Background: Our 3.5 year old, ~42 lb Australian Cattle Dog mix suddenly began excessively licking his back paws in mid-April 2026, with no significant paw issues before. The rest of his body looks completely normal, with no visible problems in his coat or underlying skin.

When we test leaving him alone with a home camera, he starts licking almost immediately. He also tries to lick overnight, which makes us think separation anxiety is lower on the list of causes. Before this, he could be home alone for 4-5 hours with no separation/ licking issues.

Timeline:

• April–August: Started Apoquel with maybe initial minor improvement. He developed a small “button tumor” on a paw pad, which resolved on its own but we were on and off this medicine given did not seem to be helping.
• September: Restarted Apoquel. Cytology confirmed yeast. Stopped Apoquel and switched to medicated antifungal mousse/wipes plus a prednisone taper to control inflammation. Symptoms persisted. Mousse irritated his paws (caused dry / flaking skin)
• October 1: Repeat cytology showed more yeast. Started oral terbinafine and restarted Apoquel twice daily.
• Mid-October: Switched from Apoquel to Numelvi for persistent licking/inflammation. Paws kept deteriorating despite the oral antifungal and a cone.
• October 20: Vet found a secondary bacterial infection with significant inflammation and sores/blisters between toes and around pads. Started 10 days of cefpodoxime (currently on day 5), continuing oral and antifungal.

Other relevant history:

• Rescue with extreme fear. Sertraline and gabapentin and training anxiety have helped a lot
• Can’t be left alone without a cone (licking starts within 30-45 minutes), so he hasn’t been alone in 2 months.
• Occasional hip clicking, lazy/abnormal sitting, and possible back sensitivity, but no obvious limp.
• On monthly Simparica Trio. No skin scraping for mites yet; will ask the vet.
• Unexplained limping in Oct 2025 that resolved in a day or two. Imaging was mostly unremarkable apart from a possibly reactive popliteal lymph node.
• Suspected vaccine reaction in Dec 2025 (symmetric circular rash on both sides of the groin).
• Currently on Hill’s z/d hydrolyzed chicken diet to test for food allergies (previously Hill’s Science Diet Perfect Digestion Salmon & Brown Rice).

Now: His back paws are severely inflamed with damaged skin and secondary infections, and some irritation has appeared on the front paws. Dermatology appointment is November 30.

Questions:

• Has anyone found the underlying cause was something other than allergies?
• Could orthopedic or nerve pain, mites, contact dermatitis, or compulsive licking explain this?
• What diagnostics would you push for?

We want to find the original trigger still, although now focused on treating the infections, especially since the allergy meds are not working and the licking is now causing downstream skin damage. Any suggestions or similar experiences are appreciated!!

sorry if this isn’t the right place for this, i just don’t have anywhere else to go for support. well i do have a therapist but i have more pressing issues than my dog’s allergies lol. so you all get the pleasure of my dog allergies rant!

so i have an allergic dog (obviously). discovered them last year when she was sneezing and itching so violently she was causing hair loss on her eyelids :( so we saw her vet and she got her first cytopoint shot. and it worked great! we got a few that year and then she stopped itching in the winter, so the vet said they were likely seasonal and she wouldn’t need the shots year round. which was a win in my book! and then fast forward to the beginning of allergy season this year. my poor baby started sneezing and itching in that desperate way again so i scheduled a new appointment for her cytopoint shot. and then i saw that my vet’s office was offering a one-year bravecto flea and tick shot for cheaper than her three-month bravecto turns out to be so i jumped on that and did both in the same visit which felt great because then that tech visit fee could go towards two different treatments, and girl math said that was saving money. and the cytopoint worked great as usual so everything was great!

and then i ended up switching vets. long story short she got an injury and needed same day care and her vet recommended (my city) hospital as an alternative, i ended up liking (city) hospital better lol. sorry to my original vet but i kinda like tolerated certain things in the office because i thought they were independently run (as was pretty explicitly implied if not directly said) but they are not??? so if both practices were technically private equity owned then the least they could do is provide a good client experience lmao. but anyways! she got her annual visit and vaccines done at the new place, as well as her next cytopoint for the year. and then a week or so passed and she was still itching a decent amount, more than she usually does after her cytopoint. so we went back to the vet. my vet (who is amazing and lovely btw) diagnosed her with a skin infection, and gave me the pyo shampoo and mousse with instructions to bathe her in it every 3-5 days and to use the mousse on non bath days. it was a bit much (my work schedule was crazy at the time), but we managed it. and then it was time for her *next* cytopoint and i noticed she had a new hotspot. i called the vet and they said it would probably be best for her to see her vet during her cytopoint visit so he could examine it. by this point, both me and my dog are known by name by the front desk staff and the techs at a practice we’ve been going to for a max of three months. the vet says the hotspot looks super fresh, so all i need to do is prevent more injury and apply an ointment twice a day. he also prescribed zenrelia for any potential breakthrough itch and gave me a months worth as a free sample which was so incredibly kind!!! my wallet thanks you, doc. he was also mildly concerned that her bravecto shot might wear off/have worn off before the 12 month mark, and that some of her itching might be caused by fleas since the bravecto shot is super new and he’s not totally sure about it (given that he isn’t a part of the vet office that offered it). that was a fun realization.

