Trifexis

[Guest kimlevear]

Has anyone else had problems with Trifexis? My 4yr old vomited and had horrible diarrhea after the first dose. A friends greyhound suffered severe muscle soreness after her first dose. Thoughts?

[Houndtime]

And, our Fuzzy has diarrhea after taking Heart Guard. Three months in a row. This month, we had to take him to the vet where they don't think that is the problem. We do. Our vet said lets see what happens next month. We never had a problem with Interceptor.

[JJNg]

Did you give the dose with a full meal? Vomiting is the most common side effect of Trifexis, but is not seen very often. When it happens, most dogs just throw up once, and it doesn't need to be treated. And many of the dogs that vomit with their first dose are fine with the following doses. Given the diarrhea, you might or might not want to try it one more time. I'd recommend discussing it with your vet.

 

All of my dogs have taken it with no problems, and I use it for my greyhound fosters. I've never heard of muscle soreness as a side effect.

[PatricksMom]

Our vet warned us it tastes really foul so be careful not to let them taste it. Henry did fine with his first dose, I need to go buy more for him.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Kim, diarrhea is listed as a common side effect on the Trifexis site. Since my two have diarrhea after every dose of Heartgard Plus, we're not even going to try Trifexis. We're about to try Advantage Multi, instead. (I'm going to give it the first time when I can be home for the first 24 hours to keep an eye on how my two react.)

 

Houndtime, tell your vet that lots of dogs have soft poop (or full blown diarrhea) on Heartgard. My guys did, every time, and it took a while before I put it together that it was the Heartgard Plus. Theirs actually got worse over time. Apparently, it's the flavoring (pork and soy, I've heard) that causes the problem, but the company no longer makes an unflavored version.

 

My vet said the ingredients in Advantage Multi are good against internal parasites, but not so great against fleas; I'm going to continue Frontline Plus, but stagger that so the guys get the two treatments a couple of weeks apart.

 

ETA: From the Trifexis site:

 

 

Like all medications, sometimes side effects may occur. In some cases, dogs vomited after receiving Trifexis. If vomiting occurs within an hour of administration, redose with another full dose. During field studies, no severe or prolonged vomiting occurred. Additional adverse reactions observed in the clinical studies were itching, decreased activity, diarrhea, inflammation of the skin, redness of the skin, decreased appetite and redness of the ear. All reactions were regarded as mild. For technical assistance or to report a suspected adverse drug reaction, contact Elanco Animal Health at 1-888-545-5973. Additional information can be found at www.trifexis.com. Alternatively, suspected adverse drug reactions may be reported to FDA at 1-888-FDA-VETS or http://www.fda.gov/ AnimalVeterinary/ SafetyHealth/ ReportaProblem/ ucm055305.htm

 

Edited January 6, 2013 by KF_in_Georgia

[Guest cwholsin]

We love trifexis. All our dogs take it just fine with a meal and have no ill effects. It's a shame some of the other greys don't do well on it because it's REALLY effective. Way better than topical!

[a_daerr]

The ingredients in Heartguard and Trifexis are pretty harsh. Afterall, it's intended use is to kill parasites. It's fairly common for greys to get diarrhea after receiving the monthly dose. If you know your hound is sensitive, give it with food and a Pepcid.

[greysmom]

I give it to all four of mine - including the puppy from the time she was big enough - with no adverse affects. We're going to have to be on it year round now due to worms in the yard environment, and the increased chance of heartworm here in Oregon (which has been non-existant to small until recently). I always give them with food after breakfast and haven't had any problems.

 

However, it doesn't work for ticks. So if you have that need you'll have to also dose with a topical.

 

And though it says it is, it most definitely is NOT edible! It smells horrible, and tastes so bad even my poop-eater won't take them! They are also VERY LARGE pills. About the size of a quarter and 1/4 inch thick. I have to break them up into smaller pieces and try and hide them in very textured food. I still sometimes have to pill them.

[Houndtime]

While our vet didn't seem to know of other dogs experiencing problems with Heartguard, I am sort of glad to see have problems too. So, we are not crazy. Not for nothing, but, Idol died one day after receiving Heartguard. She died from internal bleeding. We were told probably hemangiosarcoma, but who knows.

