Dogs are quite a handful and fun to be around when healthy, making them a fine addition to many homes. However, things can take a turn for the worse when they become sick, especially when plagued with weakened immune systems or painful joints.
The first thing you ought to do when you notice your dog has lost its appetite, weight, and looks feverish, is to rush it to the vet for medical evaluation. Your doctor will do further analysis to look for signs of anaemia, pain in the joints, and lethargy. The aforementioned are all symptoms of allergies in dogs.
After the evaluation, your doctor will diagnose your dog and offer the right medication. Prednisone is a common drug to remedy symptoms of severe allergic reactions and weakness in the legs.
However, the drug comes with some intense side effects, including weak hind legs.
Prednisone can cause hind leg weakness in dogs along with weakness in other muscles. It’s not as prevalent a side-effect as drinking and eating more though. In most cases, the dog will have weak hind legs from another concurrent illness. Oclacitinib, Lokivetmab and anti-histamine are common alternatives for allergies, and NSAIDs are often suitable for back and leg problems.
Can Prednisone Cause Muscle Weakness In Dogs?
Prednisone manages a wide range of issues in dogs. It does a lot to alleviate conditions like allergic disease and muscle weakness in older or sick dogs. Your vet can use it as a sole medication or pair it with others for better results. The drug, like many others, has some side effects that can range from mild to deadly.
Meaning, that your dog could seem to fare worse with the medication.
Medications remedy many conditions, and expectedly, they should do so perfectly. However, the body, including your pet dog’s, has internal balances already in place. In the event of medication, the balance breaks, leading to undesirable side effects.
For a dog with weak hind legs, prednisone side effect accompanies sudden weight gain, weak muscles and horrifying behaviours. These are all side effects. However, subject to their severity, you should not treat them as normal. Depending on the period your dog has to take the medicine, the symptoms could become more intense, making your dog’s muscles even weaker and unable to control urine.
The best way to manage a dog’s weak hind legs prednisone side effect or any other is to talk to your vet about it. Usually, the initial dose of 5 mg might be too high for some conditions. Some other medications can also do a better job with few side effects. Your vet might reduce the dosage or find an alternative to the medicine if available.
Injectable alternatives or NSAIDs are the best alternatives to prednisone. Injectable drugs typically have a monthly schedule for a shot, so they do not have wild side effects. Dogs tolerate the injectable doses better, and over time, your pet’s weakness will dissipate.
What (Else) Causes Sudden Hind Leg Weakness In Dogs?
Sudden hind leg weakness in dogs results from a myriad of issues. However, orthopaedic reasons are the most common, especially in aged dogs. Some orthopaedic causes of weakness in the hind legs are degenerative joint disease and osteoarthritis.
The conditions are painful. Difficulty standing for a long time, dullness, slipping, limb crossing, and sliding are some associated side effects of the conditions. It is also important to note the real reason behind your dog’s weakness in hind limbs to rule out physical injuries. The best way to do so is to have a vet evaluate your dog.
Age is usually a significant factor in leg weakness caused by osteoarthritis or degeneration. Degenerative muscle disease and osteoarthritis are problems that require immediate attention; the more your dog does not move around, the greater the muscle strength lost. Losing more muscle gives the conditions an optimum environment to worsen.
If you have lived with your pet dog for a long time and it is highly active, the joints will probably wear. Heavier dogs affected by a poor diet are also good candidates for massive wear and tear in the joints. Those extra pounds lead to degeneration and abnormal hip joints over time. Wear and tear is a slow process that finally leads to arthritis, usually at an advanced age in dog years.
Your dog could also have a condition called dysplasia; this condition accelerates the chances of arthritis at a young age, which is a leading reason for weak hind legs in dogs.
Do Steroids Shorten A Dog’s Life?
Steroids are essential lifesavers in dogs and humans; they help manage overreactions to allergens. Giving steroids to your dog will help improve its quality of life, meaning that it will benefit more from the medication than letting it live without treatment.
At higher doses, steroids are immunosuppressants; they help suppress the immune system in case of allergic reactions. Some of the most notable examples of medicine in this class are triamcinolone, dexamethasone, prednisone, and methylprednisolone. Only administer medicine to your pet with express permission from your vet. An overdose or underdose could prove fatal.
Your dog naturally produces steroids in the adrenal glands that help it deal with stress, control the immune system, and nutrient absorption. Two different classes of steroids in the body divide these functions between themselves.
However, imbalances in the dog’s body, also natural, can spark overreactions to some substances called allergens. Common allergens are dust, pollen, and some food. The imbalances call for extraordinary synthetic steroids created in labs. Synthetic steroids differ from natural ones mainly because they last longer in the body.
Whenever your pet receives a dosage for allergies or hind leg weakness, it helps it cope for a long time. However, you will need to frequent your vet for pet checkups to prevent the onset of heightened side effects common with steroids.
Vets may prescribe steroids alongside other drugs, and usually, your pet will tolerate them. Overall, the risk of deadly side effects is lower than the benefits.
What Can I Give My Dog Instead Of Prednisone?
If you dislike steroids for your dog as first-line treatment, or your dog overreacts to them, you can consider Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs are prescription-only drugs prescribed by vets to help alleviate joint pain and other body inflammation.
The drugs include ibuprofen and aspirin, which are common in the human domain. In pets, they help ease fever, pain, and swelling. However, they also have side effects that are comparable to those of steroids.
NSAIDs are a preferred alternative to steroids because they work to ease stiffness, joint pain, swelling, and arthritis. Humans also use the same medication to get relief from the issues mentioned. However, you should never share your medicine with your dog. In addition to that, never buy the drug directly from a drug store and give it to your dog without your vet’s permission.
Many drug stores have substitute NSAIDs that are unique for dogs, and your vet will help decide the best combination for your pet. Some of them include firocoxib, carprofen, deracoxib and grapiprant.
NSAIDs are mostly tolerable when in the correct doses and can relieve your pet from distress, especially if overreacting to steroids. However, in rare circumstances, these drugs can worsen digestive problems, and kidney or liver functions.
Some ways to help your dog if caught in a bad reaction to NSAIDs is to watch their skin for rashes or redness, behavioural changes, and vomiting during the duration of the medication.
Aspirin is a common NSAID, easily available in many drug stores. You may consult a vet for use only for a limited time to deal with short-term conditions. However, it comes with more side effects.
Conclusion
Steroids are important medication to deal with allergy symptoms. However, depending on your dog’s reaction to them, you could need other medicine in their place. Before taking any medical decisions for your pet, be sure to have permission from your vet, because side effects could turn deadly without frequent checkups by the vet.
NSAIDs are the best alternative to steroids; they will improve your dog’s quality of life if administered in the right doses. Do not self-administer the medicine, and always consult your vet for better outcomes with any treatment.