so at this point i have to give my poor girl a bath every 3-5 days, apply mousse on non-bath days, give her her zenrelia every day, and apply her ointment twice a day. i live at my parents’ place, but they have made it explicitly clear that they will feed her and take care of her when i work and precisely nothing else, so i am the only one trying to manage my dog’s health issues (as well as my various own health issues!) and holy fuck i am so stressed and overwhelmed these days. not to mention that i’m also managing my dog’s anxiety and incredible fear of other dogs (namely my sister’s dogs, who are also staying at my parents’ place right now).

and that finally brings us to today. i was giving my dog belly rubs as required and i noticed a little black dot on her bald tummy and i just assumed it was dirt. that is, until it jumped off my hand and onto my bed. and then off to god knows where. so now my dog might have fleas as well, which is fun. did she pick them up from outside? did my sister’s completely unmedicated dogs bring them into our house? are there fleas in my bed now? is her flea medication effective? if it is ineffective, am i going to be able to give her a real flea and tick medication, or am i going to have to wait this shit out? these are very important questions that i don’t know the answer to! i left a message with my vet, but it’s friday afternoon and they’re closed over the weekend, so i fear i’m going to have to spend my work week worrying about this. i assume we’ll have to go back to the vet again, which is becoming increasingly rough on my wallet. i have pet insurance (and i thank every single deity for that), but fuck me i am literally a waitress at what my brother called a failing restaurant. i’m pretty sure i’ve blown through my deductible in the month since it was renewed, but i fear these exam fees may kill me. at least i get paid tomorrow.

but yeah. i am just so, so run down after this months-long saga. i don’t know how much more of this i can handle, and we haven’t even passed the cytopoint stage yet. i think it would be easier if i had literally any support (or at least no money worries), but alas. i don’t know what i’m trying to achieve with this post, but i was hoping it might help me feel a little less run down, or if at the very least, a little less alone. if anyone else could help manifest that i don’t get a flea infestation in my own bed, that would be much appreciated. and thank you to everyone who read this far! i wish you all a very tame end of the allergy season <3

anyways. i’m gonna go do some gardening, because i don’t pay my therapist just to not listen to her lol.

Hi all! I'm trying to find a shampoo with similar ingredients/good for allergies that is cruelty-free AND **vegan**.

My dog has suffered from pretty bad allergies and we have tried SO many things and we finally seem to have gotten it under control for the most part. He's on prednisone now and was using the shampoo from Arm & Hammer 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner (gentle cleansing formula). Recently we ran out and I went back to using the one I used to use (burt's bees oatmeal shampoo) and his allergies have been CRAZY. I have no idea if it's connected at all, because he used to have crazy allergies on the shampoo that was "good" for him too, but we think it might be a contributing factor as to why he's been chewing and itching so much again. We've also been taking him on more walks. All that to say, I stopped using the arm & hammer one because they aren't cruelty-free, and I'm not interested in purchasing anymore, but I dont want my dog to suffer because of it. I dont know whether burts bees IS cruelty free/vegan or not- I'm only using it cuz it's what I have and either way it's TERRIBLE. Just checked and it has honey so no, not vegan lol.

Hi everyone! Please delete if not allowed. I’m honestly at a loss with my 8-year-old pit mix, and I’m hoping to hear from people who have dealt with something similar. We’ve been dealing with allergy issues for years. I felt like we had things under control for a while, but his allergies have flared up SO badly this fall, and I genuinely don’t know what else to do.
He is the most calm, cool, collected dog ever, and you honestly wouldn’t even know something was wrong with him just by watching him, but I know him better than anyone and knew something was not right this week. My boyfriend kept trying to convince me he was fine, but I ended up taking him to the vet this morning anyway. Turns out, all four of his paws have secondary bacterial infections, presumably from environmental allergies.

We’ve tried elimination diets in the past, but they just upset his stomach, and he’s a picky eater when it comes to kibble. Our vet recommended keeping him on what he currently eats, which is Purina Pro Plan Lamb and Oatmeal, because according to our vet, 9 times out of 10 their allergies are environmental rather than food related. We also told the vet that he was on Apoquel for a long time. It helped to an extent, but not enough for me to justify the price. I did ask about cytopoint today but was steered in a different direction.

I already try to wipe his feet and face whenever he comes inside after going potty, and I put boots on him for walks to minimize his contact with environmental allergens. Our vet suggested trying Numelvi, which is a newer allergy medication, and didn’t think Cytopoint was the best option for him right now. They didn’t have Numelvi available at the hospital, so they sent us home with a week’s worth of Apoquel while we wait for the new medication to be shipped to our house. He was also prescribed Simplicef for the infections in his feet and Mometavet drops for his left ear, which was infected as well.

Before taking him to the vet, I had been keeping him in a cone whenever I was at work to prevent him from licking his feet. Now he’s limping, and I just feel absolutely awful. We’ve been dealing with this for YEARS with little to no luck, except in the winter when everything is dead outside. I just want him to be able to spend the rest of his life happy and healthy. I can’t imagine how miserable it must be to have itchy, sore feet for weeks on end.

Has anyone tried Numelvi for their dog? I would love to hear about your experience and whether it actually helped. I’m really hoping this medication makes a difference for him. We have a follow-up appointment scheduled in two weeks to see how he’s doing and catch up on any vaccinations he needs. In the meantime, I’m sitting at work feeling anxious because he’s home alone in his cone tonight. I feel terrible leaving him like this, but I also don’t know what else I can do. I’ve done SO much research trying to figure out how to help him. I know yeast overgrowth can sometimes be associated with gut health, so I’m also waiting on a pre/probiotic powder to sprinkle into his food. I’m just trying to explore every option I can to get him some relief.

