Comments on Apoquel : Dog Drug With a Dark Side - Homeopath Vet

My vet recommended apoquel for my CAT. 8 months into this the itching has returned and he has painful bowel movements that have blood in them. I have stopped the drug and am trying salt baths and plan to try oatmeal baths plus a prescription spray on spots as needed. Hoping my cat will heal naturally.

My dog was put onto Apoquel and then not long after started having Seizures

My 6 year chocolate Labrador recently died. She had explosive diarrhea for about 2 weeks. Our vet prescribed antibiotics etc and nothing helped. Week 3 I took her into urgent care because she stopped eating. Turns out she had an aggressive stomach cancer that perforated with leaky gut making her septic. I always fed her premium food and even filtered water, she got the highest quality everything. She had been on apoquel most of her life because of skin itching allergies. My vet never explained the risks ever. Over the last year I’d been seeing negative info re apoquel and cancer and figured it had to be false if my vet trusted it. I do now believe, even though hard to prove that apoquel did kill my sweet Briar Rose. I will never give any of my dogs anything but natural supplements for allergies ever again, and will never give apoquel ever again knowing what I know now. I have even convinced family members giving their pets apoquel to stop. Heartbreaking to lose my soulmate dog at only 6.

Hi Dr Will Falconer,

I reached out to you about a year and half ago, about my Bryn. She was on Apoquel for close to two years because of allergies.
Long story short Bryn was later diagnosed with Lymphoma.

Although you responded with the best advice you could give at that time. We realize it was to late.
Eventually Bryn lost her 18 month, two remissions struggle with chemo to try and prolong her life.

I want to thank you for everything you are doing to get the word out on this horrible drug named Apoquel.

Thanks, Tom

My 5 year old shepherd/husky Pebbles developed allergies this summer. We went into the vet to update her shots and give her a good checkup. She was healthy as ever, and the vet prescribed Apoquel to help her itchiness from summer pollen. 2.5 months after using this drug, Pebbles collapsed on a walk to my horror. I quickly snatched her up and ran to my car, horrified knowing something was wrong. I decided to google "Apoquel side effects" and found several that matched... lethargy, lack of appetite, diarrhea... So I booked an appointment with the vet and immediately took her off Apoquel. She's now been diagnosed with Lymphocytic Leukemia, and is slowly dying in front of me. This dog has been the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my life. She has been a therapy dog when I was down, and a best friend. I knew in my bones it was the Apoquel, and after finding HUNDREDS of other people saying the same thing, I'm convinced this "wonder drug" is poison. DO NOT give this to your beloved pet, it will likely kill them. I wish there were something else I could do, the helpless feeling I have watching this part of my family quickly die in front of me is the absolute worst thing.

I am so glad that pet owners are finally understanding what a horrible existence their dogs suffer due to this drug. I see it most everyday with my customers dogs that truly believe it's NOT the right thing to give their dogs, but continue on it......until they no longer can. It is such a shame.

My 6 yr old Pug Grover gets crazy itchy every Aug-Oct. When Allegra didn’t help Apoquel was prescribed (my ignorance). Grover was on Apoquel twice a day from 8/25 - 9/1 and got one dose on 9/2 then started with bloody urine, so I didn’t give any more. Urine started clearing up on 9/3. 9/4 he developed diarrhea and vomiting. Vomiting didn’t last long. He stopped diarrhea after cleaning out his bowel to the point of watery little bits of diarrhea. He seems to be getting better. Keeping in fluids. More energy. Resting most of the day.

Apoquel has been fine with my dog she is happy and healthy been on it for a while I think it’s better than seeing her itch all the time I think it’s amazing .

We have a 12 1/2 year old Shitzu. At the age of four she started having skin lesions but I was always able to treat her with natural remedies. In August of 2022 she started to smell, coat became dull, loss of hair, oily and scratching constantly. Kept us up at night due to her scratching. On May 3, 2023 I took her to our Vet (I avoid them as much as possible) and he prescribed prednisone for 14 days, Cefaseptin 300mg Tablets for 14 days. This was a MIRACLE drug - that very first night she slept through the night and the bald spots were already showing signs of recovery. Then at a follow up visit on May 24, 2023 he gave her a Cytopoint shot and put her on Apoquel. For the first two weeks she continued to improve, no more scratching but I was told to keep her on the Apoquel and give it to her as needed. She gained weight even when I cut back on her food and became very demanding and aggressive during the day. So now she was good at night but a tare by day. She had always been a quite, patient dog but not anymore. We couldn't take her in the car anymore because she barked incessantly. In August of 2023 I was told by a clerk at a pet food store that the cause of her allergy could be her food so at her advice we changed her food and she has calmed down and we can take her in the car again. I had just filled a prescription for 50 tablets of the Apoquel when we switched her food and I am only giving her a 1/2 tablet every 3 days. I am wondering if I should just cut it out altogether.

