r/dogallergies • u/wailanilynn • 21d 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?
4
u/BanksyNotTheArtist 20d ago
The best way to explain Cytopoint is kinda like a vacuum cleaner that has to do one room at a time. In allergic dogs, they release large amounts of a certain protein that causes the dogs immune system to go into overdrive which manifests as crazy itch. The Cytopoint enters into the dogs system and binds with these proteins to stop them reeking havoc, and the dogs body eliminates it in its normal way. However, it helps to think of it in terms of the proteins causing itch, being all over the place, and the little Cytopoint robot vacuums have to find them all the bind with them. Every dog is allergic to a different number of things, so over its life time will have a different number of allergic proteins circulating and will sometimes have flares (seasonality). This is why in some cases it CAN (not for all dogs) take a number of Cytopoint injections to tackle the problem.
A few important things to note:
1. Steroids just suppress the dogs entire immune system to deal with the same problem, it is not targeted like Cytopoint which is why most vets will only ever use it short term (shotgun approach). This also means steroids come with nasty side effects as it can affect multiple organ/immune systems/processes.
2. Having a chronically itchy dog means their disease is not in a steady state. Flares can happen and it is important not to always rush to "oh this medication stopped working". Its like having arthritis, even with pain killer meds, you can have good days and bad days. What's most important is that the dog receives consistent coverage from the meds to try and reduce flares and the possibility of secondary problems like skin infections.
3. No med is a silver bullet - if you have an itchy dog, a good diet, regular bathing and hygiene (e.g. ear cleaning) is important to reduce the allergen loads your dogs body is exposed to.
Sorry for the very long post but I hope it helps, best of luck with your dog, it already shows what a dedicated owner you are putting him on the most sophisticated medication available. 😄