Is human prednisone the same drug as animal prednisone?

[Ypo.]

My dog is on a low dose of prednisone, about 5 mg every other day, to treat her arthritis.

For those of you in vet school, I'm wondering if this drug differs from the prednisone prescribed to humans, or if its the same.

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[mammalmama]

I'm not in vet school yet, but as far as I know, most animal and human medications are the same. Usually the animal medications come in different strengths than the human version. For example, I take levothyroxine for hypothyroidism. The animal version of that is Soloxine which is levothyroxine, but it comes in much higher strengths than my medication. I work for a vet and we give out quite a bit of prednisone for allergies and it's called prenisolone. I do know that it is the same thing as prednisone. Hope this helps.

 

[DrMom]

When I was growing up, we had a cat on the same arthritis meds as my dad was. They really were the same stuff. mammalmama is right, though, that the dosages are often quite different.

 

[Ypo.]

👍 Thanks for the info, that did answer my question.

 

[VeganSoprano]

When my cat was on pred, I got his prescription from the "human" pharmacy rather than the veterinary hosipital - which indicates that they are the same thing. Of course, since Roger was 12 weeks old and weighed about 1.5 pounds at the time, he was on a very low dose.

 

[muttmommy]

Ten years ago when I worked for a vet, I asked that very same question and was told then that yes, there is no difference btw. human/animal pred. Don't know if that has since changed or not, but thought I'd throw in my two cents worth. Hope that helps!! 🙂