Comments on 6 of 10 People See Only Two Choices for Itchy Skin. Are You One of Them? - Vital Animal® § The Natural Path

It seems most of us here are struggling to find an answer to our itchy dogs, and doing the best we can within our means. I, too, have refused Apoquel. I am taking care of my itchy dog as best I can with diet and supplements. We read here how it is important to see a professional homeopath for the itch problem. Like some others here, I do the best I can with the $ available, which does not allow a visit to a professional homeopath. I AM very thankful for all the info that Dr. Falconer provides here. Is there anyone out there who would be willing to share a success story for homeopathy? That it actually cured your itchy, smelly, balding dog? I believe in homeopathy. It would be really inspiring to hear a success story. Anyone?

My issue is with finding a homeopathic vet. You are the one closest to me. I do wish you were at least taking phone appointments. The vet you suggested I call never bothered to return my call.

Thank you Dr. Falconer for posting my story on my miniature schnauzer Gidget and passing away of Lymphosarcoma this past January, at three years old. I do firmly believe and also filed reports with the FDA and USDA, that Cytopoint contributed to the onset of her cancer. Sad thing is, barely any studies were completed on Cytopoint, on Beagals, who rarely have reactions or health issues, and for a very short time, it was approved. Big Pharma is what most vets are all about. Since this has all happened to me and so suddenly, I have really been on the bandwagon of staying away from this stuff, never will I do something like that as recommendation by a vet, over immunizations and visiting every year for same shots, feeding kibble, I am now a fresh food raw feeder to my dogs owner, and overall, I am making many aware to stay away of these bad practices many vets are doing to our precious pets. I so so admire you and your visions on practicing homeopathic and holistic veterinarian practices. I also wanted to mention that I made an appointment for my puppy check up with Dr. Dodds, who also appeared in the awesome series, the Truth about Pet Cancer, as you also starred in. Thanks for all you do!

My golden retriever puppy began itching soon after bringing her home at 8 weeks of age. She got her 2nd dist/parvo shot at 5 mths and her rabies at 6 mths.
Thats all the vaccinations she has had.
The itching started even before she got those shots.
I tried some different dry foods, no help. I switched her to a raw diet, the itching continued. I added probiotics and supplements to help improve her immune system, no help.
Bathed her weekly, no help.

I finally got her allergy tested which showed some allergy to a few food items as well as some grasses and dust mites. Impossible to control the grasses and dust mites, so I started her on the allergy serum. After 7-8 months of using the allergy serum, no help, still itching.
So I broke down and tried some Apoquel to give her some relief and the itching stopped that same day she got her first dose. I didnt like using the Apoquel for obvious reasons and stopped it after 5 days, but it was 5 days of no itching.

After stopping the Apoquel I waited hoping for the best but the itching returned within a couple of days. I then learned about the Cytopoint product but I still waited trying to get improvement on the itching, but no luck. Itching, hot spots and just a very uncomfortable life for her and us.

Finally, now she's a 1 year, 8 month old pup, I got a shot of the Cytopoint. The itching stopped that same day. The vet told me most of his patients stop itching for 7-8 weeks after getting the Cytopoint.
That was 10 weeks ago and there has been no itching. She is a happy dog and the relief is visible.

Some dogs, just like some humans, are born damaged, and diet and herbs and supplements are not going to fix it. One must also consider quality of life. Quality is better than length of life. I hope she lives to be an old dog, since my 4 previous Goldens all lived to be 13-14 years old, with virtually no health issues until they developed cancer at an old age. And also they never got any special diets, just plain old dog chow and the normal vaccinations. And Goldens are known to be cancer magnets.

So anyway, I have tried all I could to control the itching and nothing worked. If the itching returns I will use the Cytopoint. There comes a point where you must do whats in the best interest of the dog. To me, letting a dog scratch herself bloody and be full of hot spots is not a fun life. If special diets, raw food diets, supplements and herbs fail to stop the itching, I dont think anyone should feel guilty about using a product like Cytopoint. I would rather have a happy itch free dog even it means a shorter life than a dog that lives a miserable itchy life.

