New App For Atopy

Hello Summarians!

Dogs do not complain. They scratch, they squint, they carry on. And we spend a lot of time guessing. This issue brings three studies pushing back against that. One finds that combining two allergy drugs works when neither works alone. Another uses machine learning to speed up a tricky diagnosis. A third is a candid look at a popular test with real limits.

Good medicine means knowing what works. And being honest when it doesn't.

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COLT Therapy In Dogs

This study looked at a new way to treat dogs with allergic skin disease, especially those that did not improve when given common medications alone. Two drugs, oclacitinib and lokivetmab, are often used separately to control itching and inflammation in these dogs. However, some dogs do not respond well to either drug when used by itself. The goal of this study was to see if using both drugs together, called combination oclacitinib-lokivetmab therapy (COLT), would work better. 

The study included 44 client-owned dogs that had already failed treatment with each drug on its own. These dogs were then treated with the combination therapy. Researchers measured how well the treatment worked by looking at changes in the dogs’ itching levels using a pruritus Visual Analog Scale (pVAS), as well as feedback from both the dog owners and veterinarians. 

Results showed that 27 out of the 44 dogs, or about 61%, had a good response to the combination therapy. A successful response was defined as at least a 2-centimeter drop in the itching score along with noticeable improvement agreed upon by both the owner and clinician. In dogs that responded, the average itching score dropped from about 6.9 out of 10 during single-drug treatment to about 2.7 out of 10 after starting the combined therapy. This represents a decrease in itching of about 61%, which was statistically significant. 

Importantly, no side effects were reported during the study while the dogs were on the combination treatment. 

Overall, the findings suggest that using oclacitinib and lokivetmab together may be a helpful option for dogs with allergic dermatitis that do not respond to either medication alone.

Bachtel JC, Snidow M. Efficacy of Combination Oclacitinib and Lokivetmab Therapies After Monotherapeutic Failure in 44 Dogs: A Retrospective Study. Vet Dermatol. 2026 Apr;37(2):287-292. doi: 10.1111/vde.70034. Epub 2025 Nov 4. PMID: 41189387. 

Bottom line — May be useful if conventional treatment fails

Atopy App For Dogs

This study focuses on improving how veterinarians diagnose canine atopic dermatitis (cAD), a common, lifelong skin condition in dogs that causes itching, redness, hair loss, and infections. Diagnosing cAD is difficult because there is no single test for it, and its signs can look like other skin diseases. Veterinarians usually rely on a dog’s history, physical exam, and ruling out other conditions, which can take time and may lead to incorrect diagnoses. 

To address this challenge, researchers developed a simple machine learning model to help support diagnosis. They collected data from 645 dogs with itchy skin, including both dogs with confirmed cAD and dogs with other skin conditions. Using this data, they trained a model to identify patterns linked to cAD. The final model uses just four pieces of information from a dog’s history—whether the dog is from a breed prone to cAD, whether it lives mostly indoors, whether symptoms started between 6 months and 3 years of age, and whether the condition is chronic or recurring—along with three key body areas where lesions commonly appear: the armpits (axilla), groin (inguinal area), and other regions. 

The model performed well, correctly identifying dogs with cAD 95% of the time (high sensitivity) and correctly ruling out dogs without cAD 84% of the time (good specificity). This performance is similar to or better than commonly used diagnostic criteria.  

Importantly, the model is not meant to replace a veterinarian’s judgment or diagnostic testing. Instead, it is designed as a quick, app-based tool to support decision-making and increase confidence in diagnosis, especially in general practice settings where time is limited. Overall, this approach shows promise as a practical aid in diagnosing a complex and often frustrating condition for both veterinarians and pet owners.

Langon, X., Montoya, M. and Gourdon, I. (2026), Machine Learning Model for an App-Based Tool to Assist With the Diagnosis of Canine Atopic Dermatitis. Vet Dermatol, 37: 236-246. https://doi.org/10.1111/vde.70031 

Bottom line — Seems like a useful tool.

FNA For Hemangiosarcoma

This retrospective study evaluated how well cytology (fine needle aspiration) agrees with histopathology (gold standard tissue diagnosis) in dogs with splenic masses or nodular lesions. The authors reviewed 33 dogs that had both cytologic and histopathologic evaluation performed within 90 days, with a median interval of 4 days. Most splenic lesions were discovered incidentally on imaging, and many dogs had multiple nodules, which can complicate sampling accuracy. 

Overall, agreement between cytology and histopathology in distinguishing neoplastic from nonneoplastic disease was modest. Exact agreement occurred in 55% of cases, increasing to 67% when “possibly neoplastic” cytology results were grouped with neoplastic diagnoses. Disagreement occurred in 24% to 33% of cases. Importantly, most discrepancies involved lesions that were falsely classified as nonneoplastic on cytology but were found to be neoplastic on histopathology, highlighting a key clinical limitation. When cytology indicated neoplasia (or possible neoplasia), 71% of cases were confirmed as neoplastic on histopathology. In contrast, when cytology suggested a nonneoplastic process, only 63% were truly nonneoplastic, meaning a substantial proportion of cancers were missed. 

The study also found that even when cytology correctly identified a lesion as neoplastic, it did not always accurately determine the tumor type, which may affect prognosis and clinical decision-making. This limitation reflects the inherent constraints of cytology, including small sample size and lack of tissue architecture, particularly for poorly exfoliative tumors such as sarcomas. 

Clinically, these findings suggest that cytology has limited reliability as a sole diagnostic tool for splenic masses in dogs. While a cytologic diagnosis of neoplasia can be useful in guiding decisions toward surgery, a nonneoplastic result should be interpreted cautiously and does not rule out malignancy. Histopathology following splenectomy remains the definitive diagnostic method.

Aluisio, M. F., Garner, B. C., Howerth, E. W., Laver, T., & Grimes, J. A. (2026). Cytology and histopathology have poor to fair agreement for determination of neoplastic or nonneoplastic lesions in dogs with splenic masses or nodules. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.26.01.0006 

Bottom line — Limited usefulness as expected.

Just putting things in perspective …