Prednisolone ??

Our poor little dog Sid (cocker x terrier) started off with an ear infection, we tried everything under the sun from various drops to thornit had as ear flushed out and looked at twice.....

He ended up on Prednisolone and at last his ear improved, I gradually reduced it until he was off it and then his ear started smelling again so pt him back on it again... this happened a few times.

In the end we had to settle with balancing a small a mount pred and prednoleucotropin because of pain in his lower back / hips.

In the mean time his skin has developed scabby bits which are itchy, and also a fatty lump.

Took him to the vets they gave us antibiotics, advocate incase he had fleas or something and then medicated shampoo to use after the advocate has had it's time, and told us might remove fatty lump at some point if it gets bigger before it becomes harder to remove.

None it has made any difference to his scabs or how itchy he is so we are going to take him back in.

I've been searching the internet for similar looking skin problems and came across another case where a two dogs had, had ear infections and the owner had used corticosteroids (preds or similar) to try and clear it then they got in the situation where deceasing the pred caused skin issues and made the dogs itchy. I understand that dogs can become dependent on it and that dosage should be reduced very gradually so the body can regain producing more natural corticosteriods.

So as of Saturday pm I put him back on more pred to test if this is what is causing his itchiness and bad skin and the itching has reduced as far as I can tell so there maybe a link to the preds. But he's not him self this morning he didn't want to go up the stairs which would suggest the pred is giving him pains

So I don't want to keep giving him prednisolone because of the side effects also since the start of being given preds he's become very hungry which started another problem of him eating the other dogs poo.

The vet we used to see in the past Martin has now retired he knew his stuff, the vet we went to for his skin Helen seemed better than some of the other vets there but would still rather be able go to Martin

I will update as things happen but thought I would share as it seems Prednisolone is a tricky one to reduce and stop using for some dogs

So does anyone else on here have any experiences / thoughts / info / advise on Prednisolone ?

Thanks

Looking at him now and he really is not his self this morning, very quiet and lost his enthusiasm to be as daft and playful as he has been up until I put him back on pred and seems a bit stiff or like moving quickly is more uncomfortable for him I do hope there is some way of getting him off preds in the long run.

My vet put my dog on steroids due to itchy skin and it stops the itching so I doubt the steroids are causing the itchy skin but i may be wrong.

I'm typing on my phone so can't post link but if you search for a thread called "would you continue with this treatment" does your dogs skin look a bit like on this thread?

I'm thinking along the lines of demodex mites. If it is demodex mites the steroids will be making the condition worse.

Thanks for reply and yes what I'm referring to is that coming off / reducing the tablets could be whats making him itch, because at the moment while back on a higher dose I've hardly seen him scratch.

Because the preds cause the body to stop producing natural corticosteroids which help with immunity and inflammation, they have to be reduced very slowly to allow the body to start producing them again maybe that's the answer but I'd worry about his ear problems coming back.

I'm worried that either he'll become dependent on preds and/or his skin issues could be something more serious.

He's been treated with Advocate which covers demodex mites.

I'll have to get some photos of his scabs.

Thanks