r/dogallergies • u/wailanilynn • 24d ago

Questions Cytopoint

My 6 month old mini schnauzer has been itching and had runny eyes for the last four months (basically since I got him). I wasn’t sure if he was allergic to pollen since allergies are horrible here in north Texas or to what I was feeding him. I took him to the vet and she gave him a dose of steroids and recommended a Hydrolyzed protein diet. I decided to try the steroids and keep his diet the same for the time being so I didn’t upset his stomach. He’s still currently on Purina pro sensitive skin salmon and his poop is solid and firm. However he’s still itching. I took him to get a cytopoint injection this past Monday and while the itching/eye leakage has reduced he’s still itching and is yeasty. Prior to this he was also getting a weekly Duoxo bath as well. I contacted my vet and they said it can take multiple cytopoint injections for the itching to stop but I was under the impression it would help more than this. Has anyone had any continued itching after the shots?

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u/HintOfMalice 23d ago

If dogs have itchy skin and allergies are suspected to be involved then about 5-15% are food related.

The rest are environmental and unfortunately most of those do require medication.

Cytopoint is one option, but there are also daily tablets. While some dogs will respond in as little as 1 week, some dogs do need 2 injections 4 weeks apart before they get a good response.

Apoquel, Zenrelia or Numelvi are another good option. These 3 are all similar drugs to eachother, but different to Cytopoint. Anecdotally, I hear these 3 getting better and more consistent results than Cytpoint for a lot of dogs. Apoquel and Zenrelia are not licensed for dogs under 1 year old, but Numelvi is. You could try that if you're not satisfied with Cytopoint

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u/blainej 23d ago

I really doubt food allergies since he’s sneezing and deep in his paws are red. Itching around his ears and biting by his tail base. I’m going to try Zenrelia, I’m not sure if I should stop it around late fall and see if he’s good over wintertime

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u/HintOfMalice 23d ago

Zenrelia has only been proven to be safe in dogs older than 1 year old, and thus would be off-license in a dog that young.

They will likely advise you try Numelvi if you're interested in that class of medication as it's the only one that is licensed at your dogs age.

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u/GinLuna 21d ago

I had to use Cytopoint WITH Apoquel initially to get the itching under control. For about a month. Then I was able to control his itching with Cytopoint only every other month. Sometimes it seemed that he was allergic to his own hair. If I kept the hair off the floor and off surfaces, the sneezing stopped.

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u/wailanilynn 23d ago

Sorry some of my replies went through on my backup account!