Hi all this is my first post so please be gentle. I have a 6 year old lab called Molly, she has a heart condition which is managed fine. However, she seems to be allergic to everything and is constantly itching and can get very sore skin. About a year ago, after trying countless other medication, our vet put her on Apoquel and it work's great however, it is very expensive. We did have insurance for Molly for about five years but the company we were with decided to stop offering pet insurance but because they are legally not allowed to just stop they made it impossible for us to keep it, by wanting nearly £2,000 up front and then 50% of all bills. I now cannot get insurance because her conditions have already been diagnosed. I was wondering if anybody on here has any advice on what else I can try that would not be so expensive. Thank you all for the help.
Hi , sorry I can't advise on meds , I'm sure someone will be along with more knowledge than me ! But that insurance company , oh my word !!! ( not the term I'm using in my living room !) how disgusting are they . I know they probably go with ' it's business decision blah blah blah ' But still an awful way to treat customers . Anyway welcome from me & Sam !
Hi Carol. I am interested in Apoquel and why it was suggested for Molly's itchy skin. Do you know about side effects? My boy, Snowie, also suffers terribly from itchiness and just yesterday I wrote a post on using prednisone -- a cortisone tablet which I've been worried about using. But the itchiness got so bad that we finally resorted to this route. And he has been extremely happy, itch-free all week. I must remember to ask my vet about Apoquel -- someone mentioned it sometime ago but I forgot to ask my vet then. The prednisone is not expensive (if memory serves me correct, I had a stash at home that I bought at my last vet's visit a few months ago), but of course it comes with side effects. We've managed Snowie's itchiness with food choices although he does love to scavenge, and I walk him off-leash every day where people drop various food items, so he might have allergic reactions to foods he's eating even though at home he is strictly on raw food, and no chicken or duck which seemed to cause more itching (but who knows!). I also bath him every now and then in a betadine shampoo. And brush him regularly. Also use a lanolin cream with chlorohexidine for his tummy and feet (he was licking excessively, licked raw in some places). And give him about 6 salmon oil (omega 3) capsules every day -- I believe this oil has made a marked improvement in his coat. Omega 3 is known to reduce inflammation. And we have tried a million other things, too numerous to mention here.
Atopica preceded Apoquel as an allergy med and in the time I used it the price did drop but by no means was it ever cheap. Both are considered to be lesser evils than Prednisone but Prednisone is far less expensive. Did you allergy test? That won't be cheap at first but might save you money in the long run.
Hi and welcome. Sorry to hear of the health issues with your girl and your treatment from your insurance company. Perhaps it would be worth discussing with your vet any cheaper alternatives or perhaps a cheaper source to buy with a prescription.
We had an allergy test done which came back to say she is allergic to dust and grass mites, there was a couple of other things but they aren't too bothersome. We tried Atopica first but it made her really ill. We had two or three years of trying lots of different things that either didn't work or made her ill. Apoquel is really good and she doesn't seem to be suffering any side effects but at £200 for 100 tablets I'm finding it very hard to afford, but I don't want her to be so uncomfortable.
I don't really know anything about apoquel, but if you are buying it from the vet it might be cheaper to pay for a prescription only from your vet and buy it on line. I have certainly done this with our anti inflammatory Meds and bravecto. Not sure if that would be an option. Sorry if you have already done this http://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/search?searchtext=apoquel&gclid=CPfZr56n_MwCFS8z0woda0sKOQ
That's tough, no avoiding those. I did find as well that getting a Rx and buying meds online (first time I went directly to the store, which was a bricks and mortar building with a human pharmacy as well as pet stuff) did save quite a bit of money, even counting that I had to pay the Vet for the Rx and I had to pay for shipping. Molly's allergens are environmental but you might try a new food. Though we did not go to new food because of allergies Oban's seasonal environmental allergies did completely clear up and we are headed into summer three of no itching and no allergy meds. It's a long story.
