New flea/tick medication by Merck just approved: Bravecto | Dr. Justine Lee
The FDA just announced last Friday, May 16, 2014, that is has approved Merck Animal Health’s (MRK: Quote) newest flea and tick chewable tablet for dogs called Bravecto. The active ingredient is fluralaner, a new ectoparasiticide that belongs to the isoxazoline group (which works directly on GABA receptors in insects). Bravecto has been used in the EU for several months, and has been well received by the veterinary and pet owner community.
Bravecto comes in a pork-flavored, hydrolyzed chewable flavored soft chew; it’s hydrolyzed, so can be safely given to dogs with food allergies also. Bravecto comes in multiple sizes for dogs (11.5 mg, 250 mg, 500 mg, 1000 mg, 1400 mg) and is unique is that is quickly and effectively kills fleas and multiple tick species [including Ixodes (commonly known as the hard shell deer tick); Deracentor (commonly known as the American dog tick); and Rhipicephalus (commonly known as the brown dog tick)] within 12 hours. Bravecto also kills Amblyomma (the lone star tick), but this only lasts for 8 weeks after dosing (due to the unique way that lone star ticks ingest their blood meals).
Studies have shown that a single dose of Bravecto can quickly, safely, and effectively kill fleas and ticks within 12 hours – this is amazing news, since it will help prevent the transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi (the spirochete that causes Lyme disease) before the tick can transmit it to a dog. Down with Lyme disease and it’s deadly chronic form (Lyme nephritis, more often seen in Golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers).
This product may revolutionize flea and tick medication! It doesn’t contain neonicotinoids (thus, not posing a risk for any of us honeybee lovers), and can safely be given to even pregnant bitches. The most common side effects reported by the company include mild and transient gastrointestinal effects (e.g., vomiting, decreased appetite, diarrhea, farting – yes, farting); lethargy, and increased thirst.
Check with your veterinarian, as it should be available in June 2014. Have an experience with the product? Love it? Hate it? Weigh in below!
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Could you provide a claims comparison of Bravecto (fluralaner) versus Nexgard (afoxolaner)? I personally am happy to see some effective oral flea/tick options for dogs who are less tolerant of topicals and clients who have difficulty administering topicals properly.
Thank you for replying. Bravecto for cats was taken off the market here in South Africa. Not suur why . Have been using frontline but it’s only effective for 3 days though. Several ppl have told me to use the bravecto for dogs on my cats but I’m bit wary of doing that though. The bravecto works very well on my little yorkie but I see the monthly tablet lasts about 3 weeks though
I wouldn’t use it on your cats unless it’s licensed. I’d talk to your veterinarian about other options!
I don’t know all details, but I know that Nexgard was just also approved on Friday (also May 16, 2014) to be relabeled as killing more than just the American Dog Tick. Previous to this release, it was only approved for one tick (American Dog Tick). Now, it is labeled to kill the black-legged tick and the Lone Star tick. This is good, as it can potentially prevent the transmission of Lyme, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, and tularemia. Currently, the studies show that the kill is within 48 hours, and lasts for 30 days.
That said, I would love to check out a product that kills QUICKLY (e.g., 12 hours) prior to the transmission of Borrelia, since Lyme disease is so prevalent in my area (e.g., Minnesota).
It also is a palatable chewable treat, but it’s beef-based not pork. Otherwise, this class of drug has a wide margin of safety! Nice to see oral medications for flea and tick control!
I rescued a pit bull puppy (9 wks old) that has demodex mange. proven with skin scrap. The vet told me that Bravecto kills the mangeas well as fleas and ticks. Do you have any idea if this will help her or hurt her. Right now she is on oral Ivermectin daily. I just want the best for my fur baby girl. I don’t want to give her something that is going to kill her. Please give me ay information that you may have on this. Thank you so much.
Both Bravecto OR daily ivermectin (for 3-4 months, once a day) works! If she is doing fine on the daily ivermectin, that’s fine too. Once she’s over 6 months, then you can use Bravecto (she’ll be off the ivermectin by this age) to help kill future demodex too!
My dog has been on daily ivermectin for demodex for nearly a year and still had a positive skin scraping last month. The mites weren’t as prevalent as they have been in the past, but one was still found. She is currently on the highest dose for her weight (~73lbs). She hasn’t had any lesions for many, many months and the only missing hair is a small area at the back of her neck where it wrinkles. You wouldn’t even notice it if you weren’t aware of her condition and looking for it. I’m concerned with the long-term use of ivermectin. I was just recently informed by a fellow friend in rescue of this Bravecto as treatment for demodex…would this be an alternative to try instead of the ivermectin? Thanks!
Absolutely – talk to your veterinarian about it. You can forward them this link here:
http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/8/1/187
It should be COMPLETELY treated, and the fact that your dog has had it for a year is not good… I would treat aggressively to make sure it’s cured.
I recently adopted a 3 y/o female pitbull with severe demodex. She had many open sores.
After one treatment with Bravecto she is mite free 18 days later.
She is recovering well, sores are all healed and hair is growing back.
I highly support Bravecto..
Email me and I’ll send pics.
For all pet owners i promote looking up food grade diatemacous earth for their pets treatment for many issues including mites, parasites, etc.
Unfortunately this only works to prevent egg hatching of fleas.
My lab mix is about 5 months old 45 pounds and just got bravecto to treat mange. It says on the box for puppys 6 months or older. Is she going to be okay?
Great question, Mandy – it’s ok to use this “extra-label” but check with your veterinarian if you are concerned. The FDA didn’t want to approve this for young growing puppies if their weight was changing a lot, but at 45 pounds, your dog should be okay! Bravecto has worked great for mange, so this is a great safe option. But when in doubt, ask your veterinarian!
Bravecto cured my Dashchund of the mange. He hair is almost completely grown back within 4 weeks after taking Bravecto.
I took my sheltie to the vet for a groom this week. The vet recommended a tick repellent due to the high tick population this year and gave him bravecto. 24 hours latter Dylan, the sheltie started vomiting. About 10 hours latter Dylan had major diarrhea that continues to get worse. The stools have some kind of mucus around it. He is lethargic and his stomach is tight. He vomits quickly every time he eats. He also appears to tremble. HOw long will these side effects last?
Dear Dr. Lee, since my post yesterday I took Dylan to vet today because his vomited got worse. Lab results show Dylan, my sheltie, had a low red palette count. What does that mean? I could tell the vetinarian was concerned but I am glad my dog is under his care.
Day 6. We took Dylan to the vet again today after finding blood and foam in his stools. Electrolyte panel show high RBC and HGB again. The vet definitely feels it is a reaction to the Bravecto. At our request, an x-ray was taken and the stools where tested for parasites. Cerenia injections have been given twice which seems to have stopped vomiting. I have called Merck and left message but have not heard from them. The vet was call them also.
Day 9. Another emergency visit with my 8 year old sheltie. Bloody stools and diarrhea continue to haunt Dylan. The vet is treating Dylan for colitis and gave him more fluids. The good news is I think he is going to live thanks to the excellent care vets are giving him.
It’s been 20 days since we took our 8 year old sheltie, Dylan, to the vet for grooming. He was also given Bravecto. Since that visit, he is still sick from Bravecto. He has had three intravenous injections and has been on 5 different drugs. I have been back to the vet 5 times now. The Merck representative was worthless. I informed her her that Dylan had dirrehea and vomiting and was lethargic. She immediately said Bravecto could not have been the cause. When I informed her that these were even written on label as side effects, she became rude. She said she would follow up the next day. Two weeks have passed and I haven’t heard from her since.
Comment herding dogs and collies can be highly allergic to medication for mites and fleas. There is a test your vet can do to see if your dog has that reaction. Mine is a mutt but the vet thought he saw some herding traits and would not treat his mites until the test came back the allergy (not sure if it is an allergy but something their system can not process that kills them.
Great point – mine is a Aussie mixed too. Ivermectin, the main treatment for mange, is definitely toxic to MDR gene mutation dogs (now named ABCD1 gene cassette). It’s an easy saliva test at Washington State University. The newer oral flea and tick medications CAN be used in MDR dogs with mange, but when in doubt, check with your veterinarian.
Marion Fletcher, how is your dog doing? My yr old Yoriie Poo is battling IMHA autoimmune anemia) following this product. She has had one blood transfusion and is on a several meds, but her bloodwork on Halloween shows her red blood count decreasing again! Not sure our baby is going to make it.
Thank you! Agree, it would be WONDERFUL to have a product that killed ticks that quickly – an easy recommendation especially for Lyme disease prevalent areas. While it is not common in our area, Lyme disease is present as are other tick-borne diseases. We are recommending more and more a 4DX test or similar. I saw the first tick this season earlier than ever – American Dog Tick in mid-March!
I saw on a reputable site (http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/MSD_Animal_Health/Bravecto_chewable_tablets_for_dogs/-64007.html) that Bravecto is effective against the brown dog tick for only 8 weeks, but the Merck site says 12 weeks. This tick is very common where we are, so I’m concerned to get this right – what do you think?
We would otherwise use Frontline every month, so this is a big decision for us. We had one dog die from babesiosis , so this is a real concern.
It only gets the Lone Star Tick (Ambylomma) for 8 weeks; the others are for 12 weeks. It kills the ticks within 12 hours, which is EXCELLENT, so I personally like the action of this oral medication better!
Pet Helpers is incredibly saddened to learn of the recent death of one of our adopted dogs. This post is in loving memory of Duncan who was taken to his heavenly home last Thursday. This is from his family………
It has been too painful for us to post on his passing. We are still grieving deeply and miss him terribly. He was only 4 years old and died after a visit to the vet. He was put on a new flea chewable that took his life less than 24 hours after taking it. Our other dog who went to the vet at the same time and was prescribed the same flea chewable almost died on Friday from the same medicine. At this time we are not sure he will still make it as there is no antidote for it and our research has shown that several dogs have died within 30 days due to liver and kidney failure after taking this medication. Wish we had known this beforehand! Would have never allowed this to be prescribed, let alone given it to our dogs. Never again will we use a chewable flea & tick med! Please Keep Patti Winter and Todd Michael in your prayers. I fostered Duncan 3 yrs ago and he was such a joy.
Please avoid this drug called Bravecto. I know many vets are pushing it and it just isn’t safe and there isn’t enough info out there yet
Please see this link here – sounds like it’s rumor floating on the Internets…
http://m.snopes.com/bravecto-flea-and-tick-warning/
Dr. Lee, this is not a rumor! I am the owner of Duncan and the other affected dog. Duncan died within 24 hours of being administered Bravecto and our other dog is still having issues after taking it. Both went to the vet the same day and the ONLY commonality is the Bravecto (this was the first time they were prescribed and given it). Duncan was given a rabies shot which he has had before and the Bravecto. The other dog was not given a rabies shot as he is having trouble with allergies and was prescribed an antibiotic, prednisone and Bravecto. He has been having episodes of distress since being given the chewable and one of those episodes was witnessed in his vet’s office just yesterday during a follow up. You are being incredibly irresponsible in assuming it’s a “rumor” without knowing the whole story and what is occurring. Two different dogs and two different breeds of dogs….. one died within 24 hours the other started having distress about 30 hours after taking it and is still having issues. Our vet has been asked to report it to the manufacturer, as well the FDA is being notified. We have as well received contact from the manufacturer and case numbers have been assigned to both dogs. If you pay attention to your posts, you will see that others have probably lost their dogs to this med, also look at the FB posts and see how many people are now coming out of the woodwork that have lost dogs after taking this. Awareness is all that is being asked for.
Patti,
I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of Duncan. I’m not questioning the rumor if it is true. That said, I do have some questions as a veterinary emergency critical care specialist AND toxicologist.
First, Merck has been trying to get in touch with you and according to them, a case has not been started at all which is of huge concern to them. They have attempted to reach out to you via Facebook and haven’t gotten a response, as they want to get to the bottom of this and report it asap to the FDA but need more information. Can you reach them at 800-224-5318 as soon as possible? They have not had any reports of deaths and so there is concern that this wasn’t reported to them by you or your veterinarian. If any drug company has such a shocking issue with their drug, they are legally required to report this to the FDA within 3 days; however, per Merck, no one has been able to get in touch with you. Can you AND your veterinarian report this as soon as possible?
There have been no reported deaths from this product, as any drug company DEFINITELY has to report this ASAP. Merck of course is equally concerned. I’m not sure if your veterinarian called an animal poison control center (where you would definitely be assigned a case number)?
