Anyone Using Atopica for Allergies? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

LEXINGTON · 06-02-2007, 12:33 PM

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.

tinkrbell51634 · 06-02-2007, 01:33 PM

Shrek is the same way too picky! He is not taking the drug! but what may help is cottage cheese for helping her eat the things she doesnt like (as in dog food) shrek loves innova small bites and cottage cheese only every once in a while for the cottage cheese but he knows when a container comes from the fridge he thinks he needs a spoonful in his bowl before you even eat any! She may like that treat mixed into her food!

chickendido · 06-02-2007, 01:57 PM

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!

shadream · 06-04-2007, 08:31 AM

has been a life saver here. My yorkie is 1 1/2 yrs old. He started itching his face raw at about 6 mos. We tried everything the benadryl and steroids for a short period and wound up going to an allergy vet and he was on rabbit and potato diet for an extended period of time, to no avail finally ran some test and found he was allergic to mold on plants,(corn tomatoes etc.) among other things. My regular vet and I decided to try atopica, I can't tell you what a difference it made, the hair on his muzzle has grown back and he is mostly scratch free, he does occassionally have a bad day and scratches a bit, but they are few and far between, when it use to be non stop. The only problem I had in the beginning was vomiting after taking the pill which of course was useless, so now I feed him breakfast and then give him his pill about 1 1/2 to 2 hours later and he keeps it down. It is expensive at $72.00 for a months supply, the vet says in the off season, after Oct or Nov we can try to go to everyother day or maybe even every 3 days. We will see I tried that a few months ago and it didn't work, so we'll see.
I know how frustrating this can be, I will hope for the best.
I wouldnt be afraid to try the atopica, as it may well be your answer.

Cheryl · 06-05-2007, 10:35 AM

I have a 7yr old Yorkie that was abused over his life time, and his skin is super sensitive, but to what I have no clue! Shampoos, and frontline for fleas, since that is what I thought the problem was, does not make a difference. I will give them small bites nutro chicken and rice and can organic skinless chichen mixed together and the only treats they get are oven roasted lunch meat and greenies. When Jackson is raw from stratching I will put this topical spray on the raw area. Here is the name: gentamicin sulfate with other ingredients that are covered up with a label of all things so I have a hard time reading exactly what it is, but it will help with the healing. I am frustrated too! I thought the summer brought this condition on, but not really. If it is what they eat, then perhaps organic is the best way to go, and I will have to do that. I hesitate to change foods, since their stomachs are soooooooo sensitive to say it mildly!

LEXINGTON · 06-06-2007, 05:02 AM

Hello, Thank you for your very quick reply even though you do not use atopica. I am going to buy some cottage cheese and see if she likes it, she does like vanilla yogurt as a snack every once in a while. I am going to need all the help I can get as far as getting her to take the atopica pill, I heard it is very large and liquid filled so you cannot break it open she will have to take the pill whole. Again, thank you for the advice. Kathy

LEXINGTON · 06-06-2007, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinkrbell51634

Shrek is the same way too picky! He is not taking the drug! but what may help is cottage cheese for helping her eat the things she doesnt like (as in dog food) shrek loves innova small bites and cottage cheese only every once in a while for the cottage cheese but he knows when a container comes from the fridge he thinks he needs a spoonful in his bowl before you even eat any! She may like that treat mixed into her food!

Hello, I am not sure I am doing this correctly, this is the first time I am replying to a thread. I just wanted to thank you for your very quick reply even though you are not using Atopica. I am going to buy some cottage cheese and see if Lex likes it, she does like vanilla yogurt as a snack. Again Thank you for taking the time to anwer, I appreciate it.
Thank you! Kathy

Pepsizola Mum · 06-07-2007, 03:58 AM

I would be wary of paying out for tests for allergies I have paid hundreds of £'s for skin biopsys and scrapings only to be told "they have an allergy". I have been told by several vets that yes they can say the have allegies but can rarely find out what is CASUING the allergy. It just a case of trial and error. (See my post under skin problems)

