Cortisone Shot Side Effects in Pets

Your story sounds just like mine. My 11 year old cat has always had itchy waxy ears, we keep them clean.2 weeks ago, the scratching was crazy, and her low moan when she would do it.The vet gave me ear drops and a med by mouth..week later still the same. Took her back to the vet, she got a cortisone shot, that was on Wednesday, she hasn't been the same since, she won't get in her cat bed, or sleep with me, like she is hot.she drinks water like crazy and pees all the time, in her liter pan..but tonight she peed on me...not for sure what to do with her...and keeps eating and eating, which she was a nibbler..my poor baby

Side Effect - I wish I had time to read this site on side effects of cortisone before it was administered to my poor baby. I have a 1 year old french bulldog, bruno. On 12th March 2016 we took him to our local vet to vaccinate him for rabies and distemper. He took the 2 shots like a brave little boy and our vet even listed the side effects of both. As soon as we reached the parking lot, he vomits all over the back seat of my car. We ran in and called the doctor who immediately scooped him up and took him back inside. Unfortunately, without giving us too much info on what he was about to do - he administered Cortisone shot. Bruno seemed dazed after that but we thought it was because he was weak and so brought him home. He hasnt been the same since then. He drank almost 3 liters of water in 24 hours and accidentally pees all over the house. Even though he is house trained. We punished him yesterday but didn't for one second think it was the cortisone effect. Then last night I stumbled upon this site and realized the side effects match Bruno's current situation. We've called our vet's office 3 times since morning - still waiting to hear back. Why dont they list pros and cons before administering cortisone? Surely as pet parents we have a say in this matter? Im really dreading what the results will be and Im praying whatever it is - is temporary.

My dog had a Depo Medrol shot 3 weeks ago and hasn't been the same since. He is having trouble walking and I don't know what to do. I am not getting much help from our Vet. He had no problem walking before the shot.

Regards

Nora.

My vet prescribed my dog an anti-histamine that contained 0.25 mg of Dexamethasone for an allergy my 1 year old female American Pit Bull Terrier was having (pimples and rashes on chest and chin). He had her on two pills (morning and night) for 10 days. After the 10 days elapsed the pimples and rash somewhat dried up. I had no idea what I was really giving my dog and boy do I regret it tremendously. After about a week the pimples and rashes returned. He told me to put her back on the anti-histamine (called Histamed-F), and after about 2 days all hell broke loose. My dog started drinking excessively and subsequently urinating constantly, it goes without saying she urinated in the house more times then I can count. I discontinued the medication and called my vet immediately. He called me in for a blood test and told me her blood sugar was very high (around 300) and that she either has diabetes or Cushing's disease. Bear in mind this is a 1 year old American Pit bull that gets at least an hour of high activity everyday, running, swimming, hiking, and play dates in the garden on almost a daily basis. I feed her grain free food as well (recently switched to raw as to keep down sugar levels). So as you can imagine this was devastatingly shocking for me. He then performed an ACTH stimulation test by injecting her with some more hormones (again I was an uneducated person wanting my dog to get better), to see the reaction of her adrenal glands. It turned out negative. It has now been 2 weeks after the shot and all medication was stopped and my dog is still officially diabetic (sugar level still at the 300 mark). I've left the old vet and the numerous opinions I've received since are to wait for some time longer to see if the drugs administered are the reason for her current state. I know for a fact that they absolutely are. The question now is did they permanently damage my dog or is this something that could in fact be temporary. This agonizing wait for answers and for my dog to get better is making me lose hope on a daily basis. Whatever ends up happening, I will never ever allow any use of steroids in my dog unless she is on the brink of death. Cause nothing can warrant what is happening to my dog now, especially not a measly skin infection.