Next, how old was Duncan? Did he die or was he euthanized? I only ask because typically, dogs don’t die acutely from drugs – I promise to write a blog on this today so I can further elaborate as a veterinary specialist. If dogs (or humans, cats, all species in general) develop rare drug reactions (e.g., anaphylactic shock, immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, toxic epidermal necrolysis or Stevens-Johnson syndrome, organ injury etc.), it takes days (with the exception of anaphylactic shock, which takes hours, as anyone with a peanut allergy can attest to). It’s rare for animals to die acutely of this at home. And typically, depending on the commitment of the owner, financial limitations, I’m of the thought that most of these cases are treatable/savable by a veterinary specialist in a 24/7 referral hospital or specialty clinic (Of course, I’ll disclose that I’m at a specialty clinic where we can do advanced diagnostics and treatment such as mechanical ventilation, etc.).
Hopefully you already reported it to Merck asap, and my Merck source doesn’t have the most updated report that anything was filed yet. I’ll double check with them. Please call again to be safe. I know it’s also very hard to consider, but I would also really recommend an autopsy to find out what is going on. Of course, most drug companies would always cover the costs of this, but it takes weeks to months to get the results back… but should definitely be done to confirm what was going on.
My deepest sympathies, Patti. My heart goes out to you, as I know what it’s like to lose a beloved family member. I would be devastated too but want to make sure that an autopsy was done and that it was reported as my own 3 year old pit bull is on Bravecto too!
Thanks so much,
Dr. Justine Lee
My wife and I lost three min pins after Giving them bravecto they slowly went blind and lost most of there weight Along with constant drinking and urination we had to have them unthanized We have no proof but the only common link was bravecto One was 12 tears old one was 8 years old and one was 3years old This occurred within 4 months of their first dose I believe there is a link
I’m so sorry to hear this – it’s unusual for you to lose ALL three dogs. Any chance they were poisoned (Excessive thirst is seen with antifreeze and grapes, etc.). I’d have your veterinarian contact Merck to report this (or call yourself). Ideally, an autopsy should ALWAYS be done within 24 hours to find out what the underlying cause is.
Good for you Patti- I will not be using this product at all! Quick is not always better.
Dr. Lee, since you are referring people to snopes at this point, please also let them know about the Facebook group Does Bravecto Kill Fogs so they can see reports of actual side effects. Also, snopes is refusing to show another side to this story. I posted on their Facebook page thread about Bravecto and they removed my comments and eventually the thread. They will not post reply comments to the article you referenced. You can see evidence of this on the aforementioned Facebook group. We appreciate you showing all sides.
Ugg. Typo. Does Bravecto Kill Dogs! Not fogs
Well said Susan! As a result of what I have read on the Facebook group, my puppy will never be given Bravecto!
No rumor… when it comes to Bravecto side effects. My dog died along with many others. My second dog’s blood numbers are also effected. Yes, many will escape a hit to health, but who knows if your dog will be the unlucky one… like the hundreds reporting in. I wish this was a rumor… oh how I wish it were and my Bella were with us now. Check out the Washington Post, the ADE reports, and
http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Summary_of_opinion/veterinary/002526/WC500198749. from the European Medicines Agency. There is much online, that a simple minded snopes reporting that interviews a few vets, cannot disqualify as valid.
I agree, the Snopes site is a disgrace! Quoting a Vet saying he guarantees that Bravecta is perfectly safe?! That’s it? I am a physician, and I can tell you that the lack of reported side effects from an insecticide that affects GABA receptors is mind boggling. I guess dogs cannot report feeling nauseated, dizzy, etc.. But in the world of human medications, a medicine/drug like this would have a list of side effects to and cautions a mile long… And yes, some pets will do just fine… But come on… It takes years for drugs to show their true colors..
I wanted to make you aware of another death due to Bravecto. My sister had a pit bull mix named Buddy that died this past Tuesday 2/9/16, after taking Bravecto 6 days earlier. He was vomiting within one hour of taking the medicine. This continued where he was drinking loads of water, became very lethargic, & breathing laboriously. He died on the way to the vet & had unfortunately suffered. He was only five & completely happy & healthy prior to taking this medicine. My sister & her husband are devastated as he was their baby. This will be reported to Merck Animal Health. Although this medicine is a blockbuster in so many ways, it’s not worth the risk of losing our angels on earth!
Oh Nicole, I’m so sad to hear this. I’m so glad you reported it to Merck and would really push for an autopsy. My heart goes out to you as I am a huge pit bull addict and love these dogs… thinking of you and your sister and sending prayers your way…
So your sister’s dog vomited for 6 days before they took it to the vet? I’m curious as that seems a long time to allow a dog to be ill, especially if there was a new medication given within an hour of the vomiting.
I’m sorry for your loss, but I can’t help but wonder what was going on.
I hate to tell you, but that is no rumor, people are loosing their pets and we almost lost ours. i will never give that crap or nexgard to any of my dogs again. this crap needs to be pulled of the market. these companies go to vets and praise their new drug and then vets push it as a cure all pill for fleas and you are no different. this kills dogs…PERIOD !!! stop pushing this shit for your little “kickback”
Yeah elanco also claims trifexis doesn’t injure or kill dogs. If here I sit with my dog who has seizures after taking trifexis. They say there is no proven correlation. But when you have a healthy animal and give it a med and have bad outcomes- what is that exactly? They are ALL coincidental? Is that what we are to believe? What constitutes proof? A sign inside on necropsy that says “this dog died from trifexis or Bravecto?” I love having options for flea and tick control, but when we dose these animals every 30 days religiously,it builds up. That pill doesn’t magically wear off at day 29.99…
And now we split hairs: the dog has to die of the drug- so if the owner can’t afford to spend $6000 on a specialty hospital treatment- and Merck and Elanco sure aren’t going to pony up for it- and the owner elects to euthanize rather than watch their baby suffer- then the drug didn’t kill the dog- is that what you’re essentially saying then?
Ridiculous. I have to wonder how much of a kickback certain people receive from the drug companies. They help write your textbooks and supply equipment to vet schools and geez why would you even question them?
There is definitely a correlation between the active ingredient in Trifexis/Comfortis and seizures, particularly when given with dogs on concurrent high dose ivermectin (due to the GABA effect of the drug). That’s why it specifically states that it shouldn’t be used in dogs being treated for mange (with ivermectin) or with seizures, FYI. When in doubt, I would contact your veterinarian or the drug company to verify any adverse effects. As to your other point, no, drug companies don’t “write our textbooks and supply equipment” – we get to pay that for ourselves when we own clinics. To state so is ignorant.
See greenpaws.org. Most flea & tick products are dangerous for dogs–and human, too.
Actually, disagree. Most are natural derivatives from the Chrysanthemum flower – pyrethrins or pyrethroids and are VERY safe for dogs. Not for cats, however.
Please stop misleading the public Dr Lee. Furalaner, Afoxolaner and Sarolaner (active ingredients to Bravecto, Nexgard and the new rubbish on the block Simparica respectively) are isoxazolines and NOT Pyrethrins or Pyrethroids.
Your poor reading comprehension is not worth responding too. Please get off my webpage.
Pardon me: I meant to say Fluralaner
Mmmmm… Let’s rather just say that you don’t respond because you cannot respond because you don’t know how to respond because you know that I speak the truth because you know that the drug that you promote is poison to dogs…
Poor reading comprehension? I’d like to see you writing a piece on a website in my mother tongue, lol!
Why do you want me off your web page? Because you know that what I say makes sense…?
Every article like this one draws out the flakes and conspiracy theorists. It’s unavoidable.
Here in South Africa in Kwazulu Natal we have a massive flea epidemic. My question is about cats though. Some vet assistants have recommended I give them bravecto because frontline and comfortis was only lasting 3 days. We have a lot of monkeys that come through everyday. My 5 month old yorkie is on bravecto and he is doing fine but seriously need advice for our cats
Actually, there’s Bravecto for cats too but it’s topical and may not be available in South Africa. You can use Frontline in cats but DO NOT USE PYRETHRINS/PYRETHROIDS as these are really toxic to cats! Hope that helps!
Diana- Thank you for your great comment. I own a rescue and am state licensed. I am on this site as I also have questios about this Product. I have a rescued Pit that was on Ivermectine and an Antibitoc and doing well. When I started to put him into a Foster another Vet rec Bravecto and called and asked me about using it. He has only been on it a few weeks-but the Vet who is not my reg Vet to me was pushing it too much. I have had another Pit that was critical with Demodex and my reg Vet treated with Ivermectine and her skin and coat is fantastic. I am thinking of taking this dog to my reg Vet but now this dog cannot go back on Ivermectin for 3mo. Just don’t get why it is being pushed on some of the Vets. I don’t want what is easy-I want what is safe and effective. So sorry for your loss. Thank you for your post.
It’s pushed by vets b/c it’s MUCH easier than 3 months of ivermectin, and rarely, we can see ivermectin sensitivity in certain breeds (e.g., MDR-gene mutation Collies, etc.). Here’s the paper:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25881320
When in doubt, check with your veterinarian or the drug company if you have any questions!
We are losing our dog, as well. We don’t know what to do! Bravecto was given and he’s fighting for his life with no antidote. He’s only 4.8 pounds and it was supposed to be safe. Within 24 hours he was lethargic, not eating and it doesn’t look good. He’s been like this for 10 days now and is getting worse. Help someone!!!
Both Comfortis (and Trifexis, which contains Comfortis) & Nexgard warn against the use of their products if your dog has seizures. I don’t see any mention of Bravecto being safe for dogs with a history of seizures. Just wanting to know if Bravecto will be safe or not.
No warning about seizures that I know of. I did specifically ask Merck if it could be used with high-dose ivermectin, and they said it hasn’t been tested that way but don’t anticipate any issues.
That is not correct. If you read the pamphlet online with perfect a side effect seizures were important. If you come to my Facebook group called does Bravecto kill dogs, you will also see people report about seizures
My old girl, who has seizures in reaction to pyretheroids and went into a weird compulsive licking behavior with the Soresto flea collar (the vet called it paresthesia) is just fine on Bravecto. The reported test results say: “One adult treated dog suffered a seizure during the course of the study (46 days after the second treatment). ” That’s 1/224 and there was no proof that the drug caused the seizure.
My vet is pudhing this and so I looked it up. It was a very small test group and seizures in one dog of fewer than 300 is, to me, significant.
Bravecto killed fleas and ticks on my friend’s dog, but did not prevent her from contracting biliary. This was approximately 15 days after the drug was administered. The incubation period of biliary is about 10-12 days. So what is the use of Bravecto really? Absolutely zilch, except lining the pockets of the manufacturers and their agents and distributers. There are natural remedies that are much more effective. I use extra virgin organic coconut oil on my dog, and have yet to find a tick on her.
Bravecto effectively blinded my niece’s dog in just two doses.
And there have been thousands of reports on Facebook and elsewhere of adverse reactions to this drug (and Nexgard and Trifexis and Comfortis and Milbemax and more) from vomiting and bloody diarrhea right through to death, and everything in between such as seizures, auto-immune disease, blindness, liver & kidney failure, still born pups and more. And it won’t help to try and coax me into believing that those dogs were poisoned or already had underlying conditions before these drugs were administered… Coincidence and circumstance point to clearly to Bravecto…
My question to you is this: what is this drug supposed to kill? The dog, or the parasites? Another question: how dare you as a vet continue to distribute this rubbish while obviously you should know about all these reactions? Has it suddenly become the purposive mission of the veterinary industry to obliterate the entire Canine species? Just asking… on behalf of thousands of people who have lost their pets or are in the process of trying to save them…
Let’s see if you have the guts to honestly and publically reply to these queries…
Bravo for speaking your mind Brenda! By the way, my brother’s dog is also blind, and also after two doses. Coincidence? I don’t think so…
I’m assuming you went to a veterinary ophthalmologist to confirm it’s not SARDS? If not, would get there asap!
Um… SARDS? You must be joking! In a 5 month old puppy!? And both eyes at the same time? But come to think of it: if that is the case then there is one more condition caused by Bravecto that we weren’t previously aware of. Thanks for heads up, lol!
Antoinette, first, if you are going to contact a veterinarian (via the web), it’s almost best to provide the signalment (e.g., age, breed, sex) and history (e.g., on concurrent ivermectin for demodex, etc.) with any comments. You never said it was a 5 month old puppy, which is totally different. Also, to clarify, you’re not supposed to use Bravecto in dogs < 6 months, as stated on the label. Secondly, my goal is to help pet owners be the best pet advocate - I don't care what medication you use, as long as you use something to prevent heartworm, Borrelia/Lyme, Erlichia, fleas, etc. I'm assuming your brother or you were a good pet advocate and brought your dog to a veterinary ophthalmologist to confirm the blindness and to seek immediately treatment? Feel free to post the PDF of the medical record here. Also, note that if you think it was a drug reaction, you should have reported it immediately to your veterinarian and Merck or whatever company's product that you are using; they would have likely covered the visit to the ophthalmologist. As a board-certified veterinary specialist in emergency, critical care and toxicology (DACVECC, DABT), I base it on evidence-based medicine. If you don't report it, it doesn't get documented and definitive correlation can't be determined. So, get to a veterinary ophthalmologist ASAP if you care about your brother's 5-month-old puppy and their sight.