My dogs are not vaccinated anymore. With the exception of puppies for Parvo/distemper. THAT'S IT! This area has a high occurrence for Parvo. No rabies (we live outside the city limits) The last case of rabies was 8 years ago in a cat. NO LEPTO! My local vet doesn't condemn me for not vaccinating...I think she's patiently waiting for me to come to her with a dog sick from something that "could have been prevented by vaccinations". That said, I own a doggy store and do grooming and training. I see dogs everyday that suffer from "The Itch". For the AVERAGE pet owner, the ones that don't put forth the effort in knowing HOW to care for their companion animals, it's always "kibble and vax"...and that will always continue because you're supposed to trust your vet like your own physician. I don't blame vets! Those poor souls are not only the victims of BIG PHARMA, but also BIG BUSINESS via "education"! Butts on seats! In the 90's, higher education exploded with convenient hours for working adults, online classrooms, etc. Now, education was available for ALL and it was turning a profit! Have there been advances in medicine?...sure! But it's the few and not the majority! FDA doesn't give a crap....USDA doesn't give a crap...EPA doesn't give a crap....we're all lab rats and so are our companion animals! And when we make the decision to research and learn, we're compared to "religious zealots" on a campaign to convert non-believers. So be it! My dogs are healthier!

I clicked on the Apoquel Report link, but did not find it listed. Is it part of another report?

Thanks!

I adopted a senior Lab Oct. 2015. Itchy/scratchy/ear yeast infections and alopecia in the shelter, etc. I went the Apoquel route because it was recommended and I had never owned a dog with allergies. Bear did well on it but Sept. 2017 he had two days of unexplained illness. Tests were run, ultrasound, etc... NADA. He came through that fine but his liver #'s had increased from Aug 22nd to Sept. 22nd. I immediately stopped Apoquel. He has always eaten quality food. I give him milk thistle, a multi vitamin, vitamin c, pantothenic acid and flax oil. He gets a bath (HATES THEM) every 3-4 weeks. He's doing GREAT :) Scratches a bit from nerves when I have customers at the studio. Light scratching, nothing major. He is a HEALTHY 13 yr old, runs around like a youngster :) He gets a check-up next Monday. I am stopping vaccinations. Keeping the Lepto because we are surrounded by wildlife here. I never did buy into the Lyme and Kennel Cough vaccinations. I need to read more about the heartworm. He gets preventative because we see mosquitoes here year round. They count on US to do the right thing for them. We all need to educate ourselves as much as possible.

The closest homeopathic vet to me is you, Dr. Falconer. I wish you were at least taking phone appointments. The vets you suggested I call have still not returned my phone calls. It’s quite discouraging.

Good Morning,
My sheepdog is itchy, I finally went to the dog dermatologist. She put him on antibiotics for 4 months. Skin got better but still itchy. She told me the only alternative was apoquel. I said no for months. Then she said unless I do apoquel she could do no more for my dog.I did the apoquel on the third day my 9 year old Sheepdog fell over in the kitchen. Was standing in the middle of the kitchen and just fell over. I called the vet, they never called back. He was okay so I kept him quiet all day. Stopped the apoquel. He is fine now but still itchy. The Vet called 6 days after the incident, I told her what happened and that I stopped the apoquel. She said but did it stop the itching. No more dog dermatologist for my dogs.

The problem is finding a Homeopathic Vet near you.

I adopted my dog end of February. From his records, I saw that he was overvaccinated (DHPP, Lyme, Lepto, Flu, Bordatella- all on the same day! Also something called a "dental vaccine"- huh? He got the rabies jab two weeks prior to that) The itchiness was pretty immediate and is rather constant. I'm just making note of things/conditions that seem to make it better so that when I can work with a homeopath I can impart that information. I will by no means ever give him Apoquel, etc. I am tempted to try Histaminum (single remedy) if only to see if it might help, as long as if won't compromise anything else he might be prescribed down the road. I will not set foot in a conventional Dr White Coat office! My limited experience with them during my last dog's illness lived up to my worst fears about them and beyond. They couldn't even give me a diagnosis which is all I wanted from them. It was a nightmare. I need to learn more about all the natural ways to resolve problems. Conventional vets just cause problems.