Please anyone who is thinking of using this product, do your homework!
Especially anyone owning a German Shepherd!
My 7yr old German Shepherd was only on the drug for a few months and she went from a happy healthy (other than allergies/stratching) to crashing on me.
Hemangioscarcoma (sp) killed her. Masses on her spleen, liver and one on her lung. by the time we found this out it was too late.
2 weeks before her demise she went through hell with bacterial infections, fungal infections, It had progressed to 90% of her body!
I had taken her off the drug because I actually found out the horror of this drug, but unfortunately it had already done its damage!
Yes maybe the cancer was already there, but this drug suppressed her immune system and allowed the cancer to take over quickly!
I've had discussions with my Vet and still I'm told that it does not suppress their immune system!
This drug is not safe as far as I'm concerned and will continue to tell myself putting my dog on this drug shortened her life!
PLEASE EVERYONE DO YOUR HOMEWORK IT IS NOT A MIRACLE DRUG LIKE THEY CLAIM!

The article mentions Apoquel, the latest anti-inflammatory drug for itchy dogs. While it may seem like an easy solution, I'm glad the writer is urging caution before jumping to use it. It's important to be well-informed before making any decisions about our pets' health. Thank you for sharing this insightful article!

On Sunday 25th June 2023 our 14 month old Springer Spaniel woke up very lethargic, eyes rolling to the back of his head and could barely stand up. Just a day before, he was his silly self running around with other dogs, presenting no signs of any illness, he could play all day without being tired. He was taken into ICU with suspected lungworm. After they had done a blood cell count they found his white blood cell count to be practically non-existent. After some further tests they then concluded that he had pneumonia, from this pneumonia he developed a collapsed lung and a pneumothorax. Because of this, his chest was constantly filling up with liquid and air, so he was put on a ventilator as a last resort. He lost his fight on 30th June 2023. Prior to this our boy had developed skin allergies for the past 4 months. We tried a course of steroids to begin with, we had him on hypoallergenic food, nothing seemed to be helping so the vet suggested apoquel. The vet said he would need to be on it for life but only told us that the side effects would be a slim chance on cancer, not that it would completely destroy his immune system. After being on it for a week we were amazed at how it cleared his skin up and stopped his itching however we now know this has come at a cost. He had only just turned 12 months when he started taking Apoquel. Does anyone have any advice on how to take this further? We have sent a report but I don't know how this drug is still allowed to be prescribed.

We rescued a one year old staffy in 2016 who had terrible allergies. She would break out in these giant hives and always had itchy feet and would scratch and chew herself raw. Her first vet prescribed Apoquel and basically called it a miracle drug. And it was at first. It was the only thing that stopped her itching (we had also tried limiting her diet and medicated baths etc). We kept her on it on and off for a year.

On her second birthday, we found a lump on her chest right over her mammary gland. We took her into the vet and when they aspirated it, the results were inconclusive. However, because the lump was located over her memory gland, the vet suggested immediate surgery just to be safe. Thankfully, we took his recommendation because after biopsy, we found that it was a mast cell tumor. She had to have a second surgery because they hadn’t gotten it all in the first round.

I had this gut feeling that apoquel was the cause of her cancer. She was only two years old!! And it’s the only thing I could think of that would cause something like this. We took her off it and asked the vet about the connection. He basically said that there’s no way they could prove the connection, but because she was a bully breed she was predisposed to these types of cancer. The only thing he would admit was that since she was predisposed there was a possibility that the drug could have sped up the process. Regardless, I trusted my gut instinct, and we kept her off the apoquel and I started doing some research. This was five years ago and the drug was still fairly new so there wasn’t a lot out there, but I did find other people who experienced the same thing I had with their otherwise young and healthy dogs.

I also went to the actual brochure they give you with the medication and in a little semi hidden pocket in the middle of the brochure, there was a print out detailing all the testing they had done on the drug. The print out said that in their testing, dogs under the age of six months had died of pneumonia and several of the dogs in the test group had developed mast cell tumors just like my dog. They also listed side effects, such as ear infections, which up until that point I hadn’t connected with the drug for my dog. She always had so many allergies, I assumed her ear infections were related to those.

