Comments on Apoquel Side Effects: Short Term Fix, Long Term Nightmare

I see no mention of intestinal permeability ("leaky gut") here as a cause of allergic reaction ... why? It's slowly becoming revealed that leaky guy is a fundamental cause, and that healing it is a cure. I'm definitely a believer in homeopathy, but can it be a final cure if the gut remains leaky?

Is there really help out there for our poor pups? I've been to three homeopathic Vets and he just keeps getting worse. I feed raw, use organic everything and feed cool foods. He is now down to one protein which is duck. Anytime I try to give him other sources he bites the fur completely off his back legs. He had his puppy shots which the breeder gave him and nothing since. He now has cataracts in both eyes at the age of one and hairless back legs. So if anyone has any thoughts to share, I would love to hear them. I lost one of my dogs last year to because of vaccines.

After reading all of this, looking for answers, I know two things....
1. "TANSTAAFL" (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch);
2. This guy sure does take the long way around the barn to get anywhere!

My dog Pepper is a female Cocker spaniel that is 8yrs old. She has been on Apoquel for three years now, and it no longer works. I discontinued using it. After spending many hours on the net researching options I came upon this site. I am now seeing many side affects of using this drug. Lumps for one, that are going to be removed and I'm hoping are not cancerous. Get off this drug if you're giving it to your dog!

I have a six year old golden/spaniel mix. At 2 she started with occasional (for no reason) diarrhea and vomiting. Our vet told us to give her chicken and rice until she got better. At around 3 she started licking and chewing her paws. Since this was our first dog, we relied on whatever treatment our vet gave us. The vet suggested we change her food to Science Diet - Venison. The licking subsided, but never left. Then in the end of 2014, we were given Apoquel because this miracle drug would end the licking! And it subsided during the winter, but really ramped up again in the Spring of 2015! While we waited for the manufacturers to make more Apoquel, we had her tested for allergies. The results were that she is allergic to beef, chicken, turkey, venison, lamb, pork, dairy, white potato and EVERY grass, weed, tree and bush that grows in the Northeast!! So the only thing left is rabbit and salmon. Rabbit seemed to be in short supply so we give her salmon with no potato. By the way, she HATES the salmon kibble! After reading all the info from this website, I am wondering where I go now! She's still licking and I would like to put her on some food regimen, but wonder if the vaccines and Apoquel cause the food allergies? Can I just stop the monthly heartworm and flea and tick meds and hope this will "cure" some of these issues? I can't give her raw food if she's allergic to it, so how do I adjust? Any suggestions would be welcome.

Hello does anyone know of a holistic vet in Southern California ?

Ugh, I'm at my witts end. My long coat German Shepherd, who was imported from Germany at 10 weeks old, and I took him home then, has been suffering since the day we got him. First with a GI problem , where he was thrashing on the floor and couldn't get comfortable , 2nd day after we brought him home. Took him to our local vet , they took x-rays and found 3 days of undigested food in his intestines. They said it was probably a side effect of the drugs that they gave him for the plane ride. He always dragged his back feet, and at 6 months we had his hips X-rayed to find out he had SEVERE his Dysplacia on his left hip, right hip had some, and elbows had some as well. So we put him on glucosamine supplements right after. Then it was right after that , that I took him to a vet who I had thought was a holistic vet, but turns out she gave him a rabies vaccine, along with the last of his puppy vaccines, along with Lepto. At that time we had no clue she was going to do that, she took him in the back room and said he had all the rest of his vaccines. I was shocked when I saw how many she gave him at one time. I knew vaccines weren't good, but there was nothing I could do about the rabies. Also the Distmeper vaccines, you can't bring your pet to a therapy pool without those up to date. But to give him all of those at one time. This poor dog who already had a weak GI, and we had to be super careful with what we fed him, because he always seemed to have diarrhea. After we finally got his GI on track, the allergies started up. I know we are finally on track with his food because he does not do the itching and scratching in the winter time. But the second the grass turns green, the itching and scratching and licking is endless. He eats his groin area raw, he constantly licks his feet and his ears itch. When this first started happening , the vets we were going to , put him on antibiotics and steroids, which cleared up his problem initially. But then it came back with a vengeance a few weeks later. AFter a few times of this, I decided to find a different vet. I've had to do my own research along the way , as he's my first dog, and with him being so sickly , I have found that I cannot trust most vets. They seems to help , but end up doing him more damage in the end. I've even had vets tell me that I'm killing him because I had him on a raw food diet, which had completely cleared up all of his GI problems and some of the allergies. Not all allergies can be cleared up with his diet because he is obviously allergic to grass and weeds and whatever trees are around us. But I thought we found the miracle pill, with Apoquel, because it worked FANTASTIC in the beginning. It stopped the itching in 4 hours like it said it would. After he was on it for about 3 months, I noticed him starting to act more lethargic, and not be interested in his food, and more arthritic. He didn't look well. I became worried and I took him off of the Apoquel. Whatever that was bothering him improved and thank goodness we had an early frost and then winter so I didn't have to worry about his itchies. But here we are again, spring is in full bloom here and so are Leo's itchies. Today I was going to get him another bottle of Apoquel, and I decided to do some research on it first. I knew it, I just knew it was too good to be true. And that's why I questioned the vet who prescribed and asked him if there were any long term side effects, such as liver damage, kidney, or anything else I should know about and he said , "NO, that it was perfectly safe." Now I am back to square one, and I don't know what to do with this dog. I had a holistic vet that gave me Chinese medicine for him, and it didn't work. I don't use them anymore because they have gone more traditional than homeopathic. They even had me give him a Lepto vaccine, because we occasionally take him hiking. I have an entire collection of essential oils and when I make up a mixture and spray them on him, his nose runs. So he may be allergic to them as well. He snores when he sleeps and makes gurgley noises. If the Apoquel is going to end up causing more damage than good, than I HAVE to find another solution to this itching, or he will end up with a skin infection. I DON'T know what to do anymore. I am at my witts end.