After years of dealing with dogs with allergies and vets that push drugs, I researched all the articles I could find on the subject and finally found that yes the only cure is holistic, not drugs.

I lost my boxer mix too young do to listening to Dr. white coat and now follow my own research and intuition. I adopted a 5 year old ridgeback from the shelter and of course they had given her multiple vaccines. In a few months she had ear infections and allergies including candida yeast infections.

Long story short, I stopped using oatmeal shampoo which makes it all worse. I switched her food "no peas, potatoes including sweet potatoes, no grains. Tuscan natural is a great one." I added a nutramax proviable DC capsule daily, and bought petmeds Be Soothed Tea Tree Oil spray and sprayed her a few times a day. I put colloidal silver in her water and cleaned her ears with it.

She is now doing great and her ears are clear, her fur is growing back in the affected areas and she is much happier. Also no more vaccines, no heartworm meds or flea and tick meds. I use wondercide a natural oil spray every other day in season and no problems at all. In short I am done with Dr. white coat for my fur babies and myself and we are all the better for it! My final jump to the light will be a raw diet.

Thank you Vital Animal for all you do.

My 11 year old Golden Retriever has been itching since just under one year of age. I suspect vaccinosis. Initially she was put on steroids ~ injection and orally. I knew she couldn’t stay on steroids, she was still just a pup. I opted for allergy testing. She tested allergic to several things and I started giving her antigen shots (she had to have 2 each time because she was allergic to so many things). I have been researching this for years. I have changed her food multiple times, even ripped out my back lawn and planted a grass she wasn’t allergic to. Nothing seemed to be very effective. My vet told me about a new medication that was coming out, “an enzyme with no side effects”. I was put on the waiting list. I started my dog on Apoquel when it became available. It really worked, and thought it was a godsend until I started hearing bad things about it. I knew I needed to get her off of it once I found out it was an immune suppressant. I started Lexi on a mostly raw diet (Steve’s Real Food) and have been slowly weaning her off of Apoquel. I didn’t want to send her immune system into shock. She is down to half a tablet twice a week. She has been doing really well with the itching until I went to her current dose. (She was on 3 half tabs per week). Since then I have been trying all kinds of things to help her (Diatomaceous Earth, Tumeric, a honey treatment I used to treat my son’s allergy years ago). I don’t want her taking Apoquel any more. She is developing all kinds of little inclusions cysts as well as other small skin growths. I suspect Apoquel is contributing to this. I’m a single mom and all of this is draining me financially. I would welcome any advice.

I have a 9 month old puppy which I followed Dr. Will Falconer's protocol with her to build natural immunity to Parvovirus and Canine Distemper. Titers came back positive immunity. I saw the damage vaccines and flea and tick medications did to 2 of my other dogs and couldn't allow another to experience it. I tell as many people that will listen that immunity can be obtained naturally. I have raw fed for 6+ years and the puppy in question was raw weaned. Thank you for helping educate pet owners.

My 8 yr old 90 lb. labradoddle is fighting lymphoma now. He was diagnosed 4 months ago. He is being treated but we have had to change his chemo drugs twice because they stop working. We know his lymphoma will not be cured but as long as he is still enjoying life and not suffering, we keep going. It is taking a big bite out of our finances. He was on Apoquel for nearly 3 years, We had stopped it when I learned how it had a strong correlation to canine cancer. About two months after we stopped the Apoquel he had his rabies shot. Within two weeks his lymphoma showed its deadly head. We are devastated. Our vet never told of the risks of Apoquel and we feel we failed our trusting companion. Why doesn't the FDA do something about this medication? In addition to my dog's Chemo meds (currently on CCNU and prednisone) and I have him on a ketogenic diet, DHA, CBD, Probiotic, and turmeric .