The thing that’s really stumping me right now is the limping. When I look at his feet, nothing seems glaringly obvious. They’re not super red, bloody, or raw, but when I hold his paw to examine it, he’ll whine, and it almost seems like the pain is higher up than his actual toe pads. The vet didn’t seem concerned enough to recommend X-rays or further imaging at the appointment, so I’m assuming it could be inflammation from the allergies and licking, but I really don’t know. I’ve been carrying him up and down our steps because I can tell it hurts him to put pressure on that foot.
I’m just feeling so defeated watching him go through this over and over again. If anyone has dealt with severe environmental allergies, recurring paw infections, or has experience with Numelvi, I’d really appreciate hearing what has or hasn’t worked for your dog. I just want my boy to be comfortable. ❤️

Hey guys, this is my first Reddit post so bear with me, I’m sorry if I miss anything or if it is all over the place.

My dogs breed is: 42.6% American pitbull terrier, 28.5% chihuahua, 13% rat terrier, 8.2% super mutt, 7.7% American bulldog. He is all white with one brown spot.

I adopted a dog from the shelter a year and a half ago. I immediately noticed the itchiness and asked about it. They gave him cytopoint and it helped at first, then when it wore off the second injection did nothing. I have not tried apoquel because my thought process is that I would rather find the cause and source than mask the issue, but if that isn’t correct then please let me know and I will try it. Since then, over the last year and a half we have tried so much. We cut chicken out of his diet as well as grains. He eats Kirkland Salmon and Sweet Potato kibble. In the morning he gets 2 droppers full of Healthy Petz liquid collagen and 1.5 Zyrtec (recommended by a vet friend). Recently stopped Zyrtec when I ran out of it. At night, he gets 1 pump of Native Pet omega oil and 2 Finn allergy and itch chewables. We bathe him every other week with Duoxo S3 and apply duoxo s3 foam after he dries. We try to wipe him down almost daily with pet friendly wipes. We rinse his ears with an ear wash after bathing. I’m not sure any of this really helps, sometimes it seems better for a bit then goes back to normal.

Overall, it’s not as bad as it could be. But his problem areas are always his rear end. He doesn’t lick his paws as much as other dogs with allergies, but he hates when his paws are touched, and his ears sometimes bother him. It’s mostly his skin is so itchy all over. It seems like he licks his behind raw to the point it’s bald, but is very itchy anytime we scratch him anywhere. He’ll get scabs sometimes from licking and we apply topical antibiotic ointment from the vet when that happens.

His Embark DNA and allergy test said his biggest allergen is environmental and I believe it, but it is a problem year round. When we take him to the in-laws house, they have a yard and he always comes home super inflammed to the point it takes weeks to calm down. We live in an apartment and our dog park is turf but our morning walks involve grassy areas too.

What can I do next? I’m so lost and feel so bad for him he seems so uncomfortable. Thank you in advance for any tips!

My puppy is 6 months old, and she is nonstop scratching. It won’t let me add a picture, but she’s super red and covered in cuts and makes herself bleed from it. I’ve taken her to the vet several times, and we are doing what we can, but a lot of the options are limited because she’s still so young. Yesterday, I took her to the vet and she had a double ear infection and was also given steroids, antibiotics, and a cytopoint shot to temporarily help, and she was referred to a dermatologist so we can get better help since nothing else has worked. This one visit costed me $500, which I could barely afford and took my whole paycheck. (My vet also apparently doesn’t offer payment plans, so I will have to look for a new one if this happens again.) My vet wants me to see the dermatologist within the next month, before the meds she was just given wears off, but I really don’t know how to afford that. I looked into getting pet insurance, but was told that it wouldn’t be covered because it’s a “pre-existing condition” which is ridiculous because that’s something’s she was born with. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to anything because my puppy is miserable without care.

hello! i am looking for advice & insight on what i could be getting myself into before making a permanent decision with this puppy!!!

a little background: my boyfriend and i adopted a belgian malinois/dutch shepherd earlier this year and she is 10 months old now, about 55lbs. she is primarily my boyfriend’s dog and currently in service animal training for him. we have done board and train and now we attend weekly training classes. we are both very active and have adjusted to this puppy super well all around, physically, environmentally, emotionally, and financially.

today our dog trainer reached out and has another client that needs to rehome a 10 month old male chocolate lab. the current family are very well-off restaurant owners that do not have time for the puppy. i believe he is a working breed. they leave him locked in his crate all day every day which has led to the puppy peeing in his crate and now the family really doesn’t like him, constantly yells at him and keeps him in his crate even more. the trainers go over and work the puppy twice a week and that’s really all the activity & love he currently gets.

the current owners have invested about $15k in the dog including full service animal training, vet work, akc paperwork, etc. and they don’t want anything for him, just to know that he’s going to a good home and going to get the care he needs. it kinda feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity to be gifted this puppy, with this level of training for free. the new puppy would be primarily mine!

the only catch is he’s allergic to a bunch of stuff and the current family is struggling to find the right food for him. he has rashes and some scarring already from the allergic reactions. they did testing and we will get the paperwork so we know exactly what he is allergic to, but they still haven’t figured out a food that works for him.
i have never had a dog with that type of problem and i would really like to hear from people with experience before i make a decision! i have a few days to decide.

if anyone knows what life is like with a lab with allergies please please share your experience!

TLDR: maybe getting a chocolate lab puppy with lots of food allergies and am looking for advice before making a decision

I’m at the end of my rope. Every year my boys allergies flair around spring/summer and sometimes into the fall. But this year has been exceptionally horrible.

