Hi there, I'm new to this and really looking for some help and advice. My 6 year old chow chow has been started on prednisone 10mg twice daily, for suspected IBD. He had a one off injection of dexamethasone yesterday and we started him on the tablets this morning. We haven't seen any change in him yet and I was wondering when we would start to see the steroids take effect. He's been so ill lately and lost so much weight due to a total loss of appetite. Has anyone got any experience of this and know when the steroids should start to make him feel better or make him hungry again?
Any help is very appreciated

My old boy was on a huge dose of Prednisilone for a blood immune problem when he was about 15 months, he was (according to the vet) 24 hrs from deaths door, v. v. ill and was incredibly weak within such a short space of time. He was started on a massive dose straight away which he was kept on for a couple of weeks, but I would say it took about a 5 days - a week for me to see no further decline in health and for the sparkle to return to his eye. But probably a good couple of weeks for improvement to take place, he was on Pred' for around 6 months in all, but we had to carefully wean him off them which took a while

My ten year old dog has been on medrol,a steroid, since she was one  and a half.She is 23 kg and takes just 8 mg every second day,for all of her life.This has saved her life.Because she needs this drug,the low dosage does not cause her to drink/urinate in excess.At her worst she was 14 kg and had ulcers all over her body,under her tongue and in her throat caused by proteus bacteria.This has escaped from her compromised gut and established itself in other areas of the body...it was resistant to all twelve groups of antibiotics and very difficult to combat.
...... she has a low immune system(tested with Ana test) and cannot fight her own gut bacteria...she would periodically have helicobacter(which caused gastric and intestinal bleeds).She suffers from SIBO, and any sweet or inappropriate food can trigger a bacterial overgrowth (especially clostridium and e.coli). when this happens the faeces would be black,tarry and have an offensive ,characteristic smell.
When your dog has diarrhea ,do get the faeces  tested to see what bacteria are in there ...this is very important as it will affect which treatment your dog will need.
She also takes tylan antibiotic powder,every day,just a I/4teaspoon. This keeps the bad bacteria at bay.
She takes ranitidine to protect her gut from the antibiotics, and a probiotic every so often.Natural live yoghurt is also given to boost the gut flora and also florentero,a supplement ,for similar purpose.
On the days she wouldn't eat due to nausea we used to feed tins of hills a/d food,for convalescent dogs....I still keep these handy as they are useful to give when medicating to feed the pills with a food that will help protect the gut.
it has been a hard slog to keep her going but worth it as she is my heart dog and such a character!
I would suggest you have your dog tested for food intolerance,a blood test..try changing diet...ie exclusion diet,
Some recommend going to a raw diet...but that is a personal choice.
  my dogs case is extreme ,but it gives you some ideas to discuss with you vet.ibd is difficult to diagnose and even harder to get on top of.Good luck with this.

Thanks so much for your reply. I feel a it better now knowing it took a few days to see results. It's such a horrible worry when you feel like you can't do anything to help. The vet gave him a vit b 12 injection this morning as he said that is an appetite stimulant so fingers crossed it works. If not il try syringe feeding him as he is just fading away at the moment. Praying the hunger from the steroids etc will kick in soon. He's still being sick bu has done normal poos and they've been tested which came back clear. Thanks again I really appreciate your input.

I had a jack Russell bitch diagnosed with IBS when she was 9. Always preferring natural medicine I was horrified at the thought of putting her on steroids but a low dose each day kept her comfortable and kept her appetite and she died from Kidney disease at 16 years.

I'm sorry I cannot remember how long they took to kick in but I do know that when she started them she was very poorly and the change in her after a few days was amazing.

Hope your boy picks up soon,

Ali

Thanks Ali, I hope so too. He seems so ill just now, it's hard to see a way out at the moment. I hope things can turn around. I'm hoping maybe he's just a case of the steroids taking a bit longer to work. He's on his third day now and no change.

My GSD had IBS and was very poorly, but with steroids, metronidizole and a change of diet she improved rapidly and led a healthy life.