# Prednisolone



## ken1 (15 January 2009)

Hi everyone. 
Does anyone have any experience of their horse being prescribed with Prednisolone? It's a steroid for treating inflammation and in my boy's case possible heart inflammation. The drug is actually a human medication but just trying to get a better understanding of what side effects to look out for in horses. Any comments would be really welcome.


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## saz5083 (15 January 2009)

Mine was on it last summer for lung inflamation. Only thing I was told to look out for was lami, luckily mine didnt seem to have any side-affects at all.


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## Doris68 (15 January 2009)

My mare (23 yo) was prescribed around (I think) 20 tablets a day for 10 days.  This was for a persistent dermatitis on her off hind.

She had no side effects; however, I think long-term there might be.  Check with you vet.


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## BackInBlack (15 January 2009)

my TB was on it for a month for lung inflammation. was told to watch for laminitus, just to watch out in case he was 'footy'. also it may give them hot flushes! 
saz5083 - did your horses lung inflammation clear up? and do you know what caused it.


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## Jo C (15 January 2009)

Mine had Prednisolone for breathing allergies, sadly it did cause laminitis so please be careful.
Edited to say it didn't really help the breathing problem either....


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## Evadiva1514 (15 January 2009)

No experience having a horse on it, but i was on it for a while last year after i contracted meningitis and septicaemia. I was on 1 tablet 3 times a day and it was an amazing drug. I was aware at the time that there were a lot of side affects to the drug but never 'knowingly' experienced them. Sorry to hear about your horses possible heart inflammation. I hope this drug works as well with your boy as it did with me! 

Good luck sp1r1t and welcome to the forum!!


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## Minnies_Mum (15 January 2009)

Laminitis mainly.  Horses take the tablets surprisingly well, my horse is a fussy old devil and he had to have about 20 a day- I thought we'd never get them into him but he just munched them up in a handful of nuts.  I've taken them and they taste disgusting so I was quite surprised.


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## Steeleydan (15 January 2009)

One of my house sitting clients has a cob on it permenantly, it has a sort of thrush/mud fever/rotton stuff, between the bulbs of its heels and nothing clears it up(they have spent a fortune on it trying to get her better) And perhaps my description of the symptons is not that good but its somthing to do with its immune system. She has 90 Pregnisalone crushed and in feed every other day, this large amount because they are only human strength.


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## ken1 (16 January 2009)

Thank you for all your comments and welcomes the forum. We start today with 22 tablets a day for six weeks. Found out last night that my mother in law is also on these tabs (now what do I think about that?). The diagnosis for my boy is - - Advanced Second Degree Atrioventricular Block with Ventricular and Supraventricular Premature Depolarisation. Which is an awfully lot bigger word than marmalade.

Not allowed to exersise or get too excited which is not easy for a TB ex racehorse who has been banged up in hospital for the best part of a week.


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## ken1 (16 January 2009)

I just thought, has your client tried using Colloidal Silver? It's a solution you can buy online from natural remedy suppliers like Natural Mother. Silver is a natural anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti viral and has been proven to kill some 600 different bugs. It was used by the Romans and they have started putting it in sticking plasters for cuts and grazes. I take (drink) it when I have a cold and to put on cuts etc.


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## Tia (16 January 2009)

Been using this fairly recently but horse is now off it altogether.  No side effects whilst on it; apparently did the job; however you do have to wean horses off it - you can't just suddenly stop using Prednisolone.  All went well on me weaning horse here off it; I just gradually lowered the amount over the space of 10 days.


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## sarahhelen1977 (16 January 2009)

We had a horse on 100 tablets a day for 2 weeks, also have horses on it for skin problems, not encountered any problems, and those with skin problems have been on a low dose long term (with breaks)


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## amandaco2 (16 January 2009)

you have to be careful of laminitis and also general infections as it can suppress the immune system are the 2 main ones
if its only a short course and the horse has only had a certain number of courses in a year, it doesnt need tapering down.


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## hellybelly6 (18 January 2009)

Prednisolone is a steroid and can cause laminitis and slight reduction in immunity.

It is also used for breathing trouble in horses.

Does your horse have inflammation of the heart or does he have fluid around it?


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## ken1 (19 January 2009)

The vets are assuming inflammation of the heart caused by a virus no longer present. It appears this condition has never been seen before in their experience and they have certainly never seen a horses heart rate go down to 18 beats a minute which is what my boy has done recently.


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## rubicon (10 September 2011)

hiya¬! yep..... my horse has just been prescribed this drug along with another (havent picked that up yet) and he has to tkae 100 a day! cant believe it but its apparently the correct doseage. He has inflammation of the kidney. Any advice and/or stories anyone has regarding this drug and its efficacy ............. I am really hoping it will do the trick for him as he is a very super special TB. only had him since Dec and then we found this kidney disease. Why is it always the good ones? boooo. Anyway - i am also giving him a specialist diet and lots of rosehip tea which he seems to love!!


