Anyone using Atopica?

[cprcheetah]

I would discuss it with your veterinarian.  Here is what I found though:

From their website http://www.us.atopica.com/FAQs/faqs.htm

A. Every atopic patient is different and must be managed individually. In clinical trials, dogs that showed a 50% improvement in skin lesions and pruritus were started on a tapering dose (i.e., same dose every other day) then reevaluated in 30 days. If continued improvement was seen, then twice-weekly dosing was instituted. In the U.S. field trial, 41% of dogs received EOD dosing after 30 days. By week 16 of the study, 42% of dogs were being managed on twice-weekly dosing.

 

[catsrule40]

Hi! I'm sorry your kitty has been going through a rough time. One of my cats has been on Atopica since July 2013 with very little success. She is on her third bottle and I am still giving her a dose every other day. I've tried tapering her down to where she should be at this point, but the hair loss, scratching, and licking just gets worse. She has new bare patches and I see a trip back to the vet in the very near future for a steroid injection. I have started her on Nature's Variety LID from Science Diet Optimal, and have my fingers and toes crossed that this will help. 

  Good luck with your fur baby.

 

[saveallkitties]

I've used Atopica for nearly nine months with success. Jacob has a skin disease where the cells die and move to surface creating bad sores, claws and pads swell and blister, fur loss All started on his ears and front paws.
Nothing worked but Atopica. There is no mixing it with any food or flavor. Very bitter.
You must administer by mouth. My dose is for11 lbs. I can usually get almost two months out of a large btl. $96 per btl.
I tried to get him to an every other day.
Re relapsed after a month.
Downside: he hides from me and is afraid.
He is 9 years old.

 

[nekochan]

One of my cats Mr Grey started to hide from me because he hated the taste of the medicine so much. He would not come near me, would hide when it was time to give the medicine and he would start drooling when I picked him up to give the medicine before I even gave it to him, because he was expecting the taste.

However I found a solution to hide the horrible taste. I now dose out the liquid dose into empty pill capsules. It's a little harder to get them to swallow a capsule vs a liquid but at least they don't have to taste the liquid if it's inside a capsule, and they can't drool it out. At first, even a tiny amount that got onto the outside of the capsule was enough to get Mr Grey to start drooling and fighting the administration of the med. So I would coat the capsule in coconut oil to hide any bit of flavor that might have gotten onto the outside. My other cat didn't hate it quite as much so I just gave her the capsule without having to hide it.

These are the empty pill capsules I use, they are flavored for pets:

http://www.capsuline.com/dogcaps_catcaps.html#.UqqF3oIhPHQ

 

[myalove]

I've been reading the posts and came across yours.  Interesting enough my cat has been defecating near her food bowl as well.  This is definitely unusual behavior for cats and was comforted to see you are having the same problem.  How is that going?  My cat has been on the Atopica capsules as well as prednisolone daily.  While her dermatitis has almost cleared up her behavior is still not back to normal.  Since some time has now passed since your post I thought I'd ask if things have improved with your situation.

Thanks!

 

[catdude13]

Came to this site via a google search for Atopica.

Princess our 11 y.o. long hair, blue eyed, calico with siamese pattern markings was very healthy for about 7 years. Then we started noticing small lesions, increased chewing & scratching along with "flicking" of her skin. At first periodic Depo shots cleared it up & kept it at bay for about 2 years. After that it got REAL bad fast. Shoulder blades to tailbone looked like a peperoni pizza along with severe scratching lesions on her sides & behind the ears. Weight loss & lethargic behavior soon followed as all we could do was stave off infections. About $2000 worth of allergy tests from the local vet showed she was allergic to just about everything & they were sure it was food allergies as well. $57 a bag of hypoallergenic food that we had to feed all 3 of our cats, no way to separate them, with almost no help. Local vet said they give up. Just about ready to put her down to alleviate her suffering.