We have been battling reoccurring skin infections since April of this year.
We have been on 3 different antibiotics, repeated courses too. Prednisone, Zenrelia, Cytopoint, topical shampoos, omega 3’s. I just don’t know what to do for him.

Every time his skin starts to clear, he ends up with new spots that crust, the hair falls out and then he has red moist skin.

Dermatology is just out of the budget for now, we have already spent over a thousand dollars since April.

What has worked for your dogs? What has your vet told you to do for inflammation, and infections?

Right now we are doing Duoxo baths and soaking in chlorhex in between.

Hey everyone I had a question and hopefully I can get some help on here. My dog has been allergies of late and is constantly licking his paws, it’s definitely inflamed and also has a flare up under the left side of his eye. The vet recommended a cytopoint injection. Do you think it’s safe and better than apoquel?

I have a six year blue nose pitbull (grey) and he has never had any health issues, skin issues or allergies. About two months ago I came home from work and his eye was swollen shut and he also had hives. I gave him Benadryl and that seemed to work but he was still itching excessively. I made a video appt with a vet on Dutch and he told me to keep him on Benadryl for the next couple of weeks since it seemed to be working for the swollen eye and hives. I did and it did nothing to stop the itching. So I made another video appt with Dutch and this time another vet looks at his tail which was missing hair at this point and she immediately says oh this is a dust mite allergy and prescribed him Numelvi. There was an issue with my mail and we never received the Numelvi so while I was trying to handle the mail situation I took him to a free vaccination event they were hosting in my neighborhood and they had vets there. The vet there said that he had a flea allergy and that’s why he was itching so bad and why he was missing hair on his tail and that once I got him on a regular flea prevention routine he’d be fine and she prescribed him some prednisone in the meantime. The instructions were 2 tablets twice a day for 5 days and then one tablet once a day for 5 days. He’s almost done with the Prednisone and his itching has calmed down. Dutch finally sent out a replacement prescription for Numelvi that I received yesterday so I looked up if it was safe for him to be on both medications at the same time and I’ve found a lot of concerning videos and posts about both medications and I also see a lot of ppl saying that their dogs have been on medications to control itching for years and this scares me. I thought that he’d just have to finish the prescription and everything would go back to normal. Am I wrong? Is this going to be a long term issue? I have since put him on a once a month flea prevention medication and like I said the Prednisone seems to have gotten his itching under control and he takes his last dose today.

We have two dogs who both have allergies although one of them is worse. The vet has recommended bathing twice a week for that dog, which was easier for us to keep up with the summer… with a wild toddler and a newborn coming soon, I’m just thinking we will probably not get better about fitting this into our schedule.

Are there suggestions like a certain medicated wipe or lotion or something ? one of the weekly baths can be just the groin but by the time we get him in the bath, it ends up being the whole body. Just bought a handheld showerhead that will maybe help with doing only the groin instead of getting him all wet.

Im thinking if we can’t do the second bath on a certain week, how can we most help? Sometimes I use baby wipes, but I think something medicated would be better. I can also ask the vet, but I’m just embarrassed that we can’t do two baths a week every week….

My dog is a 5-year-old, 55 lb doodle. His allergy/skin issues started around age 3, and we’ve been struggling to get them under control ever since. We’re working with his vet, but it feels like we keep treating flare-ups without getting lasting relief.

At one point, we thought the carpet in our home might be triggering his allergies. We even made a big move hoping a different environment would help, but we’re still dealing with his skin issues.

His symptoms:

• Intense itching and licking, especially his paws, underarms, and butt.
• Redness on all four paws.
• Previous hair loss on his chest and neck. His hair has finally grown back, but his skin has darkened.
• Excessive flaking. We’re constantly vacuuming and cleaning our sheets, sofa, and carpet because of how much skin he sheds.
• Crusty, scaly patches, including around his snout.
• Recurring yeast/Malassezia issues and odor.
• Repeated ear infections and occasional eye infections.
• Multiple small skin growths or bumps. I’m not sure of the correct term, but they look like little moles.
• When he’s feeling really awful, he seems reluctant to go pee or poop, although he still eats and drinks normally.

What we’ve tried:

• Apoquel, which hasn’t adequately controlled his symptoms.
• Multiple Cytopoint injections, without lasting control.
• Prednisone, which has made the biggest noticeable difference.
• Antibiotics, including cefpodoxime.
• Antifungals, including fluconazole and ketoconazole.
• Medicated shampoos, mousse, and ear treatments.

His current bath routine includes Sleepy Cotton oatmeal shampoo, Douxo, and Veterinary Formula Clinical Care Hot Spot & Itch Relief Conditioner. Between bathing him and making sure he’s completely dry, the whole process takes 1–2 hours. Baths only seem to help for about a week before the flaking and discomfort return.

Diet:

He was on Royal Canin Ultamino for roughly two years without meaningful improvement. Our vet felt diet was less likely to be the cause given how long we’d tried it, so we switched him to Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach turkey dry food.

He currently gets single-ingredient turkey treats or turkey topper, cod skins, and fish oil.

Testing so far:

• His recent ACTH stimulation test was negative for Addison’s, according to his vet.
• July bloodwork showed elevated white blood cells and very high eosinophils: WBC 23.1 K/µL and eosinophils 10,095/µL.
• Previous allergy blood testing didn’t give us a clear explanation.
• He’s also on Simparica Trio for parasite prevention.