So if you don’t mind my asking another question: could the fact that the puppy was under 6 months of age be the reason for the reaction? I am just really concerned.
We did take her to two other vets besides the vet under whose supervision she got the drug, and all three vets couldn’t find a trace of what may be wrong. It was only the 4th vet we went to, who is a holistic vet, that pointed out the fact that her system could have been poisoned by the drug. the first dose was administered at 8 weeks of age, and shortly after that she started going blind.
We also did phone to report the case to Merck, but they were not very helpful. They maintained that it could not have been the drug.
The vet under whose supervision she was also reported to Merck, but has to date not received a reply. He was also going to report to the authorities.
Please let me know what you think?
Thanks!
I’m a bit confused – why are you going to so many vets and not a veterinary specialist? Is your brother’s puppy ACTUALLY BLIND? Or was it just dilated pupils and visual? I really doubt that Bravecto can cause “blindness” based on the physiology and pharmacokinetics of the drug, but if it is truly blind, it needs a veterinary ophthalmologist to truly document this (e.g., to confirm it’s not dilated pupils, Collie-related breed issues re: vision, etc.). It should be obvious if your puppy is blind (e.g., bumping into things, crashing down stairs, failing a cotton ball veterinary test, etc.). If it’s not blind, I wouldn’t “claim” that it is blind from Bravecto (for legal purposes). I would really advocate confirming the diagnosis with an accurate ophthalmologist exam. It’s totally worth the $150 exam fee with the specialist to confirm, IMO. (But I’m biased as I’m also a veterinary specialist!).
I’m so sorry that Merck wasn’t helpful. I would call back or get your multiple vets to call in and talk to them (make sure they report it under the same case number for accuracy). IMO, the statement from your holistic vet that it is “poisoning” your dog’s system isn’t medically accurate (based on the FOI, pharmacokinetics of the drug, safety data, etc.) and I would have them call Merck directly if they are concerned.
Giving Bravecto to any dog < 6 months of age is really unlikely to have resulted in any issue - this is extra-label use of the drug as the FDA didn't approve for < 6 months of age based on the growing age of puppies (with the weight changing dramatically during the first 2-6 months of age). I hope that helps and really hope your dog isn't truly blind. Please keep us posted!
Won’t you please just answer my question? Is Bravecto safe for pups under 6months of age or not? And if not, then why doesn’t Merck make sure that vets won’t make the mistake of prescribing to an 8 week old puppy?
Scared now? Thought so!
Dear Antoinette at anternative1@gmail.com,
Please be aware that some of us actually work and don’t have time to cyberstalk and respond to menial posts constantly. Please get off my page. Part of the reason pet owners who have had excellent success with Bravecto (such as my own dog) don’t respond to this blog is b/c of the cyberbullying that you are so fond of initiating. I already answered you question about the 6 month response below. It’s safe. It’s extra-label. It’s NOT approved for < 6 months due to growth in puppies by the FDA. Please note I will not be responding to your obnoxious posts, as I don't plan on making the time for it. Good luck and seek veterinary attention for your own dog. Dr. Justine Lee
My dog went blind too after 3 doses. I went to holistic vet and am on a strict diet and supplement. Any Vet that disregards this is in it just for money. These medications go through the cell blood/brain barrier and effect he brain and nervous system neurotransmitters. You should be ashamed of yourself. I am sorry for the pets and owners who have effects from these medications. And yes… I went immediately 2 days after the blindness to the ophthalmologist who did a thorough exam and ERG and bloodwork all of which were unremarkable. Shame on you!!!
My comment seems to have been removed, so I’m reposting, or perhaps a “jinx” caused to disappear, so I’m reposting:
Bravo for speaking your mind Brenda! By the way, my brother’s dog is also blind, and also after two doses. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Sorry, seems I spoke too soon, lol!
First of all, you had no right to openly display my email address on a publically accessible website without my express permission. I am therefore holding you personally responsible, should anybody make use of it without my consent.
The obnoxious one is you, Dr Lee, for displaying my email address on a publically accessible website without my express permission, and for openly not answering a question because you do not know how to answer it without negatively implicating the garbage you promote.
Please note that my own dog is fine because I did not feed that garbage to her. It’s my BROTHER’S dog that I am concerned about, and I assure you that I WILL get behind the facts regarding this incidence with this horrible drug! I do not give up that easily!
How can a product be “safe” for use on an 8 week old puppy if the FDA only approved it for dogs older than 6 months?!
Fine, I’m “getting off your ‘page'” as requested. Please note that what I am doing is NOT “cyberbullying”. It’s called “freedom of expression” on a publically accessible website on which you yourself have invited THE PUBLIC to leave their comments. “Cyberbullying” is not my style, I’m merely trying to find answers for what has happened to MY BROTHER’S dog. If you were such a noble “vet”, you would have done your best to try and help me find those answers.
However, seeing that I am very obviously NOT going to find those answers on this biased-toward-poison page, I am leaving. So breathe freely, I’m not going to put you on a spot again… although I do think that I have put you in your place, even if you refuse to admit that.
You won’t hear from me again.
Namaste!
Hi Antoinette, sorry. Only seeing your comments now. Hope you will still read this, seeing that you had to leave the page. Just wanted to say thank you for the support. 🙂
DR Lee, are you aware that the new topical Bravecto released by Merck Lauren said the main ingredient can cause seizures in dogs that never had them before. Yet they still have not change the warnings for the oral? What do you think of that especially given that seizures are amongst the top 10 side effects reported to the FDA?
Thanks for letting me know Susan. I’ve never used or even seen the topical form yet but will check and confirm ASAP – really appreciate you pointing this out!
Hi Susan,
I spoke with Merck and reviewed their Freedom of Information (FOI) form. (BTW, this FDA report is available for EACH human and veterinary drug out there in the USA!). From my understanding, there were 221 dogs in the Bravecto field trial (where they were evaluated for approximately 100 days). They were compared to an “active control” group of 100 dogs that did NOT receive Bravecto (but received Frontline Plus instead). A total of 4 dogs had neurologic signs, with 3 dogs from the field trial (e.g., Bravecto) and 1 dog from the control group (e.g., Frontline Plus). 3 of the dogs seizured.
The first dog was from the Bravecto group and had a previous known history of seizured; this dog seizured 18 days after getting the Bravecto. This dog still received a 2nd dose (12 weeks later) and no other seizures were seen with additional doses of Bravecto.
The second dog was from the Bravecto group and had a seizure 76 days AFTER receiving its first dose of Bravecto; however, 3 days prior the seizure (at 73 days post-Bravecto), this dog was started on fluoxetine (an selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant/anti-anxiety behavioral drug that is can occasionally be associated with seizures). The fluoxetine was then discontinued.
The third dog was from the Bravecto group and was off balance 5 days after receiving the first Bravecto dose; this dog had a PREVIOUS history of seizures also. This dog also received a 2nd dose of Bravecto 12 weeks later and supposedly did fine.
The fourth dog was from the Frontline Plus active control group and seizured on day 31 (1 day after the 2nd dose of monthly Frontline); this dog never received Bravecto at all.
As a result, the FDA wanted the label of seizures to be on the product to be safe (as a similar class of drug by another company did see an association in young puppies).
To clarify, it isn’t reported to be in the top 10 adverse effects seen with Bravecto, but when in doubt, please talk to your veterinarian about this. When in doubt, contact the company too! If you have concerns, definitely don’t use it. But over 30 million doses have been dispensed to dogs. No seizures were seen in any of the chew/oral Bravecto tablets, to my knowledge, FYI.
So, I hope that information helps. WHen in doubt, please talk to your veterinarian who is the best advocate for your pet! Thanks!
If you look at the FDA reports of side effects reported after Bravecto, you will see seizures are amongst the top 10 side effects reported by consumers. The EMA is requiring Merck to add seizure warnings. However, the FDA has done nothing to address this growing concern
I saw online that somwone’s dog suffered multiple seizures within the month after taking Bravecto. If your dog is prone to seizures, you might want to avoid Bravecto altogether!
That’s a great point. With certain drugs, a history of seizures or the use of high-dose ivermectin may be contraindicated. That means you shouldn’t use it in those situations. When in doubt, check with your veterinarian to be on the safe side.
People need to THINK. There is NO safe insecticide/pesticide other than natural things like essential oils, neem seed oil, diatomaceous earth, etc. Putting these toxic products on or in animals will only cause harm. It’s impossible not to. They go into the blood stream, pass through the liver and cause damage along the way. Do an internet search and you’ll see many reports of dead, ill, damaged animals. Trifexis has killed over 700 dogs; our little Terrier suffered liver failure from using topicals. Don’t trust that anything chemical or that has FDA approval is good and safe; it’s not the truth.
We had a bad flea problem when we moved into another home last year. The previous owner obviously had an infestation. We used neem seed oil and diatomaceous earth and they were completely gone in less than one month. You can add the neem seed oil to any natural dog shampoo and also make a spray for the garden. It’s safe for beneficial insects; just spray in the evening to prevent spraying them during the day when they’re active. There’s plenty of information on this online.
NO to toxic products!
Unfortunately, studies have shown that diatomaceous earth don’t work for adult fleas – they only dehydrate the outside of the larvae (which is helpful for larvae, but not the adult). That said, if you’re having good success, keep trying it!
Essential oils are NOT safe on pets, especially cats: see the Disinfectant guideline of the European Advisory Board of Cat Disease published in JFMS.
Thanks for pointing this out – the high concentration (almost 100% essential oils) can be very toxic – especially tea tree extract. If diluted (e.g., dilute in shampoos, etc.), it’s not a big deal, but please don’t use 100% concentration in dogs and cats. When in doubt, check with ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center – they are awesome!
Even “natural” items like those you mentioned are dangerous. There are warnings on Neem oil and diatomaceous earth. People need to be careful…period
Dr. Lee, I’m concerned about using straight Ivermectin as heartworm prevention in my dogs. A vet that I used to work with through a rescue organization prescribed it for one of my dogs who was heartworm positive and it did in fact cure him. I’m looking for an oral flea medication that I can safely use in conjunction with Ivermectin as the topical flea preventatives I’ve tried (Frontline, Advantix, BioSpot) have been a waste of money. I appreciate your guidance. Thank you!
Hi Bethany,
I’m not a huge advocate of using concentrated ivermectin (in the form of Ivomec) in dogs; it can easily be dosed inappropriately. if you’re using it as a monthly heartworm pill,then that’s much safer. As for an oral flea and tick preventative, I would say that they are safe to use as long as your dog is not on high-dose ivermectin (e.g., for Demodex, etc.).
There was a recent study that came out stating that Frontline definitely had resistance, so I have since moved away from using or recommending it. I only recommend veterinary prescription flea and tick for the most part, as they stand behind the protect more and I feel they are adequately tested (and thus, have a higher safety margin). I’ve had good success with K9-Advantix myself. Alternatively, you can check out Bravecto by Merck, which lasts for 12 weeks (only 8 weeks for the Lone Star ticK). More importantly, it kills fleas and ticks REALLY quickly. Hope that helps!
Hi, I have a 3 year old American bulldog. He was diagnosed with Demadex mange 2 weeks ago and our holistic vet gave us Ivermectin, said do 5 days on 5 days off. I took him back to our other vet 2 days ago, it seems the dose he should be on is 1.2 ml per day for a month? I was wondering? It seems that giving him a dose of Bravecto should work? What dose should he get of the Bravecto? Do you think it is safe since he has been on the Ivermectin? I was going to ask my vet for the Bravecto tomorrow. Thanks.
Yes, giving 2-3 doses of Bravecto at the REGULAR dosing and dosing interval will work for Demodectic mange! You can show your vet this paper here:
http://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-015-0775-8
Hi Justine, I used Trifexis with my previous dog, a Lab mix. She lived to 12 yrs. and it seemed to manage the fleas very well. We now have a 15 lb. Cockapoo, and we started her on Trifexis 2 yrs ago. When she was 6 mod. old, but she didn’t tolerate it well. She would vomit after administration. We had never had a flea problem and is been using some natural remedies that were working fine. It must be a bad season, as we had recently seen couple of live fleas on her. We tried Vectra 3D, and it hasn’t resolved the issue. I’m concerned about the chemical aspect of these drugs and would like to know your recommendation for the best of the worst…oral flea remedy… This new drug sound promising, but I don’t want to poison my dog… Help!
