Apoquel & depression/sleepiness/inertia

[JeminaTheGiantBear]

Dog is at the end of day 2 of a 14 day trial of Apoquel. She seems very down- kind of sleepy and sad. Obviously she was not in the most tip top mood before the Apoquel- itching feet. But my impression is that she has gone down since starting it.

Has anyone else encountered this? I am not sure if it my imagination & don’t want to miss something else going on with her. There is no insert with side effects in my pack & Google did not suggest sleepiness as a usual side effect.

If this is a side effect, I don’t think we will progress to day 3. It’s awful to see her so down.

My DD tried Apoquel and it really didn’t suit him. Lots of tummy issues and diarrhoea so we didn’t get past day 3. He was also quite flat and tired but I assumed that was due to an upset tummy. The vet has given us Zenrelia to try, we’re a week into that and he’s had no problems at all and the itching has stopped. Might be worth trying as an alternative.

We’ve been advised to give supplements to boost dog’s liver health, but have definitely not experienced dog being sad and sleepy from apoquel. Zenrelia sounds a good alternative @Jellycatspyjamas

Our dog has apoquel for around 6 months a year due to allergies- no change in behaviour or tummy issues. Terrier and as much energy as ever!

Have you tried the obvious, like a change of diet and something simple like Piriton? We had a terrier with itchy skin and those two things made it manageable with her, with no change to mood etc.

I found this when my dog was on Apoquel a few years ago. It does say lethargy is listed as a symptom on the information sheet.
My dog was one of the rare cases who became absolutely manic on it. He literally bounced off the walls. It did reduce his itching, but I refused to give it to him again.

That's fascinating, @SpanielsGalore . Apoquel made an astonishing difference to my boy - his behavioural responses improved overnight. He was only on it for six weeks total, and I was a bit concerned about the longer term side effects, but for those first few weeks it was like a miracle. Where did you find that extract?

OP, has your dog's itching improved? Did the vet try you with anything else first?

I know other posters have talked about Piriton, but Apoquel isn't an antihistamine, it's a powerful anti-inflammatory - it makes it very useful if the source of the itching isn't clear. Topical dermatitis in dogs can be due to pollen but not usually this time of year; it can also be an allergic response to something else environmental, or to diet, and finding out what's causing that is a monumental pain in the arse, and it may not be responsive to antihistamines. I suppose what I'm saying in a very roundabout way is that you might want to talk to your vet about alternatives before taking her off it. Though I'm not sure I'd want to see my boy like that either x

@Bupster It was this. Honestly, my dog was awful on it. He couldn't settle at all and was bouncing off the walls and me. I had 32 bruises on my legs from him at one point. Glad it helped Bill though.

https://www.petdermatologyclinic.com/apoquel-information#:~:text=Apoquel%20side%20effects%20listed%20for,and%20increased%20cholesterol%20and%20lipase.

It’s a drug I would be wary of using. Don’t know what the allergy is to? We found my girl was allergic to quite a bit but removing chicken from her diet really helped.