"As much good as they can do, I still hate steroids, and will only use them as a last resort. "


I do use them as last resort. I agree.

As with NSAIDs (for, say, a dog who is otherwise lame with OA), they can be magic bullets with the power to give back quality of life .... but neither is a casual thing, and neither should be prescribed casually or without weighing pros and cons and constantly monitoring. And I think of both as PART of a multi-factor management regimen, not the first and only go-to and "out the door" with permanent refills.

All JMO, though, and I'm not a health professional.

 Quote: Julie Sloan

Thanks Donald.

Connie, I am going to search one up for her. She is 750 miles away from me. Call and check them out for her, and get her to go. That is exactly what she is doing. Spending lots of money at the GP. I have no idea what kind of vet they are in terms of good, not good. And Mom does not have much money.

As much good as they can do, I still hate steroids, and will only use them as a last resort. I'd use them if I had to, but only when all else has failed. That is just my IMHO. Everybody has one. :-) Thanks all. This may be just what she needs. J

I always thought that if I went to a derma vet, I'd have to go through a ton of testing, and it would cost a fortune. But in going to one now, I have found that you do have choices. Yes, they offer skin testing, and allergy shots, and lots of other tests. But, they also have to respect your choices, and ability to pay, and just their knowledge for one evaluation appointment can be invaluable! So you could pay for an office visit and ask a ton of questions, and come away with some tools in your bag of tricks. And it's really amazing how they can look at the skin of the dog, and the location of the itching and rashes, etc., and be able to tell you with a pretty high percentage of probability, what you're dealing with - i.e. environmental, flea allergies, food, etc. So if nothing else, it's a good investment to just go talk to one for a consult and see what you think after that. It's not a commitment to do anything!

And just for the record, I'm definitely not a 'fan' of steroid use either. I've just seen what a suffering dog looks like, and have had to balance the risks with the benefits, and came to conclusion that they do have their place when used 'well'. And a derma vet is SO much more likely to use them 'well' than a GP as Connie said. My GP gave WAY too high of a dose for allergies!

I logged on to say almost exactly what Lori just said.

A derm vet appointment is not a commitment to do intradermal testing and immunotherapy ("allergy shots"). (Although this has been a route I have gone twice and found it to be a valuable part of the treatment.)

Lori covered all that so well that I just want to add that derm vets (like all medical professionals) vary in their treatment POV.


"... it's a good investment to just go talk to one for a consult and see what you think after that. It's not a commitment to do anything!"

For example, I might say "I want to go as holistic as possible, using all the management tools I can" and assess the reply.

I have a trip planned to PA in the upcoming months. I will try to get Mom to schedule a visit while i am there. She won't ask near as many questions as I will, or be able to keep up with the answers all on her own. I will see what I can do to help her.

Back to the original question, though. Does anyone know how long you should expect to see the depression last once he is totally weaned off the pills?

I don't know about depression, but the other side effects of oral prednisone go away very quickly - within 36 hours or so of taking the last dose. Pills don't stay in the system as long as an injection, such as vetalog. That's why I would never allow a vet to give my dog an injection - they can stay in the system for 3 to 4 weeks. GP vets often think that is an advantage, I don't think it's good for the dog. So I would guess he should get back to normal very quickly once he's off of it.

I remember Kota being in a deep depression for at least a month or so. SO long we were seriously worried about her EVER coming out of it.

Completely unrelated to allergies, but Vince was on prednisone for two weeks and then again for a little over a month. Both times the specialist we were seeing used just as much caution discussing the weaning process as she did with the initial and following doses.

She pretty much laid it out day by day and contacted me when they were done.

Just wanted to add that because its not all vets that are remiss in this bit of critical information when prescribing this powerful drug.

Vince didn't go thru any depression. In our case, a little bout of the blues may have actually been a good thing but thru the worst of his spine issue, before, during and after the prednisone use, there were no effects on his mental health.

His hunger skyrocketed and I got the sad puppy dog eyes when he wanted more but he dealt with it. He was also a bit antsy a couple of nights on the full dose but those effects quickly wore off once the prescriptions were done.

I think like most medications, they can have very different effects on different dogs.

Exercise is supposed to be great for humans with depression. Maybe upping the walks and a few exposures to new things is something that could help your mom's pup too.

As for simply using prednisone, I think when needed, prescribed and given properly, it's a miracle drug. It decreased some painful inflammation for my boy very quickly.

I've experienced and read what I'm pretty sure are first-hand reports of NSAIDs, for example, prescribed very casually (no side effect discussion, no pre-testing, etc.) ... BUT I think there's also a big responsibility on the patient (or in the case of the vet, the patient's owner) to ask.

And another thing I've been guilty of myself: A lot of RXs come with an info sheet (and if it doesn't, again, I think we should ask if there is one) that we might not read carefully.

One of the warnings on many info sheets is something like "Do not change the dosage or stop this med without consulting your vet."

I'm just saying that we can be at fault, too.

Nice post, CJ.

"Just wanted to add that because its not all vets that are remiss in this bit of critical information when prescribing this powerful drug. "