views on prednisolone????

[Jazzyy]

Hello my horse has been given prednisolone tablets today after an examiniation from the vet about her headshaking.
Just wondering if anyone has any views or experiences using it?
I know that i have to restrict grazing and increase her work load to prevent the risks of laminitis.

 

[glenruby]

V low risk for lami but diet should be kept in check anyway. A v useful drug but as a steroid, some care should be taken.

 

[vixiem]

my mare has prednisolone eye drops to settle her uveitis. my vet warned me of side effects due to it being a steroid will be interesting to see if anyone else has experience of it x

 

[HaffiesRock]

I have never used this on a horse, but have taken it myself many times!

As a human it makes you extremely hungry and want to eat everything in sight! So I would say what your horses diet. It also causes mega mood swings so I'd be wary of her moods. But that is what it did to ME not a horse :O)

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Glenruby, I thought oral steroids were a high risk for laminiitis whereas inhaled or injected was less of a risk? Vets wanted to give my summer pollen RAO veteran a very high dose but for safety's sake we cut it hard back, both in dosage levels and in length of time he was taking them. OP be aware that you will be prescribed human preds, so in tiny tablets that humans take. Your horse may well need 50 or more, often a lot more, per day and it can get cripplingly expensive. Then you have to pop them from the blister packs and then find a way to get 50+ tablets down your horse's throat! Some grind them up, some have trusting horses and just chuck them in the feed. Some have suspicious horses and have B-I-G trouble! Good luck.

 

[alsiola]

In terms of laminitis risk, then injected appears to be highest, oral somewhere in the middle, and inhaled lowest. Dexamethasone and triamcinolone higher than prednisolone. It is worth stressing that there is zero published evidence that any dose of any steroid by any route causes laminitis.

 

[ihatework]

In terms of laminitis risk, then injected appears to be highest, oral somewhere in the middle, and inhaled lowest. Dexamethasone and triamcinolone higher than prednisolone. It is worth stressing that there is zero published evidence that any dose of any steroid by any route causes laminitis.

Exactly what my vet said to me yesterday when my horse was started on prednisolone for a respiratory allergy. He has no major concerns about drug induced laminitis (although if you have a type susceptible then take normal precautions).

Mine is on 120 tabs a days!!! They are small animal ones and counted from a bottle (no faffy blister packs). We just left them soaking in a mug of sugarbeet and then mixed the pulp in with feed, didn't cause any problem.

 

[Gorgeous George]

My boy has just had a course of injected steroids for his COPD as his inhaler was no longer working and we needed to do something, they really helped but he was still quite snotty/coughing etc. the vet didn't want to continue with the injections due to the higher risk of side effects, so he is now on a tapering dose of tablet, but he is on dexamethasone. He has to take the tablets every third day and to start with he had 27, but is now on 22 and he just eats them in his feed I've not noticed any change in him temprement wise. The vet says the risk of lami is very low (everything crossed) but to keep an eye on him, he said there was a greater risk of an infection going unnoticed becasue the steroids can mask the immune response, so he advised me to take his temp every few days so i would be aware if something was wrong.

 

[popularfurball]

They are a high risk for laminitis. My pony was on them for eight weeks, she ha a massive event line (more of a ridge) indicating changes in pedal bone. Yet no soreness - I took her off grass completly and remember it takes a few months for effects to wear out the system so grass is not suddenly safe when they are stopped. It was about £100 for 10 days supply for my little 11"2 pony.

Useful mediation but risks need to be taken seriously. Also make sure it is prednisolone not prednisone that is prescribed - the second is not reliant absorbed by the horse.

 

[glenruby]

As Alsoola has already said prednisolone is not a high risk for laminitis and no papers exist to back up the claim that laminitis can be induced by treating with steroids. The only paper I can remember is one where 3 out of approx 500 horses treated with a high dose of triamcinolone developed laminitis during their lay up with lameness and it is conceivable that stress etc may have played a role there.
Oral steroids are lower down than injected and rank above inhaled/topical in therms of side effects.
Poplarfyrball- I'm surprised you paid that
Uh. It is approx £48-55 for a tub of 1000 where I've been.

 

[popularfurball]

I think that's what they were 25mg tablets at 10 per day

This is what eight weeks did to my ponies feet - yet no sensitivity or lami at the time (aparantly it's called "sub clinical laminitis"... Which I can't get my head around)

For us she would have died slowly or been PTS so the risk was worth it. The risk is manageable with close watching - she was a chronic laminitic anyway.

 

[LadyRascasse]

Your horses feet grow exceptionally quick if thats is 8 weeks! My mare is on 100 tablets a day for HS but so far she seems worse than better (4 doses so far) but that could be because its progressing regardless rather than the medication.

 

[popularfurball]

No, these were taken last year!! I just meant she took steroids for eight weeks - no other changes to diet etc and she threw that change in growth. Pics were taken about six months after.

Vet who visited weekly for eight weeks was happy that there was no laminitis - tested her an watches her move etc... Different vet comes up six months later and looks at me in disbelief when I say she hasn't had laminitis for 18 months - he was certain she had a really nasty bout of it sue to line - apparently it was "sub clinical"

Steroids are worth their weight in gold, but I don't see what is wrong with taking appropriate precautions to prevent laminitis.

My pony has pemphigus foliaceous - have a look at the prognosis for it. 90% of horses wont survive one year post diagnosis - this is not because the disease kills them, it's due to tr laminitis from steroid use. So whilst there is little evidence directly linking the two, there is a lot of indirect evidence

 

[little MJ]

My horse has the rings on his feet just like yours in the pic above. He had preds tabs in.September 11 and injections of steroids in July and august 11. He's seen lots of vets and no one has commented on this. Sub clinical lami ...... Really?

