vets in northern ireland

Auds22002

My insurance claim has just been denied as 2 years ago i mentioned to my old vet that he bit his paws sometimes, turns out he wrote suspected perioditis(Spelt wrong) so now after my dog has been diagnosed with atropy after biopsy and being put on atopica , i have just recieved a letter saying claim is denied.
Before i went ahead with treatment i rang old vet to check what date i first mentioned skin problems, they told me june ( i had started insurance in april) so i thought great and went ahead with treatment and claim. since getting the letter back i rang old vet again to ask what was on the history and she said that on 11 april vet had written in mange ( never any sign of this as far asi could see) and perioditis , hence claim denied, i told them they had told me june but she said girl who iwas talking to must of made a mistake !!

So €900 later, i now can't afford the atopica, it costs €198 per 15 tablets, my dog is on 1 a day but this should eventually wind down to 1 a week.

my question is can i bring him up north to be assesed as the tablet only cost £3.50 per capsule in uk , so if i got a perscription my cousin said she would get them for me?

Anyone used vets in northern ireland and are the prices better, the poor dog is only 5 days off tablets and skin is already flaring up


Thanks in advance

maggiepip

You are legally entitled to request a prescription off your vet and purchase the medications elsewhere or from a reputable online source - so you could source from the UK this way.

toadfly

When we had our old dog we got a prescription from the vet and ordered online from petmeds.co.uk for a lot less. Just had to email them the script and the order.

DBB

Berluddy hell OP, I can't believe what you're being charged for Atopica! Unless they've put their prices up a huge amount in the last while, that is an enormous mark-up!
Do some shopping around, I'm sure you'll get a better deal elsewhere.
Was your dog allergy tested to see what's causing the allergic reaction?
For what it's worth, a radical diet change tends to be extremely effective for atopic dogs, because it eliminates many of the allergens that cause the atopy in the first place.
Just out of interest, what breed/type is your dog? Westie? Staffie? Bull breed? These are the most common breeds to be afflicted with this awful condition.

Auds22002

Thank you everyone for the quick replies, all very interesting.

Maggiepie , thats really interesting that i'm legally entitled to a prescription so i will def be looking into that.

Tillygirl i checked out that website and the same box is only 48 pounds !! hopefully they will take an irish prescription, tried vetuk .co.uk and they won't take irish ones so thought that would be the same for all online sites but hopefully they will take it, will email them shortly.

DBB , our fella is a cross between collie/springer/setter, gorgeous as you can imagine, we have him on special diet food for a long time now but it made no difference , so after scrapings on his skin they came back with mild atropy , tablets worked great. think he was tested to see if he had any allergins but it came back negative, so they think its just in him . I have started using rock sulpher in his water as this may help.

Brilliant advice from everyone thank you all so much,

toadfly

They definitely do as Ive ordered from them. From what I remember you print out their prescription form and get your vet to fill it in. You need a separate order form too.

DBB

Auds22002 wrote: »

DBB , our fella is a cross between collie/springer/setter, gorgeous as you can imagine, we have him on special diet food for a long time now but it made no difference , so after scrapings on his skin they came back with mild atropy , tablets worked great. think he was tested to see if he had any allergins but it came back negative, so they think its just in him . I have started using rock sulpher in his water as this may help.