Decided to give her one more shot & took her to the Small Animal Teaching hospital at U. of FL.  They had a visiting Italian Dr. who specialized in dermatology said it was an auto-immune disease & Princess was the 2nd worst case he had ever seen. After the obligatory $750 allergy test he said that Atopica had just been approved for cats. Also said the food allergy issue was B.S., so much to all 3 of our cats relief it was back to their beloved Friskies!

Anyways, the Atopica was basically a miracle drug for her. We had to turn her into strictly an indoor cat & that peeved her off a bit but tough luck. Still bought the 25mg Atopica gel caps from the local vet, $40 per 15 {$80 a month!!} as he recommended 1 a day until she cleared up. That was over 2 years ago & after an experiment of dosing every other day I have settled on skipping on the third day {2 on, 1 off} as the most effective. The only side effects we have noticed is weight gain & even thicker than normal fur. 

Just as a general rule of thumb I always try to minimize ANY medicine as I know ALL medicines have some side effect. It's kind of interesting that since we ran out of Atopica & the vet will not renew her perscription unless I bring her in, she went 8 days without the Atopica while we found a new vet {lost confidence in original one from the misdiagnoses}. No problems at all in the 8 days & I know she appreciated the break from me having to shove a pill down her throat so often.

Bottom line is Atopica has worked fantastically for us for over two years. We have our cat back!

Hope this helps.

 

[catani]

Yes, I have used the atopica gel caps successfully. I would Absolutely not use the liquid version with cats, they hate it, and then they hate you! I've tried it, and I'm sorry to have put my cat through that torture. The one thing I have noticed is loose stool with the atopica and maybe upset stomach. The loose stool became so bad that I thought Felix had developed IBS even his bottom became inflamed, as if the diarrhea were not enough. Royal Canin Satiety support dry food for cats did the trick for the diarrhea, and now his stool is firm and he likes the taste of the food. This is a very high fiber diet. You'll need a prescription through a vet. For the upset stomach I started with 1/4 of a 10 mg Pepcid---all vet approved.
Felix has atopic dermatitis. I took him to OSU vet clinic. I highly recommend them. After a go with the Satiety Support food, The vet decided to place him on royal canin hydrolyzed cat food for food allergies. This seemed to work until pollen season started, and the fact that I couldn't get him to stop nibbling the other cat's food. A big no no when on a speciality diet. His skin allergies came back with a vengeance. So back to the atopica for awhile, maybe I'll try the hydrolyzed food regimin again in the fall.
A note: once your cat's issue is under control, you might be able to skip to every 3-4 days. I did. It worked for my Felix.

 

[catdude13]

Yes, I have used the atopica gel caps successfully. I would Absolutely not use the liquid version with cats, they hate it, and then they hate you! I've tried it, and I'm sorry to have put my cat through that torture. The one thing I have noticed is loose stool with the atopica and maybe upset stomach. The loose stool became so bad that I thought Felix had developed IBS even his bottom became inflamed, as if the diarrhea were not enough. Royal Canin Satiety support dry food for cats did the trick for the diarrhea, and now his stool is firm and he likes the taste of the food. This is a very high fiber diet. You'll need a prescription through a vet. For the upset stomach I started with 1/4 of a 10 mg Pepcid---all vet approved.
Felix has atopic dermatitis. I took him to OSU vet clinic. I highly recommend them. After a go with the Satiety Support food, The vet decided to place him on royal canin hydrolyzed cat food for food allergies. This seemed to work until pollen season started, and the fact that I couldn't get him to stop nibbling the other cat's food. A big no no when on a speciality diet. His skin allergies came back with a vengeance. So back to the atopica for awhile, maybe I'll try the hydrolyzed food regimin again in the fall.
A note: once your cat's issue is under control, you might be able to skip to every 3-4 days. I did. It worked for my Felix.

Glad it is working for your Felix!

I am definitely going to taper off the doses for Princess as despite the dramatic turn around with Atopica I still have fears of side effects.