I have a male chi we adopted that had horrible itching from the day we brought him home. He had terrible fur flaking skin sores in his skin under his fur. I had just recently moved over to a homeopathic vet due to our other dog developing cancer at 3yrs old and we were doing chemo and they wanted me to give her her usual vaccines I was all WTH? You can't give a vaccine to an immune compromised dog! I was so mad. We took our new little itchy guy in and tried many many things to try and get him (and us) some relief. We were making slow progress when she sold her practice to another vet that said he was still learning but was headed down the homeopathic road. He suggested appquel after being there about 2 months. We did try it but I felt awful about it almost from the day I bought the pills home. He did get almost immediate relief but I was concerned about the cost to his health. We did about 2 weeks then I tapped off so he was completely off at week 3. His itching was even worse than when we first started . I finally tracked down a very respectable herbalist and we are finally having more good itch free days. I'm glad we stuck with it to find a cure and i didn't stick with just covering up his symptoms. If we had kept it up until it stopped working I'm sure it would have taken much longer to get him some relief

I'm not clear as to what you are offering, but your words are unpleasant to read.

What ARE you offering?

I feel the pain of the person who wrote who felt compelled to give their dog Apoquel. I went through it with my Dachshunds. Nothing helped. Many visits to the conventional vet and several $Thousand$ of dollars, antibiotics, rubbing antiseptic, skin cream, the Cone of Shame, special baths twice a week, Apoquel but they still scratched (although it was better) and had hot spots and swollen bitten paws. Then we sunk the big bucks and had both of them allergy tested. I learned how to give them allergy shots, daily, then weekly and monthly. I was already giving them the most expensive lamb and rice kibble but they still scratched. And scratched. And scratched.

So I dug deep into the Web and stumbled upon Dr. Will at Vital Animal. I read everything that I could get my hands on. I read other sites to determine if what he said was true. And it was! Every single word! Now I don't even go to the other sites...Dr. Will's word is gospel.

I now have only the one female, 3 1/2 yr old Dachshund and I put her on Steve's Real food (and other raw food--grass fed chicken and duck eggs, raw milk, duck heads, necks, feet, chicken feet, hearts, wings, etc.,) a raw diet and guess what? No more scratching, no more hot spots no more bitten paws. I threw away the Cone of Shame, the kibble, the Apoquel, the pricey allergy med/shots and needles.

After digging deeper into teachings, I've made the decision to stop all of her vaccinations...rabies, parvo, Bordatella, DHPP-C as well as Trifexis (fleas and worm Rx). I'm done. She's done. She's very healthy and has very healthy skin and fur. She's happy and I'm happy.

You have more than two choices. My best advice is dump the Apoquel...sure you're dog isn't scratching but you are killing your dog! Get him on raw food and follow Dr. Will's advice. You won't regret it.

Been there, done that, never going back! Our rescue dog was bombarded with vacs and drugs while she was our foster. We didn't know any better. I knew from the get go I didn't want her on apoquel though from research. Fast forward to us adopting her because no one was going to want a dog with this many health problems. If they did, she would have been euthanized once they could no longer deal with her issues. We knew that for a fact. Our vet convinced us apoquel was safe, against my better judgement. The oh-so wonderful effects started within 4 hours and lasted all of 3 months, if that. Cytopoint was next. Didn't last more than a month. January 2018 was our first visit with a premier homeopathic vet. One Dr. Falconer knew of. I knew we would be in good hands. We are expecting a 1.5 to 2 year reboot of our dog's immune system. We are in month 6. The damage vacs and drugs did to our dog is immeasurable and incomprehensible. I'm disgusted. Never again. I recently had to do a time line of the drugs and side effects since day 1 of Apple Pie coming to us as a foster. My mind was blown away when I actually sat down and went through her records. And I keep everything! Never again. We're in this for the long haul. We owe it to Apple.