Diarrhea After Monthly Revolution Application

[Time4ANap]

We recently switched Rocket to Revolution at the Vet's suggestion. He used to be on both Interceptor and Frontline Plus. We will go back to that combination once Interceptor is available again. We will discuss a change to something else for the interim period at the next vet visit.

 

We have detected a pattern of diarrhea after each application. Up until now we thought we had a food issue, but have gone back over it and the timing is in line with the Revolution application. Anyone else had this issue? Diarrhea is listed as one of the potential side effects in a small percentage of dogs.

 

Just curious if anyone else has seen this side effect.

 

 

[KF_in_Georgia]

It's my understanding that Interceptor won't be back.

 

I tried Heartgard Plus, and both my dogs had diarrhea while they were taking it. We've changed to Advantage Multi. You might want to compare active ingredients of that to Revolution. There's also Trifexis, but I've read of many problems, including diarrhea, for that. (Trifexis and Heartgard Plus are taken internally; Advantage Multi is a topical.) Also, talk to your vet about any other options available.

[Time4ANap]

Thanks for the reply.

 

There still seems to be many rumors floating around about Interceptor availability. Our vet got a letter in November telling them that it would be back in the Spring. Drs Foster and Smith website has a notice that it will be back in 3-4 months. Like you, I had also heard at one point that it wasn't coming back. Wouldn't it be nice to get the real story????

 

The vet originally had us on Trifexis but changed to Revolution after discussing it further. We never actually used the Trifexis, so were able to exchange it for Revolution. We will now be checking out the other options. Thanks!

[Guest Eyeblaura]

Yeah I don't know what the interceptor story is either. We've had no problems with trifexis though. Hope you can find something that works.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Maybe--eventually--a successor to Interceptor: http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=24187

 

But Novartis has repeatedly given "It'll be available in x months" updates to practitioners, and then not bothered to explain (or apologize) when the deadline goes by with no product.

[Guest BiancasMom]

I have used Revolution for years on Bianca. Never any diarrhea here.

[Guest Lmw626]

We used to use Sentinal but suddenly the vet said it wasn't "available" anymore and put him on Trifexis. We have had no adverse side effects. The only issue is the size of the tablet, it's easily twice the size of the comparable Sentinal dose. He's not fooled by a thick cushion of pill pockets or cheese or meat or anything else around it and generally takes several days each month of giving it to him in smaller chunks. Kind of a pain since it doesn't break up easily. Never had this issue with the same dose in Sentinal pills. I plan on asking the vet for an alternative next time.

[JJNg]

He's not fooled by a thick cushion of pill pockets or cheese or meat or anything else around it and generally takes several days each month of giving it to him in smaller chunks.

If you still have some doses of Trifexis left that you're planning to use, you really want to get him to take the whole pill in one sitting. Spreading it out over several days doesn't dose him appropriately, and he may not be getting adequate protection against heartworms. For dogs that are suspicious when handed a wrapped pill, I've had luck wrapping the pill (broken into halves or quarters if needed to make each piece smaller), then mixing that in a small portion of canned dog food. Chunky canned food works particularly well.

[seeh2o]

Just curious, why give it in the winter months when there a no mosquitoes?

[Batmom]

Just curious, why give it in the winter months when there a no mosquitoes?

 

It's a heartworm-endemic area.

 

And, even here in the frozen north, there are warm places (garages, park bathrooms, basements, etc.) and warm periods of time in which there are mosquitoes that could transmit heartworm.

 

And, you are giving the medication to kill microfilaria that already exist in the dog, so you need to give a month after any exposure. Right here in my town (north of OP), I saw plenty of mosquitoes in December, so I had to give the January dose. I will almost always see mosquitoes in February, so I'll have to give the March dose. I haven't seen any mosquitoes this month so I could probably skip the February dose, but my dogs have never reacted badly to the medication, it helps prevent other parasite infestations, and in an endemic area, skipping a single month of a teensy dose of very safe insecticide isn't worth the risk of making a mistake on transmission-capable mosquitoes.

 

[seeh2o]

It's a heartworm-endemic area.

 

And, even here in the frozen north, there are warm places (garages, park bathrooms, basements, etc.) and warm periods of time in which there are mosquitoes that could transmit heartworm.

 

And, you are giving the medication to kill microfilaria that already exist in the dog, so you need to give a month after any exposure. Right here in my town (north of OP), I saw plenty of mosquitoes in December, so I had to give the January dose. I will almost always see mosquitoes in February, so I'll have to give the March dose. I haven't seen any mosquitoes this month so I could probably skip the February dose, but my dogs have never reacted badly to the medication, it helps prevent other parasite infestations, and in an endemic area, skipping a single month of a teensy dose of very safe insecticide isn't worth the risk of making a mistake on transmission-capable mosquitoes.

 

 

Wow, fascinating, thanks.

[Batmom]

Some years (at least up here by me) there's a lot more sustained weather that's cold enough to kill mosquitoes and prevent hatching or at least heartworm transmission ... but it's been a couple years since that's been the case. In a NON-endemic area, you wouldn't worry about that pool of water that never freezes along the south side of a building foundation. But here? Mississippi Valley is heartworm heaven.

[Guest 2greys2cats]

Both my greys get diarrhea on heart guard plus. We tried trifexis but neither one of them would eat it, it has a very strong perfumey smell

[Christy]

Our pups (two four month old labs) just had a nasty reaction (persistent diarrhea) to Heartgard Plus so I've been researching others. Vet gave us Revolution for next month, but it looks like it still has some nasty adverse effects.  https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/risks-of-heartworm-drugs/. My research shows diarrhea as a side effect for Revolution too.  Has anyone experienced diarrhea with Heartgard Plus but had success with Revolution?  Thank you in advance!

[Time4ANap]

13 minutes ago, Christy said:

Our pups (two four month old labs) just had a nasty reaction (persistent diarrhea) to Heartgard Plus so I've been researching others. Vet gave us Revolution for next month, but it looks like it still has some nasty adverse effects.  https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/risks-of-heartworm-drugs/. My research shows diarrhea as a side effect for Revolution too.  Has anyone experienced diarrhea with Heartgard Plus but had success with Revolution?  Thank you in advance!

We have one hound back on Interceptor now and there have been no side effects from it.  The other hound is currently going through the hookworm protocol using Advantage Multi but will be switched to Interceptor once we are clear of the hooks. 

[Greylover97]

Carolina and Jake (both at the bridge now) had GI issues from Heartguard Plus.  I finally switched them to Sentinel and have been using it since.  Will never go back to Heartguard