I appreciate the advice on the success of your dosing. [emoji]9786[/emoji]

 

[hamuda]

I'm beyond frustrated. My rescued siamese (at 4 months) is now 21 months old and has asthma and skin/eye allergies, and goopy ears.  Between coughing and scratching and turning pink Im besides myself. I havent had any luck with homeopathic vet nor regular vet, and now am winging it entirely.  Prednisone nor Atopica manage her asthma. She is on aerokat with ventolin inhaler once a day. The prednisone at 5mg dosages lasts for less than three days for her itchy head.  She had been on atopica for 8 months, the liquid 8ml for 8 pounds of cat which was great for her skin, bad for a fungusy ears and didnt do anything for her asthma.  Pulsitilla homeopathic remedy balances out her disposition. I hate the thought of her on any of these immune suppressing drugs. Her allergy tests came back positive for molds, oaks, and grasses..I live in Florida.  Even with air purifiers all over the house, her allergies are difficult to control.  She eats raw chicken from Tropical Traditions Allergicpet.com.  Has anyone heard of this company?  Or have any advice.....I'm open to anything...and the atopica is given dripped on to her food..she has no problem with it..sometimes I drop it into chopped liver which she loves.

 

[dellilah]

Hi, I'm new to this site and found it by googling 'how to give Atopica to cats'. I feel everyone's pain who has been dealing with their cats and skin allergies - it really is an absolute nightmare. 

My poor baby developed bad allergies almost 3 years ago now - constant scratching at her head and neck; licking the lower part of her stomach and backs of her legs not just bald, but oozing, bloody and raw. Tried short courses of steroids as the vet was initially not keen to have her on them longterm (and neither was I), and they would help but then as soon as she was tapered off it would all start again. Tried controlling the symptoms with bitter apple spray, anti-lick strips, all kinds of Elizabethan collars - from the doughnut-shaped inflated ones, to soft ones (great for scratching; rubbish for keeping her away from her hot spots) to the horrible hard plastic ones which I would have to 'adapt' so they were long enough to keep her away from her ankles. NIGHTMARE TIMES!!! So stressful, not just for her but for me too as life became all about managing her allergies. 

So anyway, started using Atopica about 9 weeks ago and initially was tapering her off the steroids while giving the Atopica daily. Definitely did see results after about 4 weeks, but have had so many problems with giving the medicine as she's on the liquid and as everyone knows it tastes vile. I just also find it really hard to give liquid meds to cats and after using pred for so long had become reasonably adept at giving pills. So I have tried mixing it with Lick-e-lix (I'm in the UK, I think this may be a US site?) which upset her stomach as they were dairy-based despite being made for cats :-/ then switched to gelatin caps which were easier in some ways but difficult to get down her throat as they stick. Thanks to this thread I then got some coconut oil and put that on the outside and it helped, and did actually get to a point of every other day dosing (relief!) but hit a wall when she stopped eating her hydrolized anti-allergy food (Hill's Z/D dry). Because I know stopping eating can be a side-effect of this food, and also quite dangerous, I gave her some of her much loved Applaws dry for a couple of weeks, and guess what, the itching came back. So, I went back to daily dosing again using the gel caps, and that was a week and a half ago, and today she scratched a raw patch on her head so I'm back to a short course of pred as well as the Atopica to try to get it back under control.

The problem I have is getting her to take this stuff. When I administer the liquid orally she won't eat for the rest of the day as the taste probably lingers. I can't mix it with anything to make it taste better because she may be allergic to it. And now I'm worried that maybe the gel caps are causing a reaction as they are of course made of cow and are a protein so it's possible. I've never actually had her tested to see what she's allergic to (far, far too expensive here in the UK) but I'm guessing it's everything as the change in the food helped, but didn't clear it completely.

So, to summarise: the Atopica definitely helped. She has fur back on her ankles and tummy and hadn't scratched sores on her head for the last couple of months. But now I'm not sure if it was just the Applaws that triggered her current itching, or going to every other day dosing, or even the gel caps. Sigh. I guess I just wait til this current bout is under control and hope for the best that the Atopica will work again. But still, giving the medicine is just horrible, whether it's shoving a pill down her throat on a daily basis or biting the bullet and giving the liquid. Poor, poor baby; I feel for her (and me!) 

