My dog's neck pain got worse after prednisone. Should I stop it?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Dog has been on tramadol methacarbamol gabapentin and just put on his first dose of prednisone last night....woke up in the middle of the night in pain more pain than before. He has neck pain. Seems worse more pain. Should I take him off prednisone? Gave him prednisone at 7:30...it's 3:15 am.
2 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on February 11th, 2017
Prednisolone has anti inflammatory properties so it' s unlikely to cause a worsening of pain. I would continue it. Is the neck pain related to a disc herniation or is it muscular ? Any improvements? You should really consider veterinary acupuncture, it works very well helping both conditions !
2Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on February 11th, 2017
No it is not normal at all. Steroids at this stage won't help, especially if the main suspicion is the one of a disc extrusion in the cervical tract. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical area and potentially followed by surgical treatment may be the only effective treatment option at this stage. More clinical information (breed, age, onset of clinical signs etc etc.) may allow me to provide more specific advice regarding differentials and treatment. Please write again on the forum or request a consultation if you want to discuss the problem any further.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Health & Wellbeing
Dog with neck pain has been on methacarbamol gabapentin and tramadol for almost a week, just added prednisone 8 hrs ago. Dog seems to be in more pain than before. Whining yelping more since being on it. I know it's anti inflammatory but I read that i
No it is not normal at all. Steroids at this stage won't help, especially if the main suspicion is the one of a disc extrusion in the cervical tract. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical area and potentially followed by surgical treatment may be the only effective treatment option at this stage. More clinical information (breed, age, onset of clinical signs etc etc.) may allow me to provide more specific advice regarding differentials and treatment. Please write again on the forum or request a consultation if you want to discuss the problem any further.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
My dog has been in severe pain for 2 weeks now. Xrays didn't show any broken bones. Seems to be an issue with her neck. We have tried a variety of medications. She is currently weaning off Prednisone, and she's taking Gabapentin. Can I also give her
Thank you for submitting your question regarding Rugby. You cannot use Rimadyl if she is taking prednisone. Giving these two medications together has a very high risk of causing gastrointestinal ulcers. Personally I do not start Rimadyl until a dog has been off of prednisone for two weeks. It can be done sooner if the dog is given additional medications to protect the GI tract, but it is still risky. Is she taken a muscle relaxer? In dogs with severe neck pain, I will use prednisone, gabapentin, a muscle relaxer and an additional pain medication such as tramadol. If her pain cannot be controlled though, she may need to see a neurologist for surgery. I hope this information helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Dog has neck pain. On tramadol methacarbamol and gabapentin for three days. Still yelps in pain, but less frequently. Noticed breathing seems faster when sleeping. 35-36 breaths per min. Is that normal?
Poor puppy!! It sounds like your dog is on all the correct medications. I would try to find a canine acupuncturist as it can help greatly in cases of wind up pain such as you are describing. Intractable pain is also a reason for surgical decompression of the spinal cord as well. Otherwise keep doing what you are doing. If your dog will allow you to hot pack his neck that can be helpful as well.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Brought my dog 3 days ago to the vet, has neck pain. On tramadol methacarbamol and gabapentin. His yelping is less, but still there. Is it normal for him to still feel pain with all this med? It is noticeably less, but still there.
