Bravecto

[XTRAWLD]

Ryder had his annual in-spek-shun today. Typical with these annual visits is the whole heartworm, flea medication dance.

 

I am going to try Bravecto for the first time, he has been on Sentinel for the past 2 years.

 

Bravecto http://www.bravecto.ca/en is a new med that protects against fleas and ticks. A dog actually came in today prior to our visit with a tick and they live in the same part of the city as we do. I also take Ryder hiking and, well, I would prefer not to chance Lyme disease. Bravecto however isn't an all in one, it doesn't cover heartworm, so I have to give heartguard separately for that (and apparently staggered since you shouldn't give them in the same dose).

 

I have 3 doses of Sentinel at home that Kasey didn't use last year, so I might be doubling up on flea protection but will cover the heartworm part with it, while still getting tick prevention all year round. Surprisingly you can mix and match meds with Bravecto in this manner as they have extensively tested it with other heartworm meds (like Sentinel). Apparently my vet has used it with greyhounds with no ill effects, and a recent presentation she attended indicated that it is safe for the breed.

 

With that said - has anyone used this before? It's relatively new on the market and nothing right now protects against ticks. Their website is also offering a rebate, and they are really promoting this brand all over the radio up here.

 

Experiences?

Edited May 18, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[ramonaghan]

We switched from Comfortis/Sentinel to Bravecto/Sentinel about a year ago. My vet's office assured me they had lots of greys successfully taking it. We have had no side effects, and I love the convenience of only giving it every three months. It's a big pill and Sweep doesn't like the taste, so I have to break it into pieces and hide it in cat food, but that's just her; she hated Comfortis and the Springtime supplements too.

[XTRAWLD]

We switched from Comfortis/Sentinel to Bravecto/Sentinel about a year ago. My vet's office assured me they had lots of greys successfully taking it. We have had no side effects, and I love the convenience of only giving it every three months. It's a big pill and Sweep doesn't like the taste, so I have to break it into pieces and hide it in cat food, but that's just her; she hated Comfortis and the Springtime supplements too.

You have to do the Sentinel monthly though with the Bravecto right? The three times thing with Bravecto is less convenient when you have to use a monthly heartworm med! I'm certain Ry will inhale it. He's a food lover, and eats Springtime from my hand.

 

Thank you for the reassurance of the product.

Edited May 18, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[ramonaghan]

You have to do the Sentinel monthly though with the Bravecto right? I'm certain Ry will inhale it. He's a food lover, and eats Springtime from my hand.

 

Thank you for the reassurance of the product.

 

Right--the Sentinel's still monthly. On the months when she's due for both Sentinel and Bravecto, I give them at least 24 hours apart out of an abundance of caution, but she's never had any sort of issue with either.

[XTRAWLD]

Yeah, they told me separate, and in my case it's the 1st of the month for heartworm and tomorrow for Bravecto....I guess that's far enough apart! I had no idea though the 4 degree tick emergence though. Makes me wonder if I should bump the annual up to April instead of May.

Edited May 18, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[sarabz]

We use Bravecto with no problems. I split the dose in 2 and give with food 24 hours apart. I use Heart guard too, so give Bravecto mid month and HG on the first. We did have a flea problem last summer but nothing since switching to Bravecto. My dad has 3 goldens on it - they live in a heavily wooded area and no tick issues, ever.

[Victor]

We've been giving our two greys Bravecto for a year and a half and haven't had any problems. We do our best to find and remove ticks before they become embedded, but they're so easy to miss (especially deer ticks), we're grateful to have Bravecto as a backup.

 

We use Interceptor for heartworm prevention. Since Bravecto works on fleas, too, we didn't feel the need for the extra flea prevention in Sentinel.

 

By the way, Merck can send e-mail reminders every 12 weeks if that's helpful:

 

https://secure.merck-animal-health.com/reminders.aspx

[HeidisMum]

Betty has been on Bravecto for a year. She gets Sentinel for heartworm prevention. I could have switched to heartguard, but the Sentinel works for her and she has been on it for years so I don't really want to switch. I do give Bravecto a week or two separate from the Sentinel.