It's a fairly unusual condition in those breeds, so you're a bit unlucky in that sense!
However, be aware that Atopy is an autoimmune condition, so is "in" every dog that develops it. It is, essentially, an over-reaction of the immune system to allergens. In other words, your dog is allergic to something.. he has to be, or he wouldn't have Atopy.
You do really need to find out has an allergy test been done: they are very expensive, and are usually sent to the UK or US for analysis.
The tablets generally used are steroids, which suppress that over-the-top immune response, and cyclosporine (brand name Atopica), which is also an immunosuppressant.
In other words, you're treating the symptoms, not the condition, which is not curable. Immunosuppressants, whether steroids or Atopica, are simply masking the problem, and may lull an owner into a false sense of hope. They work, for a while, but if the dog continues to be exposed to the source of his allergy, the symptoms just keep coming back when you stop the treatment. The answer to this is to keep the dog on immunosuppressants for life: I'm not a vet, but I'm willing to bet that this cannot be good for the dog long-term.
Most dogs, when allergy tested, turn out to be allergic to an ingredient in their food, or very commonly, they're allergic to the little storage mites that live in dry dog food: this goes for ALL dry dog food, no matter what you pay for it. This is why special, expensive prescription foods do not work for Atopy when the cause of the allergic response is the little bugs that live in it! These prescription foods can appear to work, because they are usually prescribed at the same time as the immunosuppressant drugs, but that's all it is: appearance. It's the drugs that are causing the (temporary) improvement.
Cereals in food are also a common cause of an atopic reaction, as are the over-cooked meats the foods contain, usually chicken or beef.
So, I hope you can see that there's more to this than meets the eye. Atopica will not solve your problem in the long-term if it turns out your dog is still being exposed to whatever is causing the allergy. I use storage mites as a very common example, and food allergies, but it could also be dust mites, pollen, chemicals in the house... all sorts of environmental allergens. So, confirm that he has had an allergy test, or not. He is, without any doubt, allergic to something!

Auds22002

DBB wrote: »

It's a fairly unusual condition in those breeds, so you're a bit unlucky in that sense!
However, be aware that Atopy is an autoimmune condition, so is "in" every dog that develops it. It is, essentially, an over-reaction of the immune system to allergens. In other words, your dog is allergic to something.. he has to be, or he wouldn't have Atopy.
You do really need to find out has an allergy test been done: they are very expensive, and are usually sent to the UK or US for analysis.
The tablets generally used are steroids, which suppress that over-the-top immune response, and cyclosporine (brand name Atopica), which is also an immunosuppressant.
In other words, you're treating the symptoms, not the condition, which is not curable. Immunosuppressants, whether steroids or Atopica, are simply masking the problem, and may lull an owner into a false sense of hope. They work, for a while, but if the dog continues to be exposed to the source of his allergy, the symptoms just keep coming back when you stop the treatment. The answer to this is to keep the dog on immunosuppressants for life: I'm not a vet, but I'm willing to bet that this cannot be good for the dog long-term.
Most dogs, when allergy tested, turn out to be allergic to an ingredient in their food, or very commonly, they're allergic to the little storage mites that live in dry dog food: this goes for ALL dry dog food, no matter what you pay for it. This is why special, expensive prescription foods do not work for Atopy when the cause of the allergic response is the little bugs that live in it! These prescription foods can appear to work, because they are usually prescribed at the same time as the immunosuppressant drugs, but that's all it is: appearance. It's the drugs that are causing the (temporary) improvement.
Cereals in food are also a common cause of an atopic reaction, as are the over-cooked meats the foods contain, usually chicken or beef.
So, I hope you can see that there's more to this than meets the eye. Atopica will not solve your problem in the long-term if it turns out your dog is still being exposed to whatever is causing the allergy. I use storage mites as a very common example, and food allergies, but it could also be dust mites, pollen, chemicals in the house... all sorts of environmental allergens. So, confirm that he has had an allergy test, or not. He is, without any doubt, allergic to something!

Yeah the test was sent to England, hence the now high vet bill , I will go over it again with the vet , and ask them to explain , as they were quiet vague last time and just put him on atopica.

Since I started looking for alternative I have read bad things about atopica, so would love to eliminate the cause rather than keep him on them, I Hoover the house everyday to keep dust mites to minimum , but that's really interesting about the dry food , do you recommend any particular food instead. My neighbour is a breeder and she has her dogs on raw meat diet, but I'm not so sure about it, thanks for all the info , and detailed reply.

sive1281

Hi there, just scanning thru the replies.

www.viovets.co.uk

they accept Irish prescriptions and provide a very fast delivery service. My dog is on 2 tablets a day @ 85cent a tablet,
I can get 100 tablets from viovets plus delivery for £50.

