Systemic Lupus

[Lisa Cornell]

My two year old female rotti, has been diagnosed with Lupus some 10 months ago and is taking 2 x 25mg of Imuran twice weekly and Prednisolone 10mg twice daily. At the moment she is in good condition, her joints have been trouble free and the constant itching and biting of her paws is under control, she has gained weight and drinks double the amount of water. Her mood is good yet it is like having a 6 year old dog, she gets very tired and an hour a day in the park is the limit. My vet does not seem to have all the answers for me, are these drugs causing other problems beit short or long term. I want what is best for her yet when she has bad days i feel so sorry for her. can you give me any help or suggest any books about this illness. Thankyou

[Nancy Estes]

My guess would be that some of this is from the drugs. Prednisone will cause weight gain, excessive water consumption and urination. I seem to be asking this a lot lately but do you have access to another vet? There aren't always answers for everything but it would help if you could find a vet who would be willing to discuss everything in detail with you. Have you talked to your vet and asked him to find out more information for you? My feeling is that the vet should offer to do this for a concerned owner, but sometimes the owner has to ask the vet to do it. He he can't or won't . . . definitely look for another vet.

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
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