I know this post is long and the thread is probably dead. I just needed to vent, I think. Perhaps I'll start a new thread and see if anyone is still using Atopica.

 

[sarah super]

Just chiming in to say that my cat is currently being prescribed Atopica as part of the immune suppressant medication given by the vet to help treat severe Anemia.

I can't comment about it's palatability as my cat has no more problems taking it than the other liquid medications she's on. One thing we do have though is that the syringe we use to get the liquid into her mouth has an extra long tip. As we have this, we usually put the Atopica as far back in her throat as we can get it, and while it doesn't seem that enjoyable for her, she doesn't seem to be any more adverse to taking it than her other oral meds.

We also give her wet food that she loves, immediately after her liquid meds, so these may be helping make her more accepting of the medication.

 

[keyshaj]

My cat has to have this for IBD.  What I do is buy empty gelatin capsules (size3 work perfectly), and put the 7 units she gets in that.  I add in 1/8 of a zantac for nausea (vet's recommendation), and we are good to go.  No taste, no drooling, no fighting to hold her as I insert the syringe and squirt slowly enough to get it into her and not all over. 

 

[michi4773]

Hi. I'm new here but I have my Frannie who is struggling with allergies and Atopica. We give it to her and she absolutely hates it but she is just so miserable. We have not had her tested for specific allergies. Can anyone recommend that? I'm thinking of taking her back to the get because there has to be something else they can do for her. Thanks.

 

[simbaben]

Hi all,

I have a fur baby that is 10 months old. He developed allergies fairly soon after he was born, about 6 weeks. They started as dermatitis and evolved into esinophinilic granuloma complex on his paws. Basically, swollen lesions on his paws that he would bite and lick at. Our vet tried numerous things, and we settled on Depo steroid shots which cleared them up, and now we are on 6 months of Atopica daily. He has gained a ton of weight, is on special hypoallergenic food but I am nervous about reading about all the risks with Atopica.

Help!!

 

[keyshaj]

I still stand by getting empty gel-caps and putting the atopica in them.  Size 3 or 4 caps, And it is supposed to be safer than pred.

 

[bethybeth]

So glad i've found this thread! Have suffered the last year with a persian with the most terrible allergies have literally tried everything & Atopica has been last resort for us(she was that bad) she used to scratch ALL day and every day i would come home to more deep infected, bleeding sores it was the worst nightmare. So, been on Atopica now for 1 month and for me, it has been a godsend.  It has literally saved her life, her hair is growing back and the sores are drying up and she's much much happier.  Yes, it's a total 'mare to get it down her but with practice i've managed to get a near-seamless routine going on! 

Good luck everyone, it's a living nightmare having kitties with allergies. 

 

[nekochan]

I still stand by getting empty gel-caps and putting the atopica in them.  Size 3 or 4 caps, And it is supposed to be safer than pred.

Yes, this is exactly what I do. This works so much better because my cat absolutely hated the taste of the liquid Atopica.
I found flavored empty capsules made for cats (called CatCaps) so I've been using that since it masks the taste better. For those who are concerned about the gelatin capsules and allergies, you can also buy empty "vegetarian" capsules which IIRC are made of cellulose.

 

[johnsherman]

Hi my dog Nikita uses atopica for severe allergies and it works great I was using steroids in the summer but as she had pancreatis she can no use them. But I highly recommend atopica

 

[johnsherman]

I put the pill in honey peanut butter and Nikita loves it and believe me she is a hard dog to give pills to

 

[mom2lb]

I know this is an old thread, but it has given me some much needed info by reading through it.  I am going to be starting Atopica for my furbaby who has Feline Idiopathic Ulcerative Dermatitis at the recommend of his vet.  He has been using steroid shots & prelone syrup for far too long & it seems that they are losing their effectiveness unless given way too frequently.  So thanks for all your comments & advice.  They are helpful.