Is it safe to switch my dog from Atopica to Prednicare right away?

Prednicare should stop the itchiness within 48 hours of starting the treatment. i would recommend asking your vet for a medication called Apoquel, very effective for skin allergies without the bad side effects of steroids.

Poor Lily. Sometime both Apoquel and steroids might be necessary to control skin condition. Generally speaking, steroids have more side effects compared to Apoquel and is important to consider correct amount and length of treatments. Steroids need to be tapered gradually so please do not stop them without having gradually reduced the dose. Apoquel has a maximum effective dose so if Lily is already getting the maximum you won't see any beneficial effect if you increase it further. I would suggest to ask your vet exactly when to start and stop steroids as she knows Lily condition very well and can organize for her a treatment plan. Please post again in the forum if you need further advices and I hope my answer is helpful.

No, I don't recommend to start giving him the medication again. It may not be good anymore. Also, long term steroids are not ideal as they can cause problems in the body. There are other methods to address itching. Ideally, you would figure out the underlying cause. The four main causes of itchiness are allergies to fleas, allergies to something in the environment, food allergy or endocrine disease. Each one of these problems is detected and addressed differently and I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian which one to start hunting down first. Parasites are often ruled out with an oral medication like Comfortis. Food allergy is best ruled out with a diet trial using a hydrolyzed protein. Endocrine diseases are detected with blood work. Environmental allergies are a little more difficult to detect but a response to therapy or a blood test can give an indication. There is a drug called Atopica that is better for allergies. There is also the option of immunotherapy. Once you figure out and address the underlying cause, the itching should not come back. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for pets, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Also protect the area from trauma by having Tucker wear an elizabethan collar at all times. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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.

Fighting secondary skin infections and allergies is tough. Drugs like prednisone and Apoquel are used to control inflammation. In some cases, we add a drug in an effort to taper prednisone if long term immunosuppression is needed. Ideally, long term immunosuppressives should be avoided but in some cases are needed. You should consider discussing referral to a veterinary dermatologist for intradermal skin testing.

Hello, prednisone is a steroid that although beneficial for some things it also has alot of side effects and needs to be used carefully and under the instructions from your veterinarian. The dose Kitkat is getting now is higher than most other doses prednisone is used for. It should be fine to stop the medication now after today but monitor her drinking habits and overall activity. If she seems lethargic, not drinking or drinking too much, not eating, then she needs to be seen by her veterinarian immediately. Back injuries can recur, so in the future, before starting medications consult with your veterinarian first. Additionally. even though Kitkat is feeling a lot better, she needs to continue strict rest for at least 2 weeks to allow her back to heal. That is no running, jumping, or rough playing with other dogs. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Hello. You can wean her off the pred onto the Metacam , or you can add additional pain medications such as tramadol or gabapentin. I, personally do not like long-term prednisone because of the possibility of side effects, but even Metacam can cause some issues. Regardless of what you & your veterinarian choose for Sydney, make sure periodic blood work is run to pick up any early signs of problems. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.