Atopica?

[FluffyZooCrew]

Has anyone had any direct experience with the drug Atopica and their dog? Did you see any vast improvement?

I'm thinking about having Rosie put on it, the vet said he'd prescribe it if I decided to. Her allergies, as many of you know, are something awful. And she's on the benedryl and prednisone twice a day, and was doing wonderfully. However, lately, the itching has started back up and her ears are a bloody, scabbed mess.

To prevent confusion from those who don't know about Rosie, yes she has been allergy tested and has been diagnosed with severe environmental allergies. She was found to have no food allergies or flea allergies. She was also tested three seperate times for yeast and several other fungal infections and all came back negative. Rosie, when I got her back in Jan. from a puppymill breeder (she was the breeder female), she was half bald and covered in open, bloody scabs.

So she has definitely made massive amazing improvement with the benedryl and steroids. However, the vet warned that eventually the meds would lose some of their potency, mainly the benedryl, and she'd start the scratching and itching back up despite being on the same dosage.

So I think I'm going to try the Atopica soon. And yes, I know it's expensive, I've already priced it. For Rosie, it's $120 for a month supply.

Any experiences with the drug?

 

[OutlineACDs]

I have used it on my old girl. She was also tested as mainly having environmental allergies. Grass, pollen etc. It worked well, but if I'm not mistake, its a drug that turns off parts of the immune system.

What has worked amazingly is a raw diet. I took her off the Atopica years ago and we dosed her up on benadryl and prednisone every summer. I don't know what it was, but when we switched to grain-free dog food about 3 years ago, she got so much better. Then when we made the switch to raw her allergies are almost non-existant. She does still get the occasional itch, but giving her benadryl for a day or two clears it right up.

Her allergies were environmental as well as seasonal. During spring and summer (which in Texas is 8 months out of the year) she had NO hair on her legs or back half of her body. Her skin would flake up and peel. During the winter she would grow most of the hair back, but she still chewed her feet a lot. I would have never believed diet would fix the problem because she doesn't have food allergies, but it really did.

 

[Bigpoodleperson]

I can comment at the end of fall on how it works! I just started Riley on it the other day. He too has really bad summer/fall allergies. Chews his feet raw and scratches himself. Has had bad ulcers on his feet, and is just a mess. Benadryl does not help him, and neither do the more "powerful" antihistamines. He cant handle any steroids either. He is on a raw diet, and has been for most of his life.

What works the best for us to control his allergies are lots of baths to get the pollen/stuff off his skin. When he gets really bad and has infections my vet puts him on antibiotics for his feet and a very high dose of diphenhydramine, but i cant say it really does much to help.

I really hope the atopica helps him. It was extreamly expensive (1 month is about 250$) for the first month of product as it is a higher dose. Ill let you know.

 

[BTmom]

My dog tested positive for environmental allergies as well and the dermatologist told me my options. One of them was Atopica, but he said that it would be his very last option to use because of the potential harm it could do. Of course, my holistic vet didn't want my dog on it either, so now we just basically deal with her naturally. It isn't so bad though. What my holistic vet has said works for environmental allergies is to give some nettles daily and it may take up to a few weeks to see improvements. I went to the herb store, bought fresh nettles, and then grounded them up into powder with a coffee grinder to put into my dog's food. It can also be brewed into a tea, if your dog would drink it. For my 5lb dog, I was told to give about 1/8 tsp daily.

Good luck! I know how awful it is to watch them scratch and itch.