Apoquel..... thoughts

La.de.da

My dog was just put on this medication recently for chronic skin allergies. She's so far responding well and it's wonderful not to have her scratching and tormented.

Vet said she will likely be on this for life, numerous blood tests haven't pinpointed the exact reason for flare ups.

Just wondering has anybody else gotten a pet on this medication long term?

EPAndlee

My dog is on it since last year. He has cysts from allergies on his paws. I was given the choice of steroids that were cheaper but had side effects that could affect his blood cells or apoquel which is more expensive. So far so good his skin had cleared but the hot weather has flared them up but its under control. No side effects so far. I was told he will probably be on them for a good while

La.de.da

EPAndlee wrote: »

My dog is on it since last year. He has cysts from allergies on his paws. I was given the choice of steroids that were cheaper but had side effects that could affect his blood cells or apoquel which is more expensive. So far so good his skin had cleared but the hot weather has flared them up but its under control. No side effects so far. I was told he will probably be on them for a good while

Yeah my girl has had steroids a few times in the last year, didn't want to keep pumping them into her.
She's quite small so hopefully the monthly cost won't be mad.

Hope you're dog is feeling ok. Feicin allergies are a nightmare

EPAndlee

La.de.da wrote: »

Yeah my girl has had steroids a few times in the last year, didn't want to keep pumping them into her.
She's quite small so hopefully the monthly cost won't be mad.

Hope you're dog is feeling ok. Feicin allergies are a nightmare

Its costing me €1.50 a day. Seems to be a really bad year for allergies

Bells21

Apoquel simply suppresses the bodies reaction to the allergy, it doesn't solve the allergy. My dog was on it for a while and I wasn't overly happy with how he was doing on it so did some research and took him off of it. We changed his food and now wipe him down when he comes on from being in grass. I also have some soothing shampoo for him and he is lots better. Still itchy from time to time but not to the extent that he has broken skin. As soon as you stop giving apoquel the symptoms will return, it doesn't solve the allergy.

NutmegGirl

My dog, g retriever, on it for nearly 2 years now
Is v expensive but so far pet insurance covering it, cost for her dose approx €80/month
No side effects that we’ve seen but symptoms do return within 24 hrs if she doesn’t take it
She was constantly scratching and licking/eating herself
She had no fur on her paws or where she could reach on her abdomen, wounds under her chin from scratching
It was upsetting for us to watch the constant scratching and must have been distressing for her
She’d had occ steroids which cleared it, but that’s def not a longterm option from either our or the vets point of view
She’s prone to ear infections too and hasn’t had as many since taking the apoquel
I’d def recommend it
There is another similar medication on the horizon, from US, our vet mentioned it at last visit
Think he said it was an injection that would have a longterm action rather than daily tablet but not cleared yet, waiting to see side effects
Think he said it should be available in next 12/24 months and would be cheaper too as she’s 7 so pet insurance will be getting more expensive
We’d tried all the other options, changing foods, medicated washes etc etc but nothing worked
App retrievers prone to allergies etc acc to our vet so this has been a godsend
There is no cure for allergies but as long as she doesn’t get side effects we’re keeping going irrespective of cost
Tbh I’d pay the cost myself as it’s made such a huge difference to her

NutmegGirl

Sorry, meant to add we’d had all the blood tests to see what was causing the allergies
Vet said normally they’re such common things like dust mites, tree/plant pollen etc as to be useless to find out because there not much you can do to eliminate them as triggers
Only if something specific turns up, like a food ingredient, can you do something about it
Nothing specific turned up on ours

tico1300

I have two Westies on it, himself(12) for a year now and doing great, poor fella was on steroids for good while & that took its toll on him, at one stage he had little hair left, lots of scabs & red paws from licking, herself (14) has been on it 3 months now & has responded very well, also using piriton for them (as advised by vet)

EPAndlee

NutmegGirl wrote: »

She’s prone to ear infections too and hasn’t had as many since taking the apoquel

My dog got ear infections too, a lot of wax build up. I clean his ears every week now along with been on apoquel he's flying it

La.de.da

Nodding along to your post nutmeg girl. My, miniature Jack russell, was the same. Visibly distressed from constant itching bald spots and looked so miserable the poor thing.
I've tried everything else but the medication seems to have to be.

She's quite small only 4kg so working it out on her dosage would be around €30 per month. Not too bad, considering the amount of vet visits in the last year, most allergy related. In only a few days there's a remarkable improvement.



Thank you for your replies