My dog is on prednisone. Why is she panting and what are the risks?

Question

My 8 year old shepherd has a sacrum issue where it is putting pressure on her nerves in her back. She has such difficulty walking so the vet has her on pain med and a steroid, prednisone. She pants a lot because of the steroid and she will have to be on ot long term I guess because of her back problem. Why is she panting? Will the steroid hurt her? She takes 20mg in the morn and 20 in the eve. Is there anything that I should know about it? Any dangers? Thanks. Also, can these sacrum issues heal. Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Female | unspayed | 40 lbs

Sara Farmer, DVM · Accepted Answer

Panting occurs with prednisone for a number of reasons - the drug can cause some muscle weakness and can cause an enlarged liver that can push on the diaphragm. I also would wonder however if the panting might have another cause as well - you may want to have Dusty examined for this issue in particular to make sure it isn't a sign of pain or respiratory disease. While I'm not entirely sure what sacral disease Dusty has been diagnosed with most diseases that would be treated with prednisone would need to be managed over time and not cured.

My dog is on prednisone. Why is she panting and what are the risks?

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