I have a one year old raw fed bulldog who has just been prescribed aquopel.
I don't want to go down this route.
The vet has told me if I don't he will continue to get cysts and his paws will be surgically removed.
We are in Scotland and looking for any advice.
Thanks

I found this website while searching for unbiased information about apoquel, and instead fell down the rabbit hole of homeopathy and no-vaxx. I know our animals are way over-vaccinated (I am a chihuahua owner stuck with recommendations to dose my dog like a 50 lb dog, only she weighs 4.75 lbs.) I'm sure vaccinations may have contributed to my dog's Extreme Itch. But homeopathy is not a scientific, proven treatment. It's not even logical. Beware folks.
PS: You absolutely may not have a vaccine waiver for any animal in the state of Washington. All animals MUST be vaccinated against rabies, even dogs like mine that had an extreme allergic response to her last rabies shot at age 13. We will have to fly under the radar, as she will not be receiving any more vaccines except kennel cough. The state will not even accept titer testing.
I would have liked to have seen more advocacy on your website and less witch-doctoring.

I have an 11 yr,old mini schnauzer who only had the first shots and then 1 rabies shot in her life and has been raw fed since 2. She went blind from PRA in June and she was given cyclosporine which they say she must use the rest of her life, so right now dealing with really bad itching and smell,I do go to a homeopathic vet who practices Chinese herbs, She is fixing to try something because so far I don't see any difference, I ask if there was anything other than cyclosporine but she said no, I really think it is why she is this bad and I don't know what else I can do.

So I also have been battling food intolerance and environmental allergies. You lead to the transfer factor. Looks amazing, but I can't feed beef or dairy. Is this colostrum going to trigger the same reaction? If so, is there another way?

Thanks for this article. My 3 yo german shepherd, Lucy, has been dealing with "the itch" since fall of October, 2014. She's been raw fed since she was 6 months old (grain free since 8 weeks). We don't use chemical heart worm or flea prevention stuff; I haven't had her spayed; I make my own home cleaning supplies, and we don't use lawn chemicals. She had her recommended puppy shots, and I put off giving her her adult rabies shot until she was almost 2, but caved because I was afraid of what might happen if she got out of the yard and was picked up without a rabies tag. It was about 2 months after the rabies shot that the itching and hair loss began. She also developed a cyst on her side, which burst, healed and has not returned since fall of 2014.
I took Lucy to the conventional vet who of course recommended a course of steroids, which I rejected, but at least confirmed that she didn't have fleas or the appearance of mange. On the recommendation of a vet nutritionist, I increased her krill oil supplementation and started giving her homemade kefir as well as coconut oil each day, to help with the skin issues. I also put her on the product regimen from N'Zymes, which seemed to help for a bit. When her hair was still thinning, and skin very flaky, I took her to a holistic vet. There I had him take blood samples for the Dodd's full thyroid panel (results were normal). He also administered a homeopathic remedy for potential after effects of rabies vaccine. He also prescribed a Chinese herbal supplement for hair and skin, called Shou Wu.
The Shou Wu tablets really seemed to help (from August 2015 - to late fall). Her skin became less flaky, and her hair grew back. Then in November of this year, the itch began again. I haven't changed anything about her food (she was getting Steve's Raw, rotating through all four protein sources); she hasn't been exposed to any medicines, or chemicals. I don't even let her walk on grass where chemical lawn spray signs are present. But here we are dealing with the itch again. At least this time she's not blowing her coat, and her skin isn't flaking. Thinking it might be a protein allergy, I started an elimination diet, as recommended in Dr. Pitcairn's Book on Dog and Cat care. Her scratching seems to have increased since I started her on simple turkey and rice on Christmas Day. Prior to that I had noticed an increase in scratching when she got beef. She's never had rice before this, but I thought, since I've been religious about grain free, raw feeding, maybe things will improve with some new food ingredients.
I have been back in touch with the holistic vet, whom I like, but feel so desperate about this situation that I am casting the net broadly, looking for ideas on how to help my Lucy get over this terrible scratching. One thing that I wonder about is whether she may have a weak immune system because she was born by cesarian section. I know from the breeder that her milk was supplemented with goat milk when she was less than 8 weeks old. I don't know how much mother's milk she got, given that she was part of a litter of 11, and her dame may not have been able to feed the pups post surgery. I know that human babies can suffer longterm consequences regarding gut flora and general immunity when they are born by cesarean and not breast fed. Might dogs not have similar issues?
Sorry for the long back story, but if anyone has any useful advice, or has successfully dealt with this type of situation, I would be most grateful if you would share your wisdom and experience here.

