Prednisolone questions (corticosteroid)

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Shilasdair

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I have put one of my horses on Prednisolone pills for skin allergies, and wondered what your experiences were?
How many pills did you give what size of horse, and were there any side effects?
And has anyone used them throughout the summer to control, for example, sweet itch?
Thanks.
S
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Any prolonged steroid use brings side effects regardless of the dose they are given. For your horses my main concern would be weight gain - also difficult to loose any weight whilst on steroids and can bring on laminitis. Ask your vet for more details and what you should be looking out for especially if you have a good doer.
 
What about antihistamines? Like we would take for hayfever- have been told by a vet that he puts 4 tbs in his horses feed to prevent sweet itch with no side effects. but dont quote me!!
 
The most common side effect of antihistamines is drowsiness - so are always best given at night. I don't know anything about them being used in horses - but in theory there is no reason why they wouldn't work - would use Zirtek(cetirizine) as it isn't metabolised by the liver. Unfourtunately there isn't as much cross over as you would imagine in terms of drugs for humans for use in animals with simialr conditions - the vetinary medicine world are years behind in terms of drug treatment for common conditions.
 
When you say that YOU have put a horse on preds I take it you have veterinary authorisation as as far as I am aware preds are a POM-V medicine and therefore only availiable on prescription therefore a vet would have given you the dosage????????
 
Agree with competiondiva - they are a POM medicine and the dosage would be calculated according to horses weight. Because of the potential side effects of steroids it is not something you would want to get wrong. if in doubt phone vet and check dosage. Having read OP again would also be concerned that vet hadn't talked through potential serious side effects.
 
I've had a dog on Prednisolone not a horse, so not sure about equines, but the dog had to be under vet supervision on this medication and needed frequent blood tests (I think it can affect heart and liver function). When the vet decided to take her off it we had to do so gradually and carefully, looking for any signs that her body had stopped producing cortisone altogether which would have been a problem. Prolonged treatment can have more serious side-effects.
 
I'm not sure if it is the same stuff, it was a few years ago, but my pony was put on steroid tablets to relieve symptoms of fly bites.
He was 13.2HH and was on 90 tablets a day. Unfortunately, the usage tipped him into laminitis, so it was stopped after 2 weeks.

The vet was saying at the time that he had 3 other equines on the same treatment and none of them had the same side affect. I was just very unlucky apparently
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I'm not sure if it is the same stuff, it was a few years ago, but my pony was put on steroid tablets to relieve symptoms of fly bites.
He was 13.2HH and was on 90 tablets a day. Unfortunately, the usage tipped him into laminitis, so it was stopped after 2 weeks.

The vet was saying at the time that he had 3 other equines on the same treatment and none of them had the same side affect. I was just very unlucky apparently
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Thanks, Quirky.
90 tablets for a 13.2hh seems a lot - for fly bites.
I have been told that there is no documented case of a horse developing laminitis due to oral corticosteroids, but I think the keyword there is 'documented'.
Unfortunately I believe there are some differences in the horse's immune system which means that antihistamines are less effective in them, than in humans, or I may have tried them first.
S
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What about antihistamines? Like we would take for hayfever- have been told by a vet that he puts 4 tbs in his horses feed to prevent sweet itch with no side effects. but dont quote me!!

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I had a horse with hayfever. Vet told me antihistamines were ineffective on horses. I used to turn out at night until the rape was cut, as this was what he was allergic to.
 
We recently lost a pony on the yard due to possible sarcoma. Tango was 14.1hh and taking 80 per day, all together in the morning when the level of something (????) in his system was at its highest. They are tiny tablets and can be given in a handful of chaff. It is vital that the tablets are reduced steadily and not cut out immediately. Tango had a few side effects, one being colic and the other losing patches of hair from his neck. Reading the instruction leaflet was very informative, especially the very long list of side effects, although the instructions are for humans.
 
As somebody said, there is risk of laminitis, weight gain and it is worth remembering that steroids are an immunosuppressant and will lower immunity to viruses.
 
