New drug release for allergy dogs - Apoquel

[Tyrone]

My vet has about 10 dogs that need it...Tyrone is first on his list. He ordered it as soon as it came on the american market, which was months ago. Originally they told him he would have it by April 12. Have read and heard wonderful things about Apoquel, especially that it's not as bad for them in the long term, never mind the cost compared to Atopica. Can't wait...let us know how your sweetie is doing��! Right now, I pay 60.00 for a one month supply of Atopica. i would not mind so much if it worked really well lol!

[dollydoodle]

Momof3: A little tip about "cutting" pills. I find I get a sharper break & fewer "crumbs" by using my fingernail instead of a pill cutter. Worth a try.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Tyrone

My vet has about 10 dogs that need it...Tyrone is first on his list. He ordered it as soon as it came on the american market, which was months ago. Originally they told him he would have it by April 12. Have read and heard wonderful things about Apoquel, especially that it's not as bad for them in the long term, never mind the cost compared to Atopica. Can't wait...let us know how your sweetie is doing��! Right now, I pay 60.00 for a one month supply of Atopica. i would not mind so much if it worked really well lol!

What do you expect to pay for the Apoquel, do you know yet?

We're on the waiting list for it at our vet...sigh...gonna be a long wait I think.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by mom of 3 dogs

also forgot to mention that I paid 15 dollars for 10 pills. ( but , like I said before , she only gets 1/2 pill a day .. 1/4 in the morning, 1/4 in the evening ) and that's for 2 weeks and then I think the dose will get cut in half to once a day .
so, 15 dollars for more than 20 days worth of pills for a 3 pound 1 ounce dog.
I don't really care about the cost.. whatever it costs is fine with me. of course i'd like to save money ,but , if it works ... its worth any price to me. i'm hoping this will work for her

I so hope it works wonderfully for you - I've heard such great things about it, so my fingers are crossed.

[mom of 3 dogs]

Originally Posted by Tyrone

My vet has about 10 dogs that need it...Tyrone is first on his list. He ordered it as soon as it came on the american market, which was months ago. Originally they told him he would have it by April 12. Have read and heard wonderful things about Apoquel, especially that it's not as bad for them in the long term, never mind the cost compared to Atopica. Can't wait...let us know how your sweetie is doing��! Right now, I pay 60.00 for a one month supply of Atopica. i would not mind so much if it worked really well lol!

my Vet had told me he had been waiting a very long time for his order of Apoquel also. he wasn't sure it was really coming in on Friday but it did :-). I guess he thought he would get it along time ago . I will definitely let you know on this thread how she does on it. so far so good. hehe but its only been one dose. she must still have some of the shot she got ( steroid ) , so I have seen some improvements since Tuesday with her skin and she hasn't been itching really at all. maybe a little licking. and I was having to keep cotton turtleneck shirts on her over the all in ones with pants but today she's been running round in a summer all in one with spaghetti straps and no long legs. this is really too good to be true . I will be overjoyed if this med really does help her

[mom of 3 dogs]

Originally Posted by dollydoodle

Momof3: A little tip about "cutting" pills. I find I get a sharper break & fewer "crumbs" by using my fingernail instead of a pill cutter. Worth a try.

thank you for that tip. I will try that if my second attempt doesn't work better. Latte is on the lowest strength apoquel pill. its not round , its more oval shaped. and it has a nice score in the middle. so, after I cut it in half which was easy... I used a single edge blade razor to cut it in half the long way. ( I thought because it had the rounded edge at one end... if I cut it the long way, I could cut it more even. but like I said before ... it crumbled and turned into powder consistency ). next time which will be tomorrow morning, that I try cutting it... I will try cutting it the shorter way. maybe it will break easier that way. i'm sure the quarter must not have to be perfectly exact , so, i'll just do my best and as long as she's getting a total of half a pill a day, i'm sure 2 possibly uneven portions will be fine.
but I will try my nail if cutting it the shorter way doesn't work

[mom of 3 dogs]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

I so hope it works wonderfully for you - I've heard such great things about it, so my fingers are crossed.

thank you ! I am just overjoyed about this. her allergies are very severe and to me , this would be like a miracle if it really does work for her.

I hope you will get to try this too as soon as possible.

I do have another Chihuahua that is oversized. she is around 10 1/2 pounds, and she also has allergies but not as bad as my little one. she always itches and I have to keep a shirt on her but she doesn't scratch so bad that her skin gets red and bleeds like my little one. i'd like to try her on the apoquel also but its probably not possible right now . i'll ask anyways and if not, then in the future at least there is some hope.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by mom of 3 dogs

thank you for that tip. I will try that if my second attempt doesn't work better. Latte is on the lowest strength apoquel pill. its not round , its more oval shaped. and it has a nice score in the middle. so, after I cut it in half which was easy... I used a single edge blade razor to cut it in half the long way. ( I thought because it had the rounded edge at one end... if I cut it the long way, I could cut it more even. but like I said before ... it crumbled and turned into powder consistency ). next time which will be tomorrow morning, that I try cutting it... I will try cutting it the shorter way. maybe it will break easier that way. i'm sure the quarter must not have to be perfectly exact , so, i'll just do my best and as long as she's getting a total of half a pill a day, i'm sure 2 possibly uneven portions will be fine.
but I will try my nail if cutting it the shorter way doesn't work

Ack...oval pills are such a pain in the but to cut evenly!

