Is Vet Giving Too High Of A Prednisone Dosage!?

[Guest raqi]

My grey was recently diagnosed with a immunodeficiency and its pretty wicked...

The vets seems to want to treat it aggressively but i think it may be too much for my guy..

The Vet prescribed 60mg of prednisone a day (3 20mg pills spaced out daily) however i was not comfortable with the way my hound reacted to them so i asked the vet if it would be possible to taper down somewhat and now he is on 40mg a day (1 pill every 12hrs).

The treatment should be done in about 4 months.

 

In all honesty I just wanted some reassurance that this is a safe dosage for greyhounds.

I'm not experienced with this drug at all but my guy's so skinny already the muscle loss aspect of the drug worrys me :/

He is also constantly panting, however he is not peeing every were thankfully.

Is there any other strange reactions I should keep an eye out for?

 

Any tips or suggestions are welcomed!

[Guest sandlot13433]

My dog Night was diagnosed with IMHA about 3 weeks ago, and I can honestly say the Prednisone has saved his life. For the first two weeks he was on 40 mg twice a day (80 mg total per day) and now we have tapered down to 30 mg twice a day. He has lost a lot of weight, as he was only off the track 2 months before his diagnosis. The shrinking of the muscle has made him look very thin because he didn't have any body fat yet. However, without the prednisone, I think his body would have continued attacking his red blood cells and we would have lost him. So, I guess it depends what your dog has been diagnosed with. I just wanted to share this story, so you knew that there are some positives to the high dose of prednisone, although it doesn't work in every case.

[rycezmom]

Raqi - Call me when you catch up. Thanks for the pics

 

Leslie

[Guest june]

No advice. Just want to let you know I'm sorry you are going through this. Sending prayers that everything works out well for you.

june

[Guest raqi]

My dog Night was diagnosed with IMHA about 3 weeks ago, and I can honestly say the Prednisone has saved his life. For the first two weeks he was on 40 mg twice a day (80 mg total per day) and now we have tapered down to 30 mg twice a day. He has lost a lot of weight, as he was only off the track 2 months before his diagnosis. The shrinking of the muscle has made him look very thin because he didn't have any body fat yet. However, without the prednisone, I think his body would have continued attacking his red blood cells and we would have lost him. So, I guess it depends what your dog has been diagnosed with. I just wanted to share this story, so you knew that there are some positives to the high dose of prednisone, although it doesn't work in every case.

 

Okay that's a much higher dose then Tom....

Thank You that did provide some piece of mind!

I just wasn't sure how much they could take but now you gave me a ballpark idea.

Best of luck with Night!

[jshell]

Betty Joan is on the 20mg, twice a day regimen (for 40mg per day). We're just through our first week, and I expect to be on it for at least 2-3 more. Blech. The trembling, the panting, the big pees... We're going through them too.

 

On the plus side, her appetite is healthy but she'd lost so much weight when she first started having intestinal problems a couple of months ago. She still seems too damn skinny, but hopefully the larger meals and copious amount of treats will help edge that weight back up. Her mood seems mostly normal, if a bit restless at times. And her stool seems normal. I've been using those as good signs, as the prednisone side effects can be very frustrating.

[Wonder]

Sparks was on a high dose at first and had horrible big d. He lost 7 lbs in a week

He was also on a high dose of tramadol so the combo just was horrible for him.

We lowered the dose and he did great for the month or so that he was on it.

 

good luck

[Guest raqi]

Betty Joan is on the 20mg, twice a day regimen (for 40mg per day). We're just through our first week, and I expect to be on it for at least 2-3 more. Blech. The trembling, the panting, the big pees... We're going through them too.

 

On the plus side, her appetite is healthy but she'd lost so much weight when she first started having intestinal problems a couple of months ago. She still seems too damn skinny, but hopefully the larger meals and copious amount of treats will help edge that weight back up. Her mood seems mostly normal, if a bit restless at times. And her stool seems normal. I've been using those as good signs, as the prednisone side effects can be very frustrating.

