Need prednisone dosing for baby

Not technically life threatening but time-sensitive, I think.

7-8ish week old little boy. Friend of a friend found him outside her house last night when she came home from work around 5:15. Has kept him warm. He is clean, no fleas or and barely dehydrated.

His legs are limp most of the time but they also pushed back against my hand here and there, and at another time he pulled one leg up to his tummy while I held him.

Another important detail is that he had a small dark scab near his upper lip and nose, and his top incisors were tiny stubs. Hopefully they’ll grow back but likely evidence of a fall. Doesn’t seem recent though, yet this little boy seems too healthy to have been on his own very long.

I’ve got two 20mg prednisone tablets. He weighs 1.16lbs. Should I start now, or wait to see what my vet might prefer? I’ve read some think gabapentin is actually better for restoring mobility. Was thinking xrays might still be helpful.

Anyway I got him to take around 4.0ml of formula. He is very light sensitive and wants to be under cover at all times.

This morning I woke up and thought to myself, "how can a 7-8 week baby weigh a pound?!?" :dono I think because his tail isn't fully fluffed, it deceived me about his age. his paralysis likely has affected his tail fluffing ability?

anyway I am going to re-weigh him today & make sure my scale didn't give me a weird reading.

he ate well and more enthusiastically this morning. Also as I held him aloft, he pulled both his legs up and held them close to his body. still no strength in them though.

So he weighs 7.5 Oz = 0.212622kg

I’ve read in the forum that the squirrel dosing should be:
Strength: 5mg
Dosage: 2.2mg/kg
My prednisone tablet is 20mg/human strength

A chemist friend told me that prednisone isn’t water soluble so making a suspension using glycerin could work?

At his weight and the strength of my tablet, she said that:

“One tablet, crushed very fine into 4ml of liquid. Then you would give 0.09ml of that.”

Do I mix the crushed tablet into the glycerin, then mix into water (or even his FV formula)?

I dose prednisone at 1mg/lb PO, SID. It does seem to go into solution with water but you always should shake well before each use. You can use Glycerin I guess if you feel it will not go into solution.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by missPixy

So he weighs 7.5 Oz = 0.212622kg

I’ve read in the forum that the squirrel dosing should be:
Strength: 5mg
Dosage: 2.2mg/kg
My prednisone tablet is 20mg/human strength

A chemist friend told me that prednisone isn’t water soluble so making a suspension using glycerin could work?

At his weight and the strength of my tablet, she said that:

“One tablet, crushed very fine into 4ml of liquid. Then you would give 0.09ml of that.”

Do I mix the crushed tablet into the glycerin, then mix into water (or even his FV formula)?

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With Prednisone you need to use a staggered system to get the loading dose going, then the main dose, then to back off of it. Your friend is right, it would be .09ml, but for the first 3 days you'd divide that by 2 so you could give it 2x a day. So.......

Day 1, 2 & 3 - .045 BID(2x a day)
Day 4, 5 & 6 - .09 SID (1x a day)
Day 7, 9 & 11 .09 SID (so you keep the full dose, but give it every other day)

Then you're done. Now if you are seeing improvment but still not back to 100%, you can extend Days4-6 by two more days, meaning you give full dose 5 days in a row, once a day.
Then follow the last instructions as listed above.

Feel free to PM me if this doesn't make sense.

Regards,

Thank you so much for those details! He has a pain response when I squeeze his feet, so I want to try and help him regain mobility if at all possible.

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I’m just gonna say that I have kept a couple of my squirrels on the full dose for much longer than 5 days, under a Dr.’s advice, because I was seeing improvement.

First dose this morning! Fingers crossed for this sweet little boy. I can see he is trying to use his legs as he climbs up my body.

Monday morning as he took formula, his toes were spreading. Last night he used his legs to climb up my arm after formula.

This morning he was WALKING in his cage. Clumsily, but his legs were supporting his body!!!

:bliss

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Attachment 309372

:dance:dance:dance SO happy to hear this.

At this very moment I am watching a paralyzed baby in the tree. It was in the ground this AM. Mom was with it. When I realized the back legs were not working I went to get fleece to capture it and mom grabbed it and ran up the tree. I have blankets under it stretched between chairs. I want it to fall so I can start pred also. I am so sad watching Mother Nature.

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Originally Posted by HRT4SQRLS

:dance:dance:dance SO happy to hear this.

..... I am so sad watching Mother Nature.

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isn't THAT the truth!! Nature has no empathy. Good luck with this little one, hope it all works out. :Love_Icon

Hooooray!!! He is very cute.