Tia

[masta]

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Having just logged back on after a Xmas break I felt I should add a note of my experience - hope this helps. My little fawn bitch had very similar symptons and was eventually referred down to Bristol where they performed a spinal tap and diagnosed steriod responsive meningitus. She was on a high dose for a long time and when we eventually weaned her off she had an almost immediate relapse and was put straight back on the high does for a further three months. It is now over a year on and she is absolutely fine. The vets at Bristol were superb and assured us that her prognosis was very good and that once recovered fully she should never relapse again and should also not have any long term effects from the drugs. However during the time she was on the high dose of steriods she put on a huge amount of weight - small price to pay, and she is back to her slim and elegant self now. I wish you lots of luck with your little Tia as I remember how dreadful we all felt when ours was poorly, not being able to do anything much to help her. Denise xx

hi denise ,thanks for sharing that ,wen your dog was poorly was she like one day good then all of a sudden be in pain from her neck and crying in pain and then on good day just lame on her bk end ?? :unsure:

i lost a bitch (Kass) sept 07 who had meningitis which recurred with seasons i actually lost her when i had her spayed and she developed a lump in the throat which required surgery and it was a step to far and her heart gave out under GA, all the symtoms your dog has points to Meningitis you must insist on a spinal tap and get the dog on predisalone asap, vets will mess about with all sorts of tests that will prove nothing,

 

[Denise]

Yes, my little bitch had the same symptoms as Tia seems to be having. If I tried to gently stroke her down her neck she would scream in pain - but the next day she seemed ok to touch, but was wobbly at the back end. Our vet had come across this before and was quick to start tests then treatment. When we first started to wean her off the steriods it was only a matter of a couple of days before she completely relapsed and was put straight back onto maximum dose. We were told by the Bristol vets that it is imperative to catch it quickly and get them onto steriods straight away. It was a shame as it was almost a year out of her young life as the steriods kept her overweight and lethargic, but very worth it all in the end. Wishing you lots of luck, Denise x

 

[dragonfly]

It seems to be vital to get the prednisolone dose correct to prevent relapses. If your GP vet is not extremely experienced in this field, get a specialist, they know how high the dose should be and for how long to give it, and how to withdraw the drugs at the end of treatment. Unfortunately the specialists see more whippets than most breeds for these conditions and therefore have the experience.

I know a medical specialist vet who told me that he gets to see the dogs that relapse because the steroid dose was insufficient. His rarely relapse. If my ordinary vet was prescribing steroids for this sort of condition I would be asking them a few questions and maybe suggesting that they double check with an expert. It is your whippets health at stake, don't be afraid to (politely) question your vet.

Careful feeding and excercise while on steroids can help to maintain a good weight and healthy coat condition.

Good Luck to everyone with a whippet on steroids!

Cathie

 

[dragonfly]

Hi Nicky , how is Tia today ? Hope she is feeling better ?The above poster is right that it would indeed be bad practice to prescribe steroids if there is infection present but any vet would do a blood test first so there is no danger that steroids would be prescribed wrongly . The blood test will be what your vet is going by .

I had a bitch with all the symtoms described by various posters on this thread. Several blood tests revealed nothing, nor did scans at the local practice. Her temperature hovered around 104 for a week. Every day I thought it would be her last as we tried test after test.

Eventually I got her to a specialist and they were 90% certain it was steroid responsive meningitis, she had a hideously stiff and sore neck and painful joints, but before giving steroids the specialist insisted on a further scan......thank God. She had torn her caesarean scar where it had adhered to her body wall and had leakage to her abdominal cavity, causing infection and inflammation. Her blood tests were normal!

This is why I am not keen on doling out steroids without tests, although I know it is far from being an uncommon practice.

She lived until almost 15.

Cathie

 

[Julie D]

oh no ! poor Tia, don't know how I missed all this. Hope she gets her correct diagnosis ASAP and can start on the right meds.

In a way it'll be a relief if it's the steroid resonsive meningitis as you'll know from others experience that the prognosis is good and she's a fit young girlie.

wishing you lots of :luck: :luck: :luck: for her.

keep us posted. :flowers: for you and gentle hugs for Tia xxx

 

[jake the wonder dog]

So sorry to hear Tia is still poorly, I hope you get the information you need really soon - it's so awful when their ill -I lost my previous dog Jake, to cancer a year ago and with Alfie's recent illness , it just brought it all back.

My vet told me about the risks of steroids being wrongly prescribed and kept Alfie on anti biotics for a further 5 days as well as the steroids. I think it was Alfie's unresponsiveness to the first course of anti biotics that set my mind thinking this was something different to an ordinary infection.

He's been to the vets for another check up and is still on the steroids, but is now down to half tablet once a day for this week and then every other day next week, before he goes back for another check up - does anyone else have any experience with reducing the dosage? does this sound about right??

He's still very thin, even though he's eating full portions - I actually want him to put on weight! His temp is normal and there's no stiffness or pain so the vet thinks it's very likely that it was meningitis - is this something that whippets are prone to or is it about the same with all breeds??

Nicky - Sending you my very best wishes for Tia's recovery and I hope you get some answers very soon.

Jo

 

[whippetsrus]

Do you have an update on Tia, Nicky?

 

[whippetsrus]

So sorry to hear Tia is still poorly, I hope you get the information you need really soon - it's so awful when their ill -I lost my previous dog Jake, to cancer a year ago and with Alfie's recent illness , it just brought it all back.My vet told me about the risks of steroids being wrongly prescribed and kept Alfie on anti biotics for a further 5 days as well as the steroids. I think it was Alfie's unresponsiveness to the first course of anti biotics that set my mind thinking this was something different to an ordinary infection.

