Anyone Using Atopica for Allergies?

[dwerten]

I pill dd with steamed potato - i steam a potato and put in fridge and then put the pills in the potato at night and she wolfs it down so that works for me as i have stopped all treats - she gets her food only so i can monitor what is causing her to itch and because i never want to deal with pancreatitis again

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by chickendido

My Yorkie Toy has all the same problems as you described for your Lexi. He weighs 9 pounds and is 11 years old. I tried everything as well. Nothing helped. I spent tons of money on useless products, medicines, prescription food, shampoos, pastes, sprays, you name it!
Atopica is very expensive. If you want to still give it to your dog after this, google it online and it shows you which websites have it the cheapest at the moment. Also try 1800petmeds, they have great coupons most of the time.
Atopica; no steroids, which is much better that pregnosone any day or the useless Benadryl. The Atopica pills are huge and liquid filled, so no pulverizing them and only when I put it in raw hamburger he would eat it, but sometimes he even refused then. It became a challenge to find different treats to hide that pill in. He vomited if I gave it to him to close to or after a feeding, so I waited 4 hours after his breakfast, gave him the pill and waited another 4 hours before feeding him again. That worked for the vomiting. It is true, the symptoms went away the very first day he took the pill, BUT the skin condition never ever got any better. He wasn't preoccupied with licking, scratching, chewing anymore, but his skin looked the same. Atopica will not cure your dog of his allergies, it will only make him stop feeling them!
I researched this subject to death and with all the dry kibble talk and home cooked vs. raw. I believe our dogs are allergic due to the food they ate all of their lifes, over vaccinations and a toxic environment. The cleaners, soaps, ect. we use in our homes. I stopped giving the Atopica because I felt that for a 2 dollar a day pill, it should've cured my dog, but like I said, it didn't. I'm trying something totally different now. Raw meaty bones and organs, no veggies, no supplements, no grains, no kibble of any brand, no canned cooked meat.
I'm giving this approach a one year try as I have experimented with EVERYTHING else for 10 years with no results but an empty wallet and a rich Vet and Commercial dog food business due to my ignorance of Canine nutrition and health. Bad, stinky breath and teeth, dry flaky skin, awful odor coat, red patches, black spots, oozing sores are not normal in dogs, so what are we doing that causes that???? Exactly! We are what we eat......
Sorry for the long post! I wish you good luck in your endeaver! PM me if you like for more info on Atopica as I fed it to my dog for a year and a half. He experienced no ill side effects from it, at least that!

This is great response as you are correct it will not cure atopic dermatitis only give relief to so a good diet and supplementation like probiotics and enzymes cleanses the gut as a healthy immune system is the goal.

Please post more info on what you are doing with yours as I have spent thousands as well and I have been recommended to doniasea@aol.com - are you working with her or marina zaccarias?

I agree whole heartedly here as I hate giving drugs and atopica has not been a miracle yet but still in beginning stages. My goal is to get her to a calmer state and work backword with diet and supplements but she needed relief even the holistic vet was like this poor dog needs relief then go backwards as she itched non stop in her office - it was sad but at least she got to see what we go through

She recommended wolf diet which is add water and organic meat diet along with cod liver oil supplement