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## aniford (10 September 2011)

Hi
my mare is on Prednidale 5mg tabs which are licensed for dogs and cats. These cost around £40 for 1,000.  She has been on 100 tabs and is to be now weaned off by 10 less every 3 days.  The vet thinks that 50 tabs are going to be the lowest dose.  He has diagnosed IBD and the steroids are to treat inflammation of the gut.
Can anyone tell me the cost of other types of these corticosteroids please? Are the Prednidale 5 the most cost effective?
Thanks Ani


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## deicinmerlyn (10 September 2011)

My TB Gelding had 60 prednisilone tablets for two weeks when he had water pouring out through his nose when drinking.  It resolved the problem and he had no side effects but i think that anything that is prone to Laminitis would have to be extra cautious.


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## Shilasdair (10 September 2011)

I feel I'm the clear winner in the Preds stakes .
One of mine has been on them since Aug last year, starting with 112 pills daily, and gradually reducing over time so she is now on 36 per day.
She had a severe allergy/autoimmune problem so it was either Preds or PTS. 
As for side effects - she hasn't shown any at all, but I believe they include susceptibility to laminitis, reduced immune system function, reduction in bone density with long term use.
S


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## snopuma (10 September 2011)

Sorry your not the clear winner its me!

3.5 years of 100 tablets a day for my old horse who is now 31, he has wobblers which most would get if they lived as long as him he's a horse not a pony, and I tried to reduce the tablets by 5 to 95 and he was wonky the next day so we have stayed on 100 a day for all this time,  he has no side effects but is a very old boy, so pprobably won't put him through another winter which is desperately sad as I have had him since he was 4, my lovely Digby!


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## RobinHood (10 September 2011)

I've known 2 horses prescribed it.

The first horse was on 120 tablets a day as it kept suffering bouts of extreme lameness. The horse was non weight bearing on alternate legs (ie left leg one day and the next morning it was the right leg) for a few days at a time, and there could be weeks or months before episodes. Nothing showed up on xrays or a bone scan. Eventually the pedal bones rotated and the horse was non weight bearing on a different leg each day, sometimes a fore limb and sometimes a hind limb, and so he was put down.

The second horse was prescribed it for head shaking. Sadly I can't remember the dosage. There were no side affects but also no improvement in the head shaking.


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## glenruby (10 September 2011)

Robinhood - that first horse sounds like it was severely laminitic(if with an unusual presentation) prior to getting the steroids. I had a similar case (v v lame RH, o said had been non weightbearing LF at lunchtime) which I saw one afternoon and treated with NSAIDs (thankfully) and ABs (it had a temperature also) but it wasnt until the next morning that it was clear that it was laminitis. 

Prednidale is the most cost effective of the steroids as far as i can remember hence why most equine practices use it.


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## popularfurball (11 September 2011)

Its more the dosgae than the number of tabs - if they are 5mg tabs they are only having 500mg which is about right. My little girl had 250mg day at 11"3ish. It has ruined her feet - though she didnt have laminitis at the time, she has a massive event line on all four, and now, six months on has lost concavity in her feet and is foot sore on stones as this grows out. 

There never was or is any heat or pulses in her feet - but it shows what effect they have.

On the flipside, she was a different pony on steroids - she has auto immune disease and all of a sudden she wanted o be cuddled, she wanted to play - she no longer behaved like her skin was on fire.


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## barnaby2011 (11 September 2011)

Maybe thats where the Doctor went wrong with me...Its for horses.... I was Prescribed it and ended up in a coma with white blood cells destroyed.


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## rubicon (12 September 2011)

oh wow.... its good to know there are others out there in similar boats!! Think its going to be a long haul for us too so months of counting 100 tiny pills with my terrible eye sight is gonna be a joy in the depth of winter! so i too would love to know if there is an alternative. My vet told me that its cheaper to use the smaller dose size pills. The mega ones are much more expensive. Already I have dropped the jar and spilled all the pills all over feed room floor. spent several mins on hands and knees scouring the floor for the little monsters. haha! good luck all and keep you posted. x


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## aniford (13 September 2011)

rubicon said:



			oh wow.... its good to know there are others out there in similar boats!! Think its going to be a long haul for us too so months of counting 100 tiny pills with my terrible eye sight is gonna be a joy in the depth of winter! so i too would love to know if there is an alternative. My vet told me that its cheaper to use the smaller dose size pills. The mega ones are much more expensive. Already I have dropped the jar and spilled all the pills all over feed room floor. spent several mins on hands and knees scouring the floor for the little monsters. haha! good luck all and keep you posted. x
		
Click to expand...

Oh LOL...I know what you mean about poor eyesight and counting pills! I solved the problem by using some little scientific scales, they are the type you weigh silver and gold with and are accurate to something like 0.01mg. I partially count and weigh them and put them in little tiny bags, labelled with how many are in each, at home in the kitchen. It saves scratting about in the feed room! I got them off the popular auction site! Good Luck
Ani


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## m1187604 (13 September 2011)

just the same as what other ppl have said re: laminitis. also make sure you wean the horse off them as it can impact on the kidneys. my mare was on 50 per day then after about 3 weeks it was halved.


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