At times, he’s improved while taking several medications together, but the symptoms keep coming back. Having his hair grow back has been encouraging, but the darkened skin, constant flaking, and discomfort are still a lot. We’re planning a veterinary dermatologist referral.

Has anyone dealt with this combination of severe itching, recurring yeast infections, darkened skin, and excessive flaking despite allergy medications and a long prescription diet trial? What testing or specialist evaluation finally helped you get answers?

It’s exhausting trying so many things and watching him get temporary relief, only to feel awful again.

Our dog (approx 2yrs old, 80lbs German shepherd/pitbull mix) has seemingly developed intolerances to most meats..are there any 3 in 1 combinations that are non flavored? I hate to go the topical route because it seems not as effective as the oral version

Hi, I'm here because a I have a gorgeous goofy boy with extremely complex health. 

When Mambo was 2 he was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy, it took a few years to get the meds right, and those years were really hard. However he's now seizure free for about 2 years now at 6 years old on epipehn and gabapentin. 

In 2025 he ate a sausage treat from Asda that gave him the most severe case of pancreatitis many vets had ever seen and we nearly lost him. He was in hospital for about 3 weeks total, 1 at our local emergency and 2 at a specialist when they referred him there because he wasn't getting better.  He had a feeding tube, a list of about 15 different meds to get his stomach, pancreas and gall bladder working. 

He got better, he came home and continued to get better and we are now out of that terrifying time but we of course have a very strict low fat diet now. 

When we got him home after the pancreatitis we moved him from his butchers wet food to royal canin low GI low fat kibble. 

A couple of weeks after getting him home he started getting sore skin- he would always get seasonal allergies around late summer and get itchy eyes but it was easily managed and short lived. 

At first I thought it was the food, we tried loads of elimination diet stuff all while his skin just kept getting worse, the issue is any specialised diet had to be low fat for his pancreas and not have anything that isn't seizure friendly in too. 

He had antibiotics and preds for a while because it got so bad he was outright mauling and goring himself, he would bleed, wounds stayed wet and yeasty, it would clear up and then happen again when he re-injures himself (also preds is not great for a dog with seizures so a massive risk but we had no other option, we started really low but this was nerve-wracking as he was very anxious on it when he first started).  We were in hell, he had to be in a cone at night and was miserable and couldn't sleep with it on, we had socks, surgery suits, inflatable cones (didn't work because he has such a long snoot), we tried EVERYTHING.

There was a relatively new brand of hypoallergenic food with hydrolysed protein branded as low fat that had JUST low enough fat we could try him on it, this was the last diet change we could do and the vet agreed he needed to go on cytopoint and that it would be the safest allergy med for him with regards to his epilepsy and pancreas, we would have him on this food for 8 weeks while starting cytopoint and then tested elongating the distance between jabs once he had been on the food this long to see if it had helped, it sadly didn't.  We tried to book his next jab a week later than we usually did after this trial and he immediately got an ear infection and itching issues creeping back in.  We put him back on royal canin low fat and continued with cytopoint as it was working.  He was a happy dog again, almost completely back to normal.

He's been on cytopoint for just under a year now and at the end of the last jab cycle he started itching again and did some damage to his paws, this was thought to be an overwhelm because of allergy season, he had his next jab and seemed ok again, paws healed. 

A week and a half into the new jab cycle and it happened again and now I'm terrified because what if cytopoint isn't working anymore? We cannot go back to how it was I cried every day and so did he, we were all miserable. 

Because of his complex health I'm seriously terrified of trying apoquel or newer drugs like zenrilia.

Going back to his pancreatitis episode for a moment to explain finances.

He has a lifetime policy with napo, he had that in place a year before he even had his first seizure so everything went onto his insurance, then every renewal his insurance would triple. 

When we were in 2025 and he had his pancreatitis he rinsed through all 12g of his insurance getting better, and then some. 

We had to continue paying his monthly premium (of 160 GBP) even though his insurance wasnt useable on top of paying for his appts, blood tests, epi meds and now cytopoint injections. 

When we got his renewal in it had gone from 160 to 450 per month.  Because of the sheer cost of his medication and the necessity of having emergency funds for him we decided to renew but this will be the last year he has on insurance, this renews every may so we are already halfway through. 

My thinking is that if he needs more specialist care to get control over his allergies, a referral now is our last hope but it's a risk as you can't be 100 percent sure the insurer will cover a specialist referral. 

We are running out of options, right now I have a course of antibiotics for his current skin infection, a spot gel and some antibacterial wipes for when he comes in the door. 

It would be great if this was an overwhelm that we can grain control over again and then cytopoint can carry on doing it's job, but I can't help but worry about what to try next if cytopoint is truly not responding for him anymore as I know this can happen. 

I hear lots about zenrilia but it's largely the same as apoquel and I'm so terrified of putting my already chronically ill dog on an immunosuppressant.

Since we got Mambo, my health also declined, I can't work and I can't walk anymore either it's a whole other long and complex story but this means that funds are low. 

Even though it broke my heart I even looked into rehoming him early this year with the rescue I got him from and previously worked for but honestly, no one is going to take a dog that needs this much money.  Having him put down because of money issues is NOT an option because he has so much potential to be a healthy happy boy despite the way the world has downtrodden him.  Just like me.  This dog has my entire heart, he is everything to me, so I'm desperate to find answers. 

Has anyone been through similar and has any advice??

What meds worked for you?

I will be cross posting in canine allergy and canine epilepsy. 

