Jump to content

Prednisone - Canine Side Effects?


Recommended Posts

I know some of them and we need them - increased appitite and decreasing the production of insulin.

 

But what are the others?

 

We increased Lot's dose and she is hungrier but other things/issues are cropping up.

gallery_9376_3027_10401.jpg

Nancy and

Grace - Andicot 2/1/07

Solo - Flying Han Solo 3/20/11

Missing: Murphy, Shine, Kim, Sprite, Red Dog, Lottie & Harry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Increased thirst and therefore increased urination. Panting. Restlessness. Those are all the ones I've experienced with my dogs.

 

 

We experienced the same and maybe a little aggression, stealing treats from other Grey :blush

med_gallery_14228_2915_582.jpg
Roberta & Michael with Furkids- Flower (Shasta Flowers 6/7/06) & Rascal the kitty - Missing our sweet angels - Max(M's Mad Max) 10/12/02 - 12/3/15, Sara (Sara Raves 6/30/01 - 4/13/12) Queenie & Pandora the kitties - gone but never forgotten

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Polyuria/Polydipsia (increase urinating and drinking). Increase appetite. Thinning of skin and hair. Muscle wasting. Increase in chance of producing clots. Increase in chance of GI ulcers. Increase in chance of pancreatic flair. Ugh

Oh- I forgot- increase in heat intolerance

Edited by tbhounds
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All of the above, and with long-term use, iatrogenic Cushings.

Donna
Molly the Border Collie & Poquita the American-born Podenga

Bridge Babies: Daisy (Positive Delta) 8/7/2000 - 4/6/2115, Agnes--angel Sage's baby (Regall Rosario) 11/12/01 - 12/18/13, Lucky the mix (Found, w 10 puppies 8/96-Bridge 7/28/11, app. age 16) & CoCo (Cosmo Comet) 12/28/89-5/4/04

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot like human side effects, Nancy (though humans usually can restrain themselves from leaving a puddle on the kitchen floor ;)).

 

I've noticed, in addition to what everyone else has mentioned, urinary urge incontinence; iggy Buddy would squat and pee on the stairs, because he just couldn't hold the other 30 seconds it would take to get to the door. (This usually happened on a full bladder.)

 

I've also seen hair loss/thinning, muscle atrophy, cushingoid changes, and personality changes -- aggression, challenging, vocalization.

 

Not to mention, long-term effects on the kidneys and liver.

 

If you're looking at long-term steroids, and it's at all possible to transition Lottie to an immunomodulator, have a serious chat with her vet about it.

gallery_13500_3426_13848.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest koolaidnconner

I just wanted to add everything that has said above but being asthmatic I have been on prednisone a lot in large lagre doses and my temperment can go from crying to being extremly mad in a matter of secs. Sometimes feel almost dizzy on high doses and extremly antsy. Since they get a lot of the same side effects as people I would just be more cautious as to their attitude.

 

Definitly eating and drinking our big ones!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Stripeyfan

Increased drinking and peeing were the main side effects Kelly suffered when he was on pred last year, along with heat intolerance. Even when he wasn't panting he'd breathe really fast - we found putting a fan on nearby and sponging him down with cool water helped a lot.

 

Another side effect he suffered was spasms due to the increased peeing leaching potassium out of his body. This isn't a listed side effect but I know of a couple of other people on here who have experienced this. Kelly's head would twist, the muscles on his scalp and around his eye would jump and he'd start to grind his jaw and cry in pain. Our vet thought it might be (unrelated) focal seizures, but a nurse friend said to try giving him doggy pedialite or bananas as it sounded like low-potassium cramps, and after we started doing that the problem reduced dramatically. Once we started tapering the dose, it went away altogether. I have since read in a medical dictionary that humans on pred are advised to follow a higher-potassium diet, so I am sure that it was the pred that caused these spasms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MUSCLE LOSS/WASTING at least with Aggie. It seemed like a little bit more of her wasted away each day. Pitiful weight loss. Couldn't stop it. A rock and a hard place. She couldn't live with it and she couldn't iive without it. With her it was very sad becasue it caused her to just waste away a little more each day until there was but a wisp of a dog left. She was able to make it to 14 1/2 though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are just weaning Milky Way off Pred right now. As others have said the increase in drinking/ peeing is the big one. We also experienced the panting. The peeing issue was a big one because Milky Way has NEVER gone in the house in almost 8 years until he was on pred. poor little guy just could not hold it and did pee on the floor several times.

Alicia and Foster Yoshi ( pit bull) 

Always in my heart: WV's Milky Way 6/25/2000- 4/22/2013, Hank ( St Bernard/Boxer) ???? - 10/3/2017 and Sweet Pea (English bulldog)  2004 - 6/19/2019

www.etsy.com/your/shops/MuttStuffnc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What dose are you using now?

 

 

Lottie was diagnosed with Hypoglycemia before christmas 2010.

 

The pred is being used to get her body to reduce the amount of insulin secreted and to increase her appitite.

 

We started at 10 then worked up to 20mg qAM, and other that her increase in appitite did not notice many changes.

 

Just two weeks ago we, vet recommended, increased her dose to 30mg a day, splitting the doses, 20mg qAM and 10mg qPM, with meals. She was eating more but not in the am, she'd go 10-12 hours without eating not good in a hypoglycemic, so that is why there is an evening dose and that seems to be working. But at times her back leg seems a bit stiffer, muscle wasting on her thighs, and the panting and increase in water consumtion, so much so I decided to add sugar to it so as to get glucose into her.

gallery_9376_3027_10401.jpg

Nancy and

Grace - Andicot 2/1/07

Solo - Flying Han Solo 3/20/11

Missing: Murphy, Shine, Kim, Sprite, Red Dog, Lottie & Harry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nancy, have you done the diazoxide route yet?

 

 

not yet, probably soon.

 

I was try to hold off on that until I get back from kansas in june.

 

She is doing better today.

gallery_9376_3027_10401.jpg

Nancy and

Grace - Andicot 2/1/07

Solo - Flying Han Solo 3/20/11

Missing: Murphy, Shine, Kim, Sprite, Red Dog, Lottie & Harry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Guest 2dogs

Thank you for posting this. We started this medicine a month ago. I didn't know about the heat that helps explain some things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Another side effect he suffered was spasms due to the increased peeing leaching potassium out of his body. This isn't a listed side effect but I know of a couple of other people on here who have experienced this. Kelly's head would twist, the muscles on his scalp and around his eye would jump and he'd start to grind his jaw and cry in pain. Our vet thought it might be (unrelated) focal seizures, but a nurse friend said to try giving him doggy pedialite or bananas as it sounded like low-potassium cramps, and after we started doing that the problem reduced dramatically. Once we started tapering the dose, it went away altogether. I have since read in a medical dictionary that humans on pred are advised to follow a higher-potassium diet, so I am sure that it was the pred that caused these spasms.

 

OMG! Now I know what it was that happened to me a few years ago when I was on high pred for a while! It was awful. Doctors never told me what it was, and no one has ever suggested increasing my potassium. This is SUPER HELPFUL info for me since I just started another round of pred yesterday. Bananas, it is!

 

Thanks, hijack over. :blush

Cathy & Calvin (DOB 9/18/13). Always missing my angel Robin (Abdo Bullard).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest snakes

Two different dogs that I had on Pred:

One 10yo female - very intolerant to the sun and its heat, the usual drinking/peeing.

One 6yo boy - increased seizures, extreme intolerance to cold, drinking/peeing (we stopped the pred after a few days due to the increase in seizures).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...