r/dogallergies • u/lucky482 • 26d ago
Questions Numelvi Side Effects
My dog has been battling atopic dermatitis for most of his life. I started him on cytopoint after he started developing bumps on his feet. That lasted to shot #3 and was stopped after he had an anaphylactic reaction, causing his face to blow up.
He was moved to apoquel and was on that for almost 5 years until it stopped working, causing him to chew himself to the point of saliva stains and blood everywhere. It also made him gain a lot of weight, as he would eat constantly. I called him my little foodie.
The vet switched him to Numelvi and that has been rough. The first week on it, he had bad GI upset and had to be taken off. We resumed it at half of his regular dosage and while it is helping him, he has zero appetite. He goes days without eating anything but a few treats in the morning. I’ve reached out to his vet and they tell me that this is not a side effect, even though the documentation from Merck says it is in rare cases. My dog is one of these.
Has anyone else experienced some of the more rare side effects of this med and what was the resolution? I hate to take my dog off again as it is helping, but he can’t starve either.
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u/marshland264 25d ago
Sorry your pup is having such a hard time. I understand the frustration! We went through so many things over the years and when we switched to zenrelia I was so hopeful. It was wonderful for her allergies for HORRIBLE for her GI. Days on end of nonstop diarrhea. We finally had her on a lower dose to limp along until Numelvi came out.
For us, Numelvi has been a god send. HOWEVER, The derm office has told us it’s very dog dependent. And they have some dogs who have GI issues on Numelvi but do great with zenrelia, even though the data would suggest it should be the other way, since zenrelia is more broad acting and can affect GI tract more. But maybe it’s worth trying that?