[Tyrone]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

What do you expect to pay for the Apoquel, do you know yet?

We're on the waiting list for it at our vet...sigh...gonna be a long wait I think.

I was told months ago that the cost would be about 70.00 for a half year supply for Tyrone. Don't know if that still holds with the shortages. The drug originates from Phizers, manufactured by Zoetis. Tyrone wears size 6 months shirts little boy shirts from Carters....I just cut a bit from the wee wee area and hem it!

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Tyrone

I was told months ago that the cost would be about 70.00 for a half year supply for Tyrone. Don't know if that still holds with the shortages. The drug originates from Phizers, manufactured by Zoetis. Tyrone wears size 6 months shirts little boy shirts from Carters....I just cut a bit from the wee wee area and hem it!

Not bad at all. Especially as compared to Atopica. It amazes me (and ticks me off) that after all this time, Atopica still has not come down in price. I hope the advent of Apoquel / the competition will drive Atopica prices down.

[107barney]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Not bad at all. Especially as compared to Atopica. It amazes me (and ticks me off) that after all this time, Atopica still has not come down in price. I hope the advent of Apoquel / the competition will drive Atopica prices down.

I agree. I pay $35 for a two month supply of Atopica. Befoee the liquid Atopica for cats was around, we had cyclosporine (neoral) sent at about $55/month. Now she is on a minimal dose but the bottle is only good for 8 weeks once open so I do lose a little even when mostly giving every day. I probably wont switch to apoquel even if it is more available because my girl is almost 14 and has done so well for so long on Atopica.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by 107barney

I agree. I pay $35 for a two month supply of Atopica. Befoee the liquid Atopica for cats was around, we had cyclosporine (neoral) sent at about $55/month. Now she is on a minimal dose but the bottle is only good for 8 weeks once open so I do lose a little even when mostly giving every day. I probably wont switch to apoquel even if it is more available because my girl is almost 14 and has done so well for so long on Atopica.

Yup...it's just so crazily priced and I don't understand why it doesn't decrease at all. It makes me upset too for those whom the price is extremely prohibitive to the point where they feel they can't even afford it for their pups, ya know?

Marcel does pretty great on Atopica too...but he still has some breakthrough when certain pollens are really high, so I kind of wonder if he would do better w/ Apoquel.

I'm also curious about it for Wylie, who also has some allergies. I've never wanted to give Wylie Atopica bc he's on such a toxic drug w/ Lysodren (a chemo drug used for Cushings), so I've never wanted to add Atopica to that mix and then suppress his immune system further. But w/ Apoquel, I think it opens up possibilities for him. His allergies cause recurrent pyoderma, so I can't help but wonder if Apoquel might help manage/prevent the progression to that bc his skin won't be as irritated/sensitized. Who knows...but worth exploring.

[mom of 3 dogs]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Ack...oval pills are such a pain in the but to cut evenly!

I've gotten a lot better with cutting the tiny oval pill in quarters. its easy to break it in half cause of the score in the middle. then , the single edge razor has been working good. I cut it the shorter way now instead of the long way like I did the first time. it doesn't crumble this way and I know they aren't perfectly even but its pretty close.

** so far Latte has been doing fantastic on the new med !!! no more scratching like she used to. I do see her occationally licking her paws and I did see her scratching herself a tiny bit but nothing even close to like before.

its been over 1 week and 4 days since she got the shot of Vetolog.
its been alittle over 1 week since she's been on the Apoquel.
I am hoping the Vetolog is no longer working and that its the Apoquel that is working now .
the Vet tech told me that it would not be likely that the Vetolog would work for more than 1 week. but , I have read that it can last up to 2 weeks.
Latte has an appointment this Tuesday with the Vet so he can check her and she can get more pills then.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by mom of 3 dogs

I've gotten a lot better with cutting the tiny oval pill in quarters. its easy to break it in half cause of the score in the middle. then , the single edge razor has been working good. I cut it the shorter way now instead of the long way like I did the first time. it doesn't crumble this way and I know they aren't perfectly even but its pretty close.

** so far Latte has been doing fantastic on the new med !!! no more scratching like she used to. I do see her occationally licking her paws and I did see her scratching herself a tiny bit but nothing even close to like before.

its been over 1 week and 4 days since she got the shot of Vetolog.
its been alittle over 1 week since she's been on the Apoquel.
I am hoping the Vetolog is no longer working and that its the Apoquel that is working now .
the Vet tech told me that it would not be likely that the Vetolog would work for more than 1 week. but , I have read that it can last up to 2 weeks.
Latte has an appointment this Tuesday with the Vet so he can check her and she can get more pills then.

Yay! Super happy for you and Latte ! Just awesome news. Hope the relief and improvement continues.

[dollydoodle]

Mom of 3: thanks for the update & please let us know in a week or two how the Apo. alone is working. TY!