Thank you for this (and part 1)! I had a pit bull who suffered from allergies for almost all 12 years of her life. We went through almost all the treatment options, and they helped for a while. She weirdly LOVED going to the vet, which was awesome because we were there a lot. But eventually her flare-ups got so frequent, so bad, and so difficult to heal... between the allergies, side effects of meds she was on, and cognitive decline, I had to make the decision to let her go. This is such a difficult thing to go through, and I can't imagine what you have to go through as vets, seeing the same dogs keep coming in for the same issue. I'm so thankful for my dog's veterinarians and all the love they gave her -- I definitely wouldn't have been able to hold it together without them!
I'm so sorry to hear how severely your dog was impacted by her allergies 💔😢 It's a good thing to point out that some patients are so severely impacted that their quality of life suffers and where euthanasia is the best option to relieve their severe and ongoing symptoms. I should have mentioned this in the video somewhere. Personally, I find the situations where the clients blame me and/or redirect their frustration onto me the most challenging. I do spend a significant amount of time during the first few appointments with an animal that's itching discussing reasonable expectations moving forward... That does seem to help somewhat! Your veterinary team sounds like they were wonderful, and I'm so glad you had them to work with! 💜
@@VetMedCorner Yes, I felt so guilty about letting her go, felt like I was giving up on her, but talking it through with the vet team helped me acknowledge that it was what was best for her. And her favorite vet tech came especially to be with her and give her cake on the day she passed. It’s so unfair for people to blame the vet staff when their pet doesn’t get better - of course you want to see them get better too! But, as is the case with allergies, it’s not always an easy fix.
It's so incredibly challenging to make those decisions, and it absolutely sounds like you made the one that was in your dog's best interest. Thank you for sharing with me about this, it means a lot 💜
Thanks for this video, and part 1. My previous dog had environmental allergies, itchy skin especially feet and anal area. Eventually we did the skin testing with a veterinary dermatologist. Instead of desensitizing injections, we got sublingual drops which were very easy to administer - used for the rest of her life. We used Atopica for a while, but stopped after the dog had a growth on her paw (may or may not have been related). At 9 she was diagnosed with Addison's disease, and the tiny daily dose of Prednisone for the Addison's probably also helped with her allergies. My current dog had recurring / persistent ear infections and eye infections, now resolved with a hydrolyzed protein diet (RC Ultamino). She also gets Cytopoint injections but it's hard to tell how much they are helping - had fewer eye infections / less eye redness after changing cytopoint to 4 week (vs 8 week) intervals, but the ears didn't resolve until the food change. All is better now, except some yeasty skin around her mouth. Allergies are so complicated to treat!
You're so right, it's so complicated and often quite frustrating too! I'm so glad you were able to get treatment plans sorted out that helped your dogs and that you worked with a veterinary dermatologist when you needed to!
Cytopoint is amazing. The dermatologist recommended it for my buddy along with yumove oil for itchy skin, protexin synbiotic dc and a weekly bath with douxo3. Shes not had the cytopoint since april this year and so far is doing really well. Shes a VERY anxious dog and i think her itchiness may be linked to her anxiety somehow and as shes become more resilient, maybe thats why the need for the cytopoint has diminished. Whatever is going on, cytopoint really helped and gave her some peace from the itchiness.
What's more likely is that the inflammation/itching in the skin bothers your dog and worsens any fear/stress/anxiety so you note a change in behaviour. I'm so very glad that you and the veterinary dermatologist have found a plan that works for your dog!!! Cytopoint is absolutely wonderful!
I just had a Vet recommend Apoquel for my cat. She said it can be used off label for cats. Just asking cause in your video you said it cannot be used for cats. I’m just curious?
Is it a veterinary dermatologist that recommended it for your cat? Recently, there has been some research in trying apoquel in cats, however a significant number don't respond at all to it (my memory may not be 100% correct, but the rough ballpark I recall is 1/3), and a significant number have significant side effects (roughly 10% end up having such a severe drop in their white blood cell count that they end up having to come off the medication), and that doesn't count the other side effects that are less life threatening... As a result of all of the above, reaching for apoquel for a cat should only be considered when working with a veterinary dermatologist, doing super careful follow up (including frequent bloodwork panels), and after other options have been demonstrated not to be effective. I hope this additional information is helpful!
@ Thank you. This is very helpful. No she’s not a Veterinary Dermatologist. She’s a Vet like you. I’m just looking at the various treatment options for environmental allergies. Apoquel was mentioned, but there’s also other options we could explore as well like Atopica, low dose steroids, etc. It’s really weighing out the pros and cons of each medication as they all have their potential side effects unfortunately.
Wow, so it's itching or a host of side effects. No sarcasm here just really shocked that there aren't any other recommendations. I know vets don't like to suggest possible natural remedies to help maintain quality of life but there has to be at least a few that would help relieve symptoms. 👍
As a Hills vet rep for 34 years there were many Derm diets by Hills, RC, and Purina that felt with food allergies and though they all improved the skin barrier, they really were designed for food allergens. Most vets will agree their Derm cases are probably 76% environmental. Before I retired Hills launched Prescription Diet Derm Complete, the first diet designed for both food and environmental allergies. I witnessed some great results with it. It has a unique mix of antioxidants including quercitin, to normalize the immune response. The only protein is egg. A natural anti inflammatory and rare for dogs with confirmed allergies to react to.
