I’d love to hear more about your use of apoquel in horses. I just started it with my mare, who has mild asthma and stronger allergies (pollens, bug bites, etc.) She is on 4 tablets per day as she is on the smaller side. It’s only been a few days, and might be wishful thinking, but she already seems better. Her breathing isn’t as huffy, her nostrils are less distended, and she just seems more perky in general. She still has hives, but has stopped rubbing her tail. She is 25 and borderline EMS so I avoid steroids with her.
I haven’t had great luck w it for asthma, but for itchiness it’s the bees knees for 98% of horses we’ve had on it. I generally keep them on a full dose of 0.25mg/kg for 7-10 doses, or until they are doing really well w their itchiness. From there I go to every other day dosing for two weeks or so, then try two or three times weekly. I haven’t had much like decreasing the dose, and have done better increasing days between the dose. However, give botha try and see what works for you.
1 Like
Does Apoquel work if the itchiness is specifically related to flies/bugs?
Yes. Especially if it is a heightened allergic response. It’s where it does it’s best work IMO
4 Likes
Huh, that is interesting. If 0.25 mg/kg that would be 7 pills to start with for a 1000 pound horse, which is a huge ouch on the price, and my mare would need 6 instead of the 4 she currently gets.
Is there a mechanism that explains why tapering to an every few days dose instead of a smaller dose every day is better? I was going to do daily for my barn owner’s convenience but she would be ok with giving it every 2nd or third day.
In case this is helpful to anyone, when my horse gets things that are not daily or twice daily, I make a calendar on a shipping label that can be affixed to the jar or box the med is in. The barn staff and working students find it really helpful.
I know Apoquel is forever, so if I were using it (am currently not but am considering it for asthma), I would probably do it on a computer and print out months at a time… quicker and easier!
2 Likes
It works by binding to the receptor for the enzyme. It takes time for the body to turn over the receptors and a certain number need to be affected for the drug to work.
1 Like
My mare is 1100 lbs. We did loading dose of 5 pills daily and then played with cutting back.
It’s actually the only thing that worked on my mare’s asthma when even dex didn’t. Obviously that won’t be the case with every horse, but it’s certainly worth the try. My horse was in a situation where she was rapidly losing weight and in distress and even steroids were not bringing things under control. And then apoquel was like a magic bullet.
1 Like
Very excited to hear it worked for your asthma horse! It’s a drug w such great potential for these horses.
More good signs: for the first time in weeks, my mare has no hives at all, in spite of several types of biting flies coming into their season, and she has not rubbed her tail since starting the Apoquel on Thursday.
5 Likes
I’m not sure the apoquel is working all that well. She rubbed her tail really bad early this week, so I used my regular product for thos, Kinetic Vet IR shampoo on Wednesday. Repeated today but she had not rubbed it more. Of course there are a lot of ticks, so she might have rubbed from that.
But today she has hives, and her breathing is OK but not so much better that I’m truly happy about it. I do think her recovery time is faster.
She was a little reluctant to go out for a trail walk yesterday and today. I kind of had to drag her along for a little bit. But also her hay has been cut back because she’s getting too fat, so she may have slowed down to try to grab as much tasty grass (and other things) as she could along the way.
When we got back today, after I washed her tail and she realized that she still had no hay and I wasn’t going to give her more, she just stayed next to me in her shed and took a snooze. Awwww.
So the jury is still out.
1 Like
I’m not far from you and my allergy pony was bothered today, his respirations were elevated a bit late morning and he was quiet, he also had a long snooze. He also had the itchies, but no hives. Could be the air quality was particularly bad for a bit. He is better now.
Wondering if Apoquel can have a sedating effect. Mare is happy enough, but a little more slow on her walks (she will still trot in hand with me happily enough, until I run out of steam.)
OTOH her recovery time after a walk is quicker, and her nostrils are less flared. She still has hives and is a bit itchy, though.
How much are you giving her? I kept mine on the loading dose (5 a day) until symptoms really reduced and then spread it to every other day.
This year I did experiment with lower daily dose and it is def not as effective as full dose every other day
Well, 4 was not enough, nor was 5. I’m doing a saving throw this month and using up about $500 of the stuff. She is on 5 twice a day right now and responding really, really well. Breathing is good even in our current heat and humidity, itchiness down, she hasn’t rubbed her tail at all, and has fewer hives. We’re going to 5 a day on Wednesday then hope to taper to 5 every other day.
Yes, makes sense your really have to get it working before you taper back. One recommendation would be to take the tapering slow so that she’s on a new dose at least a week. I found that when I rushed the dosage changes it didn’t work.
But glad to hear she’s doing well!
Actually that isn’t quite correct. 10 a day (!!!) in the morning for a week starting Wednesday. Then try 5 a day. Luckily she eats all her food even with meds in it. In many years and various meds, the only one she wouldn’t eat in her food was Bute. Oh and doxy (used a few times for tick borne illnesses) had to be the $$$$ mint flavored powder.
Well checking back in. She’s at 5 Apoquel a day - we tried to taper but she rebounded pretty badly, with hives, tail rubbing, harsh breathing etc.
On 5 her breathing is pretty good - still flares her nostrils but no “huff huff huff” breathing out. Heaves lines are nearly gone. She gets a few hives on her neck where the fly sheet doesn’t cover it but that seems to be from mosquitoes, which are horrible this year because we’ve had so much rain. She loves a good scratch but I don’t think she’s generally itchy. No tail rubbing, less discharge from her eyes.
10 was better but I just can’t justify almost $900/month on a 25 year old retiree. $425 is a lot but doable.
1 Like
Hi all, this thread has been so helpful to read! I put my mare on apoquel. She’s now at 5 every 3 days, she is much better but still pretty itchy on her neck. I’m wondering if I can give her zyrtec or hydroxyzine on the days she isn’t getting apoqual, or even just everyday. Does anyone know if they can be given together?
