Combined Heartworm And Flea Medications

[Guest june]

With all the recent chatter about HW and flea meds lately I thought I would throw out this question;

 

What are your thoughts about medications that combine heartworm and flea medications in one pill or application?

 

I'm not trying to target any one product. My concern is that I've always had at least one senior. I have had seniors who have had reactions to getting more than one medication at the same time (lethargy, not eating well for a few days, just generally not feeling well) and I found that they did better if I gave them their HW med at the beginning of the month and treat for fleas a couple weeks later. Also, my dogs get Heartguard all year, but I do not use flea medication all year as they don't need it. I feel it is not good to give medications or apply chemicals to my dogs unless it is needed. These new combined medications take away your freedom to choose to give only one or the other.

 

Any one else have any thoughts on this? Any suggestions?

 

 

[Guest normaandburrell]

On our vet's recommendation (who is an experienced greyhound vet) we gave trifexis to our first dog until he passed at almost 10 from bone cancer. Here in Florida a lot of other grey owners are seeing resistance to a the other flea and tick medications. We never had a problem on trifexis. We asked our vet about the seizure risk issues with trifexis when we got our new dog. He replied he was only concerned in dogs with a seizure history. So we continued the trifexis because we really don't want the risk of tick borne disease.

[Rickiesmom]

I've always used Program and Inteceptor, two weeks apart. (You can still get Interceptor here.) However, this year there was no Program available, so I kept the remaining separate products I had for Jaynie, who is going through chemo, and switched Jeff to Sentinel, which combines the two drugs. He's a young boy (5 years old) but had no issue with it at all.

[PatricksMom]

I'm not thrilled with the idea in theory, personally. But since we can't get Inteceptor here, we use Trifexis, with no problems.

[ShebasMom]

I give Hearguard Plus to Sheba the first of every month and 10 days later give her the Comfortis chewable pill (with food, too). A greyhound rescue volunteer advised me to do it this way. and it works for us. Haven't tried Triflexis.

[OwnedBySummer]

Revolution (topical) does both fleas and heartworm. I used it on my previous non-greys for years and for one year on my grey. I would still be using it except that it doesn't do ticks. I don't have ticks here but for the past few years, we have started traveling a lot more, including into the US. Now I use Heartgard Plus along with K9 Advantix II.

[Guest BiancasMom]

I currently use Sentinel Spectrum on my girl…she is 8. I have used regular Sentinel in both my previous senior dogs including my old Aussie who had seizures and IBD with no problems.

[Sambuca]

I have no problem with it as long as my dogs don't react. Bu came to me with a huge scab between his shoulder blades and it was suggested it was from frontline, so I've avoided it. He's been on a few different combos since and been fine. My dogs are on flea preventative all year because they go all over the place and socialize with lots of dogs and I don't want anyone sharing with my boys.

[KristenMichele]

I use trifexis and it has been a good product. Its does not have tick protection. I also like the iverheart for heartworm and nextgard which is the new oral flea and tick.i dont trust the topicals because ive seen too many adverse skin reactions to them.

[greyhead]

My seniors did fine on Interceptor and then a flea product once a year in the summer. Trifexis and Sentinel have both caused the problems the OP mentioned. It doesn't sit well with me that Interceptor seems to be for sale everywhere except the U.S. So with my vet's blessing, I'll be seeking it from some other country. Fortunately, I live close to Canada.

 

Canadian peeps, can you tell me whether prescriptions are needed for Interceptor in Canada? (No problem, just need to know.) Thanks.

Edited July 20, 2014 by greyhead

[KF_in_Georgia]

I use Advantage Multi, a topical that does fleas and heartworm. We use it year-round. Two reasons:

 

1. I can't find an oral heartworm med that doesn't give my girl diarrhea. Since topical heartworm meds have a topical flea preventative built in, she gets both at the same time. The boy gets the same thing because it's easier to have both dogs on the same meds.

 

2. I'm in the South. Here, you treat for fleas all year-round because it doesn't get cold enough long enough to be safe from fleas in the winter.