People just do NOT understand what makes for good health either in animals or humans. Love reading all your posts as I also had (emphasizing the word: had) been one of the uninformed pack until I discovered your blog. Can't wait to learn more from your knowledge base. Did want to mention here that I just love the photos from your "morning walk" feature. Love the diversity of the hill country as much as you do (living in Kerrville). Have connected with other holistic vets via the internet and their blog sites but I sincerely believe that your's in the best out there for learning the real and healthy dog world. Thank you for your persistence in getting the truth out there for us dog lovers. Have a very Happy and Healthy New Year, Dr. Falconer.

My intact male bullmastiff...raw reared..non vaccinated..no chemical flea, heartworm or any other chemical including cleaning,laundry etc. Have ever been in his world. Regular accupunture/chiropractor visits. He's lived his life in a pretty pristine environment....as far as I can control.
And the poor guy has the itch!!!! He has some fear reactivity in the dark, from a nighttime scare imprint as a puppy. Didn't respond to aconite or flower essences at the time. He's been on a few other vet recommended remedies, such as sulphur, apis , phosphorus. No good responses. My homeopathic vet retired and no one else locally is taking new clients:( He's digging like mad now. Live in a northern state. No evidence of fleas. Maybe Dr Dodds is in store for the complete allergy testing. He also gets hot spots. I have been conscious of heat and his diet(chinese medicine). It has been somewhat frustrating and disappointing, because I am a real purist and have been raising my animals this way for over 18yrs with very positive results. This guy has me looking in all directions and also points me away from the usual suspect....vaccines!
I know it's constitutional and not a do it yourself, but I am well versed in homeopathy after all these years and willing to help this poor boy get some relief.Any feedback or support would be appreciated :-)

I see that one of the questions a homeopath might ask is -" Are they always twitching and jerking in their sleep? " I have a seven year old cocker, who has never been vaccinated, has always been fed a raw diet, had two eyes enucleated because of a very rare condition ( corneal hydrops ) and is homeopathically cared for. He has twitched and jerked in his sleep for as long as I can remember. I know enough about homeopathy not to ask what the twitching and jerking is symptomatic of, but can you head me toward a remedy that has these symptoms as part of the repertoire?

I adopted my little white poodle mix Tori a year ago from the local shelter. Her skin looked terrible, she was thin and a little fearful/aggressive. She also has an excessive overbite, which sometimes makes it difficult for her to get her food out of her dish. I worked with her a little with my local integrative Vet, but was not happy when he did blood work for allergies and then wanted to put her on the desensitization allergy shots. I had been thru an unpleasant experience and thousands of dollars with a local "holistic" Vet, so was searching for a better option. Dr. Blanco recommended I contact Dr. Minter in AZ. I have been working with Dr. Minter for several months now and Tori is slowly improving. We have tried several different remedies and have now had the best success with Phosporus 30C. Tori is probably 90% better than she was 6 months ago. Her fearful aggression has diminished considerably, although she still ducks when someone reaches for her and does not like head patted. She and my terrier are now best friends although she attacked him regularly when she first came to us. I recently had to do something I was reluctant to do and that was to declare on my county registration that I no longer had this dog in order to avoid having to get another rabies shot only one year after the last one. Dr. Minter did write her a waiver, but CA only accepts waivers from CA Vets so I could not use it. She is raw fed and no more shots. I think we are on the right track here!