LEXINGTON · 06-19-2007, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadream

has been a life saver here. My yorkie is 1 1/2 yrs old. He started itching his face raw at about 6 mos. We tried everything the benadryl and steroids for a short period and wound up going to an allergy vet and he was on rabbit and potato diet for an extended period of time, to no avail finally ran some test and found he was allergic to mold on plants,(corn tomatoes etc.) among other things. My regular vet and I decided to try atopica, I can't tell you what a difference it made, the hair on his muzzle has grown back and he is mostly scratch free, he does occassionally have a bad day and scratches a bit, but they are few and far between, when it use to be non stop. The only problem I had in the beginning was vomiting after taking the pill which of course was useless, so now I feed him breakfast and then give him his pill about 1 1/2 to 2 hours later and he keeps it down. It is expensive at $72.00 for a months supply, the vet says in the off season, after Oct or Nov we can try to go to everyother day or maybe even every 3 days. We will see I tried that a few months ago and it didn't work, so we'll see.
I know how frustrating this can be, I will hope for the best.
I wouldnt be afraid to try the atopica, as it may well be your answer.

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

LEXINGTON · 06-19-2007, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pepsizola Mum

I would be wary of paying out for tests for allergies I have paid hundreds of £'s for skin biopsys and scrapings only to be told "they have an allergy". I have been told by several vets that yes they can say the have allegies but can rarely find out what is CASUING the allergy. It just a case of trial and error. (See my post under skin problems)

Hello, Thank you so much for taking the time to answer, I hope your babies are doing better, but unfortunately unless you have found some miracle, I am sure they are still miserable. My baby is the same way constantly scratching licking paws, nasty looking red rash mostly on her back. I have tried everything, only thing to help is temaril P which is prednisone with antihistamine, it is a shame that prednisone is so damaging because it works so fantastic, she is so happy when she is on those pills then as soon as she is weaned off, the misery starts all over again. I am contemplating putting her on this new drug called atopica, I do not know if it is available in the UK, but from the posts I have been reading it is almost like a miracle drug, but I am still very leary, I want to make sure I really know everything I can about it before I give it to her, but so far it sounds like my last resort, and supposedly it has no ill affects long term. I really hope that this drug really is like a miracle because there are so many poor little babies out there suffering it makes me so mad!. Well I am going to do more research on it and I will let you know how everything goes, I hope you can get it, maybe from pet meds on the internet. Of course I don't expect you to take my advise as I am not sure myself yet what I am going to do, but you should investigate it. Good luck! Kathy Lexi's Mom

dwerten · 06-20-2007, 02:00 AM

Just letting you know greenies are really bad for the little ones and they have I believe corn in them and the most allergic things for dogs is corn, soy, chicken, beef, wheat that i can think of right now. Also, lunch meat is really high in sodium. Food allergy is usually not as common as environmental allergies per my dermatologist. I have a very allergic girl yorkie since she was 6 mos old and a pancreatic and ibd boy yorkie so have read a lot and about these things. My girl yorkie is on atopica and has been for about 2 1/2 months along with temaril p, hypoallergenic food diet salmon and potato by prescription hills, and suppose to be doing frontline every 3 weeks which I have a hard time with that one as never see fleas and the dermatologist said you have to have frontline plus on an allergy dog every 3 weeks as flea allergy is the number one cause of itchiness in dogs.

The derm says if you cut a dog in half and the front half is itch it could be environmental or food, if the bite the back half mostly it is flea allergy but if they itch all over it is mostly atopic dermatitis or can be a combination of all three so doing flea protection, hypoallergenic diet, bathing 1-2 weeks to wash of allergens, hardwood floors, air purification system, all will help.

I have tried everything holistic vet with herbs and staph lysate injections weekly along with raw food diet for 3-4 months to avoid any steroids. Dr. Pasternak in santa monica, ca.

