Apoquel - any experiences?

ex2t633w

Been on the merry-go-round  with my 2 year old toy poodle--- apoquel(gave lumps)--steroids( just nothing)(steroid injection,still no improvement))--antibiotics( nothing--no difference)--antibiotic injections,nope)(then put on purina hydrolysed to see if excluding all other foods would identify culprit, been on that 3 months ,not much difference ((except to my bank balance ! Up to now spent over £500 ))--- Vet stumped--- latest try is cytopoint , £75 for pack of 2 injections, yesterday was her 4th one and I must admit ,she is scratching a lot less, and has resumed playing ! which she hasn't done for months-- she must have been miserable poor thing .
Vet says once on this, dog is on it for life?? Is that true ??  If it keeps working ,AND no bad side effects, it may be worth sticking with it .
My question is--- IF cytopoint works, do I still also  really need the expensive purina, and malaseb shampoo ---wondered about gradually reintroducing the  food (fish4dogs and Harringtons) which I had stacked up on before she was  put on purina 
Why is having a dog like walking a tightrope these days ?!  I just want to enjoy this wee companion now hubby is gone, but it is nothing but worry.
When we were kids we had dogs fed from table scraps and all lived healthy lives !
I want to get off this merry-go-round of Vet visits !!

melbury

Our dog seemed to get a lot better through last winter, but then the constant itching started with a vengeance again about March time and we have been battling it ever since.

Had Apoquel again, which seemed to help so we ordered some more, but the second lot weren't effective at all.  Vet then prescribed Prednicare tablets, which caused him to drink and pee like crazy and also gave him a very upset stomach, so we knocked those on the head as they didn't help the itching anyway.

The vet also recommended Virbac Allermyl shampoo, but that didn't help either.  Just wondered if anyone knows of a shampoo that is more effective.

Due to changing pet insurance companies he is not covered for any of this.

melbury

ex2t633w said:

Been on the merry-go-round  with my 2 year old toy poodle--- apoquel(gave lumps)--steroids( just nothing)(steroid injection,still no improvement))--antibiotics( nothing--no difference)--antibiotic injections,nope)(then put on purina hydrolysed to see if excluding all other foods would identify culprit, been on that 3 months ,not much difference ((except to my bank balance ! Up to now spent over £500 ))--- Vet stumped--- latest try is cytopoint , £75 for pack of 2 injections, yesterday was her 4th one and I must admit ,she is scratching a lot less, and has resumed playing ! which she hasn't done for months-- she must have been miserable poor thing .
Vet says once on this, dog is on it for life?? Is that true ??  If it keeps working ,AND no bad side effects, it may be worth sticking with it .
My question is--- IF cytopoint works, do I still also  really need the expensive purina, and malaseb shampoo ---wondered about gradually reintroducing the  food (fish4dogs and Harringtons) which I had stacked up on before she was  put on purina 
Why is having a dog like walking a tightrope these days ?!  I just want to enjoy this wee companion now hubby is gone, but it is nothing but worry.
When we were kids we had dogs fed from table scraps and all lived healthy lives !
I want to get off this merry-go-round of Vet visits !!

£75 for two Cytopoint injections sounds very reasonable.

When I asked our vet about Cytopoint she said it would cost about £150 for each injection and the effects only last about a month.