It can take a long time (2-4 weeks, in most cases) for symptoms to resolve completely with rest and medication. So as long as things are gradually improving, I would be patient and continue to follow your veterinarian's instructions :)
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
My dog seems to be having issues with his neck, but Vet didn't find such on xray, said pulled muscle. Rocky is a 6yr old Toy Fox Terrier. Started just over a week ago, and it seemed to come on only a couple of times a day. His neck would swell, he w
This neck pain can be from a bulging intervertebral disc in his neck. It is important that you let him rest, use a harness not a collar when walking him and I recommend seeing your veterinarian for muscle relaxers and pain medication. These episodes can last a few days or months. If the disc ruptures he could get worse pain and even paralysis. Generally with rest and medication he will fully recover in a few weeks. This often doesn't show on X-rays. To see where the problem is he would need an MRI which is not indicated unless he is paralyzed and needs surgery. Using a hot compress or heating pad to warm the muscles and doing gentle massage will reduce the muscle spasms. Also I treat this condition with laser and acupuncture with excellent results. Please have them recheck him if he is worse and get pain medication so he can be comfortable. Thanks for using Boop by Petco to help you care for Rocky.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
My dogs herniated disc was not improving with repeated uses of meta cam we are now trying low dose prednisone over a 10 day period but he still seems uncomfortable can I use the meta cam at the same time or is it best not to. Can he take any other pa
Great question! No, you absolutely CANNOT give a steroid (prednisone) at the same time as a NSAID (Metacam). This is a very big no-no! This can cause huge, life-threatening side effects. He can take a muscle relaxant and/or an opiate along with the steroid. You should also you vet about these medications as they are prescription medications. All these medications work synergistically together. You should also consider acupuncture. It works wonders for these injuries. Hope this helps. Best wishes.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
My red healer was diagnosed with a slipped disc in her neck. The vet prescribed 3 weeks of prednisone. The vet explained this will eventually dissolve the disc which will help dogs condition. This just doesn't make sense to how without the disc I wou
Hello. Your veterinarian was just trying to make things as simple as possible. The goal of the prednisone is to only reduce inflammation, & once this resolves, Slick should feel much better. What may happen is for the soft intervetebral disc to calcify, thus removing potential movement & subsequent pinching of the nerves. A calcified disc reduces mobility & thus pain, for the most part. An unexpected move or jerk could cause substantial pain. It is important to only walk Slick with a harness, & if need be, keep her on a good anti-inflammatory medication as needed. Thanks for contacting Boop by Petco.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
My dog was diagnosed with a likely slipped disc and put on prednisone and gabepentin. They told us to double the pred if we saw that it was working so we did. Its now day 5 and we are supposed to cut the pred down to half but the 12 hr stretch betwee
Stagnation means it may not be time to decrease the medication yet. I recommend to call your veterinarian before changing the medication. Let her know what is going on and she may ask to examine Balto again. Call the veterinarian today. Some pets do require longer on the medication or even additional treatments. It’s not necessarily a bad sign but it is one to pay attention to. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
My dog was scratching his neck really hard and screamed out in pain! His head is low and turns to one side now..Have given Ramadyl..makes him drowsy but eases the pain for his rest..Should I continue for 1 week with Ramadyl..and will it heal itself.
That sounds like neck pain and it could be from disc disease or other causes. Rimadyl can help but a lot of dogs with neck pain need multimodal pain management. And, it can take time to resolve, especially if disc related. The length of time of pain management can be variable but often is required for weeks if not longer dependent on the case, cause, response to treatment, side effects, etc. At your dogs age you will need to be very careful with Rimadyl as it can be hard on the kidneys. Older dogs especially benefit from multimodal pain management to try to decrease drugs like Rimadyl dose and dosing frequency. Rest is key, ideally crate rest. For disc disease this is typically 4 to 8 weeks, but this is case dependent and is best guided by the vet who examines the patient. Anyway to have a vet come to the house to see if this helps with the vet anxiety? I hope this helps and thank you for using Boop by Petco!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Dog has neck pain. Brought to vet. Currently on tramadol, methacarbamol and gabapentin. Doesn't scream in pain as much from getting up but still refuses to lower neck to eat. How long does it take approximately for neck pain to heal, at least to the
How long it takes to heal, if at all, depends on the injury the neck has sustained. If this is a muscle injury then that doesn't take more than a week or two to heal completely in most cases to heal. Fractures along the cervical spine, can take months, if at all, to heal without any type of surgical intervention. So I think it is best to find out what type of injury your pet has with an x-ray. Hopefully the injury can be seen with this diagnostic test; however in some situations more advanced testing (CT, MRI) is required to visualize small or nervous system injuries that wouldn't otherwise show up on standard x-ray film. Hopefully this is just a muscle sprain and your pet makes a full recover within a week or two.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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