Carol Platt
Hi Kelli, as I weep reading your comment, it sounds so much like my Luna. No dog should endure what our dogs endured. Just like your dog, my girl was allergic to almost everything. We were in and out of our Vet about every 3 months with ear infections. Antibiotics, ear wash and ear swabs for testing were the norm for the first 4 years of her life. $500 a pop minimum. I was a mom/engineer/Boy Scout leader. I hated that the root cause was never explored, nothing was changing and my girl was in constant agony. I was so busy, I am ashamed to say, I couldn't pursue it. I broke my ankle on a hike. My nurse Luna was by my side, my shadow for 6 weeks. She helped my healing with her companionship. I final said "enough is enough" and fired my Vets. I went to a newly graduated vet and she immediately determined an allergy to chicken. We started her on Hydrolyzed Protein and Apoquel. She was finally a puppy for the first time. I really hated that she was on a daily pill, but was so thrilled that the constant itching and ear infections were gone. Fast forward to her 8th year. She had a perfect annual appointment. My only concern was a dry cough when she got excited. It was so rare and intermittent, we decided to keep our eye on it. No other symptoms than that were evident. She was very strong and could walk for hours. She was a very spry 8 year old.
We left for Hawaii on December 19th, putting Luna in the care of two sets of neighbors that absolutely lived our Black Lab beauty. She was a princess and loved everyone. Her only crime was over licking and loving on humans. On day 5 of our trip, she couldn't hold her bowels through the night. We were told they visited 5 times a day, but would find an accident. She started eating grass and subsequently vomiting. Nothing too unusual. On the day we were heading home on the plane, all of our phones were on Airplane Mode. The neighbors were frantically trying to reach us. She ate her breakfast as usual, went outside as usual. At noon, she would not get up. They helped her up to go outside. She was very slowly and layed down in some cool grass. She would not get up. They picked her up and made her comfortable with a bed and pillow and waited for us to come home. She voiced "yip, yip" and died unexpectedly. My neighbors, as you can imagine, were devastated. How to tell a family, including two young men, that their beloved is gone. No less than devastation !! I blame the Apoquel and acceptance as "safe" believed by Vets. She is gone forever, and way too young ! I will write the company, my Vets, and higher up. Believe me !! Kelli, please do the same. This is unacceptable.