Is this going to hurt her?

[coco-bean]

Most of you know Corona's problem, if not ill go find the thread and post it after i get done typing.
So she was doing good since she got on her steriod therapy (the medicine the doc gave her is Prednisolone)
She was doing so well the doc. said to reduce her meds from 2 pills a day to 2 pills every other day.
Well she was doing really well with that so he went down to one pill every other day and now we've hit a problem.
I cant call the vet until the morning so i was wondering what to do while im waiting on this sunday night. Im not going to go out and buy her food to make her poop for one time, i just want her to poop normal.
The vet told me last time that if she goes back to diahrea doing one pill a day then she's going to basically have to stay on these pills the rest of her life.
Will it hurt her, taking so many pills?
She's not even having diahrea now, she's just not pooping at all! I mean she pooped this morning, but she also had her one pill for the day!
I mean i know it's not alot but steriods is a big word for me and it just seems so much larger then this puppy needs to have.
Im just worried that giving her pills twice every other day or whatever is going to take a toll on her liver or other organs after so long.
Does anyone have any advice as to if this will hurt her...or even advice on this problem at all?
Im kinda getting a little sick of not knowing what is going on inside her and why we cant just fix it!!!can someone help me???at all???

[coco-bean]

here's on of the other post about it!
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=123557

[Glacier]

There are some risks with long term use of any medication including pred. She will likely need regular liver panels at least if she has to stay on the medication for life.

http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/prednisone-prednisolone/page1.aspx
Here's a link with some pretty easy to read info on the use and risks of prednisone.

My Sleet used to take prednisone for allergies in the summer. She had such radical side effects that we found a different medication. Still a steriod, chemically very similar to prednisone, but Sleet processes it differently. It's not quite as effective or as quick in relieving her symptoms, but she has no negative reactions to it.

My Goldie is on pain control medication for life. It is quite likely that eventually the pills will damage her liver. She gets blood work every six months. Without the pills, she was a miserable creature who lived in isolation and was unpredictably aggressive. Goldie's life is likely to be shorter because of the pills. I'd rather have her live a shorter, happy, pain free life than a miserable long life.

You need to talk to your vet and decide if the risks are worth it. What's the reward for you and the dog in using the meds? Is her quality of life improved with the medication?

[coco-bean]

Is this something that could be genetic? I mean could her parents passed it off to her, the people we got her from had been breeding yellow labs for 8 years, problem free! or is it just every so often dogs have this happen? Im worried...i mean com'on how likely out of 10 or 11 pups that we just happen to grab the one that has health issues that cost us hundreds? haha, thats just the luck huh!
Edit: Im kinda curious as to why they just cant give us medicine to clear up whatever she has? I know this is to help her inflamation but it's not making it go away, there has to be something to just cure it!!
Out of all the dogs in the world, i can not be the only owner who has had this problem!!!

[coco-bean]

Another question...What do you think about maybe a Protein suppliment? Like a vitamin sorta...that she can take instead of taking meds. If a protein deficiency was the problem, maybe a suppliment would be better for her?