My girl was on prednisolone for 9mths in a treatment protocol for her GME. She's stiill on her chemo cycles. She also has allergy related airway disease. The specialist recommended that if she needed steroids long term, she was to have fluticasone by inhaler. While she was on the pred for the GME, her airway problems ceased. Once she was tailed off the pred, all the airway problems returned (she faints with the cough she has with it) My vet put her back on a low dose of prednisolone every other day. Once the weather became hot & humid she began coughing/fainting with increasing frequancy. Vets immediately doubled the dose! No mention of the inhaler.
I'm very hesitant to go down this road & haven't yet started it.  We all know the dangers of prednisolone. without being paranoid, my vets now seem disinterested in finding an answer to my girls problems. I know she's a vets nightmare with all her problems, & i know i'm always asking questions, but im just hoping for an answer.
Does anyone know of any reason why she couldn't continue the low dose pred & have the inhaler as well. This seems to control her symptoms.
I'd be grateful for any advise. I'm almost scared to ask my vets after the last time i discussed the pred- I could see their reaction!! "oh she's off again"

Really sorry to hear about the problems with your girl.  I don't have any advice about treatment but wanted to say that if you find it difficult saying what you want to the vet and asking questions then what about changing vets or at least have a second opinion?  It is your dog and your money so you have the right to ask away.  Keeping everything crossed for your girl.

i would do the same thing.
If your own vet is making you feel that way then prehaps you should try a second opinion and go from there.
I hope you get a great result.

love and kisses.

xx

Hi peanut,

as you've already seen and paid for specialist advice I'd insist the vet you currently use follows it - where's the point in specialist intervention if a GP vet is going to ignore or over rule it ???

If your current vet is unwilling to do as recommended by the specialist then I'd suggest you find a vet that is.

One thing I would say is that, in more general terms rather than specific to your girls problems of which I have no direct knowledge, steroids are often looked upon with suspicion bordering panic by owners yet Pred and others of the same ilk can be life saving as well as life enhancing for thousands of dogs suffering many and varied conditions and provided regular monitoring is in place and same always accompanied with antacid meds together with any other requirements specific to illnesses, steroids are really not the "bad boys" many of us believe :)

I hope you pluck up the courage to tackle this situation sooner rather than later - I know some vets and other figures of authority can be a little intimidating but be strong, this is about YOUR dog and you have every right to broach the issue and have your concerns addressed a.s.a.p.

Best wishes, Teri

This may just be your vet's personal preference; I understand that Pred works more quickly and as your dog was already taking Pred, albeit a low dose, my guess is that it may be quicker to give your dog relief as soon as possible by doubling the dose.  I understand that Fluticasone can take 7 to 10 days to reach full effects and if the animal is already symptomatic, vets may use pred.

But I don't know of any reason why your vet couldn't use Fluticasone and Pred at a low dose until Fluticasone reaches its full effect, unless your vet thought this wasn't advisable for whatever reason.  

However, I completely agree with Teri; your vet should be following the specialist's advice to the letter.  You are your dog's primary caretaker and responsible for her welfare and well being; you are more than entitled to question her treatment until you feel satisfied with the answers.

Best of luck with your girl and I wish her a speedy recovery.

Thanks so much for your comments & advise. She goes for her post chemo blood check next week, so I'll bear in mind what you've said. I'm seeing a different vet this time so hopefully she'll be more understanding. The problem with moving to another practice is the fact that my girl doesn't finish her chemo till sept & i think it would cause to many problems. As a whole this practice is a good one. My girl has almost lived at the vets in the two years I've had her. They're really sweet with her, but seem baffled by some of her varying symptoms, and with an owner who asks so many questions at every appointment, perhaps they feel I'm questioning their competance-I'm not. The vets tho don't have the benefit of living with her & seeing her when these problems occour. I'm a heathcare professional, but with humans, so i have knowledge but transfering it to animals is difficult for me. They know what i am & i wonder if they find it threatening. All i do know is that this little dog means the world to me. She has a life threatening disease (the GME) & i intend to do all i can to get her the best veterinary care i can.
Thanks for letting me ramble. I'll keep you updated how things go.

Hi Back from vets . Her post chemo bloods are fine. Had chat with this different vet. She was very nice and showed none of the sarcasm I had last week from the other vets. Apparently its fine to give her the steroid inhaler together with the alternate day prednisolone. Better than increasing the pred dose. I feel a lot better if i can now control her cough/fainting with this combination.
Thanks so much for the advise.

hi peanut,

So glad you had a good outcome. hope all contines to go well.

xxxx

Hi Peanut  ,  how  often  do you give the inhaler,  my girl  has  bronchitis and  im never sure what doseage to give her.

Hi. She has her inhaler once a day. She's on the max strength one, ie 250mcg. Thats with 2.5mgs Prednisolone every other day, 2mgs Piriton twice a day, and Bricanyl tabs 1.25mgs twice a day. The vets think (and i do ) that there is an allergic involvement to her airway disease. The piriton does seem to help. Of course with her GME as well, it's a constant battle to keep her fairly well and happy. At the mo she's not up to much, but while she still enjoys her food and a potter round the garden, i shall keep going. Like most of us i love her too much !
Does your girl have allergic bronchitis or another type? How is she in herself?

Hi,  the vet never graded the bronchitis, although i have wondered if  the parrot has something to do with her condition. Shes fine all the time the weather is dry  , the last few days she has started coughing again as its been  wet.she has  250 mg inhaler too , Beclometasone. Was hoping to get her spayed as i wont be mating her  however need her to have at least   a week free of steroids. Apart from the cough shes fine in herself. she's 6  now  was told she'd get over it  , infact shes worse now then when she started  getting the symptoms at 13mths.