Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Oclacitinib for treating allergic skin itching in cats
By Ortalda, Christian et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2015·Servizi Dermatologici Veterinari, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Oclacitinib in feline nonflea-, nonfood-induced hypersensitivity dermatitis: results of a small prospective pilot study of client-owned cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with skin allergies that weren't caused by fleas or food were treated with a medication called oclacitinib to see if it could help reduce their itching and skin lesions. Out of 12 cats, five showed good improvement in their symptoms after two weeks of treatment, while others either didn’t improve or had to stop due to lack of effectiveness. Most owners found the medication easy to give and rated its effectiveness positively for some of the cats. This suggests that oclacitinib could be a helpful option for certain cats with these types of skin issues, but more research is needed to find the best dosage.
People also search for: cat skin allergies treatment · oclacitinib for cats · why is my cat itching · nonflea dermatitis in cats · cat allergy medication effectiveness
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Oclacitinib is a Janus kinase inhibitor that decreases pruritus and lesions in allergic dogs. In cats, it is able to inhibit interleukin-31-induced pruritus; no information is available on its clinical effectiveness. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy, ease of administration and tolerability of oclacitinib in feline nonflea-, nonfood-induced hypersensitivity dermatitis. METHODS: Cats >12 months of age and >3 kg body weight with a diagnosis of nonflea-, nonfood-induced hypersensitivity dermatitis were treated with oclacitinib, 0.4-0.6 mg/kg orally (p.o.) twice daily for 2 weeks, then once daily for an additional 14 days. Clinical lesions were evaluated with the Scoring Feline Allergic Dermatitis (SCORFAD) system and pruritus was evaluated with a 10-cm-long visual analog scale (VAS) before and at the end of the study. Owners assessed global efficacy, ease of administration and tolerability with a four-point scale. RESULTS: Twelve cats were treated with a mean initial oclacitinib dose of 0.47 mg/kg p.o. twice daily. There was good improvement in SCORFAD and VAS pruritus scores in five of 12 cases, while the other cats were unchanged, deteriorated or dropped out due to treatment failure. Owners scored global efficacy as good/excellent in four of 12 cases and ease of administration and tolerability as good/excellent in 10 of 12. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Oclacitinib at 0.4-0.6 mg/kg p.o. may be an effective and safe drug for some cats with nonflea-, nonfood-induced hypersensitivity dermatitis. Further studies are needed to identify the most effective dose range for this species.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25940959/