Please share more as I think you will be very helpful to us all

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by LEXINGTON

Hello Everyone, This is my first email to Yorkie Forum. I am looking for anyone who is using Atopica on their babies. My babies name is Lexi, (very common as I see on the forum) she just turned 5 Yrs in April she weights 7 1/2 lbs and has suffered with scratching and a horrible red rash on the top of her back which has gotten worse since she was about 3 yrs. She scratches all year long. I, like most of you, have tried just about everything, Prednisone only one time for about 1 month, Childrens Benadryl which really just puts her to sleep, but at least she gets a few hours of relief from the scratching. I have tried food trial several times and have finally found something that she will actually eat, she is on Wellness brand duck (simple food dry ) and then I buy rotisserie duck and put that on top of the dry or else she won't really eat it of course (extremely finicky eater) so she has been on this restricted diet of nothing but duck, no treats except duck strips etc for 5 weeks now and I really have not seen very much of a change, she has been on Temaril P for about 5 months straight now, which I swore I would never do, but she cannot live without it, at least there is only 2% prednisone in the entire pill and she takes 1/2 a pill a day so it is a low dose but its still prednisone. My vet actually made me think that it was okay for her to be on this low does indefinitely, but now he is saying no and wants to put her on Atopica which I am really nervous about because of the side effects, vomiting, diarrhea, sores in mouth etc. and 2% of dogs had seizures from it, I read this on the Atopica website. So if anyone out there is using this drug I would really love to hear from you. It is kind of the last resort I don't know what else to do, but if it is going to make my baby sick I certainly do not want to harm her. But I feel I already am by giving her any prednisone. Any info would help. Thank you for your time. Kathy, Lexi's Mom P.S. I want to take her to a dermatologist, but she has to be off of all steroids for 2 weeks before testing can be done, and she could never survive without out it, she would be bleeding from all the scratching.

I have read about gums being affected by this but have not seen it but dd only on it almost 2 months. This is better than steroids from what i have seen and i called the company and spoke with a rep there and my vet has been monitoring for a year with very few side effects.

Derm pushes for allergy shots more than long term drug as dd is so young. I would go to the derm to work with them as more experienced with drug than vets and they see the worst cases usually and more educated in this as they are specialists in the field. They most likely will not even do scratch test as mine hasn't and we have been going for a year almost. They do not like to do scratch tests in small dogs and they can get a lot of info from blood for environmental allergies and through elimination diet as well.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by LEXINGTON

Hello Everyone, This is my first email to Yorkie Forum. I am looking for anyone who is using Atopica on their babies. My babies name is Lexi, (very common as I see on the forum) she just turned 5 Yrs in April she weights 7 1/2 lbs and has suffered with scratching and a horrible red rash on the top of her back which has gotten worse since she was about 3 yrs. She scratches all year long. I, like most of you, have tried just about everything, Prednisone only one time for about 1 month, Childrens Benadryl which really just puts her to sleep, but at least she gets a few hours of relief from the scratching. I have tried food trial several times and have finally found something that she will actually eat, she is on Wellness brand duck (simple food dry ) and then I buy rotisserie duck and put that on top of the dry or else she won't really eat it of course (extremely finicky eater) so she has been on this restricted diet of nothing but duck, no treats except duck strips etc for 5 weeks now and I really have not seen very much of a change, she has been on Temaril P for about 5 months straight now, which I swore I would never do, but she cannot live without it, at least there is only 2% prednisone in the entire pill and she takes 1/2 a pill a day so it is a low dose but its still prednisone. My vet actually made me think that it was okay for her to be on this low does indefinitely, but now he is saying no and wants to put her on Atopica which I am really nervous about because of the side effects, vomiting, diarrhea, sores in mouth etc. and 2% of dogs had seizures from it, I read this on the Atopica website. So if anyone out there is using this drug I would really love to hear from you. It is kind of the last resort I don't know what else to do, but if it is going to make my baby sick I certainly do not want to harm her. But I feel I already am by giving her any prednisone. Any info would help. Thank you for your time. Kathy, Lexi's Mom P.S. I want to take her to a dermatologist, but she has to be off of all steroids for 2 weeks before testing can be done, and she could never survive without out it, she would be bleeding from all the scratching.

my understanding form derm is temaril p is she does one pill 3 days in row and then every other day one pill as better to get it out of the system and give body a rest one day as giving every day is not good per her recommendation.

