Prednisone and diabetes

Question
QUESTION: I have two MinPins, both with chronic bronchitis.  Prince is being treated with Prednisone pills, for one.  Dutchess has diabetes and I'm told she can't take Prednisone pills.  What is the alternative?

ANSWER: I am surprised that two dogs from the same household have the same disease. How did the vet say that happened?

There are no alternatives to using steroids, but there are other drugs, such as bronchial dilators, like Aminophylline. Steroids remove the inflammation, however, so they are pretty crucial to relieving the symptoms. A small amount of pred

You can also use inhalers for dogs and/or give breathing treatments to them.
If you can remove the source of what is causing the bronchitis that would also help tremendously.

While it is true that dogs shouldn't take pred while being diabetic a small, short dosage won't affect them too badly and could help knock down the inflammation in her lungs. Her insulin will be harder to control however.





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The local vet and the vet at the Veterinary Specialty Clinic of Tucson both said it's common in smaller dogs.  I don't know what the cause might be other than perhaps exposure to a great deal of cigarette smoke more than three years ago for a period of probably six years.  And we've had a lot of smoke in the air from wildfires.

Answer
While it is more common in small dogs, we normally see it in dogs from smoking households. We have a lot of wildfires here in the Sierras as well but the rate of bronchitis is not very high in dogs.

People here, however, have a lot of asthma and bronchitis!