My 14lb dog has skin allergies. What Apoquel dosage is recommended?

Apoquel is dosed twice daily initially, and due to it’s pharmacokinetics I would agree that twice daily would be preferable to increasing the dose once daily. There might be some other options as well - you could ask your vet about trying Cytopoint or other medications for allergies.

It is hard to really answer your question about Rocco beccause many factors go into allergies. There are three types of allergies in dogs - this inculdes food, environmental and flea. I would highly recommend apply flea prevention every 30 days to Rocco even if you do not see fleas. When a dog is allergic to fleas it only takes 1 bite to make them very itchy. It can be difficult to tell the difference between food and environmental allergies. I typicallly do not start apoquel unless the patient has been on a food trial. This is where they feed a prescritpion food ONLY for 12 plus weeks. Over the counter food can be contaminated with proteins and will not work to determine a food allergy. If we have proven the patient only has an environmental allergy than apoquel can be a good medication to use. However it is only going to work ifthe skin does not have any type of infection present (like bacteria or fungal and also ear infections). Apoquel does suppress the immune system to help decrease the itchy. Typically this is not harmful for most dogs. However I would recommend consulting your vet fist to make sure nothing in Roccos medical history would make him a bad canidate for apoquel and it is a proper drug for him. Hope that helps. You can aways try a pet coach consult if you need/want more information.

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! Poor Dove! Apoquel will stop working or not work well if the dog has a skin infection. It only helps control itching. If the apoquel was working and now it isn't that could be the cause. Yeast or bacterial skin infections are possible which can easily be determined with cytology (looking under the microscope). Apoquel is only labeled to be given twice daily for 2 weeks then decreased to once daily due to the risk of suppressing the immune system. I would have Dove rechecked by your Vet. I always recommend for my bad allergy patients to start an Omega 3 supplement and also use an antihistamine. Sometimes bathing in medicated shampoos can help as well (bathe twice weekly and leave the lather on for 10 mins before rinsing). I wish Dove the very best! https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/zyrtec/ https://www.vrshealth.com/canine-products/omegadog/ https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=27307

The published dose for Zyrtec in dogs is 1 mg/kg which would be 7.7 mg for Mollie. Since the tablet only comes in 10 mg, your vet probably wanted to round so that Mollie wasn't underdosed. I wouldn't recommend changing the dose without talking to your vet first.

Yes your pet sure can. Prednisone is a steroid and Apoquel is an immune modulator drug that specifically targets the receptors on your pets skin that cause itching. In fact, right now Apoquel has no drug interactions with any other type of medication, so it can be used along with just about anything. If your pet was not able to be maintained on Apoquel alone, then a low dose of prednisone or Cyclosporine can be used with it. Also I would recommend Fish oil supplements which are natural anti-inflammatory way to help a pet with skin allergies. Any pet formulated fish oil product from your local pet store will do.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Lily's allergies. I would highly advice that you consider Apoquel. This medication is very effective to decrease the itch and help with the clinical signs associated with allergies that you describe. The best thing about Apoquel besides its efficacy is that you can stop it at any point so you can consider using it just for the time being while she is affected by allergies the most. That is how I use it for my own dogs and they are going great. Good luck and have a nice day!

You are correct in that most pets are started and maintained on the twice a day dosage. We can’t legally go against what your vet says without establishing a pet client relationship after physical exam, but you can do what you think will achieve the desired results for your pets itchy skin knowning that it is safe for twice daily dosage with this medication. Best of luck with your pet Lily and I hope that her eye ulcer resolves quickly so that she can resume her normal allergy treatment. Take care.