I took my Bassett Baby Girl in for a sprained paw...yes she is 12 but still ran and played and rolled on the floor...They gave her a cortizone shot....10 days later...her hip had lost muscle mass and she could not walk good. Her hip kept giving out on her. Took her back to vet and they did xray. They said she had a bad disc. They put her on steroids and temadol for pain. I believe the shot did the damage to her hip. Until the shot Baby Girl never had any issues. She was healthy as a horse. I have to place a towel under her pelvic area to help her up to do her business. I researched and had to put her on pepcid to stop medicine from upsetting her stomach and I put her on milk of magnesia to help her go to the bathroom without straining herself. Now she won't eat...pain meds taking her appitite but she has to have them. I feed her baby food through a syringe. She is depressed. I am ordering her a furbaby wheelchair as soon as my taxes come in this week. She has grit and has not given up and I am not going to give up either. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Our little terrier mix (14 months) got a steroid shot in her knee to deal with a partially torn cross band. The shot was supposed to be slow release for 3 weeks. She developped side effects straight away: Lethergic, drinking enormous amounts and urinating constantly, her kidneys stopped working properly (needed two mornings of infusions and meds from the vet), skin problems. And now, after 6 weeks, she still has more skin sores appearing and is not her own self: She is tired, she isn't running fast and seems to have totally forgotten how to play. Just stands there and stares at her toys or growls at our other dog when he is showing her any attention. Does anyone have an idea how long this may still last or what we can do?

My great pyrenees had hot spot on leg. Took to vet and got shot of cortisone. It's been one week and he has went to restroom four x at night now. He is four and never done this since a puppy. Seems really thirsty also.

I took my silky terrier to the vet because he was red all over his stomach the vet gave him a cortisone injection and cream to apply I did tell the vet that he previously has had yeast infections. Next day all he did was sit on the sofa and shake was very depressed and lethargic although he ate well. Two weeks later the skin on his stomach started flaking off, so I stopped using the cortisone cream. Now four weeks later he is no longer red and itchy but his skin is still peeling off and he smells yeasty, I put him on a raw diet no starches no grains and have been bathing him in tea tree oil shampoo which has helped a lot he also has omega 3/6 oil and is almost better he has lots of bald patches hopefully his fur will grow back and his playful personality is almost back to normal. I will never allow my pets to be given cortisone again.

My 15 year old lady cat had a throat scan as she was always choking and had distended belly, this showed that her throat shape was not normal but crooked and she took in air through her mouth when eating, this caused the belly distension.She was given a cortisone shot to assist her laboured breathing & snoring.Then 2 more cortisone shots at intervals of 2 months but after the last one her weight fell to 2.1 kgs from 2.6 kgs so she just looks like a bag of bones, She drinks and pees a lot. The vet ran a blood test which showed nothing really bad except a possible tendency towards diabetes.

I see no mention of dramatic weight loss on the web?

My cat Dinque was given a cortizone shot for excessive itching. She has had the itching for years and nothing has helped. So the vet gave her a cortizone shot, I did not ask about the dosage or about the side effects. However, she is very lethargic and I just searched the web to understand the side effects and learned that lethargy is one. She weighs about 11pounds and is bait 5 years old. Do you how long it will take for the shot to wear off? The vet said I should bring her back in 3 months to see if there is improvement .

Do you know if there is any brand of food to which many cats have an allergy? Or, any additive I should be aware of?

Thanks, Mere

My cat had been having an itchy ear canal for months. I had tried so many different home remedies. She would itch and itch that ear and it was chronically scabbed from the incessant scratching. I had sanitized it, put salve on it, antibiotic cream, hydrogen peroxide, organic pet sprays, and even resorted to benadryl cream. My husband got fed up and wanted to take her to the vet. The vet had already seen it when she had a tooth infection and they had given me some drops to use. The drops never made any difference. So several months later, when he took her, they suggested a cortisone shot. I'm a chiropractor and do not really subscribe to very many traditional medical or veterinary practices. But my cat had really been suffering with this itchy ear and I had exhausted all topical remedies and they verified it wasn't anything else to worry about.

I have been noticing and EXTREME amount of cat pee to clean up in her 2 litter boxes. It is more in a couple/few days than when I still had 2 cats. It took me a while to realize this was the case but I had also realized her water bowl, which has a tank on top of it empties much faster than it used to.

