Comments on Cytopoint Injection: High Tech Answer to Itchy Dogs?

Yikes ???? l need help
With my 5 lb Maltese she bites her feet terribly ????please help thank you!!

My dog developed localized lymphoma and papillomas I had to get a vaccine for from Apoquel. After surgery and half a chemo protocol he was cancer free. He was then given Cytopoint injections for months if not 2 years and died from ITP in 2019. He was my heart. Wish I could prove the cause.

I have a Lhasa Apso, raised raw , on raw Duck 80/20/20 for yrs and am dealing now since 8 month with yeast infection, smelly malassezia black skin disease on belly, legs, neck, ear infection, eye infection, it looks like an elephant skin now. All this came from what? No vaccines, but he was on monthly flea pill, I live in MIami. Never gave him this crap and rather deal with the fleas since VETS just pushed me into it.
I spend thousands at vet and vet dermatologists. For nothing. He received 4 cytopoints shots, apoquel, antibiotics, fungus medicine... bla bla bla. I gave up on VETS and started to do my researches. I am myself a anti medicine and cure myself with nature since 2000. Tried with my dog but was not lucky.
The malassezia type was one what attached to his hair with a gooey black substance, smelly, extremely itchy. Researching I find out that lemongrass kills the fungus ( a study on ear infections). So I wiped his body and pulled this stuff out of his hairs with essential oil lemongrass and bergamot, a few drops in a water bowl and the hairs never got infected again. But his skin still is and this one might be another type, its a continues come and go to never really go away. I stopped going to the vet it would get worse than better. And stop to all the dog killing synthetic stuff.
Now I still do the lemongrass wipe down every 2- 4 days what stopps the itchiness and started homeopathy to find HEPAR SULPH after trying SULPHUR, GRAPHITES, SEPIA, THUJA, APIS, ACONITUM and others with the help of Materia Medica Dogs online. I bought myself a book as well to learn.
I have seen for now positive signs of cooling down the heat of inflammation, the itch went down a bit and the smell. Its just 2 days and I have only given him 1x 200C morning and at night ( I work all day and cant give every 4-5 hrs).
I will stick with it until I see the black skin disease going away and the newly eczema he got 4 days ago on his head, toes and underlegs what might be a reaction of trying SULPHUR 1M for a few days what might have worsen it instead to cure it.
I am sticking with HEPAR SULPH for now and will update. IF there are any other ideas or comment pls help. I tried Aloe, Coconut oil, ACV, natural vitamin supplements, algae, liver cleanse, digestive enzymes and probiotics, Sulphur bath, medical mushrooms for dogs K9 Immunity from Aloha Medicinals (fantastic stuff for cancer building up immune system).... My friends, inform yourself and do it right, find a Homeopath Vet, you can't go wrong !! I live in Miami and there are NONE!!!

Hi Dr. Falconer,

I really need help. I am fostering 4 puppies. I have no control over them being vaccinated. I am trying my best to help them. I gave them 30c of Thuja before and after their shots. After their first round of shots - I noticed two of the 4 were really itchy. I thought they might have fleas and the rescue group said to bathe them in Dawn. They are a Husky/ Great Pyrenees mix and light colored - so I don't see fleas - I just see scabs from the itching. They did another round of shots this past weekend - now ALL of them are itching and some of them look like they have circles under their eyes/ loss of fur. Should I give them the Pet Detox? Or Silicea? Any ideas? I have no idea how to help them and really appreciate anything you can advise as I have to give them to their adopters soon and I want to help them before they leave me and then have a 3rd round of shots with rabies and being spayed/neutered. They are 10 weeks old and from 10-15 pounds each. Thank you!

We really don't want to give our dog cytopoint. The obliviousness to complex systems in mainstream medicine, including veterinary, is tragic. As is the reliance on insufficient "studies" that are designed to not look for problems. But - we don't know what to do. We spend more $ than we have on quality supplements, including Vital Animal transfer factor, Safe Sea, and Adored Beast products. We use various topicals, some natural, some not. The vet visits and care are beyond draining in every way, but she is our beloved dog, we will love her forever - we want to turn this around, but don't know how. (Not ready to feed raw, honestly. Recently did a Hemopet saliva test and hope to change her food from the novel protein diet to something that can be organic like poultry).

