Prednisone, Orbax and Thyroid meds

[Guest Anonymous]

Please help! My 3 year old Cocker Spaniel is a mess!. Her dr has her on Prednisone, and thyroid meds, she just finished up a round of Orbax for a secondary skin and ear infection. As long as she is on the anitbiotics her skin clears up. No leasions, nothing....as soon as the antibiotics are out of her little system, the leasions come back, even taking the thyroid and steroid meds. She is miserable, itching all the time and panting........She started the panting when she went on the thyroid med over 3 months ago. I'm so worried. I know it isn't good for her to get all this medication. She is also on Science Diet ZD and cottage cheese and rice or potatoes. Nothing but antibiotics seem to help the poor little thing. Does anyone know of something I can try? I used oatmeal shampoo that is hypo-alergenic. The vet told me our next visit would be to the doggie dermatologist. There has to be something out there that can help her!

[alicat613]

Oh dear! Poor thing sounds like a mess! Prednisone is an immunosuppressant (like all corticosteroids) which isn't helping. Why is she on that? Antibiotics also suppress the immune system. While she's on them, she does not have to have any immune response. As soon as they are stopped, her body has no immunity working, and then suddenly is really overwhelmed by the problem.

I prefer holistic care. IMO your dog really needs to be taken off all this (even the thyroid meds if possible, which it sometimes is with holistic care using glandulars - basically cut up thryoid from animals - and other supportive therapies, such as natural steroids) and let her detox. I do not mean do this yourself, you need to see a vet and have them help you clear up her problems.

Also I wouldn't give her any more potatoes, or tomatoes or peppers. These are nightshades and not tolerated well by some dogs, often small dogs cannot handle them. You could do sweet potatoes instead, which are rarely allergenic. Did the vet say it was ok to add those things to the diet? Personally I don't like the prescription diets, but if you are looking for allergies, you have to really stick to the elimination diet, whether it is homemade or commercial.

As far as bathing, I'd get a good antibacterial shampoo like Septiderm-V (available most pet stores) and bathe her with that. I have a cat with severe skin problems and it helped us to bathe with that, then use oats in panty hose and then squeeze "oat water" on her. I would let her dry with the oat water on. She would be sticky and crunchy for about 10 minutes, then soft as can be. None of the oatmeal shampoos or rinses we found were strong enough to help her.

Sorry your pup is feeling so ill! I hope she's better soon.

[DogPaddle]

Thyroid med: I don't know how it works for dogs but I would suspect it is the same as it is for people. If this is the case - the dog should not be taken off it unless a very comparable and equally usable source of thyroxin can be obtained and the switch should be made gradually under trained supervision. My brother has hypothyroidism and must take the exact same amount of thyroxin, in the same half hour period, everyday, for the rest of his life. If his dosage changes, or he lets his prescription run out and doesn't take it for a few days (missing a single day now and then or changing the time now and then is not a huge deal but if done regularly also messes up his system) - it takes a month for his levels to sort themselves out again. Very powerful chemical which we are all very sensitive too.

[zac850]

I personally am not into all of the homeopathic remidies. While i compleatly agree that medications upon medications are never good for us (or our pets) i do belive that some need to be done. Thyroid medication is one of those things that needs to be regulated. I know I have seen many cases of animals (mostly cats, around 9 or 10) who have developed hypothyrodism and need to be on that medication. However, if there is a porblem with the medication, such as a bad side-effect, then you sould talk to your vet about possibly changing the medication. Personally, at the clinic I work at, we give ThyroTabs, which is a cheep medication, and i personally have never heard about anything like that happning.

The Hills perscription diet, Z/D is usually good for alergy cases. It comes in 2 brands, low alergen, and ULTRA low alergin. If the low alergin dosen't work, try the ULTRA low alergin. for more info on the diet go to : [url]http://www.prescriptiondiets.com/hp.html[/url] and that might help
Good Luck!!!!
Zac