I’d talk to your veterinarian about it. The benefit of Trifexis is that it also kills heartworm, which can be life-threatening. Vectra 3D and most of the other topical and oral flea and tick medications do NOT get heartworm, so it’s important to have your dog on both (depending on where you live). The biggest side effect of Trifexis and/or Comfortis is vomiting, but as long as you don’t see the pill in the vomit or that it’s been > 1 hour, it typically does NOT need to be reduced. Bravecto does NOT get heartworm, but kills fleas and ticks very quickly. The other benefit is that it’s oral, so I’d give it at home (once you’re home from the veterinarian and there’s no more stress/car sickness, etc.). When in doubt, I’d talk to your veterinarian about what the best one is for you!
Comfortis only kills fleas, not heartworm.
That’s correct – their product Trifexis (which is basically Comfortis + HW medication) treats all.
It’s deadly too. Terrible drug (Trifexis)
Are you aware of the similarly named Facecook group Dors Triflexis Kill Dogs? Actual real people coming together and reporting side effects. This needs to be taken seriously. It can’t all be coincidence as the manufacturers want you to think
I totally agree with you Susan.
My dog died taking this product, kidney failure and died 4 weeks later, the vet defended the product
Dominic, I’m so sorry to hear that! I hope you reported it to the company immediately. That said, as a toxicologist, Bravecto isn’t eliminated or doesn’t affect the kidneys, so the pharmacokinetics of the drug are not associated with kidney failure. I would worry it was something else (e.g., leptospirosis, chronic kidney changes, etc.). When in doubt, always get an autopsy or additional testing to be sure so you have some peace. My heart goes out to you.
Bravecto is killing my dog! I don’t know what to do. We’ve seen the vet and have undergone tests and everything else under the sun while the vet is still saying it’s not the Bravecto. It started after the Bravecto dose and he’s been downhill every since. I just want him to live. That’s all I want here. There are so many dogs dying from this medication and still, there is nothing being done. Manufacturer does know about this, too. I understand it’s not every dog, but just want to help Buddy live through this. I can’t get any help because they don’t want to admit it’s the medication.
I am looking into whether our clinic should carry Nexgard or Bravecto. What is your opinion?
Hi Dr. Cote,
I really like the data behind Bravecto in that it kills ticks in < 12 hours (for all but Lone Star, which doesn't affect my area). It also kills fleas in < 24, so no need for a IGR. Hope that helps and let me know your thoughts on how either works in your practice! Justine
I just started using Bravecto on my setter and like the fact that I only have to administer it only every three months and it is not oily on her coat. We are planning on visiting Texas this winter so should we give it to her every 2 months or use a topica?
Great question – if you think your dog will be exposed to the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma), likely best to be safe especially if you’re out hiking a lot. If your dog is handling Bravecto well, I’d check with your veterinarian about using it every 2 months instead. It’d be “extra-label” (e.g., not according to the label), but should be safe but should be directed by your veterinarian. Alternatively, you can add on a flea and tick collar for that month too (that is labeled to get Amblyomma).
You can see all the tick-borne diseases that these ticks transmit here: http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/diseases/
Thanks for being such a consciousness owner!
Justine
I verified with Merck Animal Health and you can definitely use it every 2 months for Lone Star tick – it is labeled this way specifically for Amblyomma. So, when going to Texas, please change your dosing schedule to every 2 months instead of every 3 months!
I need to know whether the Bravecto is used alone or with Heartguard if the dog has Demodex? I am getting in touch with my Vet.
Bravecto doesn’t contain any heartworm preventation, so yes, they can be safely used together. That said, as rarely, Bravecto can cause vomiting, I wouldn’t give the Heartgard within a few DAYS to be on the safe side!
It depends on what you think your owner compliance is – I believe that studies have shown that owners only give < 3 doses a season, which means that they are really lapsing in coverage. You have better coverage with 3 months of coverage with one pill. So, I'd personally recommend starting them as puppies on Nexgard and once they are several months older, considering switching over.
Don’t do it!! Too many dogs have become sick and many, many have died, including my own almost 10 moth old, very healthy dog. Just 40 minutes after dosing she became unresponsive and for the next 7 weeks and 2 days she fought off so many side effects, to eventually die a horrific death.
She had no underlying conditions and that tablet killed her. Even a Merck vet (to whom I spoke) agreed given the timeline, Bravecto was probably the cause.
If you sell it, please sell it with a warning to your clients.
I agree Barbara!
Day 3 bravecto not working on my yorkie n cairn terrier! 30 days ago used advantage, fogged every room, washed everything, then after 3 weeks had dogs groomed, then applied frontline plus, after ten days the dogs were still spinning n biting their feet and scratching, then went to vet got bravecto – the dogs still have fleas after 3 days! It’s so sad to see them go through this! I see no difference in using any of these products so now I’m off to drop them to groomer then to vet for ? Vectra? How much more chemicals can a dog endure?
You have to vacuum daily for several weeks, along with make sure that ALL the pets in the household are being treated. Make sure to dump the bag daily. It’s the remaining eggs that are hatching. Keep at this and it will go away – just hang in there!
Hi. I had a room that was infested with fleas and it took a couple weeks of vacuuming everyday to get them out. Even though you get live fleas, the larvae is still in the carpet. We bought a cordless shark vacuum and vacuumed everyday. We got the smalls scented bags from the dollar tree. We vacuumed a section at a time and dumped it into the bag, tied it off and counted the fleas. As I vacuumed, I would keep track of how many were in each bag and once I was not picking up anymore fleas, I would move to the next section and repeat the process. I would spend the money to get the shark cordless sweeper because it would pull the larvae out of the carpet. Research methods of how to get rid of fleas because if you’re house is infested, no amount of medicine will work immediately. Good luck
Way to be super diligent vacuuming! That in combination with flea and tick medication definitely help work, but you have to be diligent about vacuuming too. Nice job.
I have a Chihuahua and a PitBull I gave my Chihuahua bravecto because the fleas made him chew every part of himself that he can reach he was bloody and sad. I could only afford one bravecto 3 weeks ago I noticed within 24 hours the fleas were no longer on the Chihuahua but then within the next week my PitBull got covered and began chewing himself to being bloody so I got him a bravecto and now lil more than 24 later mu pit is flea free..
You can’t use flea and tick preventative in ONE dog – it doesn’t work that way. You have to treat ALL at the same time, as all the fleas are jumping off your Chihuahua and now attacking your pit bull. You have to treat BOTH at the same time, vacuum frequently, and prevent other dogs and cats from entering your household in the meantime. I hope that helps! Get to your veterinarian immediately to make your pit bull more comfortable, please!
Hi
I also have a chihuahua who’s 4 next week. I gave him Bravecto (with recommendation from my vet to go ahead) on the 6th June 2015. Today is the 26th June 2015. This morning I woke to him hopping out from under my bed covers and onto my pillow. Usually he sleeps right through, so I watched him and he wouldn’t stop licking his lips. Then he snuggled on his right side to sleep. Still watching him, I noticed his head turn suddenly (up off the pillow) and he would swallow a few times and went back to sleep. This happened repeatedly for the good part of an hour. Once it had stopped for an hour or so, I went back to sleep. He’s fine today. BUT.. I need to know if he’s at risk. I just lost my beautiful 3yo chi girl 7 weeks ago and there’s no way I’m losing another one! It’d kill me. He had been on prednisone and iramine for allergies, but had stopped the pred and the vet cleared him to have bravecto. Should I be concerned and have his kidney/liver serology done?
Caddie
Nsw Australia
If you’re worried, I’d check with your veterinarian, but these clinical signs don’t sound like they are serious to me. Licking lips is a sign of nausea, so sounds like he may be a bit nauseated? Please check with your veterinarian to be safe. Thanks!
Misty, I have multiple dogs, too. I can’t afford Bravecto for all of them so my vet recommended buying the largest pill and dividing it between each dog according to their weight. I have English and French bulldogs. One pill works for 5 Frenchies or 2 English bulldogs. They have been on Bravecto for one month and everyone is flea and tick free!
Dividing pills is dangerous and not always reliable. Since the pills aren’t scored you can’t guarantee and even distribution of the medication throughout the pill. Surprised your veterinarian would advise this. Be careful and don’t blame the product if it stops working.
It usually takes 3 months to get rid of an infestation. So 3 days since giving Bravecto is not going to solve your flea problem. New fleas are jumping on your dogs everyday and they have to bite your dog for the Bravecto to kill them.
You also need good environmental changes (e.g., vacuuming daily, laundering beds, etc.) as the eggs are hatching EACH day. Stay consistent and make sure to implement these changes + make sure all the pets are on a good flea and tick preventative to prevent further infestation!
Borax laundry booster is great great for killing fleas in carpets. You sprinkle it on your carpet. Use a broom to get it deep in the carpet. Live it at least 2 weeks and then vaccum. It killed my infestation. i haven’t seen a fleas since
Since I can’t find any information about how this medication works, do the fleas/ticks have to bite the pet? Also, if it takes up to 12 hours to kill a flea, how exactly does it help a pet with flea allergies, or for that matter break the flea life cycle since that’s 12 hours a flea can still take a blood meal and lay eggs.
Helps with flea allergies in that it’s a quick kill – it does take about 24 hours for a blood meal to lay eggs, so once started, is supposed to help dramatically with decreasing count. From what I understand, it does work by fleas biting the pet – if you want a repellent also, you can consider a collar for that effect.
Sighthound safe? I see (and have) a lot of greyhounds. Thanks for all the information 🙂
I know it’s MDR gene mutation safe, but honestly I don’t think it was tested in sighthounds. I suspect so but would call Merck Animal Health to confirm for sure. 🙂
I just purchased Bravecto recently & love it! I went walking with my dog yesterday & today, & just found a dead tick on him, so now I know it does work! Also, the difference between Nexguard & Bravecto is that Nexguard only lasts for one month, whereas Bravecto lasts for 3 months (or 2 months if Lone Star ticks are a threat). No more topicals! Yay! Best product this year!
If you use Bravata for fleas and ticks, what do you suggest to use for heart worm? i had thought that Comfortis was just for fleas.
Thanks.
Great point! Bravecto as with most flea and tick medications, don’t always protect for heartworm and you need a different monthly medication for this! Trifexis (which is Comfortis + heartworm medication) gets BOTH. Alternatively, talk to your veterinarian about which monthly they prefer! 🙂
Does this mean it is safe to administer trifexis along with bravecta?
You really don’t need BOTH together – it’s too much. Trifexis has heartworm and flea preventative and Bravecto is just flea and tick preventative. I’d talk to your veterinarian to get on a separate heartworm medication.
diatomaceous earth food grade Is great for preventing and killing heart worms. I use 1 tsp a day with water poured over my dogs food. My dog has no tarter on her teeth, her coat is shiny, she has not had a bug on her since she has been taking it for a month. I live in Texas. Look up the health benefits. It is great for humans too. And it is great if your into a non chemical and money saving mind set.
Do you have any sense of how an older (9 year old greater swiss mountain dog) will tollerate Bravecto? My vet’s office said they had not heard anythinng that contra-indicates it in older dogs, but I am wondering what info is out there?
Hi Leslie,
I haven’t heard of any problems with giving it in older dogs, but if you’re concerned, you can always do a biochemical health panel just to make sure your GSMD is healthy! Based on the research that has been done, it has been tested in young adult dogs, but I wouldn’t anticipate a problem!
I believe it was only tested on beagle puppies. Per Bravecto’s website
I recently heard trifexis can be deadly and kills about a dog a day. Any thoughts on this?
Hi Brooke,
Thanks so much for writing. While Trifexis should NOT be used in dogs with a history of seizures or that are high-dose ivermectin (e.g., for mange, etc.), it is safe to use in other dogs – over 50 million doses have been dispensed, with the biggest side effect honestly being VOMITING! There’s a lot of social media attempts to create inaccurate reports (just like Febreeze killing dogs a decade ago – totally unfounded). You can find some great information here by a veterinarian:
http://avetsguidetolife.blogspot.gr/2014/07/trifexis-safety-concerns-poor-reporting.html
When in doubt, check with your veterinarian to be safe!
Thanks!
Justine
Bravevto kills too well. It took my baby from me in 24 hours after taking it.
I’m so sorry to hear this! Did you report this to your veterinarian? Please make sure they report it!
Bravecto does a great job of disguising its faults. Like the effects it has on puppies born from a mother on the product, or the dramatic drop in efficacy when not administered with a full days ration of food. Who wants to sit and make sure their dog eats a whole meal after giving an oral product? My dog never eats a full meal in one sitting anyway. I use Nexgard for that reason. It doesn’t have to be given with food.
Bravecto needs to be given with a meal to even work right and can have terrible affects on puppies who’s mother was on the product during pregnancy. Its all on the label. That’s why I would rather go with Nexgard.