I have 1 horse and 1 pony at work who both need preds to keep their skin normal. Very kow dosage, 50 pills per day when flair up, 5 every other day when ok. We have found that the steroids have been the only thing that has really worked, plenty of other avenues have been explored. Their skin just gets so bad without it.
Just be careful with your doseage, when reducing it, it must be done slowly so that the horse is 'weaned' off slowly. Hope that helps.
 
Yes, I have just given one of mine a course of them to clear up a skin allergy. He is a 16.1hh KWPN but lightish weight. He had 100 a day (I think that 1mg per kg) for 10 days followed by 100 every other day for 14 days followed by 50 every other day for 10 days.

No side effects whatsoever & has 95% cleared up the problem. We couldnt carry on anymore as he will be eventing from this weekend onwards. I think the main thing is avoid giving them to anything susceptible to laminitis or with cushings (however mild it may be).

Hope it sorts the problem for you.
 
Thanks all.
My girl is not a native - she's around 15.3hh 3/4 Tb, and started on 12 pills a day (about the same size as Ibuprofen pills, I didn't check the weight), reducing to nothing over 2 - 3 weeks.
They are helping her, but I suspect as soon as she is exposed to midge saliva her problems will recur (she has erythema multiforme) so wondered whether it would be feasible to keep her on a very low dose for a few months.
I'll see how it goes.
S
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PS To CompetitionDiva - I frequently ram-raid pharmacies - would you like me to look for anything for you, next time?
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Have got a feeling Jo C's Patrick was on these?

I was on Prednisolone for pneumonia - if it helps, I found they did my skin wonders, but left me putting on weight and very emotional. Maybe you'd like to warn your mare?!
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I was on 10 tablets a day.
 
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What about antihistamines? Like we would take for hayfever- have been told by a vet that he puts 4 tbs in his horses feed to prevent sweet itch with no side effects. but dont quote me!!

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I had a horse with hayfever. Vet told me antihistamines were ineffective on horses. I used to turn out at night until the rape was cut, as this was what he was allergic to.

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My horse is on Periactin (antihistamines) and it does help with her hayfever/allergy,if she didn't have them she would be in a right state.

Pred is a prescription only drug and with horses their check ups for POM are very 6 mths generally. With dogs etc POM check ups are every 3 months.
 
Not sure this will help but i was prescribed a fairly high dose of Prednisolone last year when i was diagnosed with meningitis, septicaemia and a suspected additional drugs rash due to a penicillin allergy. My skin was dreadful and i had a rash covering my entire body. Within hours of taking Prednisolone my skin felt cooler to the touch and more comfortable. It was an amazing drug. If i forgot to take it within a specified slot, my skin/rash would flare up again. I didn't notice any side effects with this drug, but then again i felt on deaths door with all of my other symptoms at the time, so i was quite grateful for a drug that was actually working on me. I was on it for a good few weeks and had to be weaned off it very slowly. Hope this helps!!
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I was prescribed Prednisolone for myself 6 years ago when I had an auto-immune disease of the liver. I was on them for two years where they were gradually reduced. The side effects from the tablets for me was fatigue and aching limbs. I'm not sure if a horse would get the same side effects but they are a very powerful drug.
 
Our 12.2hh pony who was 32 years was on them for the last of his life. He started with 12 a night through the summer but became imune. He had awful skin allergy and ended up on 140 a night but still not working. In the end it was decided for him to be put to sleep.
Side effects where that he wasn't his usual self, he didnt ride the same and didnt enjoy life, but this may have been as his time was coming.
 
a good number of years ago stan was on them after a perticularly horrible flair up of his sweet itch.
He was on nearly 300 a day at the start (tiny tablets though 5mg or something like that) and the weaned down and off them within 2 months. he is a 14hh native pony weighing approx 500kg (yes he is a fatty).
we were also warned about possible lammi resulting from the tablets, luckily stan has never been inclined to get lammi and didnt this time either.
 
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