This all started at 6 months and she will be 3 July 3rd. It has been horrible. We took out our carpet and bought an air purification system in the room she is in. Wash her bedding weekly. She wears a tshirt always as that keeps the allergents from getting on her skin. We keep her hair longer as it is very thin and the hair protects the skin. She wears a sock around her neck as she has a bald neck from skin infections and itching so i had to protect it as it will swell up from itching.

I did the prednisone which i hated and her belly swelled up, she got cumidomes which are brown spots all over her body, and she started showing signs of cushings as that is side effect of pred as well as pancreatitis can come from taking pred which my other dog has and is horrible. I took her off it when my boy got pancreatitis.

Then I did a food elimination diet with pinto beans, safflower oil, and potato to rule out food allergy advised by dermatologist. It helped a little not being on processed food but she hated it and they cannot stay on that diet forever.

My last resort was atopica so i researched alot and it has only been out a little over 2 years and is a human drug for transplant patients to not reject the organs and it does affect the immune system but much safer than steroids as steroids affects all the organs and this mostly liver and kidneys as it is processed through the body. The side effects are much less severe. No bloating or signs of cushings. No weight gain like steroids cause. No excessive thirst and hungriness like steroids.

She is 6lbs and we started at 10mg for 30 days and was not really working as doing it with temaril p to give her relief until drug kicks in as it takes 60 days to kick in. She is now on 20 mg and only for about 3 weeks. She is still itchy but derm says takes 60 days on increased dose for us to tell. This drug works in 80% of dogs

hoping mine will be one of 80%. She is not as bad as she was before though she has bouts and we bath her and i put pure aloe on her belly, neck elbows and under arms when she gets itchy for relief but the tshirt protects her

I will keep posting on this but read all my responses under my name too

This is not fun and in reading the book allergy solutions for dogs by shawn messonnier, dvm I have learned a lot that atopic dermatitis is not curable but you can try to manage it so they are not miserable

I hate drugs too but do you want to live 10 miserable years or 5 happy years and that is where i came to . I am still searching for answers and talking with Doniasea@aol.com who is a nutritionist and she had eczema and has educated me a lot on nutrition in animals so if your dog is young and just starting with the allergy stuff before steroids i would do what she says. I just got to her late in the game and started the vicious cycle of steroids and needed immediate relief- she is great though and can help. Another person i am going to call is marina zaccarias who is an herbalist I have heard is great. I am constantly searching for answers and help for my little one and will continue but i needed to get immediate relief and then work backwords as i searched for 2 years trying to avoid steroids and she was miserable.

Also i did 2 allergy blood tests costing $400 each from two different labs which showed slightly different results. I learned blood cannot determine food allergy but it can dertermine environmental allegies. Only elimination diet can determine food allergy. Proteins are the cause of allergies- pollen is a protein as well as proteins in foods and those are the cause of itchiness in dogs so you have to be careful to not try a bunch of different dog foods before doing an elimination diet as then it will be harded to find a novel protein like i had to use pinto beans

Get to the specialist - dermatologist as they have to go to further education than a vet by 2 years, and then do an internship, then take board exam to be certified. They will start with flea protection and elimination diet first. They do not like going to drugs. They like to do immuno therapy - allergy shots - i did not do it those as heard they do not work in all dogs but may at a future date. My vet said the problem with that is they can be allergic to 100 things and can only fit 12 things in a vile

so that is why it is hard to get good results with allergy shots but worth the shot when they are young.

dwerten · 06-20-2007, 02:17 AM

sorry to ramble on but want to share and hopefully help others

Ok in taking atopica it can cause diarhea and vomitting. DD has not had diarrhea. She did not vomit at all on 10mg but i gave it to her after 5 kibble. I would give her pill 2 hours after dinner so i was home when giving it to her. I give her temaril p every 3 days in am after breakfast and now she is on 20mg - two 10mg pills at night after 10 kibble. I tried to do with no kibble on 20mg and she threw up so went back to kibble and it seems to work. Her appetite is a little less but good for her as she is a little piggy. The steroids made her hungry and she went from 5.5 lbs to almost 7lbs when on those and stomach tight like a drum and i hated that - she does not have this.

