My pet has IBD. Why is prednisone prescribed for stomach issues?

Yes, many dogs with IBS are treated long-term with daily prednisone. We normally try to wean them down to the lowest dose that is still effective at controlling their symptoms to help minimize side effects, but this is a very common treatment strategy for this disease.

Typically cats get really bad vomiting episodes with IBD and occasional diarrhea. The prednisone likely is treating for inflammation or an immune mediated condition of the gut, which can include lymphoma, IBD, or a condition called lymphocytic plasmocytic colitis. At any rate, if the prednisone is helping, then I would continue with therapy as indicated. A lot of the times you can only get a final diagnosis with gut diseases by having a surgical biopsy taken of the intesines. As you can imagine this is a very invasive procedure, so response to therapy is typically the route we taken when making suspected diagnoses. I would also highly consider getting Beau on a hypoallergenic diet to help make it easy for her gut to digest food. My top picks here are Royal Canin hypoallergeic hydrolyzed protein, Hill's Z/D, OR Royal Canin Selected protein (rabbit/potato). Ask your vet for a prescription if interested! I hope this helps and best wishes with your pet Beau and her chronic loose sto

It is certainly possible that the steroids are causing gastrointestinal irritation and ulceration, however it is also very likely that her disease process is causing the problem as well. Has she had an intestinal biopsy? Do we know for sure that this is IBD and not cancer? In my severe IBD cases I will often use a combination of steroids and azathioprine to achieve better control. I usually also have them on Vit B12 injections, metronidazole low dose, and a bland diet. Some of these cases are so severe that they can be life threatening. I am sorry she is so sick. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi there and thank you for using Boop by Petco to address your concern. Blood can definitely be seen with cases of IBD. For IBD, immunosuppression is typically the treatment of choice in severe cases. Azathioprine is an immunosuppressant drug that is commonly used along with changing the diet to something such as Royal Canin Ultamino. I would discuss this with your veterinarian for starting something such as Azathioprine in place of steroids to see if this helps more. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than willing to help you further. I would also recommend adding in a probiotic such as Purina Fortiflora, which can be purchased online or at your local pet store quite easily.

Thanks for using Boop by Petco! If she has been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and her diet is not keeping the condition under control anymore, your veterinarian could consider immunosuppressive therapy starting with prednisone for example if her medical history allows. That alone can help quite a lot in these cases. They could also consider an appetite stimulant such as Entyce to help in the meantime. Good luck!

Hello, thank you for your question about Chester. Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic condition in dogs secondary to an underlying allergy leading to inflammation in the GI tract. It is different in every patient. Meaning that some patients require Prednisone long term while other patients can be weaned off the Prednisone completely. Since Chester has been maintained on Prednisone every 4 days for quite some time without any flare-up I think it would be reasonable to consider discontinuing it at this time. However, if you are concerned that he is prone to having flare-ups it is not problem to keep him on this low dose of Prednisone. Hope this helps, good luck!

Prednisone is the drug of choice for irritable bowel syndrome, and it's given for at least two to four weeks. I would try it for Trixie and the vet can do blood tests as needed to check on her calcium levels. I hope this helps.

I'm so sorry that you are dealing with this with Cosita. Thank you for including a picture. She is adorable. I am attaching a link below to a handout on IBD. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598 The end of that handout specifically addresses your concern. The problem with doing steroids is that it decreases the inflammation in the intestines and will likely make Cosita feel better, but if her disease is due to cancer (lymphoma), putting her on prednisone will make it harder to diagnose and treat her cancer later. "Lymphoma is temporarily responsive to prednisone but better responses can be obtained from stronger chemotherapy agents. Exposure to prednisone will make the lymphoma much more difficult to diagnose should biopsies be obtained later. Plus, exposure to prednisone can lead to resistance to other medications. (This is less of a problem for cats, but in dogs even a few days of prednisone can make a lasting remission impossible to achieve.)" There i

Yes all of those medications can be given together. It will be important to consider other treatment options for the IBD if he is diabetic. Steroids will make it more difficult to manage the Diabetes. There are other types of steroids and/or options for IBD if needed. I hope this helps and thank you for using Boop by Petco!

Thanks for using Boop by Petco! He is adorable! I think that a course of prednisone could potentially be added to better control the IBD so it has an all day effect. Another thing that can be tried if your veterinarian (who knows all his medical history) thinks is a good idea is changing him to another IBD type diet such as Royal canin ultamino. This diet has proven to be very effective for both IBD and skin allergies. Good luck and have a great day!