Pets can be allergic to a wide variety of things, including environmental factors, household items, and food substances. Dog and cat allergies typically cause skin irritation and inflammation. This skin condition is called atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is one of the most common causes of itching in pets. Pets tend to relieve the itch by licking, chewing and scratching. Allergy testing can be performed to determine what allergens are affecting your pet.
To control serious signs and symptoms of allergies, pets need to take a course of medications. The most popular medications that help to cure allergy are Apoquel and Cytopoint. These two powerful medications against allergy are very popular now among veterinarians. Apoquel works quickly. Relief with Apoquel begins within 4 hours and continues for 8 weeks. This drug reduces white blood cells and elevates liver enzymes. However, you need to monitor the side effects. Dogs that on long term Apoquel treatment need blood monitoring. For safety, it is mentioned that APOQUEL may increase the chances of developing serious infections, and may cause existing parasitic skin infestations or pre-existing cancers to get worse. Cytopoint is an injectable medication that binds to specific cytokine IL-31resposible for allergy-related itchiness and even more effective than Apoquel. However, it is an immune-modulating medication that also needs blood monitoring. One Cytopoint injection can last for four to eight weeks in most patients. Thus, using these two drugs is promising and effective. Though, suppressing symptoms by these medications does not address the disease. Cost is also a factor for pet’s allergy treatment. Depending on the size of the dog, it can cost $70–$150 per month to treat an allergic dog, which does not include the cost of blood monitoring.
Thus, based on all the above the allergy test, elimination diet, and allergen-specific immunotherapy are the best-targeted option to treat allergic dogs. Immunotherapy is less expensive, more effective, and targets the disease, not only symptoms.
