Atopica

[Fontanafox]

Wilson at vets for lab work. Trying something called Atopica. Been on it for 4 weeks. Anyone ever used this stuff?

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[cali baker]

I don't have personal experience with this drug but understand it's effective for dermatitis. Is Wilson doing well on it?

 

[LucysMum]

I did my research and I was prepared to start Lucy on this med this past spring once her allergies flared. Even had some baseline blood work done in march Luckily, she has been doing well on her hydroxyzine and we never needed to add the atopica.


How is your boy doing? Any notable changes? Improvements.

 

[Adria Kerti]

I used it on a bitch that had a rash on her stomach and had been itching for several months, along with antibiotics. Her rash and itching cleared up immediately. The problem with that medicine is that your dog may need to be on it forever, and it is very very expensive ($80 for 15 pills over here). Some dogs can be weaned off it, but some dogs can't. My bitch is off it, and she is on hypo allergenic food. What this medicine does is that it suppresses the immune system reaction to an allergen. Hopefully, you can find out what your dog is having an allergy to, and remove the allergen from his food or environment, and he can get off this medicine. It is great but very very expensive. GOOD LUCK!! And keep us posted.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Wilson is so handsome! Sorry

 

[Sandy]

We tried it when Buster was having problems with his ears - I bought a 30 day supply which was very expensive. It upset his stomach, made him hyper to where he couldn't sleep through the night- after a week I stopped and threw it away. He is doing fine now just by changing his food to one that agrees with him.

 

[reillysmom]

yes Reilly was on Atopica for 6 months. I had to take him off of it because he all of a sudden would throw up after 1-2 hours of taking it. and it stopped working. It also gave him diarrhea. He is now just on simplicef and it works fine. he did look his best when he was on atopica and ketoconazole at the beginning but i had to stop because it hurts his tummy.

 

[Fontanafox]

I have a bully vet and a regular local vet. Well Wilson usually goes to the bully vet for bully-related stuff. The last time I went to the bully vet he gave him the allergy shot but it didn't seem to help him anymore and I felt like it was just a mechanical process to give most of the bullys there allergy shots. A revolving door of bullies in and out and Wilson was just another one of those bullies. I felt disheartened and a couple of weeks later I went to my local vet, by this time Wilson was chewing his feet bloody and nothing I did for him was helping. The local vet game him Prednisolone in pill form and then gradually weaned him off as well as Cefpodoxime, Ketoconazole and Atopica. Well things got better and now he is just on the Atopica and today his bloodwork came back great. I know it's expensive but the vet said I could spread the Atopica dosage farther apart, like every other day and see if it is still manageable. He says the seasonal allergies should ease off this month and so things should get even better. Wilson is only chewing his feet occasionally now whereas it was constant before treatment It's only the fifth week and the doctor says it could take 4-6 weeks to see the results. He said steroids can cause damage more than Atopica can but it still must be monitored by regular labwork. Follow up in 6 months. I have not seen any side effects so far.

[MENTION=2092]JAKEISGREAT[/MENTION]...Thanks! I think Wilson is a handsome guy too but it's still nice to be reminded. One of the customers at the vets said when Wilson entered the facility his presence was instantly acknowledged by everyone there. I forget to to "see" my Wilson the way others see him. He's just my baby that I love and worry about. I had to step back and take a picture at the vets to remind me that he is a big beautiful proud bulldog.

 

[karenben]

i would imagine that once off any meds for allergy then the symptoms will return ,its a very difficult area to deal with ,allergies i think are 1 of the worst things to deal with as they are usually life long,i suppose if its food related and a food can be found that suits then it will clear but any other type will always be there,good luck with the meds though i hope you get goos results,karen

 

[Fontanafox]

Update: Well doesn't seem the Atopica is helping right now. Wilson has broken out in bumps and crusties all around his neck, back and head. Seems like its been snowballling in the last couple of weeks and here we go again. Gonna try and schedule an allergy test as soon as possible. It's frustrating since I see BabyGirl doing so great right now with no issues other than keeping her tail pocket and girly parts clean.

 

[cowsmom]

oh im so sorry you are having so much trouble. ive been through it with sarah to so i understand how you feel. i think at this point an allergy test is in order. i think another member here has their pet on a low dose of prednisone forever because they could not get the bullys allergies under control no matter what they did. is that a possibility? sarah used to chew her feet bloody to when we first got her. many hugs from sarah and me

 

[Fontanafox]

[MENTION=2291]cowsmom[/MENTION]...I do recall reading that somewhere here and I felt that might be our answer with frequent blood tests to make sure the liver is handling it ok. It was especially difficult for him last night as he was dragging his face over all the crates and bleeding from the abrasions. Chewing his paws, I kept washing them with Epsom salt/water, sprays but to no avail. I kept giving him rub downs and I could feel all the scabs under his coat. Gave him another bath but he was still suffering so I finally gave him 3 Benadryls and after a couple of hours he seem to have settled down. I changed his bedding and put him in his crate and he fell asleep.
I had high hopes with the Atopica since my vet told me he had a specialist come to their facility and gave a seminar and had good opinions about its effectiveness on 75-80% of dogs.

 

[cowsmom]

[MENTION=1760]Fontanafox[/MENTION] at this point i think the allergy test will do more than anything. he is deffinenetly allergic to something. could be food or environmental its so hard to tell. have you considered a raw diet maybe? ive also heard of people who had to feed raw as nothing else seemed to help. im sorry if you have already been through these questions i just so want to help as i have been there with sarah.

 

[LariP]

Poor Wilson. He is such a handsome fella! I hope you find the magic thing he needs to manage the allergies soon.

 

[Fontanafox]

He'll be going in today for an allergy test. On the phone they told me they send it away to a lab and I'll get back the results in two weeks. Gosh, I may have the first bulldog who has to live in a bubble.