I see after the fact the profound mistake it was to not be more careful about vaccinations, a mistake we don't continue to make, but much damage has been done. Her skin is now really bad, just in the past few days, with bumps and grease, probably seborrhea. Articles say it can be severe and must be treated, but the treatments involve steroids / cytopoint. Every vet near or semi near us is conventional, and they are frustrated that we don't take their advice on steroids / cytopoint / heartworm preventatives.

Makes sense how cytopoint would correct part of the problem while causing other problems. Appreciate this article for more detail that confirms suspicions of things being "proven safe", because in a tiny short trial that didn't intend to find problems, they didn't find problems.

But we don't know what to do to heal this problem, and are worried that more of her health will suffer ...

I've had my pit x beagle mix since she was 2 weeks old. (Foster) Even then had fur issues. Tried medicated shampoo, no difference. Probiotics, supplements had no effect or worsen. Tried many foods, yes even RAW. Immediately would make her worse. And I was switching foods gradually. As in 1/2 teaspoon raw to 2 cups regular dry food.
So stuck with the only one she did halfway decent: Purina pro plan sensitive skin and stomach. Doesn't do well with chicken so lamb and salmon main protein.

2019 started with Cytopoint and the difference was extraordinary. By the time we left vet office stopped scratching. Doc told us results vary from 1 month to a year.
Over the last two years slowly the effects has lasted shorter and shorter.

She's only 5 years old. I don't know what we're going to do when there's no effect.

Love how this article just says it's horrible without any more evidence than the original study of why it's good. I'm DYING to hear better alternative. Cuz this article doesn't do it.

My dog has terrible skin problems, has had them for his whole life. We began using cytopoint about 2 years ago, and it has been a miracle for Bandit. He just got one today, in fact. He broke out in yeast all over his body, and it is winter here, I don’t know what happened, the malevolent yeasties should all be dead. But be that as it is — he was suffering, had big red sores all over his body and was so unhappy. When this happens I also get very anxious, which is not good. I know these injections are likely to shorten his life. But you know, as a conscientious pet owner, we all have to make hard decisions for our little ones. Even if it makes his life a few years shorter, those years will be happy and healthy. I would not extend his life by 3 or 4 years if all those years were full of suffering for him. It’s expensive, sure it is. So what? It has to be treated, you can’t let stuff like this go. Once it is under control, it only costs about $60 per injection, at my vet, the doctor establishes that the little guy is healthy and then issues an order that the shots can be given about every 6 weeks on a nurse visit to help keep the cost down. Now, this is only done for the pets who are known to be regulars, who come for their yearly check ups and who have blood tests done every year. In other words, only people who are known to be serious about pet health can do this. We feel it is the right decision for our little guy, who is 12 years old now. He is a sweet, loyal friend, and we want him to feel well for how ever many years he has left. As far as his food, he eats hydrolized protein (surely the most expensive dog food in the world!) so food allergy surely isn’t the problem. He has had the recommended vaccines for his whole life, but for the rest of his days I think we will just get the rabies vaccine, because he is a law abiding little guy. And with all his skin problems, he does not get out of the house much anyway.

Does anyone have any studies or articles talking about the dangers of Cytopoint? I told my vet that I read that it can cause blindness and other issues. She has asked for me to send her more information for her to review. She has not heard of any of these issues.

My dog had a dose of Cytopoint about a month ago. It has worn off, and he is back to itching and chewing his feet again. This is seasonal allergies due to pollens and molds in our outside environment. Allergies have bothered him for the past few years. The Apoquel he had been taking gave him tumors, and I feel terrible about that. Reading about Cytopoint here has me worried. I had been receiving a immunotherapy -mab as a cancer treatment myself. It made me develop Crohn's disease, and it is a miserable thing to experience. So no more Cytopoint for my dog, if it will wreck his intestines. Benadryl is helping somewhat.

I wish id of done some research and seen this article 3ish yrs ago!! I had two dogs getting this. The first shot lasted them a year and I was so happy. Shortly after the first shot my oldest got a lump on side which I was told was a fatty tumor nothing to worry about. She had a few more shots and was doing great on them. Then in Dec she started getting sick, they said she had a tumor on her spleen that ruptured HSA. She passed Dec 23, 2019. She had just turned 10 yrs old. Now today I been taking my Dakota the last several weeks to the vet because he belly kept getting bigger and bigger, she looks extremely pregnant and ready to pop thats how big ( shes spayed). Was told they were cysts around her liver, not cancerous. That was 12 days ago, told I was told they've grown 4cm since her last visit 12 days ago and it is a cancerous tumor!!! She has very little time to live. The ONLY thing these two had in common was their breed (pit bull) and the cytopoint shot!!! They didnt eat the same food etc. Either its a coincidence or its from this so called safe shot!

