My dog's allergy flare-ups: Is prednisolone a short-term fix?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Prednisone is an anti-inflammatory at low doses. If your vet suspects allergies as the cause the pred will help. Also the pred may help with rubbing or scratching of the eyes. Allergies are hard to “cure” if the underlyin cause isn’t found. Good luck!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry Bruno had hives and other skin irritation. Prednisone can have an effect on the body if given long-term or at high doses; typically, a short course of a steroid can have some short-lived side effects (increase in hunger/urination, eating/drinking more), but tends to be otherwise well-tolerated. While any medication can have an adverse effect (and if you are seeing any concerning signs I would reach out to your regular veterinarian immediately), low doses of appropriately dispensed steroids should be processed fine unless there is another underlying medical condition. Again, if you are concerned or if Bruno is showing signs of being ill, I would have him evaluated by a veterinarian as soon as possible.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Dozer. I'm sorry he has cancer! Do not suddenly take him off the steroids, you should work with the local vet to taper him off of them if you do not want him to be on them. Give them a call to discuss a schedule to taper them off. I hope this helps!

Unfortunately, by law it is illegal for the experts at Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to recommend using any drug, including OTC drugs, without seeing the animal in person first. That's because doing so requires a veterinary client patient relationship which cannot be achieved via an internet forum. In addition, the experts cannot say for certain if a specific drug is safe for Dakota. I would give your vet a call to discuss if using an anti-histamine in addition to his prednisone is safe for him. Best of luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! They will likely be able to refill it for you as long as they agree with that treatment plan to continue. Your best bet would be to contact them directly and check with your veterinarian. I am sure they will be more than happy to assist you and also to know that it is working well for Pablo. Have a good night!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. 30mg of prednisone is a high dose for Ozzy. I would suggest to taper it down slower. There are different protocols to do it and decreasing slowly the dose on weekly basis is probably the most frequently used protocol (for example 20mg every other day for a week then 10mg every other day for a week etc). Another benefit of tapering will be better monitoring of potential relapse of strangles. Sometimes once we reduce the dose of steroids, the skin gets worse, so we can up the dose of prednisone quickly. Please, get in touch with your vet to confirm the protocol of tapering down the dose of prednisone. Good luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Lily's allergies. I would highly advice that you consider Apoquel. This medication is very effective to decrease the itch and help with the clinical signs associated with allergies that you describe. The best thing about Apoquel besides its efficacy is that you can stop it at any point so you can consider using it just for the time being while she is affected by allergies the most. That is how I use it for my own dogs and they are going great. Good luck and have a nice day!