Apoquel for itchy dogs....

[rockonxox]

[QUOTE=Justmyluck;8618412]
The problem with Apoquel is that it does not address the reason for the itch. It is just serving as a bandade and people go around thinking that they have ‘cured’ their dog and they won’t investigate further to find the actual cause.

It also comes with a warning about increased rates of infection, demadocosis and increased risk of neoplasia and exacerbating existing neoplasia. Your dog could have a horrific skin infection and you’d never know it because the dog isn’t itching.

It is fantastic to use while you figure out what is wrong, and that includes visiting a dermatologist for those itchy signs that your primary DVM can’t figure out.[/QUOTE]

I don’t believe that I have “cured” my dog. However, my dog has been through numerous tests over the span of 3 years. The derm is $650 initial appointment and my vet is not recommending it based on my dogs circumstances. I also had him on antibiotics along with the apoquel to start with. I know it is a band aid fix that I will pay for forever. I would not suggest it for the first step and if I hadn’t done an allergy test I probably wouldn’t feel as comfortable with it. Any medication used in both animals and humans will have positives and negatives. Not all conditions can be cured.

[Simbalism]

My dog is also on a course of antibiotics(for a hot spot) while we are starting the Apoquel. Luckily, my dog does not usually tear herself to pieces with the itching. Being retired, I really don’t have tons of money to do all sorts of allergy testing. My dog is on a special diet, and my vet recommended bathing with a medicated shampoo once per week which I will be able to start now that it is warmed up. The main reason for trying it is to relieve her almost non-stop itching and licking that occurs when the weather warms up and all the plant pollens come out.

[HPFarmette]

Simbalism, can you tell me about the special diet and medicated shampoo? It it the anti-yeast shampoo?

[Simbalism]

No, it is just a gentle cleansing shampoo. I will have to look at the label and check out the ingredients. Vet said the most important thing for her since she is outside at the barn with me a lot is to get the pollens off her skin. The diet is a fat/calorie controlled diet because she developed pancreatitis. The reduction of the fats in her diet did seem to help a little last year. The food is called DCO by Purina for the kibble.

[Knubbsy]

[QUOTE=HPFarmette;8617873]
Anybody willing to share what it actually costs?[/QUOTE] For 15 pills of the dosage for medium sized dogs (40-60lbs) it is 29 for us. I’ve been hearing from vet friends that many are doing what I’ve been told - get the higher dosage and split the pills because for awhile at least, the price was the same regardless of the dosage.

[GraceLikeRain]

Timely thread. I just paid $60 for 14 days (2x/day) for a 17 lb dog. My vet tends to be a bit more expensive all around but the quality of care is wonderful. I may look into online pharmacies if he stays on it long-term.

[Bensmom]

I’ve been using it for about a year and a half, and the price has varied a little bit, but averages about $40 for a 20-30 lb dog on a once a day dose.

For my Lakie, it was a miracle drug, but what we did at Christmas was to start him on the Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein dog food, and continue the Apoquel for about three weeks. We then stopped the apoquel to see if changing the dog food would stop the itching.

It did. Completely. I have a bottle of apoquel that I can start right away if it should come back with Spring pollens, but so far, his appears to be food related.

Now, if I could just get my husband to quit obsessing about the cost of the RC prescription food (I pay for it anyway! :eek: ) and to stop messing with it. But, he’s decided now that he wants to create meals for him. At least he’s tracking what he is feeding and watching to see if the itching crops back up.

In switching to the prescription food, I didn’t change the volume of what he was eating and he blew up like a balloon. Sigh. Trying to get the weight off has been really difficult, and DH is also blaming the prescription food, so we shall see how this goes.

So far, asparagus was a big no in the tummy department, but didn’t make him itch! :lol:

The apoquel is great, but I do think it is also good to try to see what is causing it. I could have continued feeding the not-very-good food and just using the apoquel to control the itch, but I wanted to get to the bottom of what the problem was.

I sure do hate to see them itch, though, and this medication is pretty awesome.

[Cruisesmom]

5-7 years ago, my boxer was a mess. Allergy testing came back as chicken, beef, corn, timothy hay, mold, dust, dander. You name it, he was allergic to it. We stuck to the Hill’s Z/D food, Ketocanazole shampoo, and Atopica. Was an expensive trio, but his coat grew back, shiny, thick and soft. Ear infections stopped, the raw paws stopped, and I had a happy dog. Not sure if Atopica is still on the market. It was pricey.

[Simbalism]

HPFarmette, The shampoo the vet gave me is an oatmeal based shampoo. I am sure the change in dog food helped due to possibly being allergic to other foods. That was one of the things I had considered when I first started having her be so itchy. I had tried several different types and brands of kibble with no real change in her itchiness.

[kmwines01]

Atopica is still available, generally pricier than apoquel and more immunosuppressive. As to the poster who commented about her dog gaining weight on temaril P it’s due to the steroid component of the temaril P.

Apoquel worked wonders for our pup in Colorado and Florida. Couldnt get it for a while in Florida as the clinic had an established list and we were just starting there. Now we’re on ant-anxiety meds, apoquel, and antibiotics for the persistent lick granuloma.

I always tell people not to invest in allergy testing if you plan on moving regions anytime in the next year or so…

[rockonxox]

FWIW my $49 for 28 days is a 73lb dog. Also, for those using “soothing” shampoos most of them have oatmeal or oats as an ingredient. My dog has a horrible allergy to oats. The shampoo I have to use is from the vet. If you guys are having issues with your dogs and bathe them fairly frequently switching out shampoo could help!

[IFG]

$2.41 a pill for the miracle drug and worth every cent. We tried everything, including food elimination. My vet said that he had little luck with allergy testing and shots and suggested trying the Apoquel. Trupanion is kicking in to pay 90% now that I have met the deductible. We are having trouble tapering to once a day. Had to bump back to twice a day and trying a slower reduction.

[HPFarmette]

Thanks everyone for replies. Visit #3 to vet today…

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I think I paid $130 for an entire pill jar. That lasts awhile. Most recently (from dermatologist instead of regular vet) it was $80 for 42 pills (includes
$5 shipping). Or $1.78 a pill (80 lb dog). She will only sell a month at a time (my dog is on a very high dose for the short term). The literature I got said apoquel is effective for either 70% or 80% of dogs. There is another drug (not steroid) that is very effective but the cost is insane.

Apoquel worked for a year or so and then lost effectiveness (or allergies got that much worse). We did the testing and are doing allergy shots and starting a food trial. I was told to give the shots an entire year to determine effectiveness. Food trial–12 weeks. Dermatologist believes the dog is very allergic to food (she said only about 10% of allergies are actually to food) but there is no good test for that. He is also allergic to dust, dust mites and wool. So basically farm air.

[jen-s]

YMMV and please consult your veterinarian first, but I was able to wean my dog from 16mg/day to 1/2 of a 5.4mg per day. I probably shouldn’t have even tried, but we hit a point when the 16mg tabs weren’t available so I had to substitute the 5.4mg tabs and I just gave it a whirl and kept weaning down until it got too hard to cut the pill any smaller.