 

[popularfurball]

That was my response too! I think the explanation is that there are changes in the laminae as you can see the angle change, regardless of pain or not the laminae have become inflamed and stretched which is technically laminitis.

I don't really understand it but that's what my understanding is! Hence I say that there are associated risks with feet /- most things affect the feet in some way - feet are an indicator of general health and a bit like rings in trees they document what has happened

 

[packwood]

My pony (a 17 year old Welsh sec A mare) has an allergy to too much cloropyll in the grass - so gets itchy patches esepcailly on her muzzle, face, ears etc especially in Spring. She gets a short course (10 days of Preds) and it clears it. This is the fifth or sixth year we have given it with no adverse effects.

 

[pistolpete]

Didn't realise prednisolone was so regularly prescribed. My boy takes 98 a day for his wobbliness. Hoping it's reversible neck trauma. 5mg tablets. Bought him his own pstle and mortar and just grind them up with a polo and add to feed.

 

[Nanolol]

One of the vets I work with told me that her professor at vet college said that "no animal should ever die without steroids" lol. From personal experience-the unmetabolized form (prednisone) tastes like crap. I can't imagine prednisolone to taste much butter.

 

[whiteclover]

my old mare was on it when nothing worked for her breathing. It didnt make a difference to her breathing but a side effect of it was she was very spooky on it and she wasnt before.

 

[Daisy2]

If its any help my dog was on them for years, we bought them from the chemist with a prescription from the vets, much cheaper, he never had any problems and was on them for about 6yrs until he died of old age 16yrs.We used to stick them to a lsice of butter bread and it went down in one go...I like the sugarbeet idea. Good Luck

 

[MrsNorris]

My old mare was on them for 4 months for an undiagnosed condition where her legs swelled massively and she had petechial hemorrhages on her gums and tongue. Vet thought that it may have been pupura hemorragica, but not confirmed as not a typical case. Had no problems with laminitis and they did control the swelling, but she was very depressed and not eating much.
Tried to cut them down after a month, but swelling returned. Eventually weaned her off them after 4 months as I ran out of money (she wasn't covered for it by the insurance, too old) and I couldn't bear to see her so depressed.
Was expecting to lose her at this point but lo and behold, she perked up almost straight away. Started eating again, swelling didn't recur, depression lifted and she went on to have another good few years.

 

[Goldenstar]

One here had this extensively for a heart problem .
We where warned of a possible lami risk he gained wieght alarmingly and was had a terrible appetite he just wanted to eat and eat.
However he did eventully recover ( although I think it was time and safe ( for his handlers ) exercise that did the trick.
It did seem to leave him with a poor coat and very flat soles but in time he was come right .
He has however been left with Anhidrosis but there seems to be some signs that that is improving now , although any of these things could be caused by the condition not the drugs .
My view having used them is they are best avoided unless it's a last resort.

 

[cowgirl16]

Didn't realise prednisolone was so regularly prescribed. My boy takes 98 a day for his wobbliness. Hoping it's reversible neck trauma. 5mg tablets. Bought him his own pstle and mortar and just grind them up with a polo and add to feed.

Hi Pistolpete, I know this is a very old thread, but my boy is just about to start on 100 prednisolone tabs per day, for something that sounds very similar to your horse's problem. Did he come good on them?

 

[pistolpete]

Hi Pistolpete, I know this is a very old thread, but my boy is just about to start on 100 prednisolone tabs per day, for something that sounds very similar to your horse's problem. Did he come good on them?

Yes he did. Had another nine happy years after the steroid treatment. Vets wanted to inject steroid into his neck but I said no to that. He did really well.

 

[cowgirl16]

Thanks for the reply. That's really good news. I'm worried sick seeing my boy staggering and losing his balance. Weird thing is, he doesn't seem to be in pain with it. Read somewhere that ataxia isn't actually painful, but will be distressing for the horse. He manages reasonably ok till he treads on a stone, or meets unlevel ground. All 4 feet are sore at the moment, so that isn't helping at all! Like you did, I ground the tablets up with a couple of ground up polos, and fed like that - so no problems getting the meds into him. I'm really glad to hear the outcome was good for you - that gives me a bit of hope. This is last chance saloon for my boy - so my fingers are very tightly crossed!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Exactly what my vet said to me yesterday when my horse was started on prednisolone for a respiratory allergy. He has no major concerns about drug induced laminitis (although if you have a type susceptible then take normal precautions).

Mine is on 120 tabs a days!!! They are small animal ones and counted from a bottle (no faffy blister packs). We just left them soaking in a mug of sugarbeet and then mixed the pulp in with feed, didn't cause any problem.

😩 I’ve been having to do this on and off the past year. It’s a LOT of counting isn’t it!

 

[baran]

My pony has pemphigus foliaceous - have a look at the prognosis for it. 90% of horses wont survive one year post diagnosis - this is not because the disease kills them, it's due to tr laminitis from steroid use. So whilst there is little evidence directly linking the two, there is a lot of indirect evidence

Don't agree with you. OH's horse had this too. Studies we looked at did not point at laminitis due to steroid use. The majority were put down due to poor quality of life. It can be an incredibly painful illness and like any auto-immune illness, leads to all sort of other problems. OH's horse was on steroids for over two years with no problems. Previously we owned a cob who took them for COPD for several years. Vet said risk of laminitis was theoretical with little in the way of studies to back it up.
Both horses took the tablets no problem, massive doses!