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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesApoquel (oclacitinib) is labeled in the United States for dogs only. Its use in cats is off-label, meaning a veterinarian prescribes it outside the species the label covers. Two published studies describe feline use: a short, placebo-controlled safety trial in 30 healthy cats, and a retrospective series of 238 cats treated for skin disease. Neither establishes a standard dose for cats, so any dose a cat receives should come from a veterinarian who has examined that cat. If a cat eats Apoquel Chewable, call a veterinarian immediately.
What the U.S. label says about cats
DailyMed, the U.S. drug-label database, lists Apoquel tablets as “For oral use in dogs only.” The FDA says the same about the chewable form. In its consumer guidance on accidental overdoses, the agency states: “Apoquel Chewable is not approved for cats.”
Off-label does not mean unstudied, and it does not mean a cat cannot be treated with the drug. It means the manufacturer’s labeling makes no claims about cats regarding dose, schedule, or safety. The dog dosing on the label is not a cat dosing guide and should not be converted into one.
The two feline studies
The two studies answer different questions, and they should not be read as one body of evidence.
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| Feature | 2019 controlled trial | 2026 retrospective case series |
|---|---|---|
| Publication | Lopes et al., BMC Veterinary Research, 2019 | Wehber et al., Veterinary Dermatology, 2026 |
| Design | Randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled safety trial | Retrospective review of clinical records |
| Cats | 30 healthy mixed-breed cats weighing 2.1–5.3 kg, 10 per group | 238 privately owned cats prescribed oclacitinib for dermatological disease |
| Dosing | 1 mg/kg or 2 mg/kg every 12 hours, plus a placebo group | Mean initial prescribed dose 1.89 mg/kg/day; once- and twice-daily schedules both used |
| Duration | 28 days | Median treatment 271.5 days (range 1 day to 7.5 years) |
| Records covered | Not stated in the source | August 2014 to May 2024 |
| What it can show | Short-term tolerability in healthy cats | Patterns of dosing and adverse events in treated cats |
The 2019 trial enrolled healthy cats, not cats with itching, so it says little about whether the drug controls skin disease. The 2026 series includes cats with skin disease, but it has no comparison group. Its response figures cannot be compared with placebo or with untreated cats.
Dosage: what the feline numbers are and are not
Doses tested in the 2019 trial
The trial compared two oclacitinib regimens with placebo. One group received 1 mg/kg every 12 hours, another received 2 mg/kg every 12 hours, and each ran for 28 days. Each group had 10 cats. These were the regimens tested in a safety study. They are not a recommended dose, and the paper does not establish a dose for treating itch in cats.
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Doses prescribed in the 2026 series
Monotherapy, meaning oclacitinib used as the only drug, controlled clinical signs in 140 of the 238 cats (59%). The table below shows the mean doses for the full group and for the 140 responders by schedule.
| Group | Cats | Mean dose |
|---|---|---|
| All cats, initial prescribed dose | 238 | 1.89 mg/kg/day |
| Monotherapy controlled signs, twice-daily treatment | 83 of the 140 | 1.85 mg/kg/day |
| Monotherapy controlled signs, once-daily treatment | 57 of the 140 | 1.05 mg/kg/day |
These are group averages from clinical records. They are not a dose that was proven to work or proven safe for an individual cat. A per-kilogram figure becomes a tablet or chewable count only when a prescriber combines the cat’s current weight, the product strength, and a schedule chosen for that cat. This article does not perform that calculation, and these numbers should not be used to calculate one at home.
