FDA Warning - Flea/Tic Meds - Dogs and Cats

[doxiemom11]

If you haven't seen it, the FDA has issued a warning on 4 different common flea/tic meds that are causing neurological issues in both dogs and cats. They are also currently notifying vets. The 4 involved are:

Bravecto --- Nexguard---Simparica--- and a brand new one Credelio.

Symptoms include -- Seizures
Muscle Tremors
Ataxia

Our dog previously had problems with Nexguard and was taken off it. Back to a topical.

[BCSnob]

The mode of dosing (oral, sub q, I.M., dermal) does not automatically determine if the drug will be processed through the liver or kidneys. Some topical flea/tic treatments are readily adsorbed through the skin into the blood stream; some are not. Only about 9.5% of fipronil (frontline) ends up in the blood stream while about 25% of topically applied fluralaner (Bravecto) ends up in the blood stream. The nature of the active ingredients (chemistry) and possibly the carrier (solvent used to dissolve active ingredients) dictates the metabolic pathway it will follow (pharmacodynamics).

Advantage is a good example of a topically applied drug that must be adsorbed into the blood stream in order to effectively kill circulating microfilariae before they can mature into heartworms.

[Campinghoss]

Pawz4me wrote:

Campinghoss@51 wrote:
My dw and I do not believe in giving Lucky and Lucie meds that go thru their kidneys and other vital organs. Lucky has idiopathic seizures and we only use Frontline on him. Lucie our small dog for some reason only has tolerance to Advantix topical. My reasoning is if the meds are toxic enough to kill fleas, eggs, ticks and repel skitters then why on earth put it in their bodies. I am not bashing those who do as it is their decision but for us it is a no no.

FWIW—The most horrible reaction our dog had was to Advantix. Required two vet trips, multiple medications and over ten days to recover. It is the product that convinced me to no longer use topicals.

I hate that for you and your dog. It just goes to show that each of us do what we think is best. Lucie our small dog would get nervous and restless with anything but Advantix. I still stick by my convictions however.

[Pawz4me]

Campinghoss@51 wrote:
My dw and I do not believe in giving Lucky and Lucie meds that go thru their kidneys and other vital organs. Lucky has idiopathic seizures and we only use Frontline on him. Lucie our small dog for some reason only has tolerance to Advantix topical. My reasoning is if the meds are toxic enough to kill fleas, eggs, ticks and repel skitters then why on earth put it in their bodies. I am not bashing those who do as it is their decision but for us it is a no no.

FWIW—The most horrible reaction our dog had was to Advantix. Required two vet trips, multiple medications and over ten days to recover. It is the product that convinced me to no longer use topicals.

[Campinghoss]

My dw and I do not believe in giving Lucky and Lucie meds that go thru their kidneys and other vital organs. Lucky has idiopathic seizures and we only use Frontline on him. Lucie our small dog for some reason only has tolerance to Advantix topical. My reasoning is if the meds are toxic enough to kill fleas, eggs, ticks and repel skitters then why on earth put it in their bodies. I am not bashing those who do as it is their decision but for us it is a no no.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I used Bravecto a couple of times in the past, with good success on Jimmy, who's allergic to flea bites. But there just was a part of my brain that said "having an insecticide hang around in your body for 3 months might not be a great thing". When my Toxicologist daughter said to try Brewer's Yeast, to make Jimmy "unpalatable" - I did; and it has worked well for both he and Ben. I'm not saying they never have a flea; but the occasional flea bite doesn't seem to send Jimmy into hives/scratching/hair loss, etc like he suffered in the past.

[DOTLDaddy]

It is my understanding that the flea/tick meds mentioned in the FDA warning are all oral.:@

A couple of years ago our vet mentioned the oral option, but we declined since we have always had very good luck using good old fashioned Frontline Plus, a topical.

[dturm]

azdryheat wrote:
FDA once said that hamburgers can cause cancer. I don't listen to federal bureaucracies anymore.

Seriously??? Hopefully a little sarcasm involved here.

Warnings are just information that you can use however you choose.

[azdryheat]

FDA once said that hamburgers can cause cancer. I don't listen to federal bureaucracies anymore.

[Pawz4me]

Thanks for the warning, but unless/until there’s more info on this . . . Nexgard is the only flea/tick preventative our dog has NOT had a reaction to. He’s been on it for over a year without a problem. His reactions to others were neurological and weren’t pretty. So we’ll be sticking with Nexgard for now. Looks like all the FDA is saying at this point is that they will ask the manufacturers to put a warning on their labels. All of these products carry warnings of some sort. So we’ll stick with what we know is working for this dog rather than switching and risking a reaction.

[gbopp]

Thanks for the info.

[jerseyjim]

I've been using "VECTRA 3D" since day 1. (5 years) My vet put me on it, but now, for some reason he carries another brand...at twice the price. I get my VECTRA 3D from AMAZON...6 application tubes for about 1/2 what the vet charged me for 3.

FWIW