 

She's never had a reaction to Bravecto and I know for sure it works. She got a tick on her last year and we found it on her hours later (after I picked her up from the sitter). It had bitten her, but was flat and dead. It didn't have a chance to suck anything out of her or put anything into her. It was just there dead waiting for us to pick it off.

 

Ticks are bad this year

[XTRAWLD]

Is there anything bad about them getting a "double dose" for the flea prevention in Bravecto and then the flea prevention in the Sentinel?

[ramonaghan]

Is there anything bad about them getting a "double dose" for the flea prevention in Bravecto and then the flea prevention in the Sentinel?

 

I was told no. (BTW, Sweep was on Iverhart Plus when we first switched to Bravecto, and then the vet stopped carrying it, so she's been on two different heartworm meds with no side effects with the Bravecto.)

 

Here's a snippet from a message my former vet posted on the adoption group's email list in June of last year (she's retired now, but owns 7 greys of her own and is very active in the group) when someone found a Bravecto "horror story" online and expressed concern:

 

Bravecto has been used safely in the US for over a year now, and for several years in Europe. First, it doesn’t “repel” fleas. It KILLS fleas and ticks.

 

I’ve seen no reports of issues with this product. Searching VIN just now, there are none noted. That may change, but a year of use is long enough to gauge whether it’s “killing” dogs like you describe. As with Comfortis, use with caution in dogs with known seizures. It has been given along with Sentinel, Heartgard, Proheart without incident.

 

Bravecto is my personal flea product choice. I’ve used it since it came out last year without issue. In fact, I LOVE it. Given orally every 3 months, it’s easy, not messy, no extra collar. I’ve seen no problems with my hounds. There’s some rumor that it may get labeling for cats, and that indicates a good safety margin, too.

 

Hope that gives you some reassurance! I know every dog is different, but it really sounds like this one has a good track record with greys.

Edited May 18, 2016 by ramonaghan

[XTRAWLD]

Mmhmm thanks! I gave it to him this morning and he gobbled it like I thought he would. The thing that frustrates me is that there isn't an all in one, so really you still have to protect for heartworm once a month anyway. Just sent off my mail in rebate too - a whole $15. Better than nothing.....

Edited May 18, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[XTRAWLD]

Came home. Walked him. He "spit up" just as we got out the door and again when we got home, both times on the porch. Kinda slow on our walk, one very small poop which is unusual, not overly happy to see me arrive home but still greeted me, etc. I fed him and he was sort of picking at it not very interested like my usual hoover, but then consumed it and laid down. He's sitting there panting, occassionally whining. Very weird. He also got one shot yesterday for Lepto aside from Brevecto this morning. I'm not overly alarmed but will watch him.

 

Watched him on my camera all day while I was at work. Nothing different in his day at all and I checked the house in case there was a surprise.

 

Very strange!

Edited May 18, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[HeidisMum]

Came home. Walked him. He "spit up" just as we got out the door and again when we got home, both times on the porch. Kinda slow on our walk, one very small poop which is unusual, not overly happy to see me arrive home but still greeted me, etc. I fed him and he was sort of picking at it not very interested like my usual hoover, but then consumed it and laid down. He's sitting there panting, occassionally whining. Very weird. He also got one shot yesterday for Lepto aside from Brevecto this morning. I'm not overly alarmed but will watch him.

 

Watched him on my camera all day while I was at work. Nothing different in his day at all and I checked the house in case there was a surprise.

 

Very strange!

My first greyhound had reactions to the Lepto shot. She was lathargic and acted like she wasn't feeling well. It lasted 48 hours or so.

 

I hope your pup is feeling better soon.

[XTRAWLD]

Yeah, I'm sure whatever it is or the cause will pass, but kinda making me watch him like a hawk tonight. Thanks for the tip about the shot.

 

He spit up some more water after he drank tonight (that happens commonly with him) but kinda weird night with his spit up on the porch twice. I'm thinking of giving him a Pepcid before bed.....maybe that might help calm his stomach? I've given it to Kasey religiously because he needed it, so perhaps it couldn't hurt.....I don't think it'll do anything with the Bravecto given 14 hours ago....