My dog had one front itchy red paw he would chew on and lick constantly. He also had a red area on his belly. A specialist suggested Cytopoint injections 4-6 weeks apart. He received two and his itching was relieved. I noticed the redness coming back and he began licking those areas again so I took him for his Cytopoint again. Only this time, he left the house a happy and playful dog. Stealing shoes and playing keep away even at 11. However he came back that day with his rear legs trembling and weak, wobbly, diarrhea and nausea started, loss of appetite, heavy breathing after trying to defecate. Then he had a night where he just had uncontrollable drooling. Diarrhea seemed to start clearing up but then came back. Appetite continued to be off and on. Trembling continued to get worse and then he finally collapsed and could not get back up and walk.
How long would it take side effects from Cytopoint to clear up? And could all of this be from the Cytopoint?
It’s like a completely different dog came back from the vet that day..

Our 4 yr old Miniature Schnauzer Maggie has been on Apoquel for over 2 years. Before she started taking it she was literally tearing herself up. It really worked like a miracle drug. Almost overnight she stopped scratching. The expense is significant, but definitely worth it for the result. However, we have noticed in the last few months that she has been scratching more than normal, as if it wasn't quite as effective. Still not back to where we started, but noticeably more itchy. A week ago our vet suggested we have Maggie stop taking Apoquel based on the risk of extended use. As soon as we took her off she started scratching again, so the vet gave her a Cytopoint injection. It wasn't the "miracle" that Apoquel was, but it did relieve most of her itching and allowed her to be largely comfortable. 5 days later Maggie had her first cluster seizure. She has been having seizures for 3 years and we have largely been able to control it with medication (Zonisamide) and lifestyle changes (no loud noises, no flashing lights, minimize stress, etc.). Maggie had gone 13 months without a seizure; her longest seizure-free stretch to date. Additionally, just days before this seizure we had done a Zonisamide test on her blood which had come back showing she was at an optimum dosage. For someone who has (sadly) become accustomed to grand mal seizures this was an AWFUL experience. It was much more violent, lasted much longer, and to be honest I wasn't sure she was going to make it. She was almost coming out of the first seizure when the second one hit. That was 2 days ago, and she seems fine now, but we pray it never happens again. I have not idea if the cessation of Apoquel or the introduction of Cytopoint (or both) played any part in triggering the seizure, but that has been the only significant change in her life recently. It also seems strange that the Zonisamide levels in her blood were as good as our vet could have hoped prior to the seizure. I don't know if any outside factor caused Maggie to have her first cluster seizure, maybe her allergy medication played no role at all, but you can bet we'll be thinking twice before another Cytopoint injection.

I have an american cocker spaniel, she is 10 years old, she has been suffering from hypothyroidism since the age of 4, and allergic problems started a year after the diagnosis. Due to the severity of the allergy (zyrtec did not help) we started to use steroids (calcort). In 2019, after we read the positive opinion of the cytopint, we decided to start this type of treatment. Minnie was given injections every two months. After the 4th injection and just 3 days after we give her medicament she had heart collapsed. The next day, there were 7 syncope in just 12 hours. We did a full blood test, ultrasound, x-ray, Lyme disease.... diagnosis IMHA. Treatmet? Huge doses of steroids, blood transfusions, we did everything to save her - luckily it succeeded. Perhaps our case was one in a million, but everyone should remembered that cytopoint contains engineered antibodies and acts directly on the immune system, which sometimes may react incorrectly. In our case "he" attacked his own red blood cells.

Has anyone used a zeolite for heavy metal detox ( post vaccination) and had a good result?

My red heeler/terrier cross had the shot about 4 weeks now. He has developed black skin disease all over his body and has lost a lot of hair. It is winter and very cold. I have the house quite warm and need to give him a warm towel every time he goes outside. Going to vet today for answers if there are any. I apologize daily for making him so miserable. I was told it was the best for his itchy skin and it was for about 3 weeks but it did 'age' him. The hair around his face turned white before it started to turn black and fall out. Should have stayed with topical treatments not shots that can not be reversed.

