Prednisone Power!

The text below is copied from my book about Ray “Who Said I was up for Adoption?”

Context: We had received the results of his first medical examination, and he had tested positive for heart-worm. At this part of the book, the long process of treating the heart-worm was just starting.

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Later that month Ray had his first deep muscle injection, after he had been sedated, and watching that rather large needle being pushed through the muscle in his lower back was quite disturbing. I could well imagine that he was going to be rather sore later, but I was not prepared for the outcome. When we got him home, he went to his crate to settle down but clearly couldn’t. He got himself up with obvious difficulty and, making it clear that he was in pain, moved around to settle down again but, again, clearly he was not comfortable. It was very sad to watch our beloved Ray try various positions in order to get comfortable, with none of them offering much relief, and this was the pattern for the next few hours until we had to leave him in order to get some sleep ourselves. It was terrible listening to him as he tried to get comfortable. I had never heard a dog sob before but I shall not forget it. The following day he was moving around better and we both agreed that for the next two injections, we would request a pain killer for him.

It had also been recommended that he be put on Prednisone in order to reduce inflammation caused by the heart-worms during the treatment process, however, we must be prepared for a common side effect: the need to pee much more frequently! The vet was quite correct as, every hour or so, we would hear the bell on the back door! It certainly became invaluable as one of us would hear it and stumble out of bed. Where did we put his leash? Where’s the pen and paper so we can record the time and whatever he did so that whichever one of us woke up to take him outside would know the history of his earlier visits and therefore know what to expect! We each have many memories of stumbling around the garden, and then standing around while Ray proceeded to pee, throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning. It did, however, give us a whole new perspective on our garden! I often wondered if anybody in our neighborhood was speculating on our behavior, given that our outside lights came on regularly for two to three minutes at a time throughout the night!

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For more information about the book, please click on the book cover in the column over to the right.

22 thoughts on “Prednisone Power!”

  2. I remember how it made my heart ache when I read about Ray and this terrible ordeal he had to go through. Especially when you wrote the “hearing a dog sob” line!
    So glad he pulled through! Know all about Prednisone and the late night trips. Our Boston Terrier was on it for awhile when she had lymphoma.

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  5. It’s hard to see your pet in pain when you can’t help. Over the years, they have developed some great painkillers for pets. I remember 30 years ago, I had a cat spayed with no meds. Today they get meds for dental surgery too. I would guess that there were more raccoons watching your nocturnal travels than neighbors.

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  8. Poor Ray, and I’m so glad he’s recovered. To see our beloved pets in pain is upsetting and we feel so helpless. Maggie gets stiffness in her back legs and lately has started to stumble occasionally. She still loves her walks, and we use a half dose of metacam which takes the edge off any pain so that she can get comfy and sleep. Luckily we only use it periodically but the vet is aware of it and if necessary we take her in for a check up.
    Hugs for the big guy. 🙂

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