DD just took simplecef for 21 days which is an antibiotic as she had a bacteria infection on her back and they have to be on atibiotics for a cycle of 21 days per dermatologist as my vet gave her clavamox for 15 days and the infection came back and per derm clavamox is harder on their stomach than simplecef- but simplecef is very expensive - i paid $34 for 5 pills which were split in 4s so get on petmeds as much cheaper. Bacteria infections come with the allergies as itching opens skin and allows bacteria to get in.

DD does not have chronic ear infections or eye infections just real itchy skin, red inflamed skin and ears, etc.

When they go on atopica the derm does blood work prior to drug, 30 days after, 60 days after that, then 90 days then once a year to make sure no side effects. DD's first blood test came back better after 30 days than prior and she has mvd liver issue as her bile acid test was 54 and 72 post which scared me about the drug but again i had to stop the misery and vet and derm said she would be ok and they monitor blood.

I have cried many a night over this one and we tried a lot - animal communicator, raw hamburger meat ( elimination ) which by the way was a disaster as her eye swelled shut, etc and two months after that my boy yorkie got pancreatitis and almost died sooo i recommend only doing for the allergy dog and keep your other dogs separate and do not keep switching all dogs to what you are doing with allergy dog.

I have spent about $4,000 on dd in trying to help her and my pancreatitis dog i spent about 10k saving him along with reading everything i could get my hands on, etc so will try to pass all the info i have learned on to help others as allergies are rough.

Next time i will get a yorkie who is 3 years or older from rescue or breeder when done breeding after this experience as allergies in dogs is soooo frustrating and the number one reason people go to vets so very costly

dwerten · 06-20-2007, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheryl

I have a 7yr old Yorkie that was abused over his life time, and his skin is super sensitive, but to what I have no clue! Shampoos, and frontline for fleas, since that is what I thought the problem was, does not make a difference. I will give them small bites nutro chicken and rice and can organic skinless chichen mixed together and the only treats they get are oven roasted lunch meat and greenies. When Jackson is raw from stratching I will put this topical spray on the raw area. Here is the name: gentamicin sulfate with other ingredients that are covered up with a label of all things so I have a hard time reading exactly what it is, but it will help with the healing. I am frustrated too! I thought the summer brought this condition on, but not really. If it is what they eat, then perhaps organic is the best way to go, and I will have to do that. I hesitate to change foods, since their stomachs are soooooooo sensitive to say it mildly!

Organic is the only way to go when feeding home cooked and if doing vegetables juicing is best - zuccini is very cleansing per nutritionist donia sea. I use pure aloe from lassens and whole foods which is soothing to itched areas. I have read sulfate can be aggravating and i have tried many topicals. I just started reading back of itch relief shampoos and all had oatmeal and aloe so went for the purest form of aloe and oatmeal you can buy the oats at whole foods and ground them in a food processor to get a 100% natural for oatmeal soak. I have read to soak paws in epsom salt but have not tried. We also wash paws nightly and use huggies hypo allergenic no perfume wipes on her paws.

Neosporine is another life saver as good to put on elbows and belly when they itch raw as it is a topical antibiotic to prevent skin infections from itching and derm recommends it as well. I buy it at costco in bulk. Do not put on places where they can lick as petroleum products not good on stomach.

I opted for aloe as if they lick it then it is safe and good for stomach as natural.

dwerten · 06-20-2007, 02:32 AM

Oh and we did an antihistamine trial as well as was hoping this would work so we did 4 different over the counter ones one week each such as benedryl, chlor...,etc and nothing really worked and derm said usually does not work in most dogs but some it helps and if doing antihistamines good to use fatty acids such as cod liver oil as supplement with that

also I do not vaccinate if not necessary I always do titers once year with blood work for all 3 of my dogs as to not over vaccinate. The holistic vet made mention notice this all started after her puppy shots

if they have a weak immune system that is where allergies stem from that and inbreeding - dd is from a breeder too

dwerten · 06-20-2007, 02:33 AM

side effect of atopica is hair growth also which is a plus as dd hair around her eyes has grown back - still waiting for hair on her neck though

06-02-2007, 12:33 PM	#1
LEXINGTON YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: May 2007 Location: NEW JERSEY Posts: 9	Anyone Using Atopica for Allergies? 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.