I'm up for listening to a long story. Particularly if it could help me help Snowie go three summers without an itch! Please do share!
I put it briefly in your prednisone thread. I left a lot out but the bare bones are that even though we were positive the allergies were seasonal environmental, itchy in summer but not in winter, food did seem to make a huge difference. How much part the TCM and acupuncture also played is hard to tell. The role of his illness, Lymphangiectasia, and how long he had it and whether some wonky early blood levels might have been an early indicator we will never know.
Hi, new to this forum, so not sure if this is the correct way to ask a question, does any one use a natural remedy for skin allergies, at the moment using Apoquel , firstly my boy has had major leg surgery so need him to be comfortable for his recuperation. Long term re Apoquel it's expensive and I have read about side effects .
Welcome to the forum The only other thing that I've heard of that works would be steroid tables (prednisolone or prednisone). They are cheaper than Apoquel and you can give them on an as-needs basis when your dog appears to be itchy. You don't have to give them every day. Synthetic steroids duplicate the effect of naturally occuring steroids. I know that's not what you mean by 'natural' but steroids are essentially a compound found normally in the body, which is why they work. At an appropriate dose prescribed and monitored by your vet they are safe and very effective in bringing relief to most itchy dogs.
@Oberon, I was taught by the vet I worked for that it is very important to continue with steroids and not to stop suddenly, but to aim for the lowest dose possible or to wean off gradually if you want to stop. If you stop suddenly the dog does not have a working immune system.
Depends on the dose and for how long it's been given. If your dog has been on steroids for a lengthy period then the brain does begin to reduce its own production of those steroids and to rely on the dose being given instead. In this situation it definitely is important to taper off the dose gradually once it's time to stop. So, when Obi first started on steroids he was dosed for a longer period (might've been a few weeks or a month?) and the dose was gradually reduced over the second half of this time to allow his natural production of steroids to come back up to normal levels. After a longer course you can't suddenly stop as then the brain is left without its own active supply for a time. The dog isn't left 'without an immune system' though - what is affected is the natural production of that particular compound s/he was being dosed with. Our dog only needs steroids (one tablet a day) for a couple of days in a row per week, mainly during Spring. With such a small dose there is no need to gradually taper off. You can give a tablet two days in a row, then stop and wait till the next itching episode. For us, that is the effective minimum dose. Steroids are always given under vet guidance so it's a matter of working out with your vet what that effective minimum dose is, for your dog. Most will start with a longer course to get the itching under control.
We had Vanilla on Apoquel last summer due to her itchiness. Yes it is expensive, we paid about Aus$150 per month. It helped in that it only supresses the itchiness and not treat it. As I never heard of it I did some research. Was not struck on it as the test results and side effects where not that great. We never finished the course that was subscribed to us. It was actually Vanilla that started to reject them after about a month and a bit. That was my cue that I was not going to persist. Yes it helped during this period, but I don't know if it was purely because of that or also the fishoil tablet, antihistamines, washing her feet after every walk and the cream. We are now in spring and currently we use fishoil tablet, antihistamine, wash paws and the cream from the vet. Currently it is working as far as I can tell. But everydog is different but might be worth a try depending?
We also use antihistamines without the steroid - we use a human one, Zyrtec. We are pretty sure that this helps. Antihistamines don't work for all dogs though and it's a bit of trial and error to work out which one might work. I settled on Zyrtec after doing a bit of research online and then talked about it with the vet.
Our almost 5 yr old chocolate girl has had itchiness, ear infections, yeast infections, itchy paws, eczema etc since she was under a year old. We have done food trials including raw. She had been on Apoquel for a couple of years along with Reactin but still itchy. The vet gave us prednisone to try. She took 1 pill twice daily for the last 3 days and we can’t believe how comfortable she is. She is currently eating GO Solution limited ingredients, no grain salmon kibble. I have read the pros abs cons about prednisone. Apoquel has just as many. Do we continue with prednisone because isn’t her quality of life important too? It’s a tough call. Any thoughts?