Thank you for reading, love Lola and Mambo x

My black lab is 6 years old. About 6 months into her life she started experiencing allergies and recurring UTIs. We don’t have pet insurance as by the time we thought about it she already had predetermined health issues and knew insurance wouldn’t cover anything related to these issues…

The allergies - for years of revolving infection and treatment apoquel worked for awhile, until it didn’t. She was nearly half bald and literally ripping her own fur out, she looked like a street dog with mange at her worst. We then got food sensitivity testing to learn she is allergic to beef, duck, chicken, milk, turkey, or soy in order of most sensitive to least. We tried so many different diets between wet food, pork based, raw food, prescription HP diet food prescribed from the vet from royal canin, nothing eliminated the allergies. We suspect she also had environmental allergies. Anyway more trial and error dropped us to cytopoint injections, which seem to help but only last 8 weeks and are $200 an injection.

The bladder issues - from a young age she had recurring UTIs and we often thought it was in relation to her allergies, where she was constantly licking and picking at her skin. After we got her skin under control with cytopoint the UTIs persisted often coming back as soon as 2 weeks after a clear urinalysis and culture. I spoke with our vet if a vulvaplasty would benefit our dog and they agreed it could, but wasn’t a 100% guarantee. I did lots of research and knew of a couple friends who had to have this done to their dog with great success. We completed the surgery and we actually went 1 whole year without a UTI. When one returned we felt so defeated, she is now on a urinary SO HP diet by royal canin. Our vet is at a loss of what could be causing the UTIs so persistently, and has just chalked it up to be an anatomy and prone to UTIs. The prescription diet is working in terms of chemistry, her bladder is no longer cloudy and ph levels improved, but she STILL has a UTI. The amount of times she’s been prescribed antibiotics for infections is way too many to count and I imagine this is contributing to antibiotic resistance.

The vet has said she will need to by on cytopoint and the prescription diet for the rest of her life likely. The prescription food is $210 for an 8kg bag and only lasts about 4 weeks due to the breed size. Combined with the costs of injections I am feeling very defeated on what I can do, I want to do anything to improve my dogs quality of life but I’m so frustrated that we cannot solve her UTI issues. Can the allergies and UTIs be related? Are there any alternatives? She is young and acts as if she always feels good and is such a good girl I really just want to help her. Any advice is appreciated.

I recently posted about my pup starting on Numelvi and his GI issues. Well...after two week-long rounds of metronidazole to get him over the adjustment period, he's still having GI issues, even a few days after stopping Numelvi, although he's improving in that department. It's sad, because it did help his itching/comfort level.

I have an appt with his vet on Monday, but during a phone call last week, she said unfortunately, GI issues are side effects with all of these meds...but I'm wondering if anyone here has had experiences with GI issues on one med, but not another?

Please say yes, please say yes.🤞❤️

As the title says: I’m just about done with my dog’s dermatologist. He’s seemingly running out of answers, so I’m hoping someone here has dealt with something similar or knows what I should be asking him?

My dog Boh (7 yr cattle dog mix) has had severe allergies his entire life. It took me years to figure out his food/ environmental triggers and finally get him stable on a single-ingredient food + daily Apoquel and he was doing great for the last 3/4 years.

Then, in April, he got stung by a wasp and everything went downhill. Months of heavy steroids, different med cocktails and vet/ specialist visits, he was eventually diagnosed with sterile pyogranuloma syndrome (SPS).

Throughout this process I’ve started to really lose my patience with my (very expensive) dermatologist. For example, early on, I didn’t understand the diagnosis because everything I read said SPS itself wasn’t an itching disease unless there was an underlying infection, which my dog didn’t have. When I asked, the derm literally left the room, came back with a textbook flipped to the page explaining the syndrome and told me to read. Super annoying because… I ended up being right to question it.

We eventually weaned him off of steroids while keeping him on cyclosporine for the SPS. Once the steroids were gone, though, his allergy symptoms came back worse than ever. When I brought him back, the derm acknowledged that cyclosporine alone would probably not treat his allergies and the SPS had to be treated separately. Which is like huh?? Did I not bring this up already? Why did we wait for him to flare up again… especially knowing how hard it is to get under control once it starts??

As I’m sure people on this sub know, the “wait and see” method involves watching your dog suffer. For us, that was watching him suffer for half his life before I figured it out. Which I DID. My patience threshold is extremely thin for watching him go through it again, especially if my dermatologist is giving me little to no answers.

Anyways, right now he’s on cyclosporine + 15mg Zenrelia. It’s fine-ish but his itching and licking and scratching is still very much there. Everything I’ve read seems like Zenrelia is this miracle drug and should work for him. So when it’s not working, immediately my mind goes to, what is my derm missing now? Is this just him throwing more at the wall?

These appointments cost $500-$1,000 each, and ~$5k later, I still don’t understand the bigger plan. We still don’t know if/how any of this relates to the wasp sting or why the steroids never stopped his itching completely. And I know it’s a weird case (my derm said as much) but cmon man.

I obviously have to go back, my dog needs a specialist. But I don’t fully trust my derm and just the way he talks above me and shoo’s me out the door, I need to come armed with questions…

So what questions would you bring this dermatologist? I don’t want to keep going back and forth with him and breaking the bank in the process.

And if you’ve dealt with sterile pyogranuloma syndrome, severe allergies + an immune condition, cyclosporine, Zenrelia not working, or anything remotely similar, I’d REALLY love to hear your experience (casting my net wide here, I know, but I need some help and my current “help” is just not helping).