[KF_in_Georgia]

My guys always received heartworm meds--Interceptor, then Heartgard Plus after Interceptor went off the market--with pepcid and on top of their breakfasts. Never a problem with Interceptor, always a problem with Heartgard Plus. I couldn't figure out why they were sporadically having soft poop until I plotted it on a calendar and realized it happened right at the first of the month. I hoped they'd learn to tolerate the Heartgard Plus, but it never happened. In fact, it got worse--more than just soft poop, and lasting longer--and I'm not willing to keep putting them through that, especially since one is an elderly dog who doesn't need to lose weight to diarrhea.

 

Advantage Multi is a topical, and I'm expecting less trouble from it. If its flea preventative is less than stellar, that's fine. I never had flea preventation with a heartworm med before, so I don't expect miracles from Multi.

[JJNg]

Our vet warned us it tastes really foul so be careful not to let them taste it.

I find it amusing that the vet would say this. Both Comfortis and Trifexis are designed to be flavor tabs, and some dogs will eat them without complaint. IME, it's about 50/50. So I usually tell people to try just giving it to their dog, but watch closely, and if their dog is one that doesn't like the taste, they'll have to disguise it, or just pill the dog with it.

The ingredients in Heartguard and Trifexis are pretty harsh. Afterall, it's intended use is to kill parasites.

I wouldn't exactly call the these ingredients 'harsh'. The dose of ivermectin in Heartgard is miniscule. Most racing greyhounds don't have problems with around 10 times that dose, since they usually use the liquid, large animal formula. And most general dewormers are some of the safest medications we have because the chemical action of the drugs target molecules and processes that parasites have but mammals don't. As others have mentioned, the reactions to Heartgard are more likely due to other inactive ingredients in the chewable tablet, and not the active ingredients. The flea ingredient in Comfortis and Trifexis (spinosad) is approved for use in organic farming.

Advantage Multi is a topical, and I'm expecting less trouble from it. If its flea preventative is less than stellar, that's fine. I never had flea preventation with a heartworm med before, so I don't expect miracles from Multi.

The flea control ingredient in Advantage Multi is the same as what's in Advantage (imidacloprid), so it should work just as well. It just has moxidectin added to it for the heartworm and intestinal parasite control. The spectrum of coverage is essentially the same as Trifexis, so you just don't tick control.

[TINMANPDX]

I have been giving it to my two for four months and the only thing I don't like about it is the high price. I figure it takes care of both fleas and heart worm, so I guess it works out to about the same, and I don't have to put smelly, can't-touch stuff on the back of their necks.

I give it after a meal and wrap it in cold cuts.

[Guest borzoix4]

Is Advantage Multi work on heartworm projection as well? ( opps just reread it).

For tick prevention, I use k9 Advantex as it repells ticks well. But I am wondering if Advantage Multi has also for fleas, so would it be an 'over dose' to use with k9 advantex?

Edited January 7, 2013 by borzoix4

[Guest Eyeblaura]

We are on month 3 of trifexis. No issues. He won't eat it straight like he would interceptor but I just bury it in a glob of peanut butter and down it goes.

[DonnaBehr]

While our vet didn't seem to know of other dogs experiencing problems with Heartguard, I am sort of glad to see have problems too. So, we are not crazy. Not for nothing, but, Idol died one day after receiving Heartguard. She died from internal bleeding. We were told probably hemangiosarcoma, but who knows.

I sure hope that isn't why Idol died, Irene. Two of my three had softer stools after taking their first dose of Heartgard, but no diarrhea - thank goodness.

[JJNg]

Is Advantage Multi work on heartworm projection as well? ( opps just reread it).

For tick prevention, I use k9 Advantex as it repells ticks well. But I am wondering if Advantage Multi has also for fleas, so would it be an 'over dose' to use with k9 advantex?

I personally wouldn't use Advantage Multi with K9 Advantix, as you're doubling up on the flea ingredient. I'm assuming you're doing this for the tick protection? You could use Advantage Multi with a tick collar. Or go with an oral heartworm preventative like Heartgard (or a generic equivalent) with K9 Advantix. Should save you money too.

[Sirocco_Nikki]

We never had a problem with interceptor. Tried heartguard and had to wash walls later that day from Janney's blowout. Now we are using trifexis without any problems. I put it on their food with a scoop of plain yogurt on top. The only negative to Trifexis is the price but it is still better than washing walls every month.