Can I safely stop my dog's daily Apoquel to test for allergies?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Tate. While Apoquel is still a somewhat new drug, it is very safe in my experience. It seems to have many less side effects when compared to steroids. If you are still wanting to stop, you do not need to taper him down. The drug can be given as needed for itching. You could consider Cytopoint instead. This is an injectable allergy medication that controls itching for 4-8 weeks. I hope this information helps!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It looks like an allergy. Apoquel is an effective medication for excessive skin itchiness, it is a safe drug and it does not have many side effects. If you continue to use Apoquel for the next few days, Ben will most likely get better. For a relief in the meantime, you can use a soothing oatmeal shampoo.

That does look really red! More than likely, it is caused by his allergies. The Apoquel is a great allergy medicine that seems to work very well but he may need an additional medicine to try and get this flare up under control. He might need an antihistamine for a little bit so you could call your vet and see if he/she would prescribe an anti-histamine. If there is any evidence of infection than he might also need an antibiotic to treat. You could also soak his paw in a warm Epsom salt solution and see if that helps with the redness and itching. Using Mal-A-Ket wipes may also help.

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!

If this is related to allergies, you may want to consider allergy testing. This can be intradermal or blood testing. Once her allergies are known, she is given a special serum to help modify her immune system's response. This therapy has about an 80% success rate. I recommend to discuss this option with your veterinarian. Protect the paws from trauma (you may consider dog booties) and have her examined as much as needed. An elizabethan collar will also help prevent licking which can make things worse. Best of luck.

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.

Apoquel is actually the only effective and safe medication that can be taken long term for this type of condition, if it works well i would recommend working on the lowest effective dose once a day and sticking to it. you will not find anything that works OTC, the only true alternative is steroids and these should not be taken long term.