Thank you for this (and part 1)! I had a pit bull who suffered from allergies for almost all 12 years of her life. We went through almost all the treatment options, and they helped for a while. She weirdly LOVED going to the vet, which was awesome because we were there a lot. But eventually her flare-ups got so frequent, so bad, and so difficult to heal... between the allergies, side effects of meds she was on, and cognitive decline, I had to make the decision to let her go. This is such a difficult thing to go through, and I can't imagine what you have to go through as vets, seeing the same dogs keep coming in for the same issue. I'm so thankful for my dog's veterinarians and all the love they gave her -- I definitely wouldn't have been able to hold it together without them!
I'm so sorry to hear how severely your dog was impacted by her allergies 💔😢
It's a good thing to point out that some patients are so severely impacted that their quality of life suffers and where euthanasia is the best option to relieve their severe and ongoing symptoms. I should have mentioned this in the video somewhere.
Personally, I find the situations where the clients blame me and/or redirect their frustration onto me the most challenging. I do spend a significant amount of time during the first few appointments with an animal that's itching discussing reasonable expectations moving forward... That does seem to help somewhat!
Your veterinary team sounds like they were wonderful, and I'm so glad you had them to work with! 💜
@@VetMedCorner Yes, I felt so guilty about letting her go, felt like I was giving up on her, but talking it through with the vet team helped me acknowledge that it was what was best for her. And her favorite vet tech came especially to be with her and give her cake on the day she passed. It’s so unfair for people to blame the vet staff when their pet doesn’t get better - of course you want to see them get better too! But, as is the case with allergies, it’s not always an easy fix.
It's so incredibly challenging to make those decisions, and it absolutely sounds like you made the one that was in your dog's best interest. Thank you for sharing with me about this, it means a lot 💜
Thanks for this video, and part 1. My previous dog had environmental allergies, itchy skin especially feet and anal area. Eventually we did the skin testing with a veterinary dermatologist. Instead of desensitizing injections, we got sublingual drops which were very easy to administer - used for the rest of her life. We used Atopica for a while, but stopped after the dog had a growth on her paw (may or may not have been related). At 9 she was diagnosed with Addison's disease, and the tiny daily dose of Prednisone for the Addison's probably also helped with her allergies. My current dog had recurring / persistent ear infections and eye infections, now resolved with a hydrolyzed protein diet (RC Ultamino). She also gets Cytopoint injections but it's hard to tell how much they are helping - had fewer eye infections / less eye redness after changing cytopoint to 4 week (vs 8 week) intervals, but the ears didn't resolve until the food change. All is better now, except some yeasty skin around her mouth. Allergies are so complicated to treat!
You're so right, it's so complicated and often quite frustrating too!
I'm so glad you were able to get treatment plans sorted out that helped your dogs and that you worked with a veterinary dermatologist when you needed to!
Cytopoint is amazing. The dermatologist recommended it for my buddy along with yumove oil for itchy skin, protexin synbiotic dc and a weekly bath with douxo3. Shes not had the cytopoint since april this year and so far is doing really well. Shes a VERY anxious dog and i think her itchiness may be linked to her anxiety somehow and as shes become more resilient, maybe thats why the need for the cytopoint has diminished. Whatever is going on, cytopoint really helped and gave her some peace from the itchiness.
What's more likely is that the inflammation/itching in the skin bothers your dog and worsens any fear/stress/anxiety so you note a change in behaviour.
I'm so very glad that you and the veterinary dermatologist have found a plan that works for your dog!!! Cytopoint is absolutely wonderful!
Another good video. Thank you!
You're welcome 💜🐾
I just had a Vet recommend Apoquel for my cat. She said it can be used off label for cats. Just asking cause in your video you said it cannot be used for cats. I’m just curious?
Is it a veterinary dermatologist that recommended it for your cat?
Recently, there has been some research in trying apoquel in cats, however a significant number don't respond at all to it (my memory may not be 100% correct, but the rough ballpark I recall is 1/3), and a significant number have significant side effects (roughly 10% end up having such a severe drop in their white blood cell count that they end up having to come off the medication), and that doesn't count the other side effects that are less life threatening...
As a result of all of the above, reaching for apoquel for a cat should only be considered when working with a veterinary dermatologist, doing super careful follow up (including frequent bloodwork panels), and after other options have been demonstrated not to be effective.
I hope this additional information is helpful!
@ Thank you. This is very helpful. No she’s not a Veterinary Dermatologist. She’s a Vet like you. I’m just looking at the various treatment options for environmental allergies. Apoquel was mentioned, but there’s also other options we could explore as well like Atopica, low dose steroids, etc. It’s really weighing out the pros and cons of each medication as they all have their potential side effects unfortunately.
Wow, so it's itching or a host of side effects.
No sarcasm here just really shocked that there aren't any other recommendations.
I know vets don't like to suggest possible natural remedies to help maintain quality of life but there has to be at least a few that would help relieve symptoms.
👍
No, there isn't
As a Hills vet rep for 34 years there were many Derm diets by Hills, RC, and Purina that felt with food allergies and though they all improved the skin barrier, they really were designed for food allergens. Most vets will agree their Derm cases are probably 76% environmental. Before I retired Hills launched Prescription Diet Derm Complete, the first diet designed for both food and environmental allergies. I witnessed some great results with it. It has a unique mix of antioxidants including quercitin, to normalize the immune response. The only protein is egg. A natural anti inflammatory and rare for dogs with confirmed allergies to react to.