You can find the label here. It ideally should be given with food, but still lasts for weeks at a time. If your dog is pregnant, there are very few options for flea and tick control.
http://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/binaries/Bravecto_PI_8_tcm96-153753.pdf
Dr. Lee, why does Bravecto claim to be safe for breeding, pregnant, and lactating dogs?
http://www.mypet.com/bravecto/faq.aspx
Great question, Shasta. This is a rare label for drug companies to put on a drug, as it’s very expensive and costly to get this “label” claim. Most companies don’t test the long term effects in fetuses, breeding dogs, puppies, etc. due to the expense and duration of the study. Bravecto has this claim due to more extensive research that was done on the product. If you are considering using it in breeding, pregnant or lactating dogs, I would talk to your veterinarian about this. You can always also call Merck Animal Health directly to talk to their “technical services” department for more specific details! Hope that helps!
Yes, Bravecto should be given with food, but you do not need to “sit and make sure your dog eats a full meal.” And nowhere does it say a ‘full day’s ration’. The dogs in the fasted group in the study were fasted for 33 hours. As long as you feed your dog on a regular basis (as I would like to assume everyone is doing), Bravecto can be given during a normal day.
Additionally, the FDA, the Canadian governing body, as well as the European governing body all approved Bravecto safe for use in breeding, lactating and pregnant dogs. Any ‘effects’ were shown not to have been caused by the medication.
I did my research, Bigbadb35, please do yours before posting.
I gave Bravecto to my very picky dog on July 20 with no issues (and not during a meal) and have already seen very small, dead ticks. I will give him the next dose on October 20. Very convenient.
Question: I just picked up a dose of Bravecto from my vet today–but did not see the vet. I have had real difficulty administering topicals on my dog, who resists it mightily . I also hated topicals because it changed the consistency of his hair where I put the drops (getting right to the skin was difficult), and I think even darkened the skin. I do love the texture of his hair on the unaffected parts–soft and silky (he is a cockapoo),
So my question is, will Bravecto affect the consistency and colour of my dog’s hair?
It’s an ORAL medication, so you shouldn’t see any ‘typical topical’ side effects!
Can Bravecto be used for cats? I have heard that the bravecto for dogs tablet can be divided according to the weight of the cat and administered. Is this true?
As it’s not labeled that way, it’s not recommended without consulting with your veterinarian.
Hello,
I gave my shih tzu a dose of Bravecto on Wednesday, the 10th, and I’m still finding live fleas on her. Is this common? Topical medicines have not helped her in the past, so I’m just wondering what the next step would be?
Thanks!
Bravecto definitely kills fleas within 12 hours, but unfortunately what is happening is that the remaining eggs from the fleas (one flea lays about 2000 eggs) are hatching every day – only to be killed off in 12 hours. Eventually it won’t be a problem, but you ideally need to vacuum daily and launder ANY bedding to remove and kill off the eggs that are in the environment right now.
Hello,
I have a 7 month year ok Caron terroir mix that weighs 10 pounds. I have previously been given samples of trifexis and I have recently discovered the major recalls and investigations into it possibly causing deaths. I’m not looking for something else. I came across nexguard and was planning on using that until I heard about bravecto. I cannot decide which go use and would be safest. I have never had a problems with ticks before so this is just a precaution. Also can any other heart worm medicine be combined with the flea and tick medication and my dog be ok?
Thank you so much
I’m sorry I meant I am looking for something else now
Hi Allie,
The Trifexis deal is honestly overhyped – that said, when in doubt, check with your veterinarian. Bravecto is a great ORAL alliterative for flea and tick medication as it kills them within 12 hours. You can definitely (and should) add on a heartworm medication (orally once a month) also. Talk to your vet and ask them about your options, but Bravecto has a very wide margin of safety!
What do you consider high dose Ivermectin? my dog takes .07cc every other day for Demodex. I am looking for something to use for fleas that won’t interact with that.
Is your veterinarian prescribing that amount? I can’t tell as it depends on the concentration – please check with your veterinarian that you are dosing appropriately.
I have a mini schnauzer with severe allergies and is on a daily dose of Atopica. I was wondering if Bravecto would be safe for her to take as we are currently having a really bad tick problem. Thanks.
Hi Kara,
When in doubt, I’d talk to your veterinarian about it, but honestly I suspect it should be fine as the pork-flavoring in Bravecto is hydrolyzed (and broken down into minute size so it’s not recognized by the immune system). You can always call the 800- with Merck and ask them directly too!
Thanks and hope that helps!
I have given my dog bravecto and he has got the runs and won’t eat is this wright
When did you give to your dog (what day) and when did the diarrhea and anorexia start? When in doubt, contact your veterinarian immediately!
Diarrhea and loss of appetite are the side effects of the drug. Please report to the FDA
And please come to the Facebook group Does Bravecto Kill Dogs to post your side effects and read others. Including concerns over death shortly after given.
Susan,
We get it, you don’t like Bravecto and you’re using Dr. Lees site to drive traffic to your own biased (non-veterinary) Facebook page. Do you have any expertise that trumps veterinary experience and research; or just an opinion? People here are looking to see if Bravecto is an option for them and Dr. Lee has instructed them to ask their vet, or call the company directly. She has listed the side effects. She has done every responsible thing in advising people and you still keep harping. To me that lessens your claims that you’re just trying to warn people about this drug and makes it look like you just want us to go to your page.
Any responsible, loving dog owner is going to research all of the pros and cons before making their decision to use or not use this drug. I highly doubt that anyone came straight to this particular site (and only this site), who knows nothing about Dr. Lee, is going to say to themselves, “right. Dr. Lee likes this product so I’m going to as well.” The fact that you spend this much time trolling someone else’s site makes me question your true motives.
I have just started using Bravecto to treat demodex and sarcptic mange in street dogs in my vet project in Mexico and the results are so far excellent! I figured if it kills tick it should also kill mites and from the field trials so far on about 8 dogs, the improvement in their skin disease has been nothing short of miraculous. I would love to see Merck do proper trials and get on label claims for these diseases for Bravecto. It will be a winner product and an easy treatment for so many suffering dogs around the world.
That is so awesome to hear – I heard some anecdotal reports that it was helping with mange and demodex – this would be amazing for an easier treatment! I hope it works! 🙂 Please keep us posted on your success on this since it’s extra-label?
Looks like the scientific literature validates your anecdotal observations!
http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/8/1/187
Is this medication available in Ecuador?
Not that I’m aware of, but I would check with your veterinarian and with Merck Animal Health directly!
Do you recommend Invermectine for ticks?
Do you recommend Invermectine for ticks?
I don’t typically use ivermectin straight for ticks – I prefer to use an oral or topical flea and tick medication.
I gave my dog Bravecto and she is now very ill, vomiting and not eating, DO NOT give this to your dog, I regret ever giving this to my dog and the number Merck gives you to call them is basically useless, cause I have called and called trying to get help from them concerning reactions to Bravecto and all you get is a answering machine to leave a message but NO one calls you back! You are stuck an on your own.
Hi Catharine – I’m so sorry to hear about your experience- my recommendation is to get to a veterinarian stat, as this oral flea and tick medication typically has a very wide margin of safety. You and your veterinarian will be able to get in touch with Merck Animal Health 24/7 – there may be a different 800 number to call. Please get to a vet to be on the safe side. Thanks,
Dr. Justine Lee
Please report this to the FDA and on the Facebook group Does Bravecto Kill Dogs
Hello,
Do you know how long the testing for Bravecto has been done? I’m interested in long term effects. Since this is a new drug maybe we will not see it’s negative effects for many months or even years. For example, maybe dogs that take this drug long term develope some sort of liver disease or some form of cancer. It sounds great and I would like to try it but I am fearful that the long term effects may not be good. Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
Great question. I believe it’s been approved in Europe for approximately 1 year. From what I found:
http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Summary_for_the_public/veterinary/002526/WC500163861.pdf
I’ll check with Merck and get back soon!
Thank you. I’m very interested in what Merck will have to say.
Hi Ken,
From what I found out, there are several resources where you can find some long term studies (see references below). Data from several peer reviewed publications, the European Public Assessment Report (EPAR) and the US Freedom of Information summary for Bravecto reveal the vast amount of research that was conducted with Bravecto prior to its approval in both Europe and the US.
Per Merck, these documents indicate the Bravecto and its active ingredient, fluralaner, were extensively tested and shown to be non-mutagenic, with no evidence for a carcinogenic potential. In addition several multi-dose toxicity studies were conducted, including daily administration for 90 days, repeated 5X dosing in puppies at 8 week intervals for 24 weeks, and a reproductive safety study in breeding male and female dogs dosed at 3 times the recommended dose at 8 week intervals continuously from premating through pregnancy, lactation until weaning. While these aren’t LONG term (not for years), it still helps provide some helpful information about the wide margin of safety with the product.
When in doubt, check with your veterinarian, but the FDA mandates “exaggerated” dose testing to make sure that no adverse drug effects are seen.
Based on the Freedom of Information (FOI) paper – which is readily available to the public – it states that a US field study of Bravecto was conducted beginning in 2011 where dogs were treated repeatedly, 3 times at 12 week intervals, in a clinical setting. Because FDA pharmacovigilance rules require reporting of any adverse events a company becomes aware of not only after a drug is approved, but even during the pre-approval period, adverse affects resulting from drug exposure back in 2011 would have been reported.
I agree with you – I like to see long term data, so I hope that information and the references help!
Justine
References:
1) Freedom of Information: Summary, NADA 141-426. Approved May 15, 2014.
2) CVMP assessment report for Bravecto (EMEA/V/C/002526/0000) EMA/18748/2014
3) Kilp S, Ramierez D, Allan MJ, Roepke Rainer KA and Nuernberger MC. Pharmacokinetics of fluralaner in dogs following a single oral or intravenous administration. Parasit Vectors. 2014;7:85.
4) Meadows et al, A randomized, blinded, controlled USA field study to assess the use of fluralaner tablets in controlling canine flea infestations. Parasit Vectors. 2014;7:375
5) Walther FM, Allan MJ, Roepke Rainer KA and Nuernberger MC. Safety of oral administration of flavored chewable tablets containing fluralaner, (Bravecto™), a novel systemic antiparasitic drug, in dogs after oral administration. Parasit Vectors. 2014;7:87.
6) Walther FM, Paul AJ, Allan MJ, Roepke Rainer KA and Nuernberger MC. Safety of fluralaner, a novel systemic antiparasitic drug, in MDR1(-/-) collies after oral administration. Parasit Vectors. 2014;7:86.
7) Walther FM, Fisara P, Allan MJ, Roepke Rainer KA and Nuernberger MC. Safety of the concurrent treatment of dogs with Bravecto™ (fluralaner) and Scalibor™ protectorband (deltamethrin). Parasit Vectors 2014, 7:105.
i read that Freedom of Information form and it shows NO carcinogenicity results as no studies for it were conducted were conducted. Also in it’s conclusion it states that the new drug is only approved for 5 years as no other active ingredients were previously approved by the FDA. All poisons ingested are OF COURSE dangerous to any animal that consume them, especially the liver, BOTTOM LINE!
No long term studies have been made yet as the drug is brand NEW.
Actually this drug has been used in the EU for several years – would be good to find the EU FOI for it – good safety, chronic data studies!
We gave Bravecto to our dog last year and she did develop cancer this year. It could be totally unrelated as she is 15 years old. I’m curious if anyone else had this experience.
(It did get rid of her fleas.)
I just read the lab report and she developed a rare kind of cancer called Sarcoma. I’m quite suspicious that this was because of the Bravecto, as she was eating a homemade totally organic diet with no chemicals or toxins in the house and the Bravecto was the only medication she had other than antibiotics and heartworm.
So sorry to hear bout your dog. Sadly, cancer can develop due to multiple factors – environment, diet, genetics, etc. (Just like in humans). It’s really unlikely to be associated with this, but when in doubt, you should contact your veterinarian and Merck to report it.
Can I divide the Bravecto? I have 4 dogs each weighing 20-25 pounds. I want to keep things cost effective. Also, I live in south Florida and just had one dog recover from an almost lethal illness of Erlichia. Will the 3 month dose be enough to kill he ticks that carry this disease?
I don’t believe it’s designed to be split, otherwise it would be SCORED (with lines in it), so I would consult with your veterinarian to be safe!
I gave my King Charles Cavalier (9 mo) a Bravecto yesterday, however, not with food. He threw up after eating about 2 hours later – do you think the pill was digested, or do I have to spend another $50 on one…ugh!
Oh no! If you didn’t see the pill in the vomit, it was likely absorbed. Often times, the company will reimburse you if you are concerned. I would contact your veterinarian and just confirm but it’s typically unnecessary to re-dose if it was < 1 hour of vomiting!
