Owner assessment of therapeutic interventions for canine atopic dermatitis: a long‐term retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND: Canine atopic dermatitis is a frequent diagnosis in veterinary medicine; however, the long-term prognosis for canine atopic dermatitis has not been evaluated in a systematic fashion. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To compare the relative efficacy of commonly used therapies for canine atopic dermatitis in two groups of dogs over 5 and 10 year time periods. ANIMALS: Dogs were identified from the medical record database of a privately owned veterinary dermatology practice in the USA. METHODS: Clients completed a four-part, 28-question, Internet-based survey. Surveys were included in the analysis if one entire section was completed. Each question was completed independently of the answers to other questions. RESULTS: Several respondents failed to complete all questions. Some respondents answered similar questions with contradictory answers. Each question was analysed individually. A total of 136 owner surveys were completed, 39 from the 10 year and 97 from the 5 year study dogs. Eighty-five of 135 respondents indicated that their pet was receiving some form of medical therapy for atopic dermatitis at the time of the survey. Thirty of 90 respondents (33.3%) indicated that their dog improved during a dietary trial. Five dogs met the study's definition for clinical cure. All five of these dogs had been treated with allergen-specific immunotherapy. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: This study revealed that clients believe antihistamines can be a useful part of multimodal therapy for canine atopic dermatitis. The results also demonstrated that a significant number of canines benefited from dietary modification. In addition, allergen-specific immunotherapy was the only treatment to induce true clinical remission of atopic dermatitis.