Newbie here! I have 9 yr old male boxer- my only child, had him since he was a pup!! Been fortunate to not have any real health issues (other than ACL and arthritis), Until this past week! Last Friday I came home from work to find him Very sick - weak, labored breathing, pale and tacky mouth- not good. Based on blood tests and presentation he was thought to have Addison's. (extremley High potassium, history of vomitting, and current symptoms; was going into shock - anemic, high wbc, low temp, dehydration). We had the worst night of our life, but then a turn around the next am- which confirmed diagnosis in vets eyes. Begin Prednisone...high dose at first- he didn't do well after two days high dose - my experience as nurse told me to halve prednisone and we did recheck of blood. Liver enzymes are now outrageous, WBC still elevated (not sure why - was also high on initial crash - also given abx). Potassium questionably high (problems with machine reading only that test - one time showed erroneously high reading). Plan is to taper prednisone to a comfortable level. Current dose is making him drink some serious water, leads to lots of urination and occasional panting for no apparent reason. Acts a little off, but I see improvement with that. My concern is How do I know when enough prednisone is enough? Has anyone gone through this, have any suggestions or tips? The day he was sick he had to have crashed quickly - he was seen by "daddy" at noon in fine condition - playful even. 5 hours later a dog on the verge of death! So if it happened that quickly- can he currently be as sensitive to a potentially too low of a dose prednisone while i'm trying to figure out where his dose should be?! Does this make sense?
I'm not sure if I've already been too wordy- I wanted to give a little history and info that I've received just from reading online. I'm fairly comfortable with what the vet has done thus far, but he doesn't seem to be as knowledgable about this as I'd like - we are considering seeing a specialist when we get back from vacation next week! Yes, vacation - which some what worries me, but we'll be with him constantly and this is always a relaxing time, so hopefully will help Chopper fully recover - as long as we're "guessing" right on the prednisone taper plan. From what I've read, there are no real steadfast rules ....making it ever so stressful to mommy!!
Any input that anyone might have, I sure would appreciate it!! I hope we're on the right track. Chopper does seem better each day, I'm worried about this first day off prednisone (starting an every other day dose).
Thanks in advance!
I'm not sure if I've already been too wordy- I wanted to give a little history and info that I've received just from reading online. I'm fairly comfortable with what the vet has done thus far, but he doesn't seem to be as knowledgable about this as I'd like - we are considering seeing a specialist when we get back from vacation next week! Yes, vacation - which some what worries me, but we'll be with him constantly and this is always a relaxing time, so hopefully will help Chopper fully recover - as long as we're "guessing" right on the prednisone taper plan. From what I've read, there are no real steadfast rules ....making it ever so stressful to mommy!!
Any input that anyone might have, I sure would appreciate it!! I hope we're on the right track. Chopper does seem better each day, I'm worried about this first day off prednisone (starting an every other day dose).
Thanks in advance!
