[Zora]

Hi, did anybody try Atopica? If everything I read on the Novartis site is true, it would be God gift!!

Did anybody have luck with fatty acid treatment? Does it come in caplets or liquid, do you add it to food where do you buy it?

 

[TomN]

Re: Atopic allergy treatment

Hi Zora,

I have used Atopica on my dog for allergies and successfully I might add. I think it has about the same or maybe even a better success rate than the allergy shot regime.

Very few if any side affects. A small percentage of dogs may experience some gastric issues in the beginning but usually stabilize once they are used to it. Mine had no issues and definitely got relief within a week or two of starting. It is expensive, but dosages can usually be backed off to every 3rd day within a week or two of showing relief.

Fish Oil comes in both caplets and liquid. The pills are easier and don't have to be refrigerated. Fish oil you can add directly to the food. I just toss the pill in the food. For allergy dogs I have given a 1200mg tab each at the morning and evening meal. I think it may help some but the Atopica was the real savior.

 

[All about Eva]

My ne dog has had allergie shots for 1 year, dematologist, food trials, every thing you can imagine. With now success The previous ownere loved her dearly. The only thing that works with her is Atopica. She has scaring on her sides from where she was bald from scratching. I also work in a vets office and have seen some great things with it. I would not use it as a first choice, but if you have tried other things and they have faild, go for it. Talk to your vet about it. Good luck

 

[Zora]

thanks for answering to both fo you!!

I would not use it as a first choice, but if you have tried other things and they have faild, go for it. Talk to your vet about it. Good luck

What would you recommand? We have determined that it was not food related by the putting her on hypoallergenique food. In our vets opinion next step would be the serology test to determine to what she is allergique to and then probably desensitisation. Anyother options in your opinion?

After reading about desensitisation it does seem to have mixte results, and it is very expensive, that's why I asked about Atopica. I'm also wondering if the serology test is really needed. I know it not food, I know its not seasonal, so even if we determine its dust what can I do about it? Not much unfortunatly... Its not that I'm stingy, I would happily pay anything if it would do any good. So would you or did you do the test before treatment? If you did, would you do it again?

 

[All about Eva]

IF the food trial did not work, and you do not want to do allergy testing, then yes I would say talk to them about Atopica. If you did a food trial with the food at your vets office, i would try a different food trial with a grain free High quality diet. My mastiff struggled with what we thought were enviromental allergies for years. We did the food trial at the vets office (wich is actually my work) and was faithful for 8 weeks with no change. So we figured it was enviromental. I did not want to do the allergy testing, it is just a blood test you can have your vet send out, or go to a dermatologist and they can do the skin test. Well to my suprise after doing food research for my new pup I found that almost all foods at the petstores were crud. So switched to a grain free food with a protien that she had never had before. With in a week her allergies were clearing up, I have not had an ear infection or anything. Now my new dog, the previous owner did every test, including seeing a derm doctor and food trial. The derm doc has her on Atopica and she is doing wonderful. You can tell she use to be really bad because there is scaring on her side from the scratching. But she is also on a high grain diet. I am hoping to drop some weight off of her (need to loose 15 lbs) put her on the high quality unusual protien diet that we feed and the allergy meds my be able to be reduced. She is on 125 mg a day. Now that runs some one about 250 dollars a month. if she drops weight she may be able to go to every other day ( hence 125 dollars a month). Or if the food trial works be able to go lighter like benadryl or none at all. It is wishful thinking but worth a shot. The atopica is great and works well, but I want to be able to fall back on something when everything else fails. Right know if my new dog fails on atopica I have nothing else. yes I could do steriods when it gets to bad but I rather know that I did everything and this is the last resort. Sorry to ramble.

 

[Zora]

What grain-free food do you use? The food Zora is on is supposed to be totally hypoallergenic, it's hills z/d ultra. The only thing the vet said was that there could be some food preservatives in there that could triger the alergy. but all dog foods, except raw I suppose, have preservatives.

