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Long term steroid use

HS

HS

Wise Old Thumper
Squidgy is now having steroid injections for his poorly leg.

He has developed a limp on hisleft leg, and was holding it up a lot. He is at least 7 years old, but we have no history before this so he could be much older. The vet ruled out EC (course of treatment), then we tried metacam for a few weeks which made no real difference.

He is now on steroid injections, which are working brilliantly. He had one which lasted 10 days before the limp came back, another lasted for 4 weeks, and he had his 3rd injection on Monday. We're hoping that the distance between injections gets longer each time. Our vet has warned that it can have side effects and I just wonderd if any other bunnies were on steroid injections long term and what other people's experiences are.
 
I dont often use steroids for rabbits. they are a steroid sensitive species and i am concerned with the immunosupression that comes along with these drugs
 
Thanks for your reply. Is there anything else that you could suggest instead. Our vet has ruled out soft tissue damage, and is assuming it is arthritis/ rheuatism (never know the difference between those!)
 
firstly I would try to get a dagnosis. I tend to xray these cases at least as that will give you an idea as to the extent and locality of the problem. Also i would look at the dose of metacam. Sometimes the dose can be too low, making it ineffectual. sometimes a combination of metacam plus some glucosamine product can be effective (and is safer)
goodluck
 
Thank you.
I'll mention that next time I go.
Our vet also specialises in acupuncture and compelmentary medicine, so I may bring that up too.
 
our elderly
(11yrs) bun has benifited from glucosamine sprinkled onto food and also from fresh parsley..tho be careful with the parsley as too much can cause calcium build ups. not sure if this helps but htought id mention it x
 
I have had a Bun on Dexamethasone (steroid) for almost a year. She has a severe Respiratory tract/lung problem. She has also been on Depocillin and frusemide (diuretic) for the same length of time.

My Vet does not like to use steroids for the same reasons as RV but in my Bun's case it was the Dexamethasone or PTS.

My Vet also uses acupuncture and I can certainly recommend giving it a go.

Good luck :)
 
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