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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Stable weight with Prednisone?
| Hi, My dog Wiley has been on Prednisone since March. He is 30 pounds and is on 20 mg per day. He has barely gained any weight while on the Pred. Is this unusual? He is always hungry and it seems like he is eating/getting alot of treats. I am not worried, just curious, it seems like most dogs gain alot. Thanks for reading! Lisa |
| Lisa CT |
| Lisa, Tessy remained at a stable weight the whole way through her struggle! Each dog is different and it also comes down to the dogs current conditioning and the meds they're on. Consider this a good thing! I've heard of some dogs that even lose weight due to muscle loss! How's Wiley been doing lately? Are the numbers improving? Hope to hear an update. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
| Hi Johnny, He goes back next week for another blood check and the liver test. I think the visit will be positive. He has been so active and playful lately. I never thought he would be this way again! Lisa |
| Lisa CT |
| Lisa, that's what we all hope and pray for!!! If he does start to lose weight then you could run some tests on him to see what's up but for now...YAY! Positive vibes for good test results next week! johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
| Lisa, Actually, when dogs are on prednisone they don't necessarily put on weight. The prednisone acts very strongly on body fat, muscle and water. It will shift fat around to different locations. (Have you ever seen a human with a "moon face?" This is caused by high dose prednisone use.) Water will follow the fat around and muscle will be lost. This can leave a dog looking dumpy (esp in the belly), not only because of the shifting fat but because the important skeletal muscles that help hold everything in place will not be working well. The ligaments in the joints will loosen and eventually this makes standing and walking a tiresome task. It is a risky time for a dog to injure themselves. I do believe that Chance injured his knee during this period of time and it later showed up as a partially torn cruciate ligament. I guess I should be advising more folks here to be very careful when their dogs have lost a lot muscle. Kate Connick has a wonderful website that discusses Canine Cushing's Disease. This is a condition where the body floods with excess cortisol. In most of these dog's cases, it is either a disease of the pituitary or the adrenals. In our dog's cases it is cause by flooding the body with high dose prednisone which is in essence, cortisol. This is called Iatrogenic or caused by high dose glucocorticosteroids. (Prednisone) So once the prednisone is removed, the condition goes away. That is not the case for the dogs that have some organic disease of the pituitary or adrenals. But they can be treated successfully in most cases. Anyway, I love the way she has written her webpages because it explains all the side effects of excess cortisol on a dog's body. And she had some great pictures that show a dog healthy, a dog with Cushing's Disease and a dog after being treated for Cushing's. If you look at the dog with the disease, you will see what I mean about the muscle and body fat. The dog looks dumpy. The dog after treatment looks better, more muscular and healthy. So here is the website: http://www.kateconnick.com/library/cushingsdisease.html And here are the close-up photos. http://www.kateconnick.com/library/cushingsillustration.html This explains with a picture what I have been trying so poorly to describe with words. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
This thread was discussed on 07/07/2010
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