Connie, the mite ratings were D farinae-4, D pteronyssinus-3, T putrescentiae-3. The 3 molds he got a 3 on were cladosporium, grain smut and Mucor. The grass was Johnson grass (3) which apparently is actually a weed if my research was right.

The derm vet said because of the molds, that is why have to use the mouth drops. Something to do with how they are mixed. If I don't see progress within 9 months, I will probably stop the drops. There is only a 70% probably they will affect him in any way.

Yes, we've been pretty aggressive on fleas, but I actually just migrated him off Trifexis and will switch back to K9 Advantix if I can work it around the baths. I can't saying coming off Trifexis has helped his itching at all though.

You know, for my raw diet, I have recently changed suppliers. I am only using Blue Ridge and Hare Today now as meat sources for him and I swear I do see a little difference in his coat. My prior supplier wasn't all organic and I dont' know if they added the pink slime to their ground meats or not. I am really starting to wonder if for this dog, that makes a big difference.

I was doing baths every 1-2 weeks and I do think that helped, but we got off schedule a bit as I had to deal with an illness (mostly better now). I tried the apple cider vinegar baths and was surprised how much that conditioned his coat, but they seem to bother Fenris more that regular baths. Maybe it's the overwhelming vinegar smell. Anyhow, I didn't push it since he needs baths often and I want it to be somewhat positive for him. I am using vinegar (unfiltered ACV) to wipe him down between baths. Hoping that will help.

I will check out probiotics. I haven't tried that yet. I'll check Leerburg for these.

If you have any shampoo recommendations, I would love to hear them. I was using Planet Dog Healing Shampoo which I think I found on Leerburg.

There is--or will be within the next couple of weeks--a new weapon in the Derm vet's arsenal to fight canine allergic atopy. It's a new drug called Apoquel which is a first-ever JAX-1 inhibitor (it targets itch receptors in a way that is different from steroids, antihistamines, or cyclosporin).

My allergy dog Cinco has been on the med for 10 days and we've gone from daily incessant scratching to practically zero. The real proof will come in a few more days when we reduce the dosage down to once a day. (The initial dosing is twice a day for the first two weeks.)

Time will tell whether this is a real "miracle" drug for itching. Nothing works for every dog. But this is the first real new category of medicine that's come along. It's certainly worth knowing about, or talking to your vet about.

Really? That sounds interesting. I tried Atopica and it did seem to help, but Fenris had issues with vomiting, diarrhea and appetite on it and he wasn't on it for more than a couple of weeks. I was also concerned about the long term side effects of Atopica so it was just as well he didn't tolerate it. I will check it out.

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Today is the day that Cinco transitions to once a day dosing of Apoquel. I'll post back in a few days to report how it's going. Really hoping the practically miraculous results we've seen in the first two weeks continue at the maintenance dose.

 Quote: Jessica Walsh

Really? That sounds interesting. I tried Atopica and it did seem to help, but Fenris had issues with vomiting, diarrhea and appetite on it and he wasn't on it for more than a couple of weeks. I was also concerned about the long term side effects of Atopica so it was just as well he didn't tolerate it. I will check it out.

I tried to get Kasey on it last week, but my derma vet said there is very limited quantities of it so far - it just came out at the end of November. She said in their clinic, each doctor got enough for 20 of their worst patients. It will be more widely available at the end of January. We have an appt then and will try it. Kasey weights 85 lbs and it will cost $85 for the first month (double dose for first 2 weeks), then $63 per month after that. Like Tracy said, the real test is when they switch to one pill a day after the first 2 weeks - my derma vet said many of the dogs that are on it start itching again after the downsize.

We tried the Atopica too and it made Kasey throw up also. She said this drug can cause the same side effects so we'll have to see how he does on it. I want a miracle!