Can I stop my senior dog's prednisone due to weight gain and heart?

You can feed her puppy food in small frequent meals to help her gain more weight. You should schedule a vet visit to have them check her over and see if there are any problems and maybe a reason why she was on the prednisone. Prednisone is a steroid that is often used for pain and inflammation or skin disease and allergies. If none of these are noted, you can stop the medicine and see how she responds

Those are definitely the side-effects; increased appetite and thirst, change in behavior, panting more and weight gain. For more information about the side-effects, I recommend you read the article at the link below. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/steroid-treatment-long-term-effects-in-dogs I assume the nose condition you described was diagnosed as an autoimmune disease (i.e. lupus, pemphigus). The mainstay treatment for this condition is prednisone. However, there are other possible treatments, so it's worth scheduling a recheck appointment with your veterinarian. It's quite common for some owners not to like the side-effects of steroids, so they should understand and be able to suggest other options. I hope that helps and Kenzie gets better soon.

Usually a slow taper is recommended for prednisone since there can be side effects from stopping the medication too quickly, but I would expect issues after just one dose. I would however recommend you talk to your veterinarian to make sure Shelby will be okay without the medication and to discuss alternatives - there are many different diseases that are treated with prednisone some of which are life threatening like immune mediated diseases or Addison's disease.

Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that Bindy is having side effects from her medication. I would not recommend stopping her meds or making any dosing changes without talking to the veterinarian who is treating her, because this can cause serious problem or even death for patients with Addison's disease. I would definitely recommend discussing your concerns with Bindy's regular veterinarian, since it's likely that her steroid doses can be reduced if they are causing side effects - most dogs this size do not need this much prednisone to control their Addison's symptoms, although each individual patient is different. A medication called DOCP (desoxycorticosterone pivalate) can also be used in place of the fludricortisone if needed, which she may tolerate better. Your veterinarian can discuss these options with you and help you make changes to her medication safely.

I think therapeutic diets work best: Hill's Metabolic or Royal Canin Satiety are the two I most frequently recommend. They have increased protein and vitamins/minerals but are much lower in calories. You could also try sticking with your current food but cutting back on how much you give (I usually recommend cutting back about 25%) and increasing exercise as well as minimizing treats or replacing them with lower calorie options like frozen green beans. While there are over the counter foods that are designed for weight loss they can still have very different calorie contents and some weight loss foods even have more calories than regular foods.

Poor pup! Unfortunately, weight gain is a very common side effect of steroids, especially at high doses - there isn't much you can do to prevent it or make him lose weight as long as he's still taking them. Depending on what his medical condition is, there may be other medications that he could take that would allow him to reduce his steroid dose or even discontinue the steroids altogether - I would recommend talking with your vet about your concerns, since the best option for Diogie will depend a lot on his medical history and the reason he's currently taking steroids.

Your dog should be weaned off Prednisone slowly. In many ways, prednisone is similar to the corticosteroid hormones cortisol and aldosterone produced by the adrenal glands located along each kidney. Because of this, when taking prednisone, the adrenal glands start decreasing their production of cortisol. It would be too shocking for the adrenal glands to find themselves out of the blue in need of producing cortisol in large amounts again, so by tapering the prednisone gradually, the glands are given some time to resume their normal function. The main risk is what is called an " addisonian crisis" or "iatrogenic hypoadrenocorticism" which can be life threatening and can cause the dog to go into shock. This can happen when the prednisone is stopped out of the blue and the adrenal glands are dormant because they weren't given a chance to gradually become active again. When this happens, the dog's potassium and sodium levels get unbalanced. The sodium levels start to fall, while the potassium levels start to rise. High potassium levels can have a detrimental effect on the heart and can lead to circulatory collapse. Affected dogs may appear weak, lethargic, they may vomit, have a low, irregular heart rate and may go into shock and even collapse. Affected dogs need to seek immediate emergency treatment to correct the electrolyte imbalances and possible low glucose levels through supportive care consisting of fluid therapy and careful monitoring. Rapidly-acting corticosteroid medications such as prednisolone sodium succinate or dexamethasone sodium phosphate may be needed. This whole ordeal can be easily prevented by gradually tapering the dog off the steroids. Dogs on prednisone for quite some time, need to be tapered even more gradually. The vet will tell owners how.