Spoiler Alert: It does not. 

Your dog is itchy, he/she is uncomfortable.  You want to fix it and your vet says apoquel is the answer.  Apoquel or oclacitinib is an "immune modulator" and an anti-allergy medication often prescribed to alleviate the dreaded itchies.  Board certified dermatology vets will attribute the itchies to a host of diseases including: 

• Flea allergy dermatitis
• Atopic dermatitis
• Food allergy dermatitis
• Contact dermatitis
• Sarcoptic Mange
• Demodectic Mange

(Source: VitalAnimal)

All of these diseases aka the itchies are our dogs' immune system telling us that there is inflammation that needs to be healed (and apoquel definitely will not do that).  When inflammation is present, the immune system will do its' thing and actually try to heal itself because nature, by design, is awesome.  In fact, infectious disease, trauma, bites and stings, lacerations, all of these heal with inflammation (Read more on that here).  However, when inflammation is chronic and or the itchies or chronic, the body needs help to heal itself.  Here is where a homeopathic detox and healthy diet come in and Apoquel should absolutely not. 

Here's why: 

Apoquel will literally stop inflammation, but will do so by destroying your dog's innate disease-fighting capacities by interfering with enzymes called kinases or JAKs, which are absolutely needed in

• Policing the body against tumor formation
• Controlling body growth and development
• Forming white and red blood cells
• Ensuring antibody-producing B cells and “policing” T-cells are functioning well
• Regulating inflammatory response

(Source: Dogs Naturally Magazine)

So, Apoquel will absolutely stop the itchies initially by suppressing the symptoms and not addressing the root cause, ultimately creating more long-term illness.  Even crazier, Apoquel even states on their website that "APOQUEL may increase the chances of developing serious infections, and may cause existing parasitic skin infestations or pre-existing cancers to get worse." (Source: ApoquelDogs)

I think it's important to note that Apoquel, worth $4.34 billion in 2012 before Apoquel even hit the market,  is owned by Zoetis (Source: VitalAnimal), a subsidiary of Pfizer and collaborator of MARS inc., who basically have a monopoly on the dog food industry.  Further, Zoetis reported a full year revenue of $7,400 - $7,550 billion (Source BusinessWire).  

If the makers of Apoquel, Zoetis, are aware that it could cause cancer, infections and all kinds of complications, then why keep it on the market?  The answer is money.  Sadly, this is yet another reminder that  the veterinary business is in the business of keeping animals alive, not curing animals or keeping them healthy. The schools are funded by the dog food maker, the school is funded by the dog food guy, the dog food guy is also owned by the vaccine guy and the vaccine guy makes the laws on what makes what legal and what is approved. 

(Image Sources Mars Petcare and Pfizer Canada)

So what do you do? 

1. Do not give Apoquel or stop giving it immediately
2. Ask your vet questions
3. Do your own research
4. Homeopathic detox 
5. Home cook or feed raw
6. Work with an integrative vet

 Read more on this topic here and here .