Cairo, 8 year old staffordshire bull terrier just diagnosed

[goldengirl88]

You are doing the right thing. Dr. Peterson says to taper it off, so that is the correct procedure. I cannot believe that your vet never even addressed this situation with you and just gave you the prednisolone but failed to give instructions on weaning him off to prevent further problems. She is very careless in my opinion. Yes gone are the days of letting your vet handle things. It puts a lot of pressure on the owner to check everything the vet is doing to make sure it is right. My vet has made so many errors that would have been fatal that it is pathetic. I only use him as there are no other vets where I live, and I need him for prescriptions etc.I basically tell him what needs done when something comes up and he does it. That is our relationship as I do not trust him. Thank God for this forum, my girl probably would not be here without it. Blessings
Patti

[Alison]

Well, he's a lot better this morning. He had a nice walk - not too far - but no puffing and panting and stressing.

I confess we didn't give him the extra 10mg last night - he was totally hyper off the morning dose. We tried to speak to the vet last night but nobody phoned us back.

My mum spoke to a vet this morning who said that the prednisolone wouldn't be making him hyper - he was just feeling better - and to keep giving him 20mg a day - he said that was quite a low dose for him.

I beg to differ on all that. I know what high dose steroids do and 20mg prednisolone is equivalent to 80mg hydrocortisone and that's a massive dose.

I've not heard back from Dr Peterson yet but I realise there is a time difference so I'll keep an eye out for a reply.

[My sweet Ginger]

??? 20mg prednisone is quite a low dose for him? Wow!
I don't know what to say to that. If Cairo is feeling better now does he still need 20mg? Why not start to wean him off like 5mg in AM & 5mg in PM so on and so for until he gets down to his maintenance dose?
I wish I knew more about this.

Too bad you haven't heard from Dr. P yet. Hope he replies today.
Hang in there, Allison. You are a wonderful mom to Cairo.

[Squirt's Mom]

Pred doesn't make you feel hyper?! Oh, I beg to differ! Pred will make you feel all kinds of weird and do strange things - I just finished a short round myself not long ago and could tell some tales! That vet does NOT understand drugs in the least it seems. I think I would suggest they take an equivalent dose for humans for the same amount of time then tell you it didn't make them hyper!

[Alison]

Oh I know. I have Addison's and when I had to get a tooth out, I needed extra steroid cover but they gave me double what I really needed. I was bouncing all over the place and really agitated and starving hungry, so telling me that it's not the pred just doesn't cut it.

[molly muffin]

I think Leslie was trying to do hand stands and jumping jacks at the same time when she was on the pred.

That is a vet who has never had to take a steroid themselves eh.

You on the other hand on doing just great with Cairo and know a thing or two about the pred stuff.

hugs
sharlene and molly muffin

[Woodydog]

Hi Alison how is Cairo tonight still good I hope

[Alison]

He seems to be well tonight. Still peeing for Scotland but I'm knackered. What was meant to be a gentle stroll turned into our usual "staffy pace" walk - it's like a bloomin route march. He was racing up the road though he did slow off a bit on the way back - in total, it's probably less than half a mile he's doing but it's all he's getting to do just now.

He's just had his dinner which he scoffed down like he hadn't been fed in a week. It's nice to see him eating properly. He's content after his dinner so I'm not too worried - he's not trying to scrounge more food (unless somebody has fruit on the go - he loves an apple)

[Alison]

Hahahaha, I can imagine. I was meant to rest after having an extraction and I was cleaning and looking for food, lay down, jumped up, looked for more food, had chicken noodle soup and got a noodle stuck down the socket so went back to the dentist, got home did more cleaning, ate some more - you get the picture! LOL

I think Leslie was trying to do hand stands and jumping jacks at the same time when she was on the pred.

That is a vet who has never had to take a steroid themselves eh.

You on the other hand on doing just great with Cairo and know a thing or two about the pred stuff.

hugs
sharlene and molly muffin

[goldengirl88]

It would seem everything this Dr. says is wrong!!! Good thing you know about the pred. I am glad he is feeling well. Hope he continues to improve, and now you can take a deep breath and relax as your baby will be OK. Blessings
Patti