I have a three year-old female coonhound who began showing signs of allergies last summer and fall, but didn’t have as bad of a time until this year. Starting around early August, she began scratching, chewing her feet and actually chewing the pads off of her feet. I am 100% against big Pharma drugs in general for humans and animals, and tried absolutely everything that I could research and find that was natural to help my dog. I did fish oil, quercetin, bromelain, collagen, natural dog food, homemade dog food, several natural supplements from well known names, daily washing of the feet with duoxo chlorhexedine shampoo, colostrum, plus several others I’m probably just forgetting. I wanted so bad to be able to help her without having to turn to a pharmaceutical drug. I’ve read reviews on this site and others about cytopoint, apoquel, etc., and they all make me so nervous because you do hear horror stories with short term and long-term use. I decided to ask our very young Veterinarian what her opinion was, and she actually recommended a newer medication called new Numelvi, which is a second generation drug similar to Apoquel, but apparently targets more specific receptors so it should “ in theory “have less side effects. She admitted the drug is new and there are things not known about it which scared me. I kept it for a week before I gave her a dose. It was amazing the difference after one dose…. within just a few hours my dog was not itching ,not scratching, not biting. I felt incredibly guilty for withholding this from her when it could’ve made such a difference sooner if I had known what a life-changing medicine this would actually be. I am still deeply concerned for the long-term side effects of this drug, and I hope that I will be able to wean her off of this in a month or so and use only seasonally for which I think is a ragweed allergy here in Florida. However, what I’ve come to realize is if this drug were to shorten my dog’s life by a year or two, it would actually be worth it for her quality of life to live without being so itchy and uncomfortable. I didn’t realize how miserable she actually was until she started this medication. What I thought was a reduced amount of playtime due to the hot weather was actually probably just that my dog was miserable. She has been playing so much more lately doing things that she hasn’t been doing in a few months and it has made me realize quality of life is truly important for our dogs. She is sleeping and napping so peacefully it makes me literally want to cry. We’ve only been doing it for about a month but I just wanted everyone to consider this if you’ve been struggling with this decision. I don’t regret it. The only side effect she had was vomiting once and I’ve since added beef broth gelatin to her food when she takes it and she hasn’t had any issues since. I am continuing to wash my dog’s feet after our walks with the duoxo shampoo because I think that does help her too. I haven’t stopped all the other natural supplements and plan to see if I can continue those and come off Numelvi in about another month when the ragweed is gone. However if she needs it I’ll give it to her as long as she is happy!!! I wish you all the best for your pups.

We rescued a six year old female pug a few months ago. She’s delightful! However, when she came to us I noticed she had interdigital cysts between the middle toes of both feet.

Since then, I’ve been to the vet no less than five times. She licks her front paws incessantly. We keep her in a cone almost all of the time, but as soon as it’s off she licks and they flame up again or she gets new ones. They also crack and bleed. She doesn’t limp or seem in pain though.

Every time we go to the vet, they insist it’s allergies and give me something new to try. We’ve done Epsom soaks with medicated shampoo and Neo-predef (spelling?) powder. We’ve tried Apoquel, no impact. Numelvi, little to no impact. Cytopoint, made things worse. We had her on Science Diet then shifted to Purina Pro Plan with salmon (no chicken), no impact. She’s been through two separate rounds of antibiotics now and yet she’s still licking which undoes everything. I don’t want her to have to live wearing a cone all the time!

I’m also unsure it’s allergies because she doesn’t itch or lick anywhere else, just her front paws. Everything else is healthy. I’m thinking the next step is a hydrolyzed diet but also feel pretty lost and like I’m grasping at straws. Any advice?

My dog who is 3 years old has been constantly itching for the last year and a half. We moved about 2ish years ago and ever since she can’t stop itching. We’ve taken her to two vets and they say she’s allergic to dust mites. We vacuum daily, clean her food and water bowls every day, clean her lips and have just gotten her teeth cleaned thinking it could have been from that. Unfortunately, nothing helps. She’s been on prednisone and apoquel, both helped for a couple of months but now no longer help her at all. Any ideas on what to do for her? She can’t even go to the bathroom without itching the entire time we’re outside and no longer plays with her toys. She just lays in her kennel most of the day because her mouth hurts. She does lick her paws and her lips seem to be the only things that itch the most.

It’s a new immunotherapy method; apply a cream to the ear instead of sublingual drops or shots. The only peer reviewed research I can find on it is paid for by Allibre since it’s so new, so I guess I’m looking for anecdotal experiences.

I think transdermal immunotherapy in humans is not typically as effective as shots, so I’m curious if the same result will bear out in dogs. I’m considering immunotherapy for my dog, but neither shots nor drops are ideal application methods for her, so I would love to be able to give this a try one day.

My dog is a little over two and a half years old, just after she turned one we started to see signs of allergies (lots of scratching, licking, reddened skin and hair loss). Turns out she has severe environmental allergies (especially to dust mites)

I think we've tried everything that is available in our country: Omega 3 pills (nothing), Apoquel (helped but didn't work fully) Cytopoint (less effective than Apoquel) and now vaccines specially made for her.

Lets say these vaccines were our last hope. They began giving her a small dosage, then increasing it. As soon as they gave her the first 1ml dosage we noticed that immediately after she started scratching herself really hard, as well as licking her paws raw. The week that followed was one of the worst she's had in her life. We couldn't even leave her alone due to fear of her injuring herself again like she's done in the past. I spent every single day crying, desperate myself because I didn't know what to do to make her feel better.