06-02-2007, 01:33 PM	#2
tinkrbell51634 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: United States Posts: 19	:( Shrek is the same way too picky! He is not taking the drug! but what may help is cottage cheese for helping her eat the things she doesnt like (as in dog food) shrek loves innova small bites and cottage cheese only every once in a while for the cottage cheese but he knows when a container comes from the fridge he thinks he needs a spoonful in his bowl before you even eat any! She may like that treat mixed into her food! __________________ Shrek and Priness Fiona's Mommy! Last edited by tinkrbell51634; 06-02-2007 at 01:34 PM.

06-04-2007, 08:31 AM	#4
shadream Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: michigan Posts: 189	Atopica has been a life saver here. My yorkie is 1 1/2 yrs old. He started itching his face raw at about 6 mos. We tried everything the benadryl and steroids for a short period and wound up going to an allergy vet and he was on rabbit and potato diet for an extended period of time, to no avail finally ran some test and found he was allergic to mold on plants,(corn tomatoes etc.) among other things. My regular vet and I decided to try atopica, I can't tell you what a difference it made, the hair on his muzzle has grown back and he is mostly scratch free, he does occassionally have a bad day and scratches a bit, but they are few and far between, when it use to be non stop. The only problem I had in the beginning was vomiting after taking the pill which of course was useless, so now I feed him breakfast and then give him his pill about 1 1/2 to 2 hours later and he keeps it down. It is expensive at $72.00 for a months supply, the vet says in the off season, after Oct or Nov we can try to go to everyother day or maybe even every 3 days. We will see I tried that a few months ago and it didn't work, so we'll see. I know how frustrating this can be, I will hope for the best. I wouldnt be afraid to try the atopica, as it may well be your answer. __________________ Lil Cheeky Charlie's mom

06-05-2007, 10:35 AM	#5
Cheryl Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Conroe TX Posts: 71	know what you mean I have a 7yr old Yorkie that was abused over his life time, and his skin is super sensitive, but to what I have no clue! Shampoos, and frontline for fleas, since that is what I thought the problem was, does not make a difference. I will give them small bites nutro chicken and rice and can organic skinless chichen mixed together and the only treats they get are oven roasted lunch meat and greenies. When Jackson is raw from stratching I will put this topical spray on the raw area. Here is the name: gentamicin sulfate with other ingredients that are covered up with a label of all things so I have a hard time reading exactly what it is, but it will help with the healing. I am frustrated too! I thought the summer brought this condition on, but not really. If it is what they eat, then perhaps organic is the best way to go, and I will have to do that. I hesitate to change foods, since their stomachs are soooooooo sensitive to say it mildly!

