Flea and Tick Prevention.

[EvoPA]

Hi Everyone, my puppy is about 6 months old and able to start Bravecto. We've been using Vectra 3D with no ill effects besides being a little greasy for a day or two and I was wondering what the consensus is on the best and safest way to prevent ticks. We're pretty active and in PA so ticks are a big concern. 

Thanks!

[GentleLake]

You should be aware that the FDA has recently issued warnings about isoxazoline products: https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/fda-alert-isoxazoline-class-flea-tick-products/?fbclid=IwAR0qLnygFWJn8r6vHvrupYHHPrzW8j4JPC8L_ynL-3SjFjQFGoJhByYjmPY

 

[EvoPA]

Thank you! I think I will stick with Vectra for now. Does this have anything to do MDR1 mutation?

[Ranchhand]

On 6/26/2019 at 9:11 AM, GentleLake said:

You should be aware that the FDA has recently issued warnings about isoxazoline products: https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/fda-alert-isoxazoline-class-flea-tick-products/?fbclid=IwAR0qLnygFWJn8r6vHvrupYHHPrzW8j4JPC8L_ynL-3SjFjQFGoJhByYjmPY

 

@GentleLake- 

I followed your link, but it was dated Sept of '18... picked up some Bravecto this past week, and the copyright on the enclosed flyer is 2014 and 2017  - meaning, hasn't been updated per FDA directive.

Really don't know what choice to make- ticks have been SOOOO bad, despite using K9 Advantix II for our rescue BC cross. The alternatives, it seems to me, are- plan on having to treat your dogs for any of the various TBD's and forget the preventatives, OR- use them, watch for SE's, and hope for the best 

 

[Lawgirl]

In Australia we have Bravecto and Nexgard.  Bravecto is for three months, Nexgard is for one month.  We also have issues with ticks, not for Lyme disease but we have paralysis ticks which can and do kill dogs within a day or two.

My choice is to use Nexgard, which is a lower dose, when necessary.  My boys cope with it well - it is actually the only medication they eat and come back looking for another, as if it was a treat.  One of my dogs has a sensitive gut after suffering green potato poisoning as a puppy, and he may get some diarrhoea a day later, but it is minor and short in duration, and then is fine.

I have never had any of mine suffer any neurologic symptoms.

Obviously some dogs are sensitive to the drug, but that is the case with any medication - same as for humans.  My mother will throw up for 48 hours straight after being under general anaesthetic.  Most people have no such reaction.   There will always be someone who is more sensitive or who will suffer a different side effect, but if it was common, it would have been obvious before now.  Chances are your dog will be okay, but it is up to you as to whether you want to take that chance.

[Liz P]

4 hours ago, Ranchhand said:

@GentleLake- 

I followed your link, but it was dated Sept of '18... picked up some Bravecto this past week, and the copyright on the enclosed flyer is 2014 and 2017  - meaning, hasn't been updated per FDA directive.

Really don't know what choice to make- ticks have been SOOOO bad, despite using K9 Advantix II for our rescue BC cross. The alternatives, it seems to me, are- plan on having to treat your dogs for any of the various TBD's and forget the preventatives, OR- use them, watch for SE's, and hope for the best 

 

The FDA "update" is just a standard release of the original safety info.  I've sold tens of thousands of doses of flea/tick meds in that drug class and have only seen a few seizures in dogs who already had epilepsy.  I've seen a little stomach upset.  Otherwise, they appear to be extremely safe.  I use Bravecto and sometimes Nexguard for my own dogs.

[Ranchhand]

15 hours ago, Liz P said:

The FDA "update" is just a standard release of the original safety info.  I've sold tens of thousands of doses of flea/tick meds in that drug class and have only seen a few seizures in dogs who already had epilepsy.  I've seen a little stomach upset.  Otherwise, they appear to be extremely safe.  I use Bravecto and sometimes Nexguard for my own dogs.

TY.

Stupid me, I was adhering to a q3 mo interval of the Bravecto for L&L (my other two) only to read the flyer again yesterday... 2 month intervals because of the Lone Star tick?? Drat.

On a side note, am doing my own entymological study, you might say, on captive ticks. Saved 3 egg laden ticks in a pill bottle at least 2 mos. ago. As of yesterday, 1 of the females was still alive. No food, water, or fresh air... she (or maybe all 3) laid eggs, which hatched. The inside of the bottle/lid is "peppered" with the larval ticks, still crawling everywhere, inside conditions unchanged. 

Gross. They're a scourge.

[Michael Parkey]

Any thoughts on Simparica?  We had a tick plague last fall and winter (?), and had to add Simparica to Trifexis.  It seemed to work, and then suddenly the tick plague disappeared in early spring.

[urge to herd]

I've been using Simparica  for at least 2 years. It works very nicely on both fleas and ticks. I am very careful about where I walk Gibbs and avoid tick-laden areas. Luckily for  the both of us, ticks don't live here all summer long. After the greenery dies out or goes brown/yellow from lack of rain the ticks aren't active. Northern California has a rainy season and a dry season. We're about 2-3 weeks into the dry season, so in another couple weeks at most we'll be tick free.  They won't be an issue for us until next spring.

In other parts of the county they are active from spring through the first cold snap, usually in October. It's easy enough to avoid those areas.

About tick plagues - I grew up in Houston, TX, where ticks thrive about 8 months of the year. Gross. I can remember one summer where it took my mom and my brother about an hour and a half to pull the ticks off our dog.

Ruth & Gibbs

 

[GentleLake]

And I've had ticks in mid-February warms spells here in upstate NY.