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Side effects in cats
Adverse events in the 2026 series
The series recorded 33 definite or probable adverse events in 32 of the 238 cats, so at least one cat had more than one event. The most common categories are listed below.
| Event | Cats affected | Share of 238 cats |
|---|---|---|
| Neutropenia (low neutrophil count) | 15 | 6.3% |
| Gastrointestinal events | 9 | 4% |
| Lethargy | 4 | 1.7% |
| Infection | 2 | 0.8% |
| Hyperactivity | 1 | 0.4% |
| Elevated alanine transaminase (liver enzyme) | 1 | 0.4% |
| Elevated creatinine (kidney marker) | 1 | 0.4% |
The authors describe these events as typically mild and responsive to dose reduction. Because the series is retrospective, these findings describe what clinical records captured in this group. They do not predict how a given cat will react.
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Adverse events in the 2019 trial
In the 2 mg/kg every-12-hours group, two of ten cats vomited and two had soft stools. One placebo cat also had soft stools. The 1 mg/kg group showed no clinical signs of toxicity. With ten cats per group and 28 days of dosing, the trial cannot rule out uncommon or longer-term problems.
Warnings on the dog label
The U.S. dog label warns that oclacitinib modulates the immune system and may increase susceptibility to infection and exacerbate neoplastic conditions, meaning tumors and cancers. These are labeled warnings for dogs. They are not measured risk estimates for cats.
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Accidental ingestion of Apoquel Chewable
The FDA describes Apoquel Chewable as a flavored prescription medication approved only for dogs, and it says cats may be more likely than dogs to experience serious effects after an overdose. As of April 2, 2026, the agency had received reports of 64 accidental overdoses in cats and 259 in dogs since the chewable’s June 2023 approval. These are submitted reports, not a measure of how often cats encounter the product, so they cannot be converted into a risk percentage.
The FDA lists these possible overdose signs:
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Lethargy
- Eye redness or swelling
- Effects on the heart, brain, kidneys, and liver
The FDA says these signs usually appear within 24 hours.
- Call your veterinarian immediately. If the clinic is closed, call an emergency veterinary hospital.
- Give the staff the product name, the strength printed on the package, and how many chewables may be missing and when they were likely taken.
- Give the cat’s current weight and list any other medications the cat takes.
- Follow the veterinarian’s instructions on whether to come in. Do not wait to see whether symptoms develop, because the FDA’s guidance is to call when an overdose is suspected.
Because the chewable is flavored, store it in a closed container that cats and dogs cannot reach.
Questions to settle with your veterinarian
Whether Apoquel is appropriate for a particular cat is a decision for a veterinarian who has examined it. These questions make that conversation specific:
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- What evidence supports using this drug for this cat’s condition, given that the label is for dogs?
- What dose and schedule are planned, and how was the dose calculated from the cat’s current weight?
- Which blood tests are planned, and when? Neutropenia was the most frequent adverse event in the 2026 series.
- Which signs should prompt a call, such as vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, or eye swelling?
- What should happen if a dose is missed or an extra dose is given?
- How will improvement be judged, and when will the plan be reassessed?
What the evidence does not establish
- No feline dose has been established. The FDA and DailyMed labeling offer no feline dosing guideline, and no separate authoritative feline dosing guideline was identified.
- No controlled efficacy data in cats with skin disease. The 2019 trial enrolled healthy cats and was designed to assess safety. The 2026 series reports that clinical signs were controlled with monotherapy in 140 of 238 cats (59%), but as a retrospective series without a comparison group, that figure is not a measure of how well oclacitinib works compared with placebo or other treatment.
- Long-term safety is unclear. The controlled trial lasted 28 days. Treatment in the 2026 series ranged from 1 day to 7.5 years, but the series can describe what was recorded, not what would have happened without treatment.
- Populations are narrow. The 2019 cats were healthy mixed-breeds weighing 2.1–5.3 kg, so results may not transfer to cats of other sizes, ages, or health conditions.
- The study authors called for more work. Lopes et al. (2019) concluded: “More studies would be needed to demonstrate if oclacitinib maleate may be a suitable alternative to treat pruritic cats.”
- No comparison with other feline treatments. The available evidence does not rank Apoquel against other options for cats, so this article does not attempt that comparison.
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