Edited May 19, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[ramonaghan]

How's he doing today?

[XTRAWLD]

A little more of the same actually. I see him panting a bit at home right now which isn't his usual. He had two HUGE poops this morning that weren't that great but I expected that since he barely did anything yesterday. Ate this morning like usual though, and finished off my cheerios as he does every morning.

 

He was rather gassy at night - burpin', fartin'. I thought he might puke but nothing happened. It'll be 48 hours at 7pm so I'm curious to see how he'll do when I get home and take him for his walk. I'm heading to my parents tonight with him in tow so maybe he'll perk up a bit and feel better.

 

Every body has an off day, he just happens to have his right now I think.

[Rickiesmom]

No help on the symptoms you are seeing, but I wanted to mention that Interceptor is available again, so when you run out of Sentinel, you could switch to that - it only addresses heartworm and some intestinal parasites and has nothing for fleas.

[XTRAWLD]

Thanks!

 

I don't know if it's the Bravecto doing this or the Lepto shot. He has never had a reaction quite like this to any shot or yearly prevention med like this.

 

When I give him Bravecto in August again I shall be watch him again and if he acts off at that time the product just isn't for him IMO. While I appreciate the fact it works on Ticks I fortunately haven't had to deal with those yet (but we still take hikes so and apparently they are already prevalent in my area), so while Tick Prevention is a nice thing to have, I won't administer this if it's an issue for him. I need the flea protection though, had them occur two years in a row on both the boys, so I want that for sure.

[krissy]

If the Bravecto doesn't agree with him, you could try Nexgard next year. I used that last year for my hounds. Similarly to Bravecto it covers only ticks and fleas. It's made by the same company as Heartgard and looks (and probably tastes) very much the same. Last year I did Heartgard on the 1st of the month and Nexgard on the 15th. I had thought about trying Bravecto this year, but I got a free box of Revolution so I'm going to use that first, and I still have 2 doses of Nexgard from last year that should round out my summer. Especially since Summit may not be out walking much any more, I may be still just covering 2 dogs instead of 3.

[Rickiesmom]

We are using Advantix II - it's a topical which I know a lot of people don't like, but because of Jeff's IMHA he can't have anything systemic, and we definitely need protection against ticks and fleas, so this seemed like a good way to go.

 

I should mention that otherwise we might have gone with Bravecto, which is what my clinic is recommending.

 

So if you find Bravecto isn't working the way you would like, there are alternatives. I could be wrong but I think we don't have the range of products to choose from in Canada that are available in the US, as ticks have moved north so quickly

[XTRAWLD]

I dunno WHAT is going on. Came home to Ry who's whole front chest area and right front leg completely saturated from his saliva, as was the couch and pillow area he was laying on. I didnt notice him working on himself before I left work so he must have done all that licking during my 45 min commute home. I had to go to class so off I went after dinner and a walk and on camera again he was licking his paw incessantly. Came home it was dry.

He has ever since Kasey had to leave been licking his paws, its a religious occurance between 3-4pm.

Is this Bravecto induced? Lepto shot induced? Increased anxiety of being home alone (its been 9 months sans Kasey)?

He doesnt lick when I'm home, ever. I find it might just be a comforting thing only in my absence. Nothing is wrong with his paw nor is it licked raw.

Sigh.

Edited May 21, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[XTRAWLD]

Ryder was due for his second Bravecto on Thursday. Absolutely NO symptoms like the last time, so I'm attributing all of his "offness" to the shots he had for his annual, which was likely the Lepto shot he's never had before. I'll pass on that next time. It's very funny how they sneak those things into conversation like it's mandatory.....

[ramonaghan]

Glad this time went better!

[Guest katie_dog]

I have been giving my greyhound Bravecto and Tri-Heart. That is what the greyhound rescue recommended and her vet agrees with it. I haven't seen any issues with it. I have only had her for 4 months but I think they we giving her Bravecto and also Tri-Heart back at the rescue.