing, treating allergies-and sometimes you go with what ever works. Have you started with an elimination diet to see if he has any food allergies? One thing that would help Hogan was bathing, but I always used warm water on the cool side, as too warm water and too much soap can cause dry itchies as well. Usually he would hop in the shower and wait if he was really itchy. I only used soap once a week or so.

 

I hope Barney feels better soon.

[Guest Greensleeves]

I second everything Fritofeet just said!

 

Flint's been on Temaril-P for like 6 years now; he's at the point where he gets one at bedtime, plus hydroxizine in the mornings, and that pretty much keeps his symptoms under control (along with allergy shots, special diet, and frequent baths). Every couple of years or so his symptoms get bad and we have to go back on the loading dose again. The loading dose is ALWAYS bad with side effects (Flint gets *ravenous* and bossy), and I honestly don't notice that the symptoms subside that much faster during those first few days... but overall there's definitely a decline. For Flint, nothing eliminates all his symptoms, but the Temaril got him to stop licking his feet until they were swollen, so we kind of consider it a miracle drug around here.

 

Good luck--I hope you can figure out a dose that works for him!

[Batmom]

My angel Batman took it to relieve symptoms of kennel cough. It did cause excessive drinking/urination for the first couple days; that effect tapered off. Hope it tapers off for your pup, too!

[Guest BarneysMom]

Thank you guys for your replies.

 

Barney is doing a lot better today itch wise, so the Temaril does seem to work well for him now. He is still enormously thirsty and last night only made it 4 hours without having to go outside. I think he is feeling hot too, he is panting heavily sometimes and prefers to sleep on the floor with his head on the linoleum, which is unusual. He will be on half the dose from Friday on, so hopefully things will calm down then.

Hope his thirst will get better in a few days as it did with Batman.

 

I haven't started an elimination diet yet, because I read that only 10% of dog allergies are related to food. Wouldnt he also have diarrhea if it was related to food allergies, or not necessarily?

I have tried to read up on dog allergies, it does seem very difficult to figure out what it could be. I heard that often times the itching will continue once he is off the Temaril.

Guess we will wait and see how Barney is doing in a few weeks.

 

Greensleeves, does Flint take one tablet of Temaril once a day?

 

Patty

 

 

[Batmom]

Food intolerance usually manifests as gas and/or diarrhea, but food (or other) allergy is more likely to manifest as itchies . Spring and fall are big environmental allergy times due to lots of pollens and molds about. Hopefully that's all that's going on with your pup -- fingers crossed.

[fritofeet]

You would be amazed at how many dogs have food allergies. I think the 10% is a little off.

Most dogs that have inhalant allergies have food allergies and vice versa. Like Batmom said, intolerances are generally gas, loose stool and digestive upset where allergies are itching and sometimes hives/rash. The general rule of thumb is face rubbing/itchy eyes is usually environmental and food is usually legs, feet, and bum. Skin reactions can either be food or contact but either way it is uncomfortable.

 

Blood testing for a dog that has allergies can be a good place to start but isn't 100% accurate, especially if the dog is in an allergy/histamine response episode, as the results can have a lot of false positives-but for us it was an invaluable tool to help get started on the elimination diet. The boys wouldn't believe what he couldn't have until they saw it on paper.

[Guest Greensleeves]

Yes, again: ditto everything Fritofeet said!

 

The only thing I have to add about the blood test is that they have to be off ALL allergy meds for like six weeks--which is agonizing. We had Flint get re-tested last spring since it had been about 5 years since he started his allergy shots (the allergy shot formula is based on the blood test results), and then they lost his blood! Happily, they found it after a few days, because I was not going to keep him off his meds for another month or more! The nice thing about doing the bloodwork is that you get a personalized allergy profile that lists commercial foods that don't contain the allergens. I know that it's not 100% accurate, but it's a lot faster and easier than an elimination diet (particularly in a multi-dog household where it's hard to do different foods for everyone.).

 

Greensleeves, does Flint take one tablet of Temaril once a day?

Yes, that's right. We had to do the loading dose last spring after he'd been off it for 6 weeks (or however long it was), but normally he's on a single tablet at bedtime. We used to give it in the morning, but switched for some reason that I can't remember right now (it had to do with one of the medicines working better in the morning or at night, but I can't remember which or why!).

[Guest BarneysMom]

Thanks again guys! If Barney is still itching when he is off Temaril, I will ask the vet about allergy testing.

Fritofeet, he does both the face rubbing and paw licking... so he could have food allergies as well.

 

Barney peed in the house twice in a row today. He is usually perfectly housetrained. Today is his last day on the full load though. From tomorrow on he will only get half the dose for 5 days. Hopefully his thirst/peeing issue will get better.

 

Thanks again for your posts, they are all very helpful!

 

Patty

[Guest Greensleeves]

It should--I forgot to mention that Flint pees like a racehorse when he's on the loading dose.

 

I also wanted to mention that the panting is just another side effect from the steroid. You mentioned it in your first post, and I saw it--and it slipped my mind. Whistler panted all the time when he was on prednisone. All of this should subside when you get to the normal dose--but if it doesn't, there are some dogs that just can't tolerate the steroids. Fortunately, battling allergies takes a multi-pronged attack, and steroids are just one prong of that.

[Guest BarneysMom]

Thanks Stephanie!

 

Barney's drinking & peeing got better instantly after one day. He still drinks a lot and has to go out more often than usual, but I am just glad to see that it improved. We will see how his allergies will be while we are weaning him off the Temaril.

 

Sometimes I wonder if we were just overreacting to his scratching and licking. In most allergy threads here, people were saying how their dogs were scratching themselves bloody and licking their feet until they are all swollen and sore. Barney is definitely itchy, but it apparently wasn't that bad. If he is still itching after the Temaril is over, I will definitely ask the vet if there is any milder allergy medication he can take. And try to find out what the allergen is.

 

Patty

 

 

 

[galgrey]

When it was prescribed for my Keno, he drank a lot of water and would sometimes have accidents in the house. Polydipsia and polyuria are just two of many common corticosteriod related side effects.

Edited April 18, 2009 by galgrey

[Fordelilah3]

Hi... I'm going through something with my little girl yorky. She's 3 years old her name is delilah.. She's 6 pounds. The vet put her on temaril p because she has congestion. Half tablet 2 times per day. Immediately I noticed increased thirst and a lot of urinating. a lot. She also became lethargic... does not want to play.. acts like shes not interested in anything. She actually seems extremely depressed! Very moody.. last nite she would yelp if i went to toich her!.. I took her off the temaril p.  It's been 4 days since she took last dose... And there's not much change in her behaviour. The thirst has slowed down and also the frequent urination.. But she won't play she just stares at me. Does anyone know why or what is going on here.. I mean has anyone been through this before. The vet said wait another 4 days and bring her in to be looked at. So that's 2 more days. I'm really freaking.. I kid you not she does not act like her. She seems like a different dog. Please .. respond if you have been through tjis. Ty so much. Lisa