Dogs and Prednisone: Should the vet have warned me?

Question

My 4 year old Alaskan Malamute was such a good dog. She loved her family and our friends, as long as they were older that 14. She wasn't too fond of small children. About three months ago, she got a weird skin condition where her skin was flaky and her coat started to fall out. She also had a horrible smell. I thought it might be coat funk, a skin condition that Arctic breeds can get. I took her to the vet and he prescribed a medicated shampoo and Prednisone. Shortly afterward, I noticed behavior problems with the dog. She started growling at people. At first it was only strangers who came over, then it escalated to the family. The vet said that rarely, Prednisone could make a dog aggressive and that we should wean her off of it. We did. But she never got better, only worse. It got to the point that she was snarling and growling at my 8 year old. We had no choice but to put her down. We knew no one would adopt her. We loved her so much. Should the vet have warned me?

Answer 1

i went looking at websites and there has been issues of pretty much the same thing you mentioned. Then on other sites they say prednisone does not cause behavioral problems. . http://vetinfo.com/dpred.html#Behavior%20changes%20and%20Prednisone
This website is verifacation that it can cause side effects in people so therefore it is possible to cause the same in a dog.
Other websites i have found states that prednisone will not promote aggressive behavior.
This drug like many drugs react differantly on differant systems. What may not bother one, may have severe effects on others. I do believe your vet as many others do not believe the prednisone would effect your dog this way, but they do know that any drug can trigger reactions and mood swings, so yes i believe he should of told you the possible reactions that occur if he honestly knew any. This may be a case that he has never heard of any occurances like this with this drug, but like doctors they are suppose to be trained for all the possibilities.

Answer 2

I thought you said the vet said "rarely". Rarely means just that...not "occasionally". My dogs (over the years) have had to take Prednisone and the worst thing they ever did was want to eat everything in sight. I lost a five pound Krakus ham, one dozen cookies and the dog drank water like crazy.
Those were the only side effects I saw mine experience.
Sorry about your dog. Nothing is sue. Even medications for us today have side effects that sometimes are extreme to some versus the general populace. It seesm that this was the case with your pet.
It's not the vets fault. Once again, "rarely' means just that. If he had told you this (and naturally prior to what occurred) you know that the chances are good to probably excellent you would have allowed the medication anyway. After all, we do anything for our dogs and the risk was minimal.

Answer 3

That depends. Do you expect your Dr to read you all the side effects of any prescription they give to you? Prednisone is basically a steroid. Steroids can cause agression. My dog has taken it on and off for an itchy skin condition and I have never noticed a problem. How long did you give her after you weaned her off it?

I'm sorry about your loss. You should make her an in memory of page at dogster.com

Answer 4

Yes, but use this as a lesson that you should always research medications fully on your own, as well, for you and your family, and for your pets! I never start a medication without understanding it fully, and call the docs with whatever questions you have. It is hard to be informed when going in for the appointment because you dont know what you will get, but check it as soon as you get home. My daughter had pneumonia and the doc prescribed her the wrong med. It took 4 more hours and another doc to get the correct one, but the first wouldn't have made her better and things could have gotten MUCH worse!

Answer 5

That is a big problem now. Vets are not required to warn about side effects. I always ask when given a med that I don't know about and then I come home and look it up. There are a lot of problems with some of the meds you get, including vaccinations that the vets don't want you to know about.
Read the Wisconsin University weblinks
http://svmweb.vetmed.wisc.edu/articles/68/5/39
http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/8413.html

Also, join a Yahoo group, such as
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jstsayno2vaccs
They discuss not only vaccinations, but all the meds and problems with them. There are a lot of good links from other universities in their database.

Answer 6

Hmmm.... I would say he should have warned you. But I could see that if its really that rare of a side effect why he would not because it may not have even crossed his mind.

Someone could also make the argument that it was also up to you to do the research on it. I dint currently have a pet so I am not familiar with prescriptions, but did it have a warning label on it listing how to use, side effects, etc? If not, then he definitely should have warned you. If so then this is a hard lesson in always reading the fine print.

Answer 7

Yes the vet should have given you detailed leaflet about the possible side affect of Prednisone and let you make the decision on whether to use it or not.
I am not a fan of it and think it is over prescribed.

Answer 8

Yes, the vet should have gone over all possible side-effects of the medication with you. I'm so sorry that happened - I know how hard it is to put down a good dog.

Answer 9

Oh definately. I believe something like that it would be well in your interest to get a lawyer. You may not want to even bother, but I think it would be justified. The vet should have definately let you know. Especially since he apparently knew that could have happened. But you have to be careful because if it says it anywhere in any paperwork then he did his job. Look over all the information and see if it says it, if not, then he should have told you.

Answer 10

Sorry you had to put her down. I kind of agree with impossible. My White German Shepherd has been on prednisone before and never acted in an aggressive way, I was unaware of that and never asked. However, I was told that since it is a steroid it would potentially increase his appetite and thirst, and it did.

My late Labrador also used prednisone for a short time, after he was diagnosed with cancer. It did help and extended his life for a couple of extra months and gave me time to have alot of quality time before I had to put him down.

I sympathize with you, as I know for me, putting down my Labrador was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but was grateful for the extra time with him and knowing that he never suffered. Good Luck.