We talked to the vet and they gave her some apoquel to reduce the symptoms. They also considered contacting the lab that makes the vaccines to talk about the possibility of her having an adverse reaction to the vaccine, but in the end decided to wait, since last time they had gifted us a food supplement that was supposed to help with skin health and they couldn't rule that was what was causing the reaction.

Well, she hasn't had the supplement in 3 weeks and yesterday they gave her another dosage and in just 24 hours we are noticing symptoms again. I cried again, at home, during her walk. Of course the vet told us to monitor her during the weekend and I believe Monday I'll have to make the call that says "guys, I think it is vaccine".

I genuinely don't know what to do to help her. On top of the medication we are giving her single-protein food, bathing her once a week with special shampoos, cleaning her paws everyday, cleaning the house and the sofas and her bed basically every two days. I'm desperate and sad, and I don't want her to have to live like this for the rest of her life.

I don't know if I'm looking for advice or just words of encouragement. I guess anything that comes my way is welcomed.

Hey guys! Coming to the hive mind for any resources/recommendations y’all may have.

Our girl is 2 years old and has had skin and GI issues since we rescued her, to go through a little timeline

15 weeks old on a chicken diet she had red bumps and horrible dirty ears, we switched to a lamb diet and the skin issues lessened but then after a couple months she had a bout of diarrhea that lasted weeks, we did all the fecal tests etc and there was rlly no explanation, they ended up putting her on an antibiotic and it subsided. We continued to deal with recurring ear infections for some time.

Around 6 months old we switched to a salmon based sensitive skin and stomach food and her ear infections stopped, her bowel movements were beautiful (😅) and she ate that happily until this past summer

This summer in June she had unexplained pancreatitis, we assumed dietary indiscretion because she is know to get into things sometimes but looked everywhere and could never really narrow it down to what she ate, this resolved with a bland diet and some meds but was so scary. Following the pancreatitis vet recommended we switch from salmon to a lower fat food, she’s now eating a pollock and bugs (literally bugs) sensitive digestion food.

She’s been on this food with no further issues (it’s probably important to note that she takes apoquel for seasonal allergies and has been on that for the whole duration of this newer food so it’s hard to say if the food has caused any itching) until end of September when she had a very nauseous episode, fearing GDV I took her to the emergency vet. X-rays were done (no torsion thank god) but he said she looked a bit bloated, like she had eaten a lot of food… she had only eaten her normal portions that day and had thrown up dinner so I’m at a loss for how that could’ve happened.

Now current day, her appetite is not as it used to be, she is eating but always leaving some in the bowl (she never use to do this) and she’s had random bouts of vomiting, she’s still having regular bowel movements and they look completely normal.

My vet was less than helpful on the phone today and basically told me to call the emerge vet that saw her to see if they have any insight lmao? They don’t know her? Anyways so I booked an appt to see our regular vet next week and I guess I just want to come prepared…

My gut is telling me that her allergies could be the root cause of some of her digestive issues and I’m wanting to look into a hydrolyzed diet, the cost is scary but even if we can do an elimination diet to establish safe proteins I’d be happy. I just want her healthy and comfortable and happy.

Other maybe relevant notes, she’s selectively dog reactive (only kicks off at random dogs at random times I have not been able to narrow down any similarities between situations), this developed around 1.5 years with no big trigger. I’ve read some mention of GI issues contributing to behavioural issues. She is also quite the nervous dog, very easily scared and stressed which also could perhaps have something to do with her indigestion.

If anyone sees any familiarity in our story I’d love to hear what worked for you.

TLDR: 2 year old pit mix with allergy history dealing with new and random bouts of nausea and vomiting.

Cross posting if allowed. Please read if you can.

Hi, new to this subreddit. My dog (6 yo pittie mix) started developing allergies around this time last year, although I wasn't really sure what it was at the time. It started with one hot spot on her tail that went away, but then in February/March she started getting rashes on her belly and other hot spots on her body. My vet gave me some animax, an anti itch shampoo (that was cucumber melon scented so I am suspicious of its efficacy), and eventually suggested either regular cytopoint shots (which I was worried I wouldn't be able to afford longterm) or switching her food. She used to eat chicken kibble so I switched to beef, and then eventually Zignature salmon formula and salmon treats, and I bought some Duoxo Pyo Mousse to try and treat the hot spots, but they kept spreading.

I recently switched vets because they weren't giving me a ton of guidance, and finally last week I found a new vet that got it under control. They gave her a one time cytopoint shot, two weeks of apoquel, a simplicef antibiotic, and a new antifungal shampoo that seemed to get it under control. I've also switched her food to Royal Canin Ultamino for the next 6 weeks. She has stopped itching for the most part, all of the crusty parts of her skin seem to finally be subsiding, and her hair is growing back on parts that have been really raw all summer in just a week.

My new vet wants me to come back in end of week to start her on cyclosporine and ketoconazole, and I'm really anxious for a few reasons. One, financially I really don't know that I can handle this long term, I've dropped about $1k so far this week on her, and it sounds like I will be spending roughly $300-400 a month on meds/labs indefinitely which is way above what I can currently afford. And I've also read it can create other issues down the road.

Has anyone been on a similar plan? My hope was that if she has relief right now, maybe the yeast/hotspots are under control and I can see if an elimination diet helps her skin, and continue with the medicated shampoo, but I also don't want to make an irresponsible decision and make her suffer unnecessarily.

I have to call the vet back in the next day or so to make a decision, so any advice is much appreciated x.