My experience has been wonderful with cytopoint(other than the outrageous cost). Two of our Leos have atopic dermatitis. We shower the dogs with chlorhexidine shampoo 2x weekly to no avail. One of them only gets rabies vaccine and the other gets full-range vaccination so we can rule out the anti- vaxxer hysteria. We have tried Limited diet, bison diet, rabbit diet, raw diet, homeopathy(really worthless), prednisone(works great but risk is too high long-term)and, finally, cytopoint every 2 months for 2 years. It is the *only* thing that stops the hot spots. We now have we have happy healthy Leos, one of which is 12 years old!

Please, please be cautious when putting your dogs on Cytopoint injections! My beautiful Sheltie was the most lively, active and healthy dog but always suffered from allergies. I tried everything from 0 grain foods, homemade foods, special shampoos, numerous rounds of antibiotics from the infected sores all over his body. I took my dog to at least 10 different vets and tried every medication offered. Everything I tried seem to fail. Then this summer I tried a new vet who suggested this new wonder drug. He started with occasional diarrhea on and off. By thanksgiving the diarrhea was constant with heavy breathing. He was put on antibiotics and probiotics with no relief. By Christmas, he could barely walk without calapsing from exhaustion. The diarrhea was so bad he could not hold it and he was going all over the house ( something he NEVER did before.) I spent thousands of dollars in X-rays, ultrasounds and testing to find that my dog had cancer. By New Year’s he was on 8 different meds and still had diarreah, bloody nose, could not eat, walk and could barely breath. It has been the most horrifying experience in my life to see how much he was suffering and how quickly he went from being the most happy, healthy dog to this sick and agonizing dog. I had to make the most difficult decision of my life and just put my dog to sleep. I can not be sure it was the cytopoint injections that caused his cancer but it sure was a coincidence that he was fine and healthy (except for the allergies) until I started with this drug. I know it’s difficult to see your dog suffer from allergies and scratch till they bleed but if I could do it again I would rather see my dog scratch than go through the most agonizing symptoms and pain he endured the last month of his life.

Like many, I also have an itchy dog. He's a Shih Tzu named Cooper, and he began showing signs of allergies at around 2 or 3 yrs old. Cooper is my first dog and while I wanted to feed him healthy foods, I was naive and relayed on the direction of the pet food stores reccomendations. I started out feeding him a dry limited ingredient food but once he started showing allergy signs, I quickly looked for alternate foods thinking that he had food allergies. I ended up with, and still today, I feed him an organic raw dog food that is purchased in frozen form. We feed him fruits and veggies as treats and some dehydrated raw food as treats. I was hoping that this raw diet change would help and fix any underlying allergies, but it didn't. Next up, Apoquel. Prescribed first by our regular vet, Apoquel was said to be "very safe" by the vets and so we went with it and immediately saw results and relief for Cooper. While it worked, Cooper would still experience allergy exacerbations during high outdoor allergy seasons. We were told to increase the Apoquel for a short period to twice a day. This did help and seemed to get him through the flare ups. The issue was that over time, it seemed that we needed to do this more often. The single dose was becoming less and less effective. At this point we have been seeing a canine dermatologist for 1 1/2 years. After discussing the issue and my concern with the single dose Apoquel being less effective, next up comes CYTOPOINT. Again, being described by the vet as being a "very safe" injection. While she was talking about how great it is, she also brought up how much safer it is than Apoquel and she made a few concerning comments about Apoquel as she tried to talk up how much better Cytopoint is compared with the side effects of Apoquel. WAIT! WHAT??? Isn't she the one who has been continually prescribing Apoquel, recommending the 2x daily dose during flare ups? Now, she has made remarks about the unsafe nature of this drug! Are you kidding me? Then she begins to say how some of the dogs she treats need both, Apoquel + Cytopint, but many can switch and use Cytopoint alone. This was my hope. So, I give it a try because Cooper is in the midst of a flare up and itching like crazy. Cytopoint begins, and I hold off on Apoquel to see if he can have relief with just Cytopoint. WELL...No! After a couple weeks Cooper began licking his hind end at the base of his tail so bad that he made it bleed and pulled put fur. It became almost nonstop licking. This was the first time that he ever had an issue with this area of his body. He gets runny eyes, yeasty areas around his eyes, paw licking, body scratching and ear infections. This hind end licking came out of nowhere but only began after he received the Cytopoint injection. I called the dermatologist and she said to start up the Apoquel along with the Cytopoint. After a couple days, Cooper was much better. During our follow up appt the dermatologist began saying that tail licking/itching is usually a sign of food allergies. Is it??? He's been eating the same raw food for a few years with no tail issues but after receiving his first Cytopoint injection he has an unusual reaction in an area of his body where he has never had issues. UGH! He had one more Cytopoint injection then I stopped it. Amazingly the hind end licking stopped too. Since Apoquel doesn't address food allergy symptoms, the vet said, he may need both medications. The vet wanted us to continue with both Cytopoint + Apoquel but I decided to stop Cytopoint. No Cytopoint, no tail licking. He must not have food allergies since the tail licking stopped and he is now back to just Apoquel. But, I'm getting very scared about what Apoquel could be doing to Cooper. He had blood drawn allergy testing with one weed coming back as an allergy. Okay, I can deal with that but there has to be more. He gets flare ups when this weed is not in bloom or pollinating so there has to be more that is causing his allergic reactions. I want natural relief for him but more importantly, I want the underlying cause to be addressed, but how, especially if I don't know what the cause(s) are?
Is it safe to discontinue vaccines and heartworm medication? As a side note, Cooper was not getting the Lyme disease vaccine. He then had a tick and contracted Lymes, but fortunately we caught it early and after mega strength antibiotics, Cooper was cured of Lymes. Now, he gets the vaccine yearly. With the other vaccines and heartworm medication, I'm afraid to stop them because what if the same thing happens, no vaccine or medication then he has no protection. I feel like I'm caught on a hamster wheel. I also don't like playing with Cooper's health.

