sometimes medication is worth the risk

First, let me explain that this is about my dog. I love my dogs as if they were my children. My littlest one, a 45 lb golden retriever mix, has recently developed severe allergies, at 3.5 yr old. She's always had some dry skin and itchiness that was mostly taken care of with a good bath in oatmeal shampoo and some Benadryl. In the last few months, it has gotten much worse. We tried changing to higher quality food without wheat products, a low side effect medication Atarax, baths, etc and nothing worked. The vet recommended Prednisone, a corticosteroid, to control the itching. However, I did not want to give it to her because it has alot of side effects and has been shown to cause liver damage. Granted, the damage usually occurs in dogs who have taken the medication at higher doses over long periods of time, but I didn't want to take the chance that my little girl would get sick from medication I gave her. With the terrible itching my girl was having, she was scratching awful welts on her stomach and sides and biting sores on her back and scratching sores around her neck and head. She is normally a very happy dog who smiles all of the time and bounces around the house, playing with the other dogs. With this last allergy attack, she was miserable and not smiling and not playing. I came to the conclusion that quality of life is sometimes more important than worrying about some possible side effects and gave her the medication. After two days, she was back to her normal, happy self. The vet says the low dose we are using over short periods of time will be ok. I really hope so, but I also want my girl to enjoy her doggie life and the benefits outweigh the risks in this case. In everything you do in life, there are risks whether big or small. Sometimes you have to ignore the risks and do what is in the overall best of interest of everyone.