We have recently adopted a young sheltie/aussie cross. She is

Ask Your Pet Question. Pet Experts Answer You ASAP.

(Not a Pet Question?)

We have recently adopted a young sheltie/aussie cross. She is about 8 months and spayed. She had a very serious bout with mange before we got her and while she's been healing, her ears are taking a while. Our vet put her on prednisone, he thinks she may have dermatomyositis. She had a bad reaction we took her off after 3 days of 2X a day. We did not taper off. The vet said this was OK and gave us a different steroid to try. We have not tried it yet as we wanted the problems from the first steroid to clear first. She's been doing well, feels good, good appetite, playful and happy. However, she has been vomiting at night since we took her off (3 days). She had never done this before. It happens after we go to bed, she vomits in her crate. It is food that comes up, even though it's been several hours since she ate. Might this be a problem cause either by the steroid or by taking her off without tapering? This is such a nice dog and we want her to just BE a dog for a while, she's been through so much, but it seems like one thing after another.
Help!

Optional Information:
Age: <1; Female; Breed: Sheltie/Aussie

Already Tried:
She's been on anti-fungal, anti-biotic and ivermectin before we got her. We had her on prednisone and antibiotic briefly.

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $15

THIS ANSWER IS LOCKED!
You can view this answer by clicking here to Register or Login and paying $3.

We had her on this food for 2 weeks without the steroid with no problems. She was only on the steroid 3 days, and has been off 3 days, which she has vomited every night. She first vomited the evening after a morning dose, then each subsequent night. If this is caused by the abrupt steroid discontinuation, is it permanent? She has not swallowed a non-food item, she's either supervised or in her crate. We have a crate in the Living Room for when we leave in the day, so she's near the other dogs, and one in the bedroom at night, so she's already there. What happened last night is she vomited, then later yipped to get out. We let her outside, where she rushed out to potty. We cleaned her crate. She didn't want to go back in (at first in the evening, she trots right in). We put her in, and minutes later she started to yip again. My husband took her out to the other crate in the LR, where she was fine the rest of the night (this occured about 3am). She's been crated in the same place all the time we've had her and this just started. We are wondering if maybe when she was on the pred, she really tried to hold her pee. Poor thing, we wonder if maybe now she equates the night crate with being uncomfortable - but if that's the case, why does it take a while to come up? And if this is a reaction to the pred ceasing, why nausea only then? Something just isn't tracking for me...
Thanks.

So no problems at all after the morning meal just after the evening one?
I don't think its discontinuing the pred but it might have been using the pred triggered this.
She could be stressing due to the remembered discomfort from being in the night time crate.
Maybe swap crate styles in the bedroom - ie plastic if you use wire or vice versa? or what if you tether her in the bedroom instead of crating her?
This is a better site on the pred including side effect info
http://www.petplace.com/article.aspx?id=1553
As your dog was only on it a short time that might have been long enough to trigger an ulcer but not so long she needed to taper off the med.
It could just be stress. I'd expect an ulcer to cause problems more than at one specific time the same with any medication reaction.
So this might be a behavioral anxiety issue.
Dogs really do vomit easily - my theory is this is because they often swallow first and change their minds later - and so vomiting to make herself feel better wouldn't be an unusual anxiety reaction.
You might see if tonight giving her some Tagamet or Pepcid an hour before bedtime helps. You can read about using these here
www.petplace.com/article.aspx?id=1514
www.petplace.com/Articles/artShow.asp?artID=1585
And see if just calming the stomach helps her stop vomiting.

Please press Accept if you find my answer helpful. Want more info? Just reply on your question!
Bonuses for good work are always appreciated!
Thanks for the opportunity to help you!

Thank you. I'm trying to accept your answer but at the payment page it keeps throwing me out. I will try again later. Appreciate your response and the links.

Think you can answer this question?
Login or Become an Expert

DISCLAIMER: You acknowledge that any information you may obtain from individuals you contact through use of the JustAnswer service comes from those individuals, not from JustAnswer, and that JustAnswer is not in any way responsible for any of the information these third parties may supply. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty and no representations are made regarding the qualification of an Expert. Responses and comments on JustAnswer are for general information and are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (such as medical, legal, investment or accounting) and do not establish a professional-client relationship. JustAnswer is not intended or designed to address EMERGENCY QUESTIONS which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service.

JustAnswer > Pet

We have recently adopted a young sheltie/

Related Answers