[Vinniedoggy]

A little update on Alex for anyone who comes across this thread and is dealing with a dog who has severe allergies. After a few days down to prednisone every 3 days, the itching came back full force. I talked with both my general vet and our allergist and they both agreed Atopica was the best option for now. They both were not comfortable keeping Alex on prednisone throughout the winter, even at the every-other-day dose of 2.5 mg. Apparently, the risk of developing severe side effects from prednisone (diabetes and other complications) were just too high.

So....we started Atopica on Friday. Alex is taking 25 mg once a day for now, and we're going to try to get him down to every other day. The sincere hope is that he will just need this through the winter and then come spring his allergy shots will start to work. Now, I know they say Atopica takes about a month to kick in, but I swear he's better today. We were outside all day in the woods, a place that usually triggers major itching for Alex, and he is barely itching at all tonight.

I am still eager to hear from anyone who has used Atopica long-term. I know in humans cyclosporin (what Atopica is made of) is preferred to prednisone and has fewer long-term side effects (cyclosporin is what made organ transplantation possible!). But, it still has side effects. So, I am really interested in hearing from others who have been on it long-term.

Thanks!