Steriod therapy it is!!

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03-17-2007, 10:44 AM
coco-bean

Steriod therapy it is!!

Well as most of you know corona had her blood work ect. found out she had a mild protein defiency and i switched foods and it seemed to be working.
She was pooping wonderfully, by the way! Last night she had diahrea in her kennel really bad, including pee! We put all the pups to bed about 9:45 and i smelt the poop at about 1:00. It took me a few minutes to realize it was actual poop and not a fart or anything.
Anyways i called the vet and he reluctantly wasnt too thrilled about mentioning this but...said we need to put her on the Steriod Therapy no doubt about it.
I gave her, her first pill about half hour ago and on wed. im supposed to call him back and tell him how it's working out and then he'll reduce her med. to one pill a day. She is now supposed to be taking two a day and it will increase her unrine time and increase hunger and thirst.
I really hope this works!
the only good news out of this vet visit was the bill was about 9 times less today then it has been the last two weeks!
wish the little one luck and man o man i hope it works this time!!!
03-17-2007, 12:17 PM
GrabaLab

I'm new here, so I didn't know how to find the thread telling about what is causing the problem that has led to trying steriod therapy. Would you mind telling me about it or directing me where to read? Thanks
03-17-2007, 12:22 PM
coco-bean

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrabaLab

I'm new here, so I didn't know how to find the thread telling about what is causing the problem that has led to trying steriod therapy. Would you mind telling me about it or directing me where to read? Thanks

yea sure ill just give you a little breaffing of it.
Well there really isnt anything that is causing the problem...first the vet said it was inflamation in her colon but she was having diahrea in her kennel, just at night. and she wouldnt poop during the day, just at night. then the med. didnt work for it anymore, so they ran 2 blood tests and the second one said she had a mild protein deficiency, and putting her on some better food would help her. everything was going well with the change of food so i called the vet yesterday to tell him all was good...
well last night she had another accident in her kennel so i called...and here we are!
hope that kinda explains it.... :confused:
03-17-2007, 12:45 PM
Taz_Zoee

OH my, I really hope this works for Corona. You've had enough vet visits lately....poor thing. BTW how is the one with the owie leg? Sorry I couldn't remember if it was CoCo or Cainan. Do you have a thread going about it?
03-17-2007, 12:46 PM
GrabaLab

Thanks! We have labs, too. Since they will eat anything they pick up if we're not right there to encourage them to drop it, leave it, etc.. I was curious what had been going on. We have an older Country Vet, and he sends us to the Dollar Store first to get something over the counter to try when their guts are upset before he does anything costly.
03-17-2007, 03:01 PM
coco-bean

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taz_Zoee

OH my, I really hope this works for Corona. You've had enough vet visits lately....poor thing. BTW how is the one with the owie leg? Sorry I couldn't remember if it was CoCo or Cainan. Do you have a thread going about it?

yup it was coco, she seems just as hyper and her coco self as ever. I removed her stitches ohh about 2 days ago or so and she was a champ through the little ordeal. She layed real still for me while i took each one out and now just waiting for the last little bit of scab to fall off, otherwise all is good!
Thanks for asking!! :D
03-17-2007, 06:29 PM
Taz_Zoee

Oh good! It sounds like your puppy clan is getting all healthy again! Woo Hoo!! :D :D
03-17-2007, 06:43 PM
lizbud

Can you tell me the name of the medicine you give her?
03-17-2007, 06:46 PM
coco-bean

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizbud

Can you tell me the name of the medicine you give her?

for the steriod therapy? or the medicine i was originally given for the inflamation in her colon?
03-17-2007, 07:08 PM
lizbud

Quote:

Originally Posted by coco-bean

for the steriod therapy? or the medicine i was originally given for the inflamation in her colon?

For the steroid therapy.
03-17-2007, 07:11 PM
coco-bean

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizbud

For the steroid therapy.

Prednisolone, i forgot to ask him when i was on the phone, but do you know if this stuff will make her poop or clear up what she has? he didnt really say, he just told me the side affects like thirsty, hungry ect. and talked about calling him back and seeing how things went with it.
03-17-2007, 07:16 PM
lizbud

I know it's an anti-inflamitory drug. I was given the same RX for a dog with
hip problems. It will probably will help Corona too. :)
03-17-2007, 09:29 PM
Catlady711

In looking up information for you in more detail I stumbled upon a few interesting things that you might want to ask your vet about. I put those parts in bold type.

I don't know much personally about this use for pred (prednisolone), at work we mostly use it as an immune system suppresant or anti inflamatory. I can't find out much about using it to treat a protien deficiency without more info on the lab work tests, everything I google keeps comming back to how the drug works, not a dificiency in protien.

VeterinaryPartner.com

USES OF THIS MEDICATION
Prednisone and prednisolone are members of the glucocorticoid class of hormones. This means they are steroids but, unlike the anabolic steroids that we hear about regarding sports medicine, these are catabolic steroids. Instead of building the body up, they are designed to break down stored resources (fats, sugars and proteins) so that they may be used as fuels in times of stress. Cortisone is an example of a related hormone with which most people are familiar. Glucocorticoids hormones are produced naturally by the adrenal glands.

We do not use the glucocorticoids for their influences on glucose and protein metabolism; we use them because they are also the most broad anti-inflammatory medications that we have.

INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER DRUGS
Glucocorticoid hormones should not be used in combination with medications of the NSAID class (i.e., aspirin, Rimadyl, phenylbutazone etc.) as the combination of these medications could lead to bleeding in the stomach or intestine. Ulceration could occur.

CONCERNS AND CAUTIONS
Prednisone and prednisolone are considered to be intermediate acting steroids, meaning that a dose lasts about a day or a day and a half. After two weeks or more of use, it is important to taper the dose to an every other day schedule so as to keep the body's own cortisone sources able and healthy.

The same salt retention that accounts for the excessive thirst and urination may also be a problem for heart failure patients or other patients who require sodium restriction.

Diabetic patients should never take this medication unless there is a life-threatening reason why they must.

Glucocorticoid hormones can cause abortion in pregnant patients. They should not be used in pregnancy.

Prednisone/prednisolone use is likely to change liver enzyme blood testing and interfere with testing for thyroid diseases.

When prednisone/prednisolone is used routinely, serious side effects would not be expected. When doses become immune-suppressive (higher doses) or use becomes chronic (longer than 4 months at an every other day schedule), the side effects and concerns associated become different. In these cases, monitoring tests may be recommended or, if possible, another therapy may be selected.
03-17-2007, 09:49 PM
coco-bean

i know he explain this to me when it was still an option and it was still unknown if the food would make a difference, but i guess i was hoping we wouldnt need it so i didnt listen as much as i would if i would need it...which i do now so of course i wish i did!
I will def. ask him about what you all explain though!
i do remember this though...they said she had inflamation in her colon which of course wouldnt let her poop, so they gave us med. to help clear it up, after a while she became immune to it, so we figured if i switch the food(which i did before he even said too, because i've been meaning to get them switched to something better anyways) but switch to a better food, we switched to Chickenm soup for the dog lovers soul, and he said that'd prolly help with the fiber/protein and anything else she may need! it helped for about a week, then had her accident in her kennel, which was weird to me anyways because she pooped twice that day and normally she wasnt pooping at all and then she'd do it at night!
But she pooped twice during the day so i thought she was still okay...plus her poop was still normal so i didnt see any problems...but i guess i was wrong, it was very running in her kennel, so i just dont know anymore!
Im running out of money...this has been very expensive, especially right now because i havent been getting as many hours at work so i've been kinda short on EVERYTHING...i just hope we figure something out before im completely out of money!