The man in red and black

DBB wrote: »

It's a fairly unusual condition in those breeds, so you're a bit unlucky in that sense!
However, be aware that Atopy is an autoimmune condition, so is "in" every dog that develops it. It is, essentially, an over-reaction of the immune system to allergens. In other words, your dog is allergic to something.. he has to be, or he wouldn't have Atopy.
You do really need to find out has an allergy test been done: they are very expensive, and are usually sent to the UK or US for analysis.
The tablets generally used are steroids, which suppress that over-the-top immune response, and cyclosporine (brand name Atopica), which is also an immunosuppressant.
In other words, you're treating the symptoms, not the condition, which is not curable. Immunosuppressants, whether steroids or Atopica, are simply masking the problem, and may lull an owner into a false sense of hope. They work, for a while, but if the dog continues to be exposed to the source of his allergy, the symptoms just keep coming back when you stop the treatment. The answer to this is to keep the dog on immunosuppressants for life: I'm not a vet, but I'm willing to bet that this cannot be good for the dog long-term.
Most dogs, when allergy tested, turn out to be allergic to an ingredient in their food, or very commonly, they're allergic to the little storage mites that live in dry dog food: this goes for ALL dry dog food, no matter what you pay for it. This is why special, expensive prescription foods do not work for Atopy when the cause of the allergic response is the little bugs that live in it! These prescription foods can appear to work, because they are usually prescribed at the same time as the immunosuppressant drugs, but that's all it is: appearance. It's the drugs that are causing the (temporary) improvement.
Cereals in food are also a common cause of an atopic reaction, as are the over-cooked meats the foods contain, usually chicken or beef.
So, I hope you can see that there's more to this than meets the eye. Atopica will not solve your problem in the long-term if it turns out your dog is still being exposed to whatever is causing the allergy. I use storage mites as a very common example, and food allergies, but it could also be dust mites, pollen, chemicals in the house... all sorts of environmental allergens. So, confirm that he has had an allergy test, or not. He is, without any doubt, allergic to something!

You're mixing up allergic skin disease and Atopy. Atopy is not the same as a food allergy. The only treatment for TRUE Atopy is immunosuppressive drugs tapered down to the lowest dose that still controls the clinical signs. Allergies to ingredients in food or environmental allergens are different things and can respond to removing the offending allergen if it can be found.

DBB

The man in red and black wrote: »

You're mixing up allergic skin disease and Atopy. Atopy is not the same as a food allergy. The only treatment for TRUE Atopy is immunosuppressive drugs tapered down to the lowest dose that still controls the clinical signs. Allergies to ingredients in food or environmental allergens are different things and can respond to removing the offending allergen if it can be found.

No, I'm not mixing them up. Most of my post was referring to an allergy to storage mites, not food allergy. Nevertheless, Atopy has been shown to respond positively to a change of diet, for dogs reacting to allergens in their food, in at least 25% of cases. This figure is considerably higher if it is storage mites that are causing the problem, so much so that even though atopy is diagnosed in many of the dogs that go through my hands (I run a rescue), whilst we often put them on a course of imunosuppressants, we don't always have to, and certainly when we do, the condition is substantially easier to control, if it needs controlling at all, when the dog is maintained post-treatment on a low, low allergy diet. In fact, so prevalent are storage mites as a major contributor to the condition, that we are more recently not jumping down the immunosuppressant route first at all.
Immunosuppressants are only part of the answer... It needs to be dealt with more holistically than just throwing drugs at it. Truth is, atopy is not a well understood condition, it's a bit of a generic term for a condition which is sparked off by something in the environment, and there's probably an inherited predisposition in some breeds. Clear as mud.