I think cytopoint, apoquel and atopica(?) Are the main steroid sparing drugs, sorry I hadn't recalled Snowie had been on it.
The point is that you can reduce or stop the high doses of steroids that you might need to use to control the itching.
I hope your vet has some new ideas.
Sorry.....
We’re back from the vet. Snowie was on Apoquel (1 1/2 years) and then Cytopoint (1 year). Both stopped working and he actually got worse hotspots and had a worse skin condition than before he started them. I’ve read anecdotally similar responses, so I do wonder if we should ever have tried them at all.
Our vet put him back on an antibiotic because he is clearly fighting an infection. And upped the dose of prednisone in the short term. 4 tabs 2x a day for 3 days. Then 4 tabs 1x a day for 5 days. Then 2 tabs 1x a day for 5 days. Then back to see him to reassess. Also to bath with Malaseb every 2 days.
I asked if there’s a test to work out the cause. His response: I can waste your money trying. He suspects it’s an allergic response. He said if it were a mast cell tumour, the itchy skin and flare up he’s seeing now—which he said is sudden—wouldn’t be caused by a mast cell tumour. He said all his patients are extremely itchy at the moment made worse by the heat (it’s much hotter this year in Nov/Dec than previous years). He said even if we found out what Snowie is allergic to, would we be able to avoid it? He said it’s most likely airborne allergens.
Am I thankful that he doesn’t want to waste our money? Am I annoyed that he doesn’t want to try to investigate further? Really, I just don’t know. He said his son comes out in welts when drinking alcohol. They spent 1000s trying to find the allergen. Came back as beesting. He said the allergy tests are not helpful enough.
I asked if pts (I can’t even write out the words) is something he’d consider for an itchy dog. He said euthanasia must be considered if the dog is uncomfortable. But he said Snowie is still bright and comes in wagging his tail and barks for treats. So he deserves further treatment to see if we can help him. He said we should see how he responds to this treatment over the next two weeks.
It’s very depressing and upsetting. Of course we know that our dogs will die at some point. But I just can’t bear the thought of ending Snowie’s life when he’s so capable and cheerful in all other ways. And of course my judgement is affected by exhaustion because I am up with him at least twice in the night every night.
- tells another story. He just seems to always have all the faith in you that you’re helping him, he’s really remarkable.