It is tough as nutrition is something vets are lacking in that area and they do not study much on it in vet school and we are what we eat so i struggle with this myself but my dd needs relief and my family was ready to kill me for not giving her drugs to stop the insanity

[shadream]

Originally Posted by LEXINGTON

Hello Charlie's Mom, Thank you so much for answering me, can you tell me how long Charlie has been taking atopica , how much does he weigh, and what is the dose he is on now and what he was started on. Also do you notice any side affects? I am afraid since it causes them to vomit that is may make them feel sick to their stomach all the time. Also afraid of all the other bad side affects, I know they say it doesn't really affect their liver or kidneys long term, but this drug is fairly new and I don't trust any of the drug companies, I feel they could leave alot of information out, especially if it is bad. Anyway, sorry to ramble on, but I am worried sick as what to do for her. But I feel this is really my last resort since the only alternative is prednisone. I would really appreciate any information you could give me. Thank you for you time, Kathy, Lexi's Mom

Charlie has been on Atopica now for about 4 mos. He weighs 6 lbs. and is on 10 mg. The only side effect was vomiting if I gave the pill with food or within 2 hours of eating, so now I give him his breakfast and wait for 11/2 to 2 hrs. then give him his pill and no vomiting. I did try prednisone short term and it did not work at all. The atopica works, I have read the insert in product and they report the studies and many ill effects, but honestly if I read the inserts for my medication, I'm leary too, yet I need them so I take them and pray for the best, I do the same with Charlie, so far so good.

I hope this helps you, I know its a tough decision, Charlie was scratching his poor little nose and chin raw and I couldn't stand to see him suffer anymore, so to me the medication is worth trying.

[LEXINGTON]

Originally Posted by shadream

Charlie has been on Atopica now for about 4 mos. He weighs 6 lbs. and is on 10 mg. The only side effect was vomiting if I gave the pill with food or within 2 hours of eating, so now I give him his breakfast and wait for 11/2 to 2 hrs. then give him his pill and no vomiting. I did try prednisone short term and it did not work at all. The atopica works, I have read the insert in product and they report the studies and many ill effects, but honestly if I read the inserts for my medication, I'm leary too, yet I need them so I take them and pray for the best, I do the same with Charlie, so far so good.

I hope this helps you, I know its a tough decision, Charlie was scratching his poor little nose and chin raw and I couldn't stand to see him suffer anymore, so to me the medication is worth trying.

; Hello Charlie's Mom, I am so embarrassed, I just today found this email from you, I was wondering why you did not answer me, then today I scanned down and saw I had a second page of responses. I have still not made a decision about the atopica, but am pretty sure that I am going to try it. When I first started searching about the Atopica I was only searching the net and not yorkie forum now that I know people are using this on their very tiny babies without any real ill affects I feel allot better about maybe trying it. I see you say Charlie is only on 10 mg's, that is really good that such a low dose is working for you, because other people I have been talking to tell me there yorkies where switched to a higher does or they are taking temaril p along with the atopica till it kicks in which usually takes 60 days. I wouldn't mind if Lex only had to take 10 mgs that would be great. I am going to make my decision by the end of the week. From what I am hearing I think I am going to give it a try, if she has any bad affects, I will just take her off. I have her down to 1/4 of a temaril a day along with benadryl which like I said really only puts her to sleep so she gets a short relief while she sleeps. But she has been on temaril now for about 6 months straight with no breaks even though it is a very low does I guess the temaril will be better for her. I just worry that it is a fairly new drug and allot of times drugs end up getting recalled for one reason or another. I won't bother you after this email but if you could let me know how things are going with your baby since your last email, it will help me make my decision. Thank you for your time.
Lexi's Mom Kathy

[dwerten]

How is atopica working as dd been on for 60 days and helping a bit

how it working for everyone else?

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by dwerten

How is atopica working as dd been on for 60 days and helping a bit

how it working for everyone else?

bumping this to see if anyone on it

[danchul]

My Shaq has been on Atopica for the last 2 weeks, and it hasn't help, it was acually made in a compound pharmacy in liquid, because my vet had it in capsules, and he needed 1/2 a capsule, well, you can't cut a capsule so it was made in a compound pharmacy. but since he is still scratching i am taking him to a new vet in 1/2 hour. see what he says. Shaq scratches like crazy and have started to loose hair from the scratching, he is so miserable, i don't know what to do.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by danchul

My Shaq has been on Atopica for the last 2 weeks, and it hasn't help, it was acually made in a compound pharmacy in liquid, because my vet had it in capsules, and he needed 1/2 a capsule, well, you can't cut a capsule so it was made in a compound pharmacy. but since he is still scratching i am taking him to a new vet in 1/2 hour. see what he says. Shaq scratches like crazy and have started to loose hair from the scratching, he is so miserable, i don't know what to do.

