Yes. We had a dog that had allergies and was on an extended prednisone regimen. It is not good for the dog over a long period of time as it affects the ligaments and tendons. We ended up with nearly $2K in surgery on one rear leg because of a ruptured tendon. You also need to be sure it is given with food as prednisone can cause ulcers.

but has anyone been on prednisone for a long period of time on an OTHER-THAN-EVERY-OTHER-DAY dose?

Like twice a week or three times a week?

My Aleksander had bad allergies that were mostly controlled with diet and immunotherapy shots. But he still had issues during certain times a year. I'd give him about a 1 mg/kg dose twice a day, then skip a couple of days, and if he needed it give it again. Pretty much just as needed. But I didn't have to give it continuously after I started the immunotherapy. Aleksander had severe liver reactions to pred- his ALKP went up over 10 times normal even when I dosed him as above, and it lasted for months afterwards. But in the long run, he did better with a short quick burst of pred rather than long term lose doses. And his liver was never truly hurt by it, just messed up his bloodwork.

thanks meghane - ok, so it's not unheard of to just use it LESS than every-other-day. The one vet told me to just use it as little as possible to keep the prob under control.

I think that i was under the impression that you HAD to use it every other day because it had to do with a 24-hour body cycle of some sort.

Thanks for reminding me that i should have bloodwork done if i use it at all. Had forgotten about that.

Prednisone works very well for a variety of different situations. When needed I use it in low dosage in conjunction with the antihistamine during allergy season with my female Shiba Inu. Also had a cat that passed away a year ago that I had treated using pred for an indolent alimentary lymphoma. It's only when the drug is abused is when it becomes a problem.

I had a cat on low-dose pred, and she lived to 18. My friend currently has her geriatric, hyperthyroid, IBS cat, on daily low doses, and without it, his life would be without value and full of pain. Her choice is to offer more quality years for him, or a shorter painful life without pred.

Pred is a miracle drug for many pets and is worth the risks.

I give it to my cat on Mon, Wed, Fri. He has IBD that is unresponsive to anything else. My vet too says give as little as possible. I've tried reducing the dose on Wednesdays and as soon as I do he starts vomiting again. I've been on the M, W, F schedule for a long time. He does very well on this schedule.