Fortunately her ear stopped itching within a couple of days and the scabs finally went away. She had scratched fur and skin off of a very wide area on her head, so it was a relief that she was looking better. But now I"m concerned that the shot has ruined her organs. It is not okay that she has to pee and drink so much. And the vet didn't give my husband any warning about side effects or I wouldn't have given my permission. It doesn't seem like her health has otherwise deteriorated. She never had anything wrong in 15 years until after her "brother" died last year. That itchy ear was frustrating but jeez, organ failure for a shot for something that wasn't life threatening? That same vet did an INCREDIBLE job for an infected tooth that had eaten through her jaw bone and she didn't have one moment of trouble recovering from that. But I see the glibness with which drugs are given and it is really a shame. If I could find so much info on the internet in the top half of a google page, it MUST be a well-known problem.

My dog of 115-lbs was given a Cortisone shot 8 days ago & is still having severe panting episodes everyday. I am SO frightened. Called office 2x only to be told w/sarcastic tone "Ma'am, your little dog is not going to die. " He claims the labored breathing could be from anything. If poor Rocky lives thru this week, I will search for a holistic office. I can't believe I allowed him to suffer this way. Vet never told me side effects until after he gave the shot. I would have NEVER agreed to any med causing excessive panting to my poor Rocky who is overweight/6 yrs old/neurotic from abandonment 4x & death of dog pal of 6yrs.

I am reading about the side effects of cortizone shots. I took my cat in for allergies and the cat had no prior allergies before. He was given a cortizone-steroid he had no change and the vet recommended another to offset the shot... I figured he would be better. 2 weeks after that the vet gave him a cortizone shot without my permission.

My cat's personality has changed from being content to being grumpy... He DOESN'T stop asking for food!! (no worms or parasites) and the biggest is he can't stop overgrooming. :(

before the shot:

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/p206x206/41286_468338297904_6177520_n.jpg

after the shot: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/225724_10150255186707905_3013801_n.jpg

and this is not even the worst of it. :(

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/168886_10151097202217905_638035825_n.jpg

another example. :(

I wish they'd ban these from pet practices!

Our 7 lb. , 1 yr old kitten was playful and doing great, except her skin allergy. She couldn't stop licking her fur, so I brought her to the vet and he administered a cortisone shot (that was a Friday). By Monday morning I had her back in the office, as she had not eaten much all weekend, and seemed too lethargic to walk, and had vomited the little she had eaten. I thought she was going to die. The vet had her "walk" acrosss the room and she barely could, as her balance was so off, and the hind-leg where she received the injection limped as well. Her front two legs were crooked, almost like they were broken, and her back to legs stayed higher up. It was unbearable to watch.

The vet ran a full blood panel on her as he suspected luekemia (the "sluggish muscle movement"), but everything came back okay. Nothing wrong with kidneys, she doesn't have leukemia, cancer, etc. Etc. The only thing it showed was that she had an infection. (Her white blood cell count was up). Big shocker.

From that moment on, she has not been the same. He has since then given me antibiotics, oral ones, that I give her 2x a day for the next two weeks.

She has regained her appetite, is no longer vomiting, and her lethargy is abating. She does however still limp, and her front legs go into that "weak, broken legs" position off and on throughout the day, but thankfully it's not all the time like it used to be.

Sadly, she went from bring a perfectly happy, healthy lively cat, to a timid, shy one.

I would never suggest that anyone give their pet a cortisone shot. I would go for a topical solution of any kind first, and then perhaps an oral route.

I have paid over $600 and seriously harmed my cat. We are only 1 week into this, so I have no idea if this is permanent or not, but not one single moment nor penny has been worth it.

Be informed. Let others know.

I recently had my yorkie at the vet for what appears to be a staph infection on his skin. The first visit they gave him a 2 wk injection of antibiotic along with an injection of cortisone. That night he seemed agitated and larthigic. In his sleep he let out a gut wrenching howl. I immediately scooped him up and he seemed dazed. His skin did not respond completely and I had to bring him in for a second course of antibiotics. This time they gave me cortisone pills. I gave him the first pill and he fell asleep. About an hour later he let out another gut wrenching howl. I have not given him any more. For the two week period with the cortisone injection his behavior was anxious and he spent a lot of time under the bed which was unusual for him. He seems ok since the pill I gave him is out of his system. I will let my vet know and will not allow him to take this medication. I would recommend the pill form over an injection so you can see if your pet is going to have an unusual reaction at least you can stop giving the medication. Im not sure if it helped or hurt him.