 

The girl is 9 and has been taking Advantage Multi for a year with no problems. The boy is 7 and has been taking it since January (when I adopted him); no problems for him, either.

[Guest june]

My seniors did fine on Interceptor and then a flea product once a year in the summer. Trifexis and Sentinel have both caused the problems the OP mentioned. It doesn't sit well with me that Interceptor seems to be for sale everywhere except the U.S. So with my vet's blessing, I'll be seeking it from some other country. Fortunately, I live close to Canada.

 

Canadian peeps, can you tell me whether prescriptions are needed for Interceptor in Canada? (No problem, just need to know.) Thanks.

I would like to know if I can order this from Canada to be shipped to the US and if it requires a prescription also. I would be very surprised if my vet had a problem with me doing this as long as it is legal. I tried to contact Novartis today, but they were already closed (they are Eastern time and I'm Central). I'm going to try to contact them again tomorrow during their regular hours. I'll post here whatever I find out.

Edited July 21, 2014 by june

[greyhead]

Well, I don't know if it's legal to ship it to the U.S. or not, I just know it's illegal to sell it here. I expect Novartis will say you can't have it shipped here either. That's why you can purchase it, without a subscription, from an Australian provider but they will not ship it to the U.S. (along with several other Novartis products). So if it's illegal, please don't tell me!!! I purposely wasn't making too big a deal of it on an Internet web site.

What I'm sure about is that giving my senior something that makes him sicker than he already is would be less moral, by my standards, than obtaining a safer medicine by semi-duplicitous means. But that's just me.

ETA: Just checked this web site, the FAQ's for ordering from Pets Megastore in Australia. Scroll down, and they address the issue of ordering Novartis products for shipment to the U.S.

http://www.pets-megastore.com.au/faq.php

Edited July 22, 2014 by greyhead

[JJNg]

ETA: Just checked this web site, the FAQ's for ordering from Pets Megastore in Australia. Scroll down, and they address the issue of ordering Novartis products for shipment to the U.S.

http://www.pets-megastore.com.au/faq.php

 

It almost sounds like they're trying to bad-mouth Novartis by saying they can't ship to the use because of "pressure from the manufacturer in trying to protect their local market". IMO, that doesn't really make sense since the international products are also made by the same manufacturer, and the company itself stands to profit from sales regardless of where the product originates.

 

I do find it concerning that they can sell it without a prescription, especially since the milbemycin-based HW preventatives can cause serious reactions in dogs that are HW positive and have large numbers of microfilaria. Can't speak for Australia, but in the US, I feel that these are prescription products for good reason. Personally, I'd be more concerned about the responsibility and ethics of selling prescription products without a prescription, even if they're able to do it legally through regulatory loopholes.

[JJNg]

Regarding the OP's question about combo products, I think it really depends on the individual dog, the comfort level of the owner, as well as the specific product. Some "combo products" like Revolution only have a single active ingredient.

Most (not all) of the combined meds are still available in their separate forms. If an owner is worried about reactions, I usually have them do separate products first. That way if the dog does have a problem, it's easier to figure out which medication caused it. But most dogs that do well with separate products are also fine with the separate products given the same day, or an equivalent combo product.

If the pet lives in an area where both heartworm and flea/tick medication are best given year-round, and the dog handles the meds well, I have no problem with combo meds.

[Guest june]

Regarding the OP's question about combo products, I think it really depends on the individual dog, the comfort level of the owner, as well as the specific product. Some "combo products" like Revolution only have a single active ingredient.

 

Most (not all) of the combined meds are still available in their separate forms. If an owner is worried about reactions, I usually have them do separate products first. That way if the dog does have a problem, it's easier to figure out which medication caused it. But most dogs that do well with separate products are also fine with the separate products given the same day, or an equivalent combo product.

 

If the pet lives in an area where both heartworm and flea/tick medication are best given year-round, and the dog handles the meds well, I have no problem with combo meds.