 

Tom's going through the same exact thing!

Gosh these dogs are so skinny to begin, that when they lose a few they just look like skeletons!

How many cups or kibble and wet are you giving to your girl daily?

[RobinM]

My beau was down to 52 pounds from his ibd. We had him on 60 mg of pred and 50 mg of imuran. It was horrible but it saved his life. We weaned him down as he got better.

[jshell]

Tom's going through the same exact thing!

Gosh these dogs are so skinny to begin, that when they lose a few they just look like skeletons!

How many cups or kibble and wet are you giving to your girl daily?

 

Normally Betty would get three cups a day, dry: two meals of 1.5 cups each. She's a relatively small girl. Last vet recommendation (after she dropped pounds from the mid 50's in weight to low 40's, and then started to climb back) was 3 1/4 cups a day.

 

Now she gets a cup of Prescription Diet I/D dry in the morning plus one can of I/D wet, with the can being equivalent (I'm told) to 3/4 cup dry. Then dinner is the normal 1.5 cups (sometimes a little more), which I do with a mixture of 1 cup I/D and a half cup of Purina One Beyond (Betty Joan is not a fan of the dry I/D).

 

Also started giving her a fair amount of treats. I forgot that I used to give her a peanut butter filled kong every day and have started doing so again. Our next vet visit is next Tuesday and hopefully she'll have put some weight back on. I just can't tell. Sometimes she looks like she is slowly bulking back up, sometimes she looks like she's just holding onto her new, lower weight. She doesn't seem to be losing any more though.

[Guest Stripeyfan]

That doesn't sound like too high a dose to me, Kelly was only on 30mg/day at his highest dose but that was an anti-inflammatory dose to treat IBD; our vet told us doses to combat immune disorders are MUCH higher. He was on it for 10 months in all.

 

He also suffered with muscle wasting (he'd already lost a ton of weight due to the IBD). He drank more and became really sensitive to heat, and was hungry ALL the time. We got the weight back on by feeding several meals a day (5 at one point!) and made sure he always had access to water. There were lots of pee accidents and Kelly needed to go out in the night a lot, but we just dealt with it, it can't be helped when the dog's on pred. Without it, I think we would have lost him as his IBD was getting seriously out of control.

 

I hope your boy responds well to the treatment and that the pred doesn't make him feel too awful.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Stripeyfan

[Guest raqi]

That doesn't sound like too high a dose to me, Kelly was only on 30mg/day at his highest dose but that was an anti-inflammatory dose to treat IBD; our vet told us doses to combat immune disorders are MUCH higher. He was on it for 10 months in all.

 

He also suffered with muscle wasting (he'd already lost a ton of weight due to the IBD). He drank more and became really sensitive to heat, and was hungry ALL the time. We got the weight back on by feeding several meals a day (5 at one point!) and made sure he always had access to water. There were lots of pee accidents and Kelly needed to go out in the night a lot, but we just dealt with it, it can't be helped when the dog's on pred. Without it, I think we would have lost him as his IBD was getting seriously out of control.

 

I hope your boy responds well to the treatment and that the pred doesn't make him feel too awful.

 

Thanks for the good wishes...

Gosh, this is still scaring me half to death.

Even on his dose he's panting like a nut all the time, i happen to live with a nurse and she keeps shaking her head at me saying it sounds like respiratory failure o.o

Will this continue for the entire treatment?

[brandimom]

In 2004 Brandi was put on 60 mg per day, divided into two dosages. There was a lot of peeing at first. As the years progressed the dosage was reduced but she was on it for seven years. I really believe without the pred I would not have had her that long. There was the wasting of the muscle in the hind end/legs and we let her go this year. Every 6 months we have her liver/kidney levels checked and she was fine. My holistic vet seems to think that regular acupuncture helped keep her liver/kidney levels in check.