Do you mind emailing me directly via “contact me”? I found out that you may be able to get a replacement chew free through the veterinary clinic, but need your email to forward to Merck for this! Thanks!
My dog just threw up his dose of Bravecto after 30 min or so. Can I get a replacement dose??
I believe so – it should be replaced for free. Just contact your veterinarian or Merck Animal Health directly! Hope that helps!
I gave my dog Bravecto Saturday night with a full meal. This was her second dose. (The first was 3 months ago) Today (Monday) she had a very loose bowel movement and a lot of straining at about 3:00 p.m. and then another bad round at about 5:00 p.m. She was still hungry so I fed her a slice a turkey breast but am reluctant to feed her much more. Do you think the intestinal issues were caused by the Bracecto? If so, how long should this last? Also, should I refrain fron using this product for her in the future?
Hmmm, it’s really hard to tell if it’s from the Bravecto or not. I know that there are some rare reports of flactulence, vomiting and diarrhea. When in doubt, contact your veterinarian to discuss as needed. They will likely recommend a bland diet for a few more days until clinical signs resolve! Hope that helps!
These are not rare side effects. This is exactly what’s in Bravexto’s literature. It is important that this be reported to the FDA and please consider joining my Facebook group called does Bravexto kill dogs. We are gathering all side effects here.
Please stop trolling for your Facebook page.
Its essential to keep fleas under check and Lyme’s disease can prove fatal for our pets, apple cider vinegar or lime sprays are natural treatment mode can be used.
Unfortunately, these don’t work as well as we hope. 🙁
I am very concerned. I gave my 12 year old standard poodle bravecto 22 days ago. Had her into the vet today. After ultrasound, blood work and urinalysis, she is having liver problems. She has NEVER had any issues, as has always been healthy. It looks like we may lose her.
I am now giving her a diet of chicken, rice, etc. Also the vet prescribed denamarin and amoxicillin. I wish I had never given the bravecto to her. I can’t say that caused her liver problems, very suspicious if you ask me.
I’m so sorry to hear this – it sounds like she needs a liver biopsy which is very important in finding what’s going on – I’d recommend getting her to a veterinary specialists and having your veterinarian report this directly to Merck ASAP! I wish her well and please keep me posted! Thinking good thoughts for you and her.
I gave my four dogs Bravecto a month and a half ago. All four became sick. (Vomiting) My 16 year old Husky has lost liver and kidney function. She vomited and was nauseated for a few weeks. Then she stopped eating. Bloodwork confirmed her loss of liver and kidney function. She was FINE before. DO NOT GIVE BRAVECTO TO YOUR DOGS! I am heartbroken. We have to put her to sleep tomorrow to end her suffering.
Oh Julie, I’m so sorry to hear that! I would talk to your veterinarian and make sure they report this directly to the company and get an autopsy on your dog. This is really important for FDA purposes to make sure it wasn’t an adverse drug effect versus something else going on. The most common side effects, while rare, are vomiting, diarrhea and gas. In general, these drugs aren’t labeled for debilitated dogs (e.g., really old geriatric dogs, etc.) as they often have underlying organ injury (from being old). Please make sure your veterinarian contacts the company. My heart goes out to you.
Dr. Justine Lee
Sorry forgot to mention he was prescribed Bravecto during his vet visit. Gave it to him when I got home and then he was dead in less than 24 hours!
Comfortis is my favorite flea tick control till the date. Bravecto is although good, not as good as Comfortis.
My dogs have been on annual Lyme vaccinations. I gave them a Bravecto last year because I was finding live ticks from them on the couch and in my bed. It worked really well! If I give them Bravecto this year before the vaccination is due again, do I still have to vaccinate them? I guess I’m essentially asking if Bravecto prevents Lyme in dogs. Thank you!
Great point – Bravecto kills ticks in < 12 hours, which is awesome and fast. This is faster than ticks can transmit Borrelia (Lyme disease). That said, I'd check with your veterinarian to make sure! It you definitely didn't skip any month (and were pretty religious about using it exactly every 16 weeks) year round, then I think you're well protected.
I have a 2 year old pure blood German Shepherd. I would like to know if Bravecto can be used at the same time as heartworm medications such as Heartgard, another oral med? I know that German Shepherds can have issues with some meds and really don’t want to lose her due to an adverse interaction of these meds. I live in Idaho which does not have a serious heartworm problem, but it is recommended to treat for it anyway and really want to do so. I will have to protect against ticks and fleas, so I am debating what to do in this situation. Any assistance with this dilemma would be gratefully appreciated. Thank you.
Hi Mary,
This shouldn’t be an issue at all. When in doubt, check with your veterinarian but both medications have a very wide margin of safety. To be safe, I’d spread it out by 2 weeks to be rather dosing at the same time. Hope that helps!
Thank you!!! You have GREATLY relieved my mind (and fears)!!! I was going to separate the dosing by at least that long, if not a bit longer, just to overcome any side affects, so again thank you for easing my fears.
I was also wondering about giving my 2.5 yr old 39 lb Goldendoodle the new-to-her Bravecto and Heartgard at the same time. I gave her the Heartgard (she previously had Iverhart but they were out) and will wait 2 weeks to give her the Bravecto. Thank you for this blog Dr. Lee. I am also from MN but now living in GA where there are plenty of deer and ticks, too.
Hi Ramona,
It’s safe to give together, but if you want to wait 2 weeks, that’s totally fine too! When in doubt, I would check with your veterinarian.
Justine
If it helps the bees, it helps me (and the rest of the population for that matter). That last little tidbit as far as the side-effects are concerned notes that “vomiting” is amongst the known side-effects. I noticed recently, after applying another brand of flea/tick medication to the back of my pup’s neck that he vomited the following day and was, seemingly, acting drowsy. Not only that, he also had diarrhea — which is why I’m researching alternatives. Seems as if there are certainly some tradeoffs when applying such meds that I’ll have to take into careful consideration. All the same, thanks for your insight!
Hello, J’espère que ton chien va mieux ! Pour m’a part, il m’est arrivé quelque chose de similaire, en plus grave. Mon chien de berger belge malinois a été très fatigué après que je lui ai administré sur la peau un antipuce au fipronil. Il a vomi et quatre jours plus tard, il est mort d’une gastro enterite hemorragique. Il avait 11 mois !
Il m’a été impossible de prouver que le fipronil est à l’origine de sa mort, mais je suis désormais réticent face à ce produit. Pour mon autre chien je fais aussi des recherches alternavtives………. Les puces, quel souci !!!
Based off Google translation, I’m assuming your message said:
Hello, I hope your dog gets better! For my part, I happened something similar, more serious. My dog malinois was very tired after I administered to the skin a flea fipronil. He vomited and four days later he died of a hemorrhagic gastro enteritis. He was 11 months old!
I was unable to prove that Fipronil is causing his death, but I am now reluctant to face this. For my other dog I also do research ………. alternavtives Fleas, what concern !!!
The vet gave my foster dog (a stray Rottweiler mix) a dose of Bravecto. Like a couple other dogs in comments above, his bowel movements were a little off (straining, loose) for a couple of days. Now six days later, he’s fine. He is a timid dog and very hard to catch (dragged me on my knees and elbows across the concrete driveway after I FINALLY got a loop around his neck). I’ve been concerned that we would not be able to get him to the vet again, so I’ve been keeping him in my house for the last two weeks – the first few days after dipping, I counted over forty ticks swept up off the floor, and then we found out he has sarcoptic mange, as well:(. Now almost a week after the Bravura dose, he has no ticks on him, and is not scratching or flapping his ears at all! If this product can indeed be used to treat mange, it is a Godsend. I have no alternative but to keep this guy in my house to insure we continue to have access to him, and I’ve been very worried that my other dogs would develop mange from being exposed to him, even though I’ve kept them separated as well as possible. I’m excited about this new med – thanks for the info.
So good to hear! Bravecto has a REALLY fast tick kill compared to Nexguard, and it’s helpful that it kills ticks in < 12 hours. There was just a study published about it's use for the treatment of mange, which would be awesome (I'm never used it for that, as I don't treat dermatology cases!).
Hi Dr Lee,
I’m a bit concerned about using this product in my area to protect against Lyme disease, which is very common in our area (New Hampshire). The product label says it takes 48 hours to kill Ixodes scapularis, but I was under the impression it needed to kill these ticks within 12 hours for protection. It does kill Ixodes ricinus in less than 12 hours which transmits Lyme in Europe.
Am I missing something?
Thanks. 🙂
No actually this product kills ticks (including Ixodes, which carries Lyme) within 4-12 hours! (With 100% kill at 12 hours), so this would be a great product. The tick it was tested on is similar to Idoxes scapularis and is assumed to kill within the same time period (4-12 hours).
So, you’re not missing anything.
Most veterinary parasitology experts say that no flea and tick product out there is 100% EFFECTIVE for the FULL duration of the labeled treatment period (but it’s pretty darn close at 95%+). That’s because the efficacy and speed of tick kill for all of these products eventually does wane with time.
More importantly, most of the time when products fail, it’s because of poor compliance from pet owners to administer the product on time (e.g., monthly). Studies have shown that for medications that are dispensed for 6-12 months, only 3 of those medications are given. Oops. That means we aren’t complying well! (I’m a geek and set a reminder on my Google calendar so I didn’t miss any doses).
What’s awesome about a product like Bravecto is that you only have to give it 4X/year! Makes it easier to remember to give. When in doubt, combine diligent tick checks, consistently given tick protection and possibly vaccine if you’re in a high-risk area (or a high-risk breed). When in doubt, check with your veterinarian (or if you’re a veterinarian, check with veterinary industry to make sure the product your using is effective!).
Hope that helps!
Dr. Justine Lee
I purchased Bravecto from my vet, she said there hasn’t been any complaints about side effects. We decided to try it, I just gave my boxer it with his dinner today and about 15 minutes or so after eating the pill he vomited. I know she said I could give him another dose, but I’m not risking his health, if it didn’t agree with him the first time why would I give him another dose. I was just wondering if it still would provide the flea and tick protection or do I have to buy something else and retreat him? I’ve had good luck with the topical, he never had fleas or ticks. I guess I’ll stick with that. I’ll put a call in to my vet tomorrow.
Oh no! That is one of the side effects that can be seen. Did you give it with food?
Your veterinarian will reimburse you for the pill (or the company will) – just let them know and you can try redosing it (as if he vomited up the pill, it won’t work).
I gave Bravecto to all four of my dogs in late April. All four vomited within the next few days and demonstrated nausea and a lack of appetite. 3 perked up and began eating normally again after about a week. Ruby, my 15 year old Blue Heeler/Husky mix did not. She began to eat less and less. She lost energy so I took her to the vet. About one month after taking Bravecto, my previously healthy girl had lost liver and kidney function and we needed to let her go. I would never give this product to another dog. I want everyone to know what happened so they can make an educated decision.
Hi, so sorry to hear about the loss of people’s pets to this monster. I too just suffered a loss of my beloved bearded collie at the hands for Bravecto. Bravecto is a KILLER! DO NOT GIVE to your dogs! I had a 4 year old bearded collie that went to the vet on Wednesday was GIVEN A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH, prescribed Bravecto and then died less that 24 hours later after taking it! This is the second dog I have lost to an ingestible flea product! He started to cry out and then collapsed, one of my sons started cpr on him and he was rushed to an emergency clinic only to be pronounced dead shortly after his arrival. Please, please, please DO NOT GIVE BRAVECTO IT IS A KILLER!!!!!
My dog is 2 yrs old a Chihuahua. I gave this bravecto to him about a week ago and within hours he vomited and has been increasingly lethargic . I was hoping he would get better and today he had a 3 minute seizure. I know it is the bravecto and I will be sharing this info with as many as I can. If I lose this dog I will be in touch with the manufacturer and who ever else I can spend 5 minutes alone with. It is piss in the wind this stuff.
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear this – please get him to a VET ASAP!
Update: The second of our two dogs that went to the vet on 6/3/15 is now in distress and being rushed to the vet. He has an almost non existent heart beat, extremely shallow breathing, twitching and is limp. The only common denominator between the two dogs is that both were prescribed Bravecto at the same visit. If the vet is not able to save our other dog, this will mean we have lost 2 dogs in less than 48 hours and will indicate that Bravecto is more DANGEROUS than originally thought!
I’m so sorry to hear this – please have your veterinarian call and report this to the manufacturer immediately so they can consider doing an autopsy ASAP!
Comment
The same thing just happened with our standard poodle after taking Nexguard last month, then again this month. She’s never had seizure activity before this new med, and I regret ever giving it to her
Oh no! Please make sure to let your veterinarian know and get the rest of it refunded back to you. Make sure your veterinarian (or you) report this to Merial (Nexgard) as they need to know! I’m so sorry – would DEFINITELY switch off if you noticed this!