But since we have stopped the use of Apoquel, she has not had ear infections, and she also has not had any recurring mast cell tumors. At the time of her surgeries, we were told that as a bully breed, she is predisposed to these types of cancers, and that most likely she was going to have recurring tumors over her life. Fast forward to now when she’s seven years old we have not had any more tumors (even though any bump or lump we have aspirated right away because we’re terrified of losing our pup.)

I am a dog walker, and one of my clients is a seven year old Rhodesian Ridgeback who was just diagnosed with a heart murmur and found that he has the early stages of an enlarged heart. He has been on apoquel for the last few years and he has the same recurring ear infections my dog had and now this with his heart. Back in 2017 when my dog was diagnosed, I felt like a crazy conspiracy theorist over the apoquel but now all these years later, seeing how many people have had similar experiences with their dogs breaks my heart. I believe this is an evil drug and that it’s killing our animals and I’m so glad I listened to my gut versus my vet about taking her off the drug all those years ago

Apoquel isn’t ALL doom and gloom.

We have a 7 yo GR who has been on apoquel since he was 1.5 years old.

We tried food allergy testing, went to an all raw diet for three months, removed items from our home . . . he was chewing up his feet and legs and they were getting infected. He also had a nasty ear infection.

Final conclusion was an allergy to fleas, dust mites and chicken.

Our GR now eats Fromm duck variety food and takes three 16-oz Apoquel pills per day. (That’’s nearly $300 per month for (one of) our 4-legged children), plus annual vet visits).

Do I wish there was an alternative? Absolutely! But i also wish there was world peace.

There was/is no way for our dog to live a quality life without apoquel.

No regrets.

My boyfriend and I lost our pitbull Lilly only a few months ago from lymphoma developed within a month of taking apoquel. She was about 10 and healthy other than severe allergies, testing revealed allergies to grass and human dander. We thought apoquel was really helping her until the lymph nodes behind her legs enlarged, then her neck and groin followed. We stopped it immediately. We tried everything to keep her with us and after 6 months of chemotherapy and getting her cancer into remission it came right back. It makes us angry this terrible drug is still out there and we were not given a single warning of possibly side effects especially death by cancer. We said goodbye to sweet Lilly girl who is finally at peace and not itchy but we can't help but feel robbed of our time with her from this terrible drug. We warn anyone who ever mentions it.

Hi - My dog Buddy (staffy cross breed) was only on Apoquel for 1 or 2 weeks to relieve some severe itching. He was 14 at the time and is now nearly 16.. however i do believe that the drug caused him to go deaf, it was too sudden to be just down to his age in my opinion. My vet did warn me there were some side effects to the drug but did not really go into what they were, she was convinced that the pros would outway the cons due to his age at the time. He was in a bad way for a couple of months around the same time as the itching.
He suffered horrendous toilet issues and was constantly licking at his paws which she advised was probably arthritis in his joints - I really thought he was not going to survive much longer. I changed his diet to Royal Canin Gastrointenstinal after a couple of months on boiled chicken and rice. He still takes a daily CBD capsule (my own research for his arthritis) and a B12 vitamin which she said he was lacking in. I think i have been very lucky after reading all of this. I'm so sorry to hear about all the other poor animals that have been affected or died after taking this drug.

My healthy 12 yr old chorkie had an itch allergy and was given apoquel, as soon as he was on the medicine he was thirsty, up in the night needing water and the toilet, he was then diagnosed with kidney disease, then pneumonia and he died… all within months. I hate this medicine! I truly believe apoquel killed him.

What are your thoughts on Cytopoint as an alternative to Apoquel ?

My sweet 4 year old GSD was put on apoquel and died 3 weeks later - she made this deep guttural noise and I had to drive over an hour to the only after hours clinic that would see her. By then she was passing melanic stool so I knew she had an upper GI bleed…she succumbed to hypovolemic shock because the vet wouldn’t give IV fluid in her vein…as an ICU RN I have been so guilt ridden for failing her - I miss her so much

I wish I would have done my research. I trusted the vet who was trying to help my miserable, itchy, pulling get hair out 8-year-old German Shepherd. She started it in October 2021. It's not May 2022 and she's had so many uncontrollable seizures that she has brain damage and is a shell of the dog she once was. It's possible there is a tumor in her brain but a CAT scan for a dog in rural Arkansas is over $3,000. I am trying to make her last days as comfortable and loving as possible, but I know she won't be here for more than a couple weeks more. Two different vets have told me there is absolutely no way that apoquel had anything to do with it. I don't want to ever have another dog companion again, how could I ever trust another veterinarian again after watching my dog decline so quickly. From being the sweetest and cutest fluff butt, to legs so we can wobbly she can barely stand, she can't see and she can't hear. I'm devastated.