He's been to the vets for another check up and is still on the steroids, but is now down to half tablet once a day for this week and then every other day next week, before he goes back for another check up - does anyone else have any experience with reducing the dosage? does this sound about right??

He's still very thin, even though he's eating full portions - I actually want him to put on weight! His temp is normal and there's no stiffness or pain so the vet thinks it's very likely that it was meningitis - is this something that whippets are prone to or is it about the same with all breeds??

Nicky - Sending you my very best wishes for Tia's recovery and I hope you get some answers very soon.

Jo

Hope Alfie continues to improve.

 

[Hula]

So sorry to hear Tia is still poorly, I hope you get the information you need really soon - it's so awful when their ill -I lost my previous dog Jake, to cancer a year ago and with Alfie's recent illness , it just brought it all back.My vet told me about the risks of steroids being wrongly prescribed and kept Alfie on anti biotics for a further 5 days as well as the steroids. I think it was Alfie's unresponsiveness to the first course of anti biotics that set my mind thinking this was something different to an ordinary infection.

He's been to the vets for another check up and is still on the steroids, but is now down to half tablet once a day for this week and then every other day next week, before he goes back for another check up - does anyone else have any experience with reducing the dosage? does this sound about right??

He's still very thin, even though he's eating full portions - I actually want him to put on weight! His temp is normal and there's no stiffness or pain so the vet thinks it's very likely that it was meningitis - is this something that whippets are prone to or is it about the same with all breeds??

Nicky - Sending you my very best wishes for Tia's recovery and I hope you get some answers very soon.

Jo

I had a whippet on steroids for a very serious condition , the way your vet is reducing the steroids sounds right to me going by my experience . It took quite a while but she was fine in the end . She then lived to be 15 with no relapses :thumbsup:

 

[nicky12]

tia is at the vets as we speak ,shes having an xray and if they find nothing they will put her straight onto steroids ,and me of course im a mess hate leaving her ,her little face breaks my heart wen i have to leave her at the vets ,should no more this afternoon wen i go to pick her up ,anybody no wat sort of dosage she should be on if they do put her on steroids ?? :unsure:

 

[nicky12]

So sorry to hear Tia is still poorly, I hope you get the information you need really soon - it's so awful when their ill -I lost my previous dog Jake, to cancer a year ago and with Alfie's recent illness , it just brought it all back.My vet told me about the risks of steroids being wrongly prescribed and kept Alfie on anti biotics for a further 5 days as well as the steroids. I think it was Alfie's unresponsiveness to the first course of anti biotics that set my mind thinking this was something different to an ordinary infection.

He's been to the vets for another check up and is still on the steroids, but is now down to half tablet once a day for this week and then every other day next week, before he goes back for another check up - does anyone else have any experience with reducing the dosage? does this sound about right??

He's still very thin, even though he's eating full portions - I actually want him to put on weight! His temp is normal and there's no stiffness or pain so the vet thinks it's very likely that it was meningitis - is this something that whippets are prone to or is it about the same with all breeds??

Nicky - Sending you my very best wishes for Tia's recovery and I hope you get some answers very soon.

Jo

so glad alfies feeling better hun :huggles:

 

[Hula]

Hi Nicky , I really hope you get some answers today . Poor Tia and poor you , you both have had an awful time . I can't remember the dose of steroids my whippet was on but it starts off high then it reduces gradually . As I said before my whippet Hula was very ill and had steroids when she was 2 , she had no relapses and lived to be 15 so fingers crossed it's the same for Tia :luck:

 

[nicky12]

ok tias home they found nothing on the xray ,so shes now on prednisolone 5mg (anybody no if that dosage sounds right ?)and also more anti biotics ,so fingers crossed she will start to get better :unsure:

 

[suvi]

Hi Nicky,

My Misty was on Pred when she was diagnosed with Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia but she was on a huge dose of 30 mg a day. I think the most important thing is to reduce the dose very gradually, Mistys dose was reduced by a couple of miligrams a week over a long period. She didnt have any side effects and it saved her life!!

Judi x

 

[nicky12]

forgot to say she having two of those tabs a day so total is 10mg a day .

 

[Trish]

i do hope tia will soon be feeling her old self real soon :huggles:

 

[jake the wonder dog]

ok tias home they found nothing on the xray ,so shes now on prednisolone 5mg (anybody no if that dosage sounds right ?)and also more anti biotics ,so fingers crossed she will start to get better :unsure:

Alfie has been on 25mg/day for a week and is now down to half that. Good luck - if there's no change maybe talk to your vet about the dosage options.

:luck:

Jo

 

[June Jonigk]

forgot to say she having two of those tabs a day so total is 10mg a day .

Nicky the dose for Prednisolone varies greatly for different conditions, they're not like antibiotics where you need to give the dose by bodyweight. I guess they will see how Tia responds to them, and then either up the dose if necessary, or keep her on the same dose for a while. They do need to be tailed off gradually when they come off them though. My guess is that you will see an improvement quite quickly - at least that's what I'm hoping for you :huggles:

 

[Hula]

Hoping now you will see an improvement :luck:

 

[whippetmad]

Fingers cross Nicky for Tia :luck: :luck: :luck: :luck:

Get well Tia :* :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: It will lovely to see you running around with the gang again :teehee: :teehee: