When Apoquel won't do

[echt]

My 4 and 1/2 year-old pooch has had Apoquel for allergic itching, which is seasonal. He's done well for two years until recently when he started wetting his bed at night. Not just a bit. This is noted as a serious side effect and stopping its use has meant no wettings. However, the poor bugger is scratching a lot.

He has one Zyrtec a day and one 3-omega fish oil tabs with his twice-daily meals. He has just started with the latter. He is happy, lively, eats up his food, a good weight.

He has flea and worming tablets. His bath is the sea.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Would a half dose of Apoquel bring some relief without the bed wetting?

My itchy one went on to cytopoint, if that's helpful. It was an injection, can't remember how often though. Hope you find a resolution as itching is so horrible to experience

Ooh. Hadn't thought of reducing the dose. I'll try it.

Thinking of the injections, they've been suggested by the vet, though I can't remember the drug, but the price for monthly injections was ruinous. I'm aware how tight-arsed that sounds.

Check the following:

Is the sea making the skin worse.
Is his diet grain and chicken free as that can set it off
Is it his flea/working treatment because after months of investigation and tests and thinking ours was grass allergic we now think nexguard is setting ours off.

Thank you.

As yet there's no evidence the sea makes his skin worse. I always check the EPA beach quality and it's mostly excellent in Port Phillip Bay.

I'll check out the flea stuff.

His diet is Pedigree beef kibble and raw pet mince, which to be sure can contain all sorts. Can move to kangaroo.

I second looking at his flea treatment and wormer. Mine has natural treatment for both and doesn't have any problems.
The veterinary and pet industry have sold us a narrative that dogs need drugs shoving down their throats every two minutes but it's just not true.

Diet is also a good call. Barf diet might be worth a go.

I'd definitely get him off the kibble. Mine didn't do well on raw so gets trays of meat. She does get kibble too but cold pressed with a decent meat content. I only mention to say I'm not a raw feeding fanatic or totally anti kibble. Pedigree is truly awful stuff and may be causing the issue along with other problems.

Despite the fact that I don't believe in supplements, both my dogs are doing really well on products from Vince the Vet. One has long standing arthritis and is now off pain meds and running round like a puppy. The other had bouts of severe itchiness which have now stopped.

There is a sale coming up on 4/5 March. If you contact them before then they will recommend products.

www.vincethevet.co.uk/

Has he had an allergy test?
Our dog is allergic to beef, wheat, rice, peas, soy and peas so most foods from the supermarket aren't suitable.

Thank you all. You've given me much to think about.

Allergy testing (blood test or skin prick) is worthwhile to see what environmental allergens he reacts to but it is useless for food allergens. Potentially he can be desensitised with an individually made vaccine to environmental vaccines but it’s not cheap. To rule out diet involvement you need an 6 weeks exclusion diet either based on single protein, single carbohydrate both of which need to be novel, or a hydrolysed diet. You said seasonal but unusual for seasonal itch to be a problem in February unless he’s reacting to house dust mites, storage mites etc.

I'm in Australia, so the seasons are different, but will consider allergy testing.

Pedigree kibble is dire (sorry) so look for some decent stuff (have a look at [https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/]] ) I appreciate you aren't in the UK but a lot of brands are everywhere :)

I have my girl on part kibble (mornings) and part raw (evenings) I need her to still have kibble as we camp a lot, but raw gives her better skin, hair everything!

We found when Apoqel stopped working, the Cytopoint injection was like magic.. all itching gone in 48 hours. We had a few monthly then were able to drop to twice a year in pollen season, as it seems that may be my dog's trigger.

If in the end you don’t want to go ahead with allergy testing for cost reasons etc, try switching from kibble (could be a storage mite allergy although if seasonal this is unlikely to be the only allergy) and/or try a novel protein (like the kangaroo you suggested, if that hasn’t been given before).

where is he scratching?

wipe down after walks outside in case pollen is clinging to fur?

If it helps, our dog is on cytopoint injections and it lasts for longer than they suggest - first one lasted 7 weeks and the second one is still going about 3 months on. I think that’s partly to do with less exposure to a key trigger though (agricultural mites).

We switched to Cytopoint and the itching, which was terrible, just melted away. We clean ears, eyes and paws, and bath with Maloseb regularly, and we don't need the Cytopoint every month, more like 2-3, so it's not as expensive as it first seemed.

Just to add, we do grain-free food but otherwise just keep her food simple - Butchers tins and scraps mostly.

Apoquel and Cytopoint are very similarly priced where I am. Worth another check.