“The lowest effective dose should be used” – Noah’s Compendium
I have documented the dogs weight and Pred daily steroid dose from the last 50 posts (Oct 23) I could find on Canine Addisons Resources & Education Facebook group.
4 of these samples were from dogs diagnosed within the previous 4 weeks.
These are the Pred doses prescribed by 50 ordinarily competent first opinion veterinary surgeons in general practice.
The average is 0.055mg/kg.
The doses for the 4 dogs diagnosed within the last month is higher as would be expected – average – 0.125mg/kg.
Poppy was prescribed 0.41mg/kg.
This is in excess of the manufacturers guidelines and over 3 times the dose for the other newly diagnosed dogs. I was unable to find any dog subjected to the levels of Pred dose that Magnolia House Veterinary Clinic prescribed for Poppy.
Dechra 5 Golden Rules for Zycortal – “The starting prednisolone dose rate is 0.2-0.4 mg/kg q24h for newly diagnosed (Addisons Disease) cases. The final dose varies between individual animals and a good proportion of dogs will ultimately be stable at 0.05-0.1 mg/kg q24h”.
Poppy weighed 6.1kg. The recommended “starting Pred dose” 1.22-2.44mg.
Her final dose possibly 0.3 – 0.65mg.
Magnolia House Veterinary Clinic’s prescription for 2.5mg every morning was in excess of the manufacturers dosing guidelines.
Poppy’s appropriate Pred dose – 0.5mg per day. Magnolia House Veterinary Clinic’s prescription – 2.5mg per day. 5 TIMES THE APPROPRIATE DOSE
Poppy's Story 