Like to spread rumors much??
Hello dr. Lee ,
I was just wondering about all the marketing for bravecto states that it is 12 weeks effective for the brown dog Rick and only 8 weeks for the lone star tick. However in this study:
http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Public_assessment_report/veterinary/002526/WC500163860.pdf
It states that “For R. sanguineus a total of five dose confirmation studies were presented. All five studies confirmed efficacy against R. sanguineus for up to eight weeks; however, in four of the five studies, efficacy at Day 86 was less than 90%. Taking all available data, a consistent effect at 86 days post-treatment was not apparent. Consequently, for this tick species, a claim for persistent efficacy is limited to 56 days (8 weeks).”
If I’m not mistaken R. Sanguineus is the brown tick? I only worry because this is the tick that I find on my dog. Thanks!
Thanks for pointing out this study – let me investigate and will get back to you soon!
Dear Jennifer,
Thanks for your patience – I wanted to clarify the Bravecto studies for you. In the US, the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine requires a product demonstrate >90% efficacy based on geometric mean tick counts in order to gain a product efficacy claim. Based on geometric means of study data, and combined study data, the efficacy of Bravecto against the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) was > 90% for 12 weeks. Please see this link for full prescribing information: http://www.mypet.com/pdfs/bravecto/BRAVECTO_PI_MAH.pdf
Hope that helps!
Dr. Justine Lee
Allow me to clarify the distinction between the 48 hour and 12 hour claims on the Bravecto label. The 48 hour reference is specific to tick efficacy, not speed of kill.
Spectrum of tick efficacy is based on demonstrating at least 90% efficacy in at least 2 studies for each tick species with tick counts conducted at 48 or 72 hours following tick challenge. This standard design is accepted by the global regulatory agencies and recommended by the various guidelines to demonstrate efficacy and is not intended to demonstrate speed of kill. In these studies, ticks may have died prior to the 48 hour tick count, but the actual speed of kill prior to this time is not evaluated. Speed of kill studies are conducted to determine the approximate time when ticks die. In these studies, different groups of dogs are challenged with ticks and counts of live ticks are counted recorded at different post challenge times, such as at 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours to determine the time it takes ticks to die. For Bravecto, the spectrum of tick efficacy, including data for Ixodes scapularis, the deer tick, is reported at 48 hours post-challenge, but this is were not intended to be a speed of kill study studies. However, a speed of kill study is reported on the US Bravecto label for a related European tick, Ixodes ricinus. While Ixodes ricinus is not a US tick, it is closely related to the US deer tick, Ixodes scapularis. The report of this study on the US label indicates the study was accepted by FDA as evidence to support an indication of the tick speed of kill that is possible with this product. In addition, a small study by Williams et al published in 2014 (Annual meeting of the German Veterinary Society, parasitology and parasitic diseases) showed that the Bravecto speed of kill against Ixodes scapularis was similarly to that of Ixodes ricinus, which was within 12 hours for 12 weeks. “
Bravecto’s FDA Freedom of Information Summary is available from the FDA website or please click here:
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/Products/ApprovedAnimalDrugProducts/FOIADrugSummaries/UCM399075.pdf
Dr. Lee, I am switching my 47lb female Siberian husky from Trifexis to Bravecto. How long do I have to wait to administer Ivermectin to avoid the spinosad/ivermectin adverse reactions?
Hi Elizabeth,
Great question – I’m not honestly sure. I’d contact Merck Animal Health’s 800 number to confirm to be safe!
Does anybody have any experience of Bravecto on foxes with mange
Not in foxes that I know of, but good success in Mexico in dogs.
My beagle/hound who is 50 lbs took Bravecto in June. Long story short, she has food allergies that we are still getting to the bottom of so that is what I thought was causing all of her scratching and bald patches. Imagine my surprise to find that she has fleas?!?!?! I am very disheartened as we are staying w/relatives as we await our new home. I certainly don’t want to spread it to their animals or take it to my new home! Any thoughts?
Make sure all the other pets are on flea and tick preventative also. While Bravecto has a very fast flea and tick kill rate, if eggs are in the environment, they can constantly hatch over the course of several days resulting in reinfestation.
Hi Justine,
I’ve had my golden retriever on Bravecto for the last 3 months and it’s been absolutely brilliant.
Someone said that they refused to use it though because of the “long term effects”?
Can you expand on this at all or is it just a rumour someone has made up?
Thanks! Love this blog.
Lizzy
Hi Lizzy! Thanks for writing – so glad your dog is doing well on it. Ironically, my dog just got his first dose of Bravecto 6 weeks ago and is doing great. My husband found a dead, dehydrated tick on him – that’s how fast it kills. 🙂 No, Merck hasn’t seen any long term effects based on their chronicity studies – at really, really high chronic dosing in rats, they saw ruffled fur, but that was a MASSIVE doses (trying to read an LD50 – legal dose that kills 50% of the experimental animals, which they weren’t able to obtain). Hope that helps!
Dr. Justine Lee
Thanks Justine! That’s really useful.
I have been recommending it to friends of mine so thought it right to double check.
I have found 2 ticks on my dog which were very very dead (one was last week which was at the 10 week mark of him being on it)! I live in an area with lots of Ticks so I’ve been really impressed with how it works. My mum uses the collars that are supposed to repel the ticks but they have still managed to attach and engorge which is worrying with Lyme’s disease also being in the area (thanks to there being loads of Deer around). So she said she’ll be changing onto it too.
I’m glad to hear of someone else who has found it so good too.
If anyone else is interested I changed from Advocate (monthly) and Milbemax (every 3 months) to giving my dog Bravesto (every 3 months) and Milbemax (monthly to cover for heart & lungworm). No nasty stuff on the back of his neck now ever! He can swim whenever he wants!
Thanks for the fast response Justine! Is there much behind these rumours of dogs dying from Bravecto or is it clinically unproven still?
Lizzy
Honestly, probably rumor as I haven’t heard anything since.
Last I heard, the “death” was never officially reported to Merck Animal Health despite my plea for the owner to reach out. The mechanism of action of how this drug works is interesting – very safe so to hear Internet rumors that it caused “organ failure” are really hard to confirm without (A) you as a concerned pet owner calling it in to report it!, (B) you as a freaked out veterinarian calling in to report it, (C) autopsy/necropsy proof (otherwise, ruleouts include infectious disease like leptospirosis, cancer, etc.).
I read about it on slopes.com briefly who said it was “unproven”.
If it were me I’d have got an autopsy done and I imagine my vets would have insisted on that too.
Thanks again Justine. You’ve been fantastic.
Lizzy
Clearly you are not keeping up to date or have not checked as it HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY REPORTED and there are case numbers for both the dog who DID DIE and the one who still is having problems. There has been ongoing conversations with the manufacturer as well as testing that has been done on the living dog. The vet did not think to order a necropsy when the other one died. So as before when I posted something on your blog, you were poo pooing what we wrote and reported and claimed then too that it had not been reported, please know your facts and stop treating this like it is a fairy tale! This is NOT a myth or something just floating around the internet. The fact is one of our dogs did DIE within 24 hours of taking this drug and the other one is still recovering. No amount of posturing or denying will ever change the fact that there is a dog that is dead from this and mine is not the only one! If you read through your posts to refresh your memory you will see that there are others that have said their dogs died as well. Perhaps when you are getting reports of deaths you should be advocating contacting and reporting the incidences so that the manufacturer has the info. Supposedly they are not aware of the ones that have posted on here that their dogs are dead. How about helping to advocate instead of looking the other way.
To refresh your memory from posts on here:
Judy | March 1, 2015 at 3:13 am
I am very concerned. I gave my 12 year old standard poodle bravecto 22 days ago. Had her into the vet today. After ultrasound, blood work and urinalysis, she is having liver problems. She has NEVER had any issues, as has always been healthy. It looks like we may lose her.
I am now giving her a diet of chicken, rice, etc. Also the vet prescribed denamarin and amoxicillin. I wish I had never given the bravecto to her. I can’t say that caused her liver problems, very suspicious if you ask me.
Julie Zitek | May 19, 2015 at 3:08 am
I gave my four dogs Bravecto a month and a half ago. All four became sick. (Vomiting) My 16 year old Husky has lost liver and kidney function. She vomited and was nauseated for a few weeks. Then she stopped eating. Bloodwork confirmed her loss of liver and kidney function. She was FINE before. DO NOT GIVE BRAVECTO TO YOUR DOGS! I am heartbroken. We have to put her to sleep tomorrow to end her suffering.
A few of the posts from the story that went up on fb:
Terry Frame My girlfriend had a little toy poodle named Bijou, she was given this medication about 7 months ago and within 24 hours she was dead. her veterinarian said it couldn’t be the medication although my girlfriend had taken her several times to the veterinarian without any bad effects been given to her except from this new medication. beware all medications that veterinarians are pushing for a company that just wants to make money with the veterinarians help.
Alisa McDonald Butler We lost our beloved Cooper immediately after we gave him this medication! I asked the vet if there was a connection and was told NO. HOWEVER, he had never had any medication like this before and within a week was in liver failure! OMG! The Vet recommended this medication!
Allison René Bata We gave our dog the same medicine, within 24 hours he went into a seizure and never came out. God bless this poor baby and so sorry for his loving parents. Reminds me of my parents dog now!
Kass Mara My dog died 7 weeks after having it for the second time she was sick within a few hours of having it . Her lungs were full of lesions. We thought it was cancer but it wasn’t. I felt weird giving it to her. I wish I hadn’t. I’m so sorry for your loss and all our losses.
Tessa Hayward Heard about this 2 wks ago when some other dogs died need to stop prescribed treatment. What a travesty. My thoughts are with you at this terrible loss of a much loved pet.
Cathy Smith So sorry to hear this I used it once and my dogs heart rate dropped and had to be taken in on emergency call to be given a shot within about 6 hours of taking meds.
Kristine Valenti I gave it to our dog a few years ago. I sworn that’s what caused his pancreatic disease. It took me 6 months to save his life
Camille Oulalou Okay, I too lost my dog from giving her the flea tablets and my neighbor who lost their chihuahua are thinking that this was the cause of them losing their pet, too – is anyone doing anything about it? Is there a class action suit against the makers of this supposedly “safe” poison for pets?
Linda Lewandowski My mothers dog almost died of the same thing. She paid over 2000$ to save Missy’s life. We no longer give her that med either.
Lorraine Frascati Goetz
you put up a post of Duncan dying & his fur sibling getting very sick from Brevecto. I am so sorry for the loss of these dogs. I too lost my 4 year old corgi to this drug. she developed lymphoma & the company paid the vet bills so they know something is not right!
Claire Muller I always wondered if it was the chewable flea med that brought maddie down. She died of lymphoma of the skin last year. I hope duncan finds maddie
across the bridge; she’ll make him laugh!
My dog has had one dose of Bravecto with good results. He gets a lyme vaccine religiously. He’s almost due for a 2nd, but we’re thinking of switching to Seresto collar. Prior to Bravecto, we would find live, unengorged ticks on our furniture-just crawling looking for a meal. They would hitch a ride on the dog and come looking for us! It is my understanding that ticks need to bite the dog for Bravecto to work, and if they don’t, they can still find us. Is this correct? Is Seresto better for killing the hitch hikers looking for a human meal?
You definitely don’t need to use both Bravecto oral flea and tick medication along with a prescription flea and tick collar. That would be overkill and honestly too much chemical. The Bravecto should kill quickly enough where there’s no risk of transmission to you. When in doubt, always take check to be safe but I’ve had really good success with it.
Hi Dr. Lee,
My Porter is on Advantage Multi for heartworms prevention monthly. I am planning on putting him on Bravecto for tick prevention. My concern is that they both treat fleas and I’m afraid I would overdose Porter. I’d like to know your professional opinion on this. Thank you so much !
Vi
It won’t overdose, per se, but I agree that it’s too much chemical and you don’t need TWO things for flea and tick control. I would talk to your veterinarian about switching him to a separate heartworm? (or use up your Advantage Multi in the meantime and then switch!).
My girl has been itching a lot since taking this tablet would that be said effect? She never did this with advantage.
I would worry there are current eggs that are hatching constantly and re-developing a flea infestation. These oral medications will kill fleas quickly, but you have to make sure you are vacuuming and getting rid of environmental eggs and larvae too! Hope that helps!
My 3 year old Australian Shepherd has been diagnosed with Discoid Lupus. Part of her treatment is to eliminate any unnecessary vaccines and chemicals from her system. She has already had an adverse reaction to Advantix in the past. Right now she is only on Sentimental for heartworm and some flea control, but nothing for ticks. The veterinary dermatologist prescribed Bravecto but I am hesitant to give her another chemical, and one that has not been around for very long. Any thoughts on a dog with her condition? Thanks.
