Aggression while on Prednisone - Page 1

My 11 year old GSD Service Dog (medical service) who has just in the last month or so been diagnosed with DM. She das been placed on 40mg of prednisone for 14 days and 20mg for 14 days and now a maintenance of 10mg. All has gone as expected with side effects: increased hunger, thirst, peeing, etc. However, I had someone to come and help me at the kennels yesterday and she bit him. She has never bitten anyone. Has anyone else had an aggression issue involving prednisone?

Hi,

Firstly, if it really is DM the prednisone won't work and is not needed. They do need to be weaned off it, so hopefully that is where you are now in the care of your dog.

I am not sure if the prednisone is to blame or can it perhaps be the utter frustration your dog might be feeling with not being able to move its own backend? Such was the case with my dog with DM, who did give me a good pinch on my arm that left some deep divots, without drawing blood. I was holding his backend up with a towel sling, to allow him to relieve himself, when a squirrel had the audacity to run in front of us.

He clearly had forgotten about his inability to move freely, and wanted to go after the squirrel in the worst way. Since I was holding his backend up, his frustration was redirected to me, because I was the one holding the towel and consequently him, from his most favorite pastime of all, and prey to chase.

Sorry for your dog's condition. It is a tough one to endure for all involved.

I had to have my young female on prednisone temporaily for an injury and it did make her quite irritable as well as the other symptoms that usually come with pred. She never actually went so far as to bite someone, but I was very careful with her interactions with others once this particular symptom showed up as I think she might have if pushed. The good news for me was that once she was weaned off and could finally stop taking it, the issues all went away including the irritability. Sorry to hear about your dog's troubles, but I do think the prednisone can cause aggression issues.

Prednisone does cause mood swings, and in high doses can cause psychosis in humans. I actually got to see this firsthand as a nurse, and also experience it as a patient while on prednisone for respiratory problems. My husband said I'd go upstairs in one mood, and come back down a few minutes later in a totally different mood!

As a nurse, I was called in to be a 'sitter' for a patient with end-stage pulmonary disease. When given a high dose of IV solu-medrol, he attacked his doctor, fought off several orderlies, ran down 5 flights of stairs to the lobby, and was finally tackled, handcuffed and sedated by security and a doctor.

This was someone who under normal circumstances, couldn't even make it to the washroom without assistance!

Fortunately, he slept throughout my shift. He was in 4-point restraints, so even if he had awoken, there would have been no danger to me.

Like Bee said why are they giving this for DM  Sure would question this 

I would echo Sunsilver's comments. As a psychiatrist, it is not uncommon to see both mood issues and psychosis as a result of steroids (in humans). If possible, typically the best option is to decrease or discontinue the steroids. I am so sorry you and your dog are going through this. It sounds like a second opinion from another vet might be in order. Good luck!

Sorry to be so late getting back to everyone. The vet said that the only thing that can give us any hope to delay effects of the disease and her breaking down as much in her rear end is pred. I have cut it way back and it seems to be helping aggression issues although we are still very cautious of her around people. And she is very short tempered with other dogs. Of course, we are dealing with a tremendous appetite by breaking her feedings into several small ones per day, adding up to her regular ration. I'm still very frustrated with entire process. Thanks for the input.

Prednisone has virtually no effect on the progression of degenerative myelopathy...I could see trying a course of it to see if your dog's issue was the effect of an inflammatory process, but if she hasn't shown improvement in her mobility while on it by now, it's not likely she will do so if she remains on it. That said, you can't just stop the drug cold--your vet is your best resource as to how to taper the dosage down until she's weaned off it. It would be worth your time checking out this website for more info on treating dogs with DM--the page owner has dealt with DM in her own dogs, and the entire site is full of useful info on how to manage an affected dog, based on her own trials and errors in caring for hers. Additional sites with information on treatment options can be found here.

Unfortunately, there's no cure for the condition; the best you can hope for is to delay the progression of the disorder and to keep your dog as comfortable as possible while maintaining a good quality of life for her.