i have the same issue and dd has been on atopica for 3 months - she is a little better with the atopica but she takes temaril p as well - it takes 30-60 days for atopica to work. How much does yours weigh? DD is 6lbs and she is on 20 mg. You have to give it time. I am also supplementing with probiotics and raw coconut oil. I am also going to a home cooked diet. Please explain what you have gone through- have you done a food elimination diet? Have you gone to a dermatologist? Have you had a blood allergy test? Have you done allergy shots? I have been through a lot in 2.5 years with my allergy yorkie so maybe i can help you. Does yours itch all over, front half, back half?

[shadream]

Charlie is doing very well on atopica, I am sorry I have not answered sooner just found this thread again, he is however along with my poodle going in tommorrow for surgery on both back legs for patellas, so keep him in your prayers, these little guys are just like kids sometimes, one thing after another. Hope your little one is improving, did you decide to try the atopica?

[danchul]

Hi there;
I have put Atopica on Shaq for 3 weeks and no change at all, i went to see a new vet with him 2 days ago, he gave him another shut of cortisone, and put him on antihistamine, which i got at a compound pharmacy as a liquid with chicken flavor. he also put him on advantage and program, which i can only start in a week...so i am hoping for the best. we also foged the house yesterday.
good luck with surgery, yes this little ones are in our blood and its hard to see them suffering.
Thanks Much.

[Jen81]

Hi everyone.

I just signed up today. But I ran across this thread about Atopica. I am a Vet Tech and have been working with animals for 7 years. I have found that when it comes to our patients Atopica has worked wonderfully. It has Cyclosporine in it which is an antibiotic.

What a lot of pet owners do not know is that allergies lower the immune system and can cause a pet to have bad skin due to fungus or bacteria on the skin. Only 10% of pets out there have allergies due to food. Another reason as to why pets itch so much is due to parasites.

All responsible pet owners have their pet on Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution. But a lot of pet owners do not know about Scabies or Demadex and it is hardly ever really tested for in veterinary offices due to how infrequent it is seen in general practicing offices. If parasites have been ruled out then often times Vets would like to put the pets on food trials to see if it is a food allergy that is causing the itchiness and hair loss.

They will be put onto Prednisone or Temeral-P which are steroids. Thats when you pet starts to get fatter and muscle tone is lost. I have seen pets after they have been on a steroid and then changed to Atopica and have seen a dramatic difference in their coat, muscle tone and demeanor all together. I have heard very few complaints about side effects such as diarrhea.

It really is just up to you and if you want to see if it works better for your pet or if you want to try a different rout such as allergy testing and putting her on a treatment where she receives allergy injections to decrease your pets itchiness.

Sorry if I rambled on too much about stuff I'm sure you all are familiar with. I hope I was of help though.

[puppy_Love08]

Oh, I'm so sorry you are dealing with allergies! Please tell me that this is not a COMMON problem with Yorkies!! We just had to put our Maltese to sleep due to severe allergy problems that were making him miserable - and nothing seemed to help (Atopica made him sick).

We are thinking about getting a Yorkie, but we don't want to go through allergies ever again.

[Latte's Mom]

My 5lb, 5 year old is fortunate. Her allergies don't seem too bad in comparison!! She was on prednisone for a while, then on Atopica. I couldn't really see too much difference. I've changed her food and shampoo and have her down to occasional scratching and licking mostly at night before bed. When she gets to scratching a lot, I put 1% hydrocortisone cream on her where she scratches and she's not gotten any raw spots since. It's so tempting to put her back on the prednisone but whenever I do, people give me a hadr time about it and I feel like I'm doing her harm. She would have to be on a low dose forever! And I just don't feel like she's suffering too much. I think the scratching/licking is only about 5% of her day. Of course, it wakes us up and I told her that it's a good thing she's so cute, since otherwise I'd have to smother her in her sleep, but there you have it.