Treatment for Epilepsy in Dogs Fact Sheet

The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists is an organization of veterinarians who have had years of training, education and certification in animal behavior. If you have any queries or concerns about the use of steroids in your pet, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• In most cases, your vet will recommend weaning your dog’s steroids down to the lowest dose that effectively manages your dog’s condition, and in many cases stopping them altogether.
• We are not normally able to establish why an animal develops an immune-mediated disease such as SRMA.
• After a serious accident, such as a car crash, a healthy person produces more cortisol.
• It is sensible to wash your hands after handling any drugs, including steroids.
• If you are concerned about the health of your pet you should contact your veterinary surgeon.

This helps you cope with the stressful situation and additional strain on your body that results from serious injury. As your body cannot produce cortisol, you’ll need a hydrocortisone injection to replace it and prevent an adrenal crisis. If you experience symptoms that you believe may benefit from DHEA, speak to your GP. They can arrange blood tests and recommend the correct dose for you.

Steroid Responsive Meningitis-Arteritis (SRMA)

It’s important that you make and keep appointments with your vet during this time, as they will need to check on your pet’s progress and see whether the treatment is having any affect on their organs. Your dog’s heart may also fall into an abnormal rhythm as a result of inflammation of the pericardium, which is the sac that covers the heart. They also may suffer from effusion, which is where fluid collects in the abdomen and lungs, though both of these issues are rare.

• The dose should always be reduced and withdrawn gradually to prevent this.
• During therapy, effective doses suppress the Hypothalamo-Pituitreal-Adrenal axis.
• You can crush the Prednicare tablets you have mentioned on our site into the food, this may be easiest.
• However, around 20% of dogs can have a steroid responsive meningitis relapse, both during treatment or afterwards, so if your dog does fall into this category, they will need additional treatment.

If you are concerned about the health of your pet you should contact your veterinary surgeon. Many dogs will have a single seizure episode in their lives, therefore it may not be feasible to treat every dog that seizures. Please clock add a new pet to eneter the details of the animals you wish to use this product on.

How can I tell if my dog has SRMA?

Our Fact Sheets provide in depth information on Neurological conditions and treatments. Any unused veterinary medicinal product or waste materials derived from such veterinary medicinal products should be disposed of in accordance with local/national requirements. Pharmacokinetic particularsFollowing oral administration prednisolone is well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and distributes in all tissues, in the body fluids and even in the cerebrospinal fluid.

I strongly advise discussing this with your vet as soon as possible so they can advise on whether to stop or continue the medication. This depends on what your vet is treating, the dose for steroid tablets like this varies greatly depending on the condition being treated. We strongly advise you contact your vet to discuss this further as they will be able to explain the dose they have recommended to you.

Steroids on the whole are a safe and effective treatment which have a broad range of uses. Some cats and dogs can be particularly susceptible to side effects buy best steroids of steroids, in which cases lower doses may be needed. Your pet may be receiving other medications which are not compatible with steroid treatment.

Once treatment starts you are likely to notice an improvement in a matter of days. After a few weeks the dose can slowly be reduced over several months. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a group of commonly used painkillers.

We commonly use cytosine arabinoside (Cytarabine) as an injection, when patients are hospitalised. Other medications like Cyclosporine and Azathioprine can be used orally. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of inflammatory CNS disease cannot be based solely on the signs shown by a patient. A diagnosis is normally made on the basis of firstly excluding other causes of spinal pain (like bone or soft tissue infections, immune-mediated joint disease, infections) with blood tests and X-rays.

It is therefore important to understand that the animal will still suffer seizures despite being on treatment. Unfortunately seizure ‘control’ may not be obtained in up to one third of animals despite adequate therapy. Studies in laboratory animals have shown that administration during early pregnancy may cause foetal abnormalities. Administration during the later stages of pregnancy may cause abortion or early parturition.

You can download and carry it with you, or you could use the image of the card as a screensaver on your mobile phone to show healthcare teams in an emergency. You’ll usually need to have appointments with an endocrinologist every 6 to 12 months so they can review your progress and adjust your medicine dose, if necessary. Your GP can provide support and repeat prescriptions in between these visits. Your GP may also ask you to add extra salt to your daily diet, although if you’re taking enough fludrocortisone medicine this may not be necessary.

Steroids that are injected into muscles and joints may cause some pain and swelling at the site of the injection. A high dose of inhaled steroids can sometimes cause more serious side effects but this is rare. The recommended course of treatment largely depends on weighing up the benefits of corticosteroids against the side effects.