I have a 10 month old GSD who is raw fed. I’ve tried a myriad of shampoos, herbal treatments, and holistic vet. He now has yeast and bacterial infections on his skin. My plan was to get him allergy tested, but was told to wait until at least 12 months. My last GSD had horrible allergies and was on immunotherapy for the last two years of his life. Prior to that he was on apoquel. He died of sudden hemangiosarcoma in his liver and abdomen. I broke down and had them give my young GSD cytopint yesterday. I have to consider quality of life and get the infections cleared up. As soon as he’s old enough I’ll get the serum allergy test done. I’m not looking at this as a long-term solution. I’m terrified of losing another dog to HSA and no longer use chemicals or pesticides in my yard. At the same time, he’s miserable, scratching constantly, and smells. I’ve done yeast protocols and given all kids of supplements to include fermented goats milk and fish stock. It’s a game of whack a mole and it is very expensive. His itching has almost stopped completely and I’ve noticed no side effects this far. Again, hoping it’s a short term solution only.

Mollie, my 7.5 y.o. lab/ pit mix; got an injection of Cytopoint 2 days ago after being up all night scratching and shaking her ears. When I brought her home from the vet on Friday morning, I noticed she was extremely lethargic. She also had diarrhea a few times during the afternoon. The next morning, Saturday, I awoke to multiple piles of bloody diarrhea in the hallway, just outside my bedroom. Poor Mollie didnt even have the opportunity to awaken me to ask to go outside. In all the years I've had her, she had not had one accident before this. Unfortunately, I slipped and fell on the diarrhea before I reached the light switch. We will never use this drug again. When I called the veterinary office to report Mollie's rxn, the receptionist claimed Mollie was the "only dog" to ever have had a bad rxn to Cytopoint. Keep in mind, this is the same woman who suggested I then start Mollie on Flagyl, which she kept insisting is not an antibiotic, to treat her diarrhea. She also kept saying Mollie had a
"perverse" rxn, which I guess is accurate, although I'm fairly certain she meant "adverse." My vet touted this injection as a miracle drug with no downsides. Think again. I paid a tidy sum of money and all I got was a sick dog, a mess inside my house, and a bad slip and fall. Mollie has been eating homemade chicken soup with rice since yesterday. She seems better today, however, I understandthis drug stays in the system for weeks, and who knows what other issues it is causing that may be subclinical still.