Bravecto: Yes or No

[greydad92]

Hello All,

I am happy to announce the arrival of our new greyhound Lucky Princess Peanut butter. We call her Lucky. She’s a blue/brown greyhound girl from Ireland, born in Limerick and raced in Galway. She came over to the US at the end of 2021 when we adopted her. She’s doing greyt in her new home. She’s been with us for 2+ months now fits right in as a family member. She’s 5 years old. 

Our vet wants to put her on Bravecto. Simple question: yes or no? I’ve heard some pretty horrible rumors, but wanted to reach out to the greyhound community to see the thoughts there. 
 

Thanks,

Greydad92

[racindog]

Personally I would never deliberately expose my houndie to a known dangerous neurotoxin-which is how it kills the fleas etc.  There are over 32,000 members in this one FB group that reports deaths and adverse reactions https://www.facebook.com/groups/fb.comgroupsnexguardbravecto

When I first got involved with greyhounds I was told that even ordinary flea collars were not to be used on hounds. That they have almost no fat in their bodies to dissipate the poison.  I am by training a chemist and it has made me very suspicious of putting any foreign substances/chemicals in bodies-especially poisons- especially when I see so many legitimate and documented adverse effects.  My bottom line is that if it is your dog do what you want and that is fine with me.  However I will not expose any of my dogs to such 'treatments'.  I remember when they first introduced a 6 month heartworm 'treatment' that has since been taken off the market because of its high mortality.  What I remember most- besides the tragedy of the dogs dying- was the fact that many owners had to WATCH their dogs get sicker and sicker and then die a slow horrible death knowing it was because they had treated them. They were not 'sick enough' to euthanize outright-there was a modicom of hope-but the survival rate was so low most owners knew they wouldn't be spared. You see once you put poison in you can't just magically take it out again if they have a bad reaction- much like for e.g with antifreeze or  neurotoxin rat poison-bromethalin. There are many toxins that have no antidote-all you can do is supportive treatment.   I know I wouldn't be able to stand going through that so I don't put them, or me, at risk of such a horrible experience by using it. The manufacturer of these products are known to give vets rebates on them so the more of the they can sell the more money they make so no doubt some vets are inclined to recommend them because of this.  In fact soem vets put a "permission clause" into the fine print that you sign at the vets office allowing treatment and other ROUTINE procedures. They don't tell you that it is in there and many people have had their dogs treated with various insecticidal products against the owners wishes because the owner didn't realize they had started putting such things in the small print releases they sign. But the rebate money is lucrative enough it has even gone that far.  So be sure you read the fine print regardless. This is true. It almost happened to me and my hound. I just happened to read the fine print when I went to get a teeth cleaning done and I could hardly believe that they were trying to be that sneaky to treat your dog with things you did not ever even want.

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by racindog

[KF_in_Georgia]

I've been using Bravecto on my dogs for years with no complications. I'm using it on my girl (13 years, 9 months old) and boy (9 years, 5 months), and have been using it on these two for as long as I've had them--six years.

None of my dogs have ever been prone to seizures. I'd avoid Bravecto (or anything like it) if seizures were a problem in this household. But I did therapy dog events for years with the two dogs I lost in 2016 (osteo in the boy, hemangio in the old lady), and I wanted "pet-able" dogs around seniors and kids--not dogs with a toxin on the back of their necks.

P.S. I've never had a vet try to sneak any pesticide on one of my dogs.

[ramonaghan]

Used Bravecto for years with no ill effects. The only reason we switched (to Simparica) is because Sweep hated the taste and could detect it in anything we used to disguise it. It became more of a pain to get that pill in her every three months than it is to give her something she'll take willingly every month.