06-20-2007, 02:17 AM	#12
dwerten BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 11,073	Atopica sorry to ramble on but want to share and hopefully help others Ok in taking atopica it can cause diarhea and vomitting. DD has not had diarrhea. She did not vomit at all on 10mg but i gave it to her after 5 kibble. I would give her pill 2 hours after dinner so i was home when giving it to her. I give her temaril p every 3 days in am after breakfast and now she is on 20mg - two 10mg pills at night after 10 kibble. I tried to do with no kibble on 20mg and she threw up so went back to kibble and it seems to work. Her appetite is a little less but good for her as she is a little piggy. The steroids made her hungry and she went from 5.5 lbs to almost 7lbs when on those and stomach tight like a drum and i hated that - she does not have this. DD just took simplecef for 21 days which is an antibiotic as she had a bacteria infection on her back and they have to be on atibiotics for a cycle of 21 days per dermatologist as my vet gave her clavamox for 15 days and the infection came back and per derm clavamox is harder on their stomach than simplecef- but simplecef is very expensive - i paid $34 for 5 pills which were split in 4s so get on petmeds as much cheaper. Bacteria infections come with the allergies as itching opens skin and allows bacteria to get in. DD does not have chronic ear infections or eye infections just real itchy skin, red inflamed skin and ears, etc. When they go on atopica the derm does blood work prior to drug, 30 days after, 60 days after that, then 90 days then once a year to make sure no side effects. DD's first blood test came back better after 30 days than prior and she has mvd liver issue as her bile acid test was 54 and 72 post which scared me about the drug but again i had to stop the misery and vet and derm said she would be ok and they monitor blood. I have cried many a night over this one and we tried a lot - animal communicator, raw hamburger meat ( elimination ) which by the way was a disaster as her eye swelled shut, etc and two months after that my boy yorkie got pancreatitis and almost died sooo i recommend only doing for the allergy dog and keep your other dogs separate and do not keep switching all dogs to what you are doing with allergy dog. I have spent about $4,000 on dd in trying to help her and my pancreatitis dog i spent about 10k saving him along with reading everything i could get my hands on, etc so will try to pass all the info i have learned on to help others as allergies are rough. Next time i will get a yorkie who is 3 years or older from rescue or breeder when done breeding after this experience as allergies in dogs is soooo frustrating and the number one reason people go to vets so very costly

06-06-2007, 05:02 AM	#6
LEXINGTON YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: May 2007 Location: NEW JERSEY Posts: 9	Hello, Thank you for your very quick reply even though you do not use atopica. I am going to buy some cottage cheese and see if she likes it, she does like vanilla yogurt as a snack every once in a while. I am going to need all the help I can get as far as getting her to take the atopica pill, I heard it is very large and liquid filled so you cannot break it open she will have to take the pill whole. Again, thank you for the advice. Kathy

06-07-2007, 03:58 AM	#8
Pepsizola Mum Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2007 Location: England Posts: 23	I would be wary of paying out for tests for allergies I have paid hundreds of £'s for skin biopsys and scrapings only to be told "they have an allergy". I have been told by several vets that yes they can say the have allegies but can rarely find out what is CASUING the allergy. It just a case of trial and error. (See my post under skin problems)

