My dog with IMPA is lethargic after steroid taper. Is it a relapse?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This may be the time for your veterinarian to check in with an internal medicine specialist as this is a bit more complex than typical. Possibilities include an immune-mediated hemolytic anemia in which case other immunosuppressive drugs can be used with prednisone or possibly an infectious disease. They would be able to recommend further but reaching out to a specialist would be an option for further tests/recommendations. Hoping for a speedy recovery!

We are not in a position to change or reduce dosage prescribed by your treating vet and you should contact your vets office to advise. It is likely they will half the frequency every few weeks until he is more stable but this must only be done under direction from your vet

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. That is a very high dose of steroids for a dog his size. This dose will suppress his immune system in addition to all of the side effects that you are noticing at home. Steroids will cause panting, increased thirst, urination and hunger. Some dogs will experience skin and coat changes, muscle weakness/ loss and gastrointestinal ulcers in rare cases. Doses this high are only used to treat severe life threatening conditions. I recommend contacting his veterinarian today to discuss his treatment plan. Typically the steroids are tapered once the primary disease is under control. There are other immunosuppressive drugs available that may have less side effects. Perhaps he would do better on a different medication. However, never stop steroids yourself as they need to be carefully tapered down. I hope this information helps!

Poor Bentley! I'm sorry to hear that he's so uncomfortable. Steroids such as prednisone can sometimes cause weight gain, excessive panting, increased thirst, and urinary accidents in the house - so it's certainly possible that some of the issues you are seeing could be side effects from the medication. Since he isn't feeling any better after 5 days, yes - I would definitely recommend giving your vet a call or taking Bentley back tomorrow for recheck visit. It sounds like he may need a different course of treatment, or possibly some diagnostic testing to see if something else is wrong.

I definitely agree that prednisone tapering should take much longer but if you have already switched him to Rimadyl you cannot give him the prednisone anymore. if you have not switched him yest you should do a much slower tapering over a period of at least 2 weeks, reducing gradually every 5-7 days.

Hello. It sounds like you need to keep Goofy away from steroids as he seems to be very sensitive to the effects. You will need to talk with your veterinarian about other ways to help Goofy, either through allergy testing & a desensitization protocol, or trying alternative medications that are not steroids. These include Cytopoint & Apoquel. Good luck & thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

If he was on 12mg of prednisolone for 10 days straight and then it was suddenly stopped, then yes that could be part of the problem, but its also possible that he is still ill from the original disease. I would strongly recommend that you take to your veterinarian; it would be useful to recheck a physical exam and some blood tests. They may recommend running a baseline cortisol to ensure that stopping the pred is not the cause of current symptoms. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!