flea prevention and breeder website

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Hi everyone,

I was looking a breeder's website (not my breeder) but it stated that anyone who purchased a puppy from them would invalidate their health guarantee  warranty by giving their puppy nexguard, bravecto, comfortis  and any internal flea prevention.  I thought that was strange.  It stated due to reports regarding kidney and liver damage.  I haven't heard this before.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I got Jack's prednisone at the human pharmacy. Much cheaper. 
The laws also do cover online pharmacies, including those that handle pet meds. I ordered his Tylan from an online source with a prescription from my vet.
However, in some cases it does pay to price the drugs, because my vet's prices for Jack's Tramadol were lower than any of the pharmacies that I'm willing to patronize. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I looked back over the FDA info/warning about these prevents, and there is nothing that specifies whether the adverse effects are immediate or cumulative. In other words, have these neurological events only happened immediately after the dog was given one of these prevents, or could they occur randomly at any point during the month? And does it only happen the first time you give the prevent, or could a dog do fine with it for a few months and then have a seizure or neurological event? 
https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/AnimalHealthLi...

[Stacy]

I think that's a very valid question that I don't have an answer for. I feel like the vets are saying that if they've been on it without a problem it's fine to continue. So that would lead me to believe that the dogs that are having problems are having immediate issues. But who knows. I will say that Katie's been on Bravecto for a couple years without any adverse effects, and Maggie has been on Simparica for a year without a problem. It doesn't necessarily make me feel better, but it's hard to switch. I know it works for them. Is the next medication going to be safe and effective either?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd say a year or more without issues would make me feel better about using it. 

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

These are my concerns and why I’m switching. Not taking a chance since there isn’t more information about the Nexgard. 

[Stella]

Something else important to consider is what type of ticks you have in your area, they vary geographically. The different tick preventatives target different ticks. I didn't keep it, but one year I made a huge chart of the different meds and which ticks they affected. Then I researched the ticks in my area. My old vet was prescribing Revolution, and it turned out that didn't even cover us for ticks on our area. My new vet prescribes Nexgard, which does affect our local ticks, and I've used it for the last few years with no problems. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is a good point, Stella. 

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Hi Stella,

My vet prescribes Nexgard too.  We haven't  had any issues either but I'll be asking when Khloe goes for her annual in April. Ticks are bad in my area.  We have a lot of woods and deer.  I also have an irresponsible neighbor who lets his dogs roam all over the place.  I know they must have every insect in our region. Each time  animal control  is contacted he does better for a little while and then back to his old pattern. I hate to be a snob but I don't want his dogs near mine.  He never even vaccinates them which I thought was illegal.  So my babies need Nexgard and full body armor just about.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

For what it’s worth, we spent 4 months last summer in a National Forest in the Midwest. Yogi has taken Nexgard for a couple years. I did pull a lot of ticks off him, daily. Most were still crawling in the hair because I checked him every time we came inside. But several were attached. They were dead.  

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Revisiting this topic after talking with the vet... apparently they do not recommend revolution in our area because ticks are really bad.   I imagine the issues people have been having with nexgard are quite rare or it wouldn't still be commonly used...so now we are learning towards just giving Riley the nexgard since she had a dose last Fall with no issues.  

Her coat is so dense we would be hard pressed to find a tick if she got one. :/

[Stacy]

Oh, I want to chime in on this one again as well. I also spoke with my vet at length about this. And he convinced me that this was the best and most effective class of product out there. He has us on Simparica instead of Nexgard, but same idea. He said that he has 6000-7000 dogs on this drug and they have seen possibly one reaction, but they are leaning toward that dog actually being epileptic and not drug related. Am I 100,000% confident that there is no chance of adverse effects? No. But I also know that there is no drug in the world that doesn't have some potential for side effects. I still agonize over it. But I've seen tick paralysis, and I never need to see that again. There's no perfect answer, but I think it's a reasonable decision. Maggie has been on Simparica for a year with no problems. Katie has been on Bravecto for at least 2, maybe 3 without any issues. And the baby will be going on Simparica too. I just pray that she does well with it too.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm hoping that "6000-7000 dogs" is a typo, because I think it would be impossible for one vet to see 6000-7000 patients a year which is what he'd have to be doing to prescribe for them, lol. If he really said that, I think he might be exaggerating just a tad.