06-20-2007, 02:00 AM	#11
dwerten BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 11,073	Just letting you know greenies are really bad for the little ones and they have I believe corn in them and the most allergic things for dogs is corn, soy, chicken, beef, wheat that i can think of right now. Also, lunch meat is really high in sodium. Food allergy is usually not as common as environmental allergies per my dermatologist. I have a very allergic girl yorkie since she was 6 mos old and a pancreatic and ibd boy yorkie so have read a lot and about these things. My girl yorkie is on atopica and has been for about 2 1/2 months along with temaril p, hypoallergenic food diet salmon and potato by prescription hills, and suppose to be doing frontline every 3 weeks which I have a hard time with that one as never see fleas and the dermatologist said you have to have frontline plus on an allergy dog every 3 weeks as flea allergy is the number one cause of itchiness in dogs. The derm says if you cut a dog in half and the front half is itch it could be environmental or food, if the bite the back half mostly it is flea allergy but if they itch all over it is mostly atopic dermatitis or can be a combination of all three so doing flea protection, hypoallergenic diet, bathing 1-2 weeks to wash of allergens, hardwood floors, air purification system, all will help. I have tried everything holistic vet with herbs and staph lysate injections weekly along with raw food diet for 3-4 months to avoid any steroids. Dr. Pasternak in santa monica, ca. This all started at 6 months and she will be 3 July 3rd. It has been horrible. We took out our carpet and bought an air purification system in the room she is in. Wash her bedding weekly. She wears a tshirt always as that keeps the allergents from getting on her skin. We keep her hair longer as it is very thin and the hair protects the skin. She wears a sock around her neck as she has a bald neck from skin infections and itching so i had to protect it as it will swell up from itching. I did the prednisone which i hated and her belly swelled up, she got cumidomes which are brown spots all over her body, and she started showing signs of cushings as that is side effect of pred as well as pancreatitis can come from taking pred which my other dog has and is horrible. I took her off it when my boy got pancreatitis. Then I did a food elimination diet with pinto beans, safflower oil, and potato to rule out food allergy advised by dermatologist. It helped a little not being on processed food but she hated it and they cannot stay on that diet forever. My last resort was atopica so i researched alot and it has only been out a little over 2 years and is a human drug for transplant patients to not reject the organs and it does affect the immune system but much safer than steroids as steroids affects all the organs and this mostly liver and kidneys as it is processed through the body. The side effects are much less severe. No bloating or signs of cushings. No weight gain like steroids cause. No excessive thirst and hungriness like steroids. She is 6lbs and we started at 10mg for 30 days and was not really working as doing it with temaril p to give her relief until drug kicks in as it takes 60 days to kick in. She is now on 20 mg and only for about 3 weeks. She is still itchy but derm says takes 60 days on increased dose for us to tell. This drug works in 80% of dogs hoping mine will be one of 80%. She is not as bad as she was before though she has bouts and we bath her and i put pure aloe on her belly, neck elbows and under arms when she gets itchy for relief but the tshirt protects her I will keep posting on this but read all my responses under my name too This is not fun and in reading the book allergy solutions for dogs by shawn messonnier, dvm I have learned a lot that atopic dermatitis is not curable but you can try to manage it so they are not miserable I hate drugs too but do you want to live 10 miserable years or 5 happy years and that is where i came to . I am still searching for answers and talking with Doniasea@aol.com who is a nutritionist and she had eczema and has educated me a lot on nutrition in animals so if your dog is young and just starting with the allergy stuff before steroids i would do what she says. I just got to her late in the game and started the vicious cycle of steroids and needed immediate relief- she is great though and can help. Another person i am going to call is marina zaccarias who is an herbalist I have heard is great. I am constantly searching for answers and help for my little one and will continue but i needed to get immediate relief and then work backwords as i searched for 2 years trying to avoid steroids and she was miserable. Also i did 2 allergy blood tests costing $400 each from two different labs which showed slightly different results. I learned blood cannot determine food allergy but it can dertermine environmental allegies. Only elimination diet can determine food allergy. Proteins are the cause of allergies- pollen is a protein as well as proteins in foods and those are the cause of itchiness in dogs so you have to be careful to not try a bunch of different dog foods before doing an elimination diet as then it will be harded to find a novel protein like i had to use pinto beans Get to the specialist - dermatologist as they have to go to further education than a vet by 2 years, and then do an internship, then take board exam to be certified. They will start with flea protection and elimination diet first. They do not like going to drugs. They like to do immuno therapy - allergy shots - i did not do it those as heard they do not work in all dogs but may at a future date. My vet said the problem with that is they can be allergic to 100 things and can only fit 12 things in a vile so that is why it is hard to get good results with allergy shots but worth the shot when they are young.

06-20-2007, 02:32 AM	#14
dwerten BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 11,073	Antihistamines Oh and we did an antihistamine trial as well as was hoping this would work so we did 4 different over the counter ones one week each such as benedryl, chlor...,etc and nothing really worked and derm said usually does not work in most dogs but some it helps and if doing antihistamines good to use fatty acids such as cod liver oil as supplement with that also I do not vaccinate if not necessary I always do titers once year with blood work for all 3 of my dogs as to not over vaccinate. The holistic vet made mention notice this all started after her puppy shots if they have a weak immune system that is where allergies stem from that and inbreeding - dd is from a breeder too

06-20-2007, 02:33 AM	#15
dwerten BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 11,073	Atopica side effect of atopica is hair growth also which is a plus as dd hair around her eyes has grown back - still waiting for hair on her neck though