There are two separate issues for me. One is that my grey is sensitive to several medications. I found that if I gave HW and flea at the same time she was not feeling good for several days (off her food and lethargic). If I split them up; HW at the beginning of the month and flea in the middle of the month she does much better. Also, where we live I do not need to treat for fleas all year and I don't like giving medications that are not necessary. I know many people have issues with Frontline not working well, but at this time it is working where I live and I only have to apply it every other month and have no problems with fleas. Ticks are not an issue for me thank goodness.

 

I'll call Novartis today to find out if there are any differences in the meds sold outside the U.S. and the legal issues of shipping to the U.S. and then talk to my vet to see what she recommends. I'm not looking for ways to break the law, just the best way to treat my pup who recently has been diagnosed with whip worms. I was perfectly content using Heartguard until the problem of whip worms came up. HG does not treat whips and once a dog has been diagnosed with them it needs to be treated with a product that addresses whips monthly.

Edited July 22, 2014 by june

[a_daerr]

The problem with the combo meds is that none of them cover ticks. If you live in an area where ticks are prevalent, you'd have to get a combo (Sentinel, Trifexis) then also a tick collar. I figure, if I'm already buying two different things, I might as well get the broadest spectrum of coverage I can. I use Nexgard and Heartgard Plus.

[OwnedBySummer]

The problem with the combo meds is that none of them cover ticks. If you live in an area where ticks are prevalent, you'd have to get a combo (Sentinel, Trifexis) then also a tick collar. I figure, if I'm already buying two different things, I might as well get the broadest spectrum of coverage I can. I use Nexgard and Heartgard Plus.

 

K9 Advantix or K9 Advantix II. They cover various ticks.

[a_daerr]

 

K9 Advantix or K9 Advantix II. They cover various ticks.

 

Right, but they don't cover heartworm...

[Guest june]

OK, so got through to Novartis in Canada. Wonderful woman answered all my questions and told me Novartis Canada no longer has any stock of Interceptor and is no longer making it; said the website has not been updated to show this. The woman did tell me that there are other products sold in Canada that address whip worms, but didn't tell me what they were (I'm sure it is against their company policy). Anyone know of anything that is not a mix of medications sold here in the US that controls whip worms?

 

Found this website and asked my questions.

http://www.petsofoz.com/interceptor-for-dogs-without-prescription.html

got a reply within an hour:

 

The Interceptor Spectrum we sell is the Australian version of the Interceptor product. It is made by Novartis Animal Health who also made US Interceptor. The main difference you will find is how the product has been packaged with AUS packets marked in kgs and US packets marked in lbs. Also the graphics and size of the packets will be different. It contains milbemycin oxime and praziquantel. The praziquantel component treats dogs for tape worm. We have many US customers order from us due to the short supply of Interceptor in the United States. Please let me know if I can help you any further with this.

Regards
Petsofoz.com

 

So when I see my vet on Friday I'll be talking to her about this.

[FluffyDuff]

I've been using Nexguard and Heartgard and I give it on the day. I haven't had any problems with Frostie having bad reactions. Also, we go hiking a lot at the state park and I haven't seen a single tick on him since putting him on Nexguard.

[Guest june]

Meds ordered from Australia. When it gets here I will take the package in to my vet.

Our only concern is that they are not expired.

I found out something interesting. Interceptor is not a "prescription" medication, but rather one that was intended to be sold through veterinarians.

Edited July 26, 2014 by june

[Guest sireltonsmom]

I use Heartgard Plus and Frontline Tritak. I live in Florida but I've had virtually no problems with fleas/ticks so I use the Tritak occasionally. Have it in case I hear of neighborhood dogs having fleas or ticks.

[Guest june]

I have been using Heartguard Plus (all year round) and suddenly both pups have worms that is why the new medication. To be fair to Heartguard they are paying for the worming treatments. I don't want to switch from Heartguard Plus, but I also don't want my dogs to have worms.

[Guest Bean_Scotch]

I use Interceptor Spectrum and get it through www.bestvaluepetsupplies.com and Frontline Plus/Certifect. I alternate those every other month. I have seen no vermin here! I use HW preventative year round, and flea/tick May-November.