Prednisone is helping Chummie
Ever since I adopted her last summer, Chum struggled to get up off the floor. At first, I thought it was her weight but she lost weight and still had a problem and would lumber and heave to force herself up. Then I thought it was the floors and started using paw wax (which did help). After a few days on prednisone, she springs up like a young lass. It is startling and beautiful. She is still taking it easy -- short walks and lots of rest. And I am still waiting on the results of the blood tests. But in the meantime, it is a relief to see her not just getting better, but getting better than she had been before the lameness and pain of last week. She's almost jaunty! |
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| Just wonderful news Val, it really is amazing stuff. I had one girl years ago that was on it for after cancer treatment, 6 months on it, the only side effect was excessive drinking and of course from that little accidents in the house with wees. That was fixed by monitoring the water intake at the time she also had an increase in appetite too, so had to be careful to monitor food so she did not end up looking like a barrel.
Has Chum had any increase in thirst from the prednisone? I am so gald she is responding to that and so wonderful she is not struggling to get up etc, just great. 
You can give her a huge squeezy cuddle from us girls in OZ and tell chum we are so happy she is feeling not so much pain anymore XXX (Sheepie slurps and Kisses) Keeping fingers and paws cross when you get the blood test results that all will be good  |
| That's great news Val. |
That's great news Val! I'm so glad to hear she's doing so much better  |
| That's wonderful that it's making her feel so much better! Did they indicate how long she would have to be on it? |
Yay Chummie!!! I'm so glad the prednisone is helping her so much!!  
When our first sheepie was 8 yrs old, he developed something similar to lockjaw. At first the vet wanted to put him down but when he heard me crying and screaming hysterically he tried a drastic approach. He put Buford on MASSIVE (and I DO mean MASSIVE) doses of prednisone and weaned him off VERY slowly. I guess he figured - what did we have to lose? Even the vet was amazed at how well it worked. Not only did it help his lockjaw, it helped everything else. We lost Buford at 2 months shy of his 16th birthday, and I miss him to this day. I keep asking our current vet if prednisone would help Drez but he insists it wouldn't.  I'm at the point where I might insist we try - again, what have we got to lose? |
| YEAH!!!! Great news |
| It would be so great if prednisone would help Drezzie!!
Have you tried acupuncture with her? I was referred to this dog rehab expert and I am planning to follow up to see if she can help Chum -- maybe she could help Drezzie? http://www.wizardofpaws.net/ I just heard from the Vet's office that infection and cancer have both been ruled out so they are left with the conclusion that it is an immune-mediated disease, which I am told means that her body is attacking her nerve cells. So they are increasing the prednisone this week to 60mg to day, then we taper back to 40mg per day for 2 weeks, then hopefully we will be able to wean her slowly down to a maintenance dosage (5-10mg) every other day. . . |
| The problem with prednisone is that while it may reduce inflammation and help with the problem it can also mask the symptoms so that when you wean off it the pain returns. I would feel so much better if they would figure out exactly what is caueing the pain and take care of that!!!!!!
Hugs to Chummie |
| Hugs and kisses from us! |
Tasker's Mom wrote: The problem with prednisone is that while it may reduce inflammation and help with the problem it can also mask the symptoms so that when you wean off it the pain returns. I would feel so much better if they would figure out exactly what is caueing the pain and take care of that!!!!!!
Hugs to Chummie I agree with that wholeheartedly but I am not sure they will be able to identify and or treat a specific underlying disease. Apparently, it is not an arthritis because the inflammation is not in her joints. I will ask to see if they have more specific information. . . |
Val ~ How's Chummie feeling today?  |
| Its like she lost 4 years virtually overnight. She is so perky, bouncy, and cheerful. It is amazing.
I had painters at the house this morning and I referred to Chummie as my "sweet old lady dog" and the guy "Oh! You mean she's the Older one??" Totally surprised. She still doesn't want to walk very far (could be the heat) but inside the house, she scrambles up off the floor, bounces to greet people, and has a liveliness that I hadn't seen in her before. Makes me think she's been dealing with this condition since before I got her and going to the kennel just sent her over the edge. |
 
Yay Chummie!!!! I'm so, so glad to hear the prednisone is helping her SO MUCH! How awesome is that? Hoorah!!! |
That is wonderful news, Val! I couldn't be happier!!  |
| I'm still worried about what will happen when you start to wean her down. How long is she on it for?
Hugs and kisses to Chummie. |
I think the hope is that they shock the system and stop the process that is occuring to cause her immune system to attack the nervous system and that they can get her down to a dose that keeps that disease process in check without too many other side effects. I've heard from a lot of people that their dogs, in similar situations, have been successfully weaned down to 5/10 mg every other day. They have told me I have to be very careful about the weaning off process because while she is receiving steroids on a daily basis, the body's own gland will eventually stop producing its own steroids and a sudden stoppage could kill her. 
So the current gameplan is she gets 60mg/day for one week; 40mg/day for 2 weeks; and then gradually decrease to a maintenance dose every other day -- which means that her own gland stays active producing it on the non-supplement days. And hopefully that will be enough to keep her free of pain or other side effects. I'm happy to give this a chance and deal with the what-ifs if and when the time comes. |
| I guess because I'm a Nurse I "over worry" but that does sound like a sensible plan and not unlike what would be done to a person. 5/10mg is a pretty low dose so hopefully the benefits will far out weigh any issues with long term steriod use. Wouldn't it be just wonderful if that is all it takes!!! |
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