Apoquel

[Jacky209990]

Has anyone noticed a weight loss in their dog once they started apoquel? All the research I can find suggests a possible side effect of weight gain.

My dog has had Apoquel on and off for the last two years, during the pollen season. He had lost some weight during the last year but that has been intentional on my part as he was overweight.

He was a lovely weight, starting to look underweight. He's not exercising more than normal, he hasn't lost his appetite in fact he's always looking for food. No signs of being unwell. And not long had a full check up with vet prior to Apoquel being started.

Is he passing normal faeces? What breed is he?

He's a Staffordshire bull terrier, normal stools. He's only four, only health issue he has had, is the biting and scratching himself . He used to bite himself until was bleeding, couldnt even take him for walks as he would rub his legs on the pavement/road until he was bleeding. He was miserable, in that font he is a much happier dog. Because of his severe allergies, we are limited in what we can feed him. I've tried soo many biscuits, non allergenic, non wheat and careful. Of meat type content but they all result in him scratching and biting even with apoquel. He seems to be OK on raw tripe and raw white fish and raw veg from natures menu. We're upped his diet intake, but he hasn't gained anyweight and still seems hungry.

Hmmm, like you say, it is not a typical side effect. How is his drinking? Normal amounts would you say? I would advise that you start keeping a diary of his weight - check and record it once a week. If he continues to lose weight, a general screening blood test would be a good idea.

please make sure that your vet treats him with vet strenghth flea/mite treatment as apoquel masks the symptoms

Also consider if the itching in in fact caused by yeast/bacterial infection.

When this first became an issue the vet prescribed fle and worm treatment. He has also had blood and biopsies done no yest or bacterial infection found. We have looked at his diet and his environment. His skin was awful, biting until he bled, in the end he was like an old man. He seemed so unhappy, constantly wanting to bite, we couldn't have him out of sight. He also had repeated ear infections. He went on Apoquel and he immediately improved. Then after a month he started to scratch and bite, nowhere near to the extend before but you would still find bite areas. We had become quite lax with his diet. Once we stripped his diet back he improved. Bad days seem to correlate to him being able to eat food such has chicken, pasta and general wheat. Its hard to always control with a toddler and he is always looking for food and so quick if it drops to the floor. He is usually in a different room now when we are eating. You just can't forget a single snack or he's immediately eating it.

Weighing him and recording is a good idea. I'll also keep a record of diet.