As for Atopica it does look expensive, have you tried canadian online pharmacies? Google Atopica online pharmacy, seems a bit cheaper.

Thanks!!

 

[All about Eva]

I use taste of the wild pacific stream for my pup and taste of the wild venison and bison for the rest. If I run out of one they eat the other and have had no problems. Including my mastiff who is a major food allergy dog. We tryed ultra Z/D on her and it did not even help. Now my bull dog came with month supply from her previous owner and what I am trying to do is have my vet (who I work for) order it through a human pharmacy. the drug is cyclosporine also a human medication. I checked with the pharmacy if my vet were to write a script for it, how much would it be, and it ran about the same ( but that was only one place). Then I had the idea of asking her to check how much it would be for her to order a bottle of it from a drug company. So she is getting prices for me and I will defenatly keep you in formed. If that does not work out I am going to look at different pharmacy prices. Some drugs are marked up horribly at pharmacys. 90 dollars one place 30 another. It is crazy. I will keep her on the atopica until i feel and my vet feels we can try and lower the dose. Either way is fine by me. I know what she is allergic to and it is mostly enviromental so I wipe her face and paws and back when she comes in from outside. (Just quick wipe down only takes a few seconds) My sons allergist reccomend we do that in the spring when my sons allergys are bad (enviromental) and it keeps the pollens and stuff from being carried in and spread through the house. Sorry to ramble.

ZORA found this thought you might like to look at it. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1079&cat=all
Also keep in mind I work for a vet. Vets do not have that much training in nutrision and they recieve all kinds of incentives for sell a certain food. I would highly reccomend you look into food or call a holistic vet. I also have a friend who is holistic vet and I use both. I would call the holistic vet and asked what they use for food allergy dogs ( I can garentee it will not be Science diet.) Good luck it is frustrating and hard I understand I have been there.

 

[pawcurious]

The serology testing won't confirm allergies anyway, just tell you which irritants your pet has the highest amount of antibodies to, so if you aren't planning on doing the allergy shots it's not worth doing the test, IMO.

Atopica is a nice product. Expensive, but worth it when it works.

 

[hsieh]

when my dog was bothered by fleas i put a thick coat of Vaseline where he was chewing and it stopped him from chewing and untangled his hair where he had chewed it.

 

[Zora]

Thanks for all your help! She's had surgery this morning for a thorn ACL so I think I'll see that she recovers for that and then concentrate on her allergy.

I think I'll try washing her more often, I tried washing less, thinking that washing to often would dry her coat, that obviously did not work, so I'll try the opposite. I'll also add some fish oil to her food, and try an other food. I really thought that z/d would manage food allergies... well I guess nothing is that easy...

when my dog was bothered by fleas i put a thick coat of Vaseline where he was chewing and it stopped him from chewing and untangled his hair where he had chewed it.

I'd have to cover her in vaseline from head to toe

 

[TomN]

Thanks for all your help! She's had surgery this morning for a thorn ACL so I think I'll see that she recovers for that and then concentrate on her allergy.

I think I'll try washing her more often, I tried washing less, thinking that washing to often would dry her coat, that obviously did not work, so I'll try the opposite. I'll also add some fish oil to her food, and try an other food. I really thought that z/d would manage food allergies... well I guess nothing is that easy...



I'd have to cover her in vaseline from head to toe

If you wish I can recommend an excellent shampoo for what your dealing with. YOu might have seen it on another thread "Eqyss Microtek shampoo and spray" I have used this extensively for the past year on my allergy dog and it has helped considerably with relief from itching and cleansing the skin. It won't dry out the coat either. I follow a protocol during flareups of washing every 5 days and using the spray once a day in between baths.

You might also look into Natural Balance dog food as they have several for allergy dogs with single protein/single carb sources. Good luck.

 

[Zora]

Thanks TomN! I think its the shampoo and spray,the pet store owner recommended! I'll try it