Apoquel not working?

[Kamela & Beckett]

Beckett is our Aussiedoodle who just turned a year old. For many months we've been dealing with allergies- daily antihistamine, LID ingredient food with novel protein and nothing else, bathing with Duoxo Calming. Still he scratched some. It wasn't a ton, so I didn't do anything. Then last week he appeared to have some sort of allergy flare up and his eyes were just a mess- red, irritated, very goopy. At that point I decided that obviously we needed to do something else, so back to the vet Fri. She prescribed Apoquel. She said they say 85% of dogs respond to it, but in her practice they've never had a dog not respond. She said usually see results in a few days. Sat and Sun Beckett scratched very little, if any. Yesterday and today I noticed him scratching more. And now he's biting at himself and he's got 2 red irritated sores on his belly (never had skin lesions before). His eyes aren't quite as goopy, but I still clean them out once a day and they are still horribly red. This isn't what I expected. It's almost like he's getting worse (he's never had sores before). Anyone have a similar experience with Apoquel? I'm beginning to get worried he's in the 15% it doesn't work for and wondering where we go from here. I suspect the recommendation will be a specialist, but we don't have insurance. We send him to daycare several days a week as we work full time (but I hadn't anticipated doing so). We bought a pure bred dog from a breeder so we'd get a healthy dog and avoid this type stuff. At some point our budget is going to cry uncle. :(

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Kamela, a dermatology specialist is really what Beckett needs, and the cost can be significantly less than you think. Especially when you are paying your GP vet for visits and treatments that are not working and may not be appropriate for whatever condition he has. Apoquel may not be the right drug for whatever is causing his issues. It generally works for immune-mediated diseases such as Atopy (true allergies) but that may not be what Beckett has. You need a reliable diagnosis and treatment plan. Poor Beckett is suffering, and it may get worse. It sounds like he is developing hot spots, which also need treatment. Please make an appointment for a consultation with a veterinary dermatology specialist. 

(This is completely OT, but doodles are not "purebred" dogs. Aussiedoodles, Labradoodles, Goldendoodles, any kind of doodles, they are mixed breeds, not purebreds.) 

[Kamela & Beckett]

My mistake. I'm aware they are not pure bred. My intention was to contrast buying a dog that was bred intentionally with health and temperment goals versus a rescue dog which can be the product of strays becoming unintentionally pregnant (and not getting proper food and care) or just not knowing the background of your dog and taking your chances. We have had unfortunate experiences with rescues having health and behavior issues and spending a lot of time and money trying to resolve them. Buying a puppy was supposed to help us avoid those issues or so I thought.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When our Springer had serious skin issues, we took him to our regular vet - who is a good vet, but Gordie got the 'standard treatments' over and over. And he kept getting worse.  We went to a vet dermatologist and actually spent no more than we had been spending, got a correct and specific treatment and he got soooo much better right away. We also found out that he was allergic to steroids - found in that 'standard' treatment.   I wish you the same positive results we had.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

My Murphy was on Apoquel for his Atopic Dermatitis which flares for a few months in the Spring.  It worked within one day and totally stopped his itching.  That would make me think that as Karen said, his condition is something that does not respond to Apoquel.  I would definitely make an appointment with a dermatology specialist.

[Kamela & Beckett]

Thank you all for your responses and advice. It looks like we have a single dermatology specialist in our town and they require a referral to be seen. I left a message first thing this morning and asked for the vet to call me. I'm going to discuss my concerns with her and ask for a referral. On a positive note, we bathed him last night with Duoxo and the 2 small "hot spots" on his belly look better this morning.

[Kamela & Beckett]

Our vet agrees with going to the specialist. However, the one available in our town is not board certified. She did a residency in dermatology and practices as a dermatologist, but doesn't have the certification. The closest certified ones are 2-4 hours away (meaning an entire lost day of work for each visit) and my husband doesn't want to drive that far. Is the lack of certification something to be concerned about?

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

If your option is to go to the vet in town or not go to someone who at least has done a residency, I'd start with  the one who has some experience with skin.  If nothing improves quickly or you just don't get a good feeling about that vet, I'd bite the bullet and go to the one out of town. The out of town specialist might have weekend hours - mine did.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's hard to say. Veterinary dermatology specialists have an additional 3 years of vet school after they get their DVM, so I'm not sure that having done a residency in dermatology is the same thing, certified or not. You might be able to check on that. Not being a member of ACVD wouldn't necessarily mean she isn't qualified, but if you're paying for a specialist, they should have a specialist's education, IMO.

[BG and Gavin]

In an effort to get away from steroid use this ragweed season we are about to try apoquel. I will report back on effectiveness with Gavin.