My 3 year old Australian Shepherd has been diagnosed with Discoid Lupus. Part of her treatment is to eliminate any unnecessary vaccines and chemicals from her system. She has already had an adverse reaction to Advantix in the past. Right now she is only on Sentimental for heartworm and some flea control, but nothing for ticks. The veterinary dermatologist prescribed Bravecto but I am hesitant to give her another chemical, and one that has not been around for very long. Any thoughts on a dog with her condition? Thanks.
Great question – with lupus we ideally want to minimize any kind of chemicals and vaccines. Definitely would do vaccines only as required by state law (e.g., rabies). Sentinel for heartworm is great. If you live in a tick area, definitely talk to your veterinarian about it. Bravecto would cover fleas and ticks together (you don’t need two flea medications). You could consider doing just ivermectin (e.g., Iverhart) for heartworm so you aren’t using two medications for fleas. I don’t think studies have been done looking at dogs with other diseases (e.g., diabetes, lupus, etc.) with any of these medications, honestly.
She was on Heartguard but was switched to Sentinel because Aussies can be sensitive to Ivermectin. She is on Minoclcline and Niacinamide for the Lupus. She is a light red Merle so it is easy to monitor her for ticks. If a Tick carrying Lyme did bite her wouldn’t the Minocycline take care of it since that’s what is used for the treatment of Lyme disease? I guess I’m just leery of starting her on anything new. Thanks so much for your input.
You can easily get her saliva tested to see if she has the MDR gene mutation in Aussies to be on the safe side, btw. This test is typically run through Washington State University.
The minocycline yes, can treat Lyme disease, so great question. Most of the time, I use prednisone instead, but that is an alternative.
Here’s a great article on lupus for your info:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=2470
When in doubt, use aggressive tick combing (feeling her fur and combing through, especially when out in the woods).
Hope that helps!
Dr. Justine Lee
Gave my dog bravecto Monday. She has eaten about 1 cup of food since then. she seems to be very constipated and is very lethargic.
Get her to your veterinarian immmediately, as these are not signs that are associated with it and I’d want to make sure nothing else is going on! Keep us posted! I hope she’s okay!
Can I order Bravecto online? Ive moved and my Vet is 50 miles away and my dog is due for his pill . Just wndering if i can get it online.
You can only order Bravecto directly from your veterinarian – they may be able to ship it to you but it is not legally available online.
I ordered my Bravecto online at 1-800-PetMeds. They verified with my vet before dispensing.
Unfortunately, this is “illegal” Bravecto that was unethically sold to 800-PetMeds, as this isn’t truly approved by Merck or the company. As a result, if your dog has an adverse drug reaction, it is NOT covered by the company, FYI. When in doubt, this is one of the main reasons why you have to be careful about buying online (often bought from other countries or from veterinarians who aren’t legally allowed to sell it this route. as they don’t have a client-doctor relationship).
I was trying to see if there was any information on if this medication is safe for Shetland Sheepdogs. I know that some flea & tick medicines can have adverse effects on this breed.
Great question – if you have a Collie-type dog, you always want to test it for the MDR drug gene mutation (now called ABCdeltaB1 receptor), as your dog would be WAY more sensitive to other drugs. Best to get him tested – super easy and it is a saliva test that you sent to Washington State University.
That said, Bravecto appears to be safe to use in MDR dogs! See the article here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3975640/
Hope that helps!
Dr. Justine Lee
I have always used ADVANTIX but have been recommended to Bravecto. I have several dogs ranging from 8 – 16 years, one is on Vetmedin for heart problems, the other has Cushings and is on Vetoryl. Everyone is pushing this drug but I am wary and would appreciate comments, especially as most of my dogs are 12 + and perhaps best to stay with what I know. I live in England.
I’d stick with what is working for you, honestly, if you have older dogs with medical problems. Check with your vet, but when in doubt, since they are older, I wouldn’t change anything at this point. 🙂
Thank you Justine, I think I shall follow your advice.
I have just been given Bravecto to give to my Australian Terrier. The package says the weight of the dog is to be between 4.5-10kg. Since there has been problems in the past with small dogs getting the same dose of vaccines as large dogs. I am concerned if this could also be a variable with the Bravecto?
No, these are labelled appropriately for the exact weight of the animal, so make sure to follow the directions carefully!
Is a 1000 mg dosage of Bravecto too much/strong for a 46-pound golden retriever?
Please use the dosing as listed on the box – that’s how it’s designed to work.
I hope it is ok if I post this here. I am trying to help dog lovers everywhere.
My 1.5 year old healthy dog died less than two months after taking Bravecto, the new ingestive flea and tick product. He started having symptoms of diarrhea and lethargy nine days after taking it. It progressed to not eating and bloody stools. All known symptoms of Bravecto. I am waiting a necropsy for more information.
I started this group to help people hear real life stories of side effects. Sadly the drug was only tested on approximately 220 beagles and I believe testing was by the manufacturer. So our dogs become the real test. And then it’s impossible to find the side effects since there is no central place to read them and many people don’t report to the FDA.
So this group is my dog’s legacy. It’s a place to go to read side effects and make sure they are reported to the FDA. Please consider joining and sharing this post.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/411371212394679/
I need to correct a statement please. I believe that they used Beagles for the reproductive portion of the study but they might have used other dogs for the rest of the study.
The name of the group is Does Bravecto Kill Dogs
Btw, on the lone star tick question. The lone star tick is our main tick in North Central Florida and we have loads of them in my area. After 2.5 months I’ve found one tick among my three dogs (Labradors) . . .and half a dozen ticks on myself. The lone star tick is annoying, but not implicated in a lot of disease problems. If you do have lone star ticks, I’d say, expect a drop in efficiency after two months and you may find an occasional tick . . . but it is still somewhat effective for three months.
Just wanted everyone to know that 20 breeding pairs of beagles AND their puppies were euthanized during the “Reproductive Safety” testing phase of BRAVECTO….It says so right in the FDA report, page 37 of this PDF: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/Products/ApprovedAnimalDrugProducts/FOIADrugSummaries/UCM399075.pdf …….I tried Bravecto and had no problems, but once I found out that all these innocent dogs had been killed during testing of the product, I will not be purchasing it any longer since I do not support the killing of these dogs….I was truly shocked and horrified when I found out.
Hi Michelle,
Great point – thanks for bringing this up. Unfortunately, you are right – most human and animal studies about drugs, medications, etc. require this as part of safety testing. A lot of the human medications that are used in human medicine are the same way. That said, there are lab veterinarians and IACUC regulations making sure that these dogs are cared for humanely. I know that doesn’t make one “feel” any better, they really are trying to care for them well.
I have to comment on Bravecto and what a wonderful help it has been to my 11 yr old 6 lb Shih Tzu. She dealt with Demodex Mange for over a year and after being given one dose of Bravecto, it was amazing to see the change in her skin. Thank You
Dr Lee, why do you gloss over the terrible side effects and DEATHS of dogs after having taken Bravecto?
I have an 8 month old puppy who was completely healthy. On the advice of my vet, but against my own little warning voice, I gave her Bravecto. Within 10 minutes, her eyes glazed over. 5 minutes after that, the whites of her eyes had turned a dark, blood red color. Within 45 minutes of giving her this awful drug she collapsed and became unresponsive. I called the E-vet and they didn’t have any experience with Bravecto.
Thankfully she came to about 15 minutes later and I helped my poor, wobbly, disoriented puppy outside. I didn’t know if she’d last the night. Her breathing was fast, she was foamy, drooling, and still disoriented.
She went to my vets the next morning and had a complete blood panel and was worked up neurologically. (these showed nothing out of the ordinary) But my vet also agreed it was a reaction to the drug and that what she experienced the night before was a seizure. I am insisting on further blood work in a month in case the blood draw was too soon to see any damage.
She was placed on IV fluids. After a very long day, she returned home, still wobbly and not eating. I had called Merck who gave her a case number. The vet from Merck AGREED it sounded like a definite reaction to the Bravecto.
One week later, and she is still not right. Her appetite is almost non-existent, she’s still lethargic, her stools are loose with mucus in them. I called Merck again to report the latest symptoms, spoke to the same vet and he said he would put all the information in her case file. I also filed a report with the FDA myself.
I am scared to death that there will be long lasting effects on this sweet pup because of that awful pill I gave her. There is not a soul in the world who would convince me that this normally healthy young dog was not adversely effected by Bravecto. There may be some dogs out there who will tolerate the drug, but with so many people coming forward with such awful stories, shouldn’t Merck pull this drug until further testing be done? 224 dogs tested is NOT a large number.
I just had to comment. I am not normally one who is confrontational at all, but this has hit my much loved little dog hard and I am scared for her life.
Not a fan of Bravecto.
I’m so sorry to hear this and so glad that you reported it – it happened so acutely (that your dog had a reaction) that it does sound associated! Thanks for sharing and I’m glad you got her to a veterinarian immediately. I’ve so rarely seen side effects so don’t gloss over the side effects, as it’s rare. That said, I would NOT reuse it in your puppy as it sounds like a terrible reaction!
Thanks Justine. I appreciate your response. Please keep a good thought for my little girl. No, I would never give an oral Flea and Tick protection to her, or any other dog I may have, in the future.
I just want others to know that there is a problem with this drug, and it may not be so for ALL dogs, but I for one, would never take a chance.
Thanks again for letting me speak.
Praying for your little girl – hang in there! Is Merck covering some of the costs?
An update for Barbara. She had to put Callie to sleep just a couple of days ago. She never recovered. Barbara told me that the first vet at Merck told her it sounded like her immediate seizure was a reaction to Bravecto. But when the dog started having problems with its bowel movements just three days later they said it was not a reaction. They did not offer to cover any costs. Her dog was 9 months old when she had to be put down. 7 weeks of constant problems after Bravecto.
Isn’t this interesting?! When my dog died less than 24 hours after taking Bravecto on June 3rd and my other one that did survive after taking it became extremely ill right after taking it, you did nothing but try to discredit his death and what occurred. You never even tried to contact me privately to find out what had occurred but rather just tried to discredit. This was one of your first reactions to his death:
justinelee | June 14, 2015 at 12:08 am
Please see this link here – sounds like it’s rumor floating on the Internets…
Even down to replying to someone else’s post in early July stating: justinelee | July 6, 2015 at 9:17 pm
Honestly, probably rumor as I haven’t heard anything since.
Last I heard, the “death” was never officially reported to Merck Animal Health
You never even had the courtesy to respond to both of my replies that I put up on July 20th. As I said then, someone is lying, as you stated the”death” has never been reported to Merck. So who is lying you or them? I took my email info out to protect myself from unwanted replies.
—–Original Message—–
From: “Ahtechservice”
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2015 6:17pm
To:
Subject: Regarding “Duncan” – Merck Cases 2015-US-06448 and 2015-US-06503
Dear Patti and Todd,
My Name is Linda Erday, and I am one of the Pharmacovigilance (drug safety) veterinarians at Merck Animal Health. I would like to extend my heartfelt sympathy regarding the loss of your sweet dog Duncan. His photo showed a lovely spirit, and I can hardly begin to imagine how devastated you must feel at this sudden loss.
I have been trying to find you so that I could talk to you and your veterinarian about what transpired. My company takes every report of an adverse event quite seriously, and I’d like to gather all the data that exists for our records. I understand you may have reported this to the FDA as well, but I must still file another report from the company (this is just protocol – we’d rather file twice than miss a report and not file). To date, I do not have record of a veterinarian-filed report; the two case numbers are from a case I started with only the information I found on the internet.
Could you please contact me just as soon as possible at 800-224-5318? I work until 5:00 today, and am also on tomorrow through Thursday. I’ve given the folks at our after-hours emergency hotline my contact info too, so they can reach me after our switchboard is shut down, if you’re unable to call during work hours. If you just can’t talk to me, you can reply by email with your vet’s contact information.
Patti, again, I’m sorry for Duncan’s loss, and for the problems your other dog is experiencing. Please help us understand what occurred so we can submit the most complete set of information possible to the FDA. If it is difficult for you to talk about this I can speak directly to your veterinarian; you can either provide me with his/her number or ask him/her to call me at my 800-224-5318 number.
Sincerely, Linda Erday, DVM
Linda E. Erday, DVM
Pharmacovigilance Veterinarian
Merck Animal Health * 2 Giralda Farms * Madison, NJ 07940
Telephone Main Office: 800-224-5318
How dare you be so inconsiderate and pompous!!!!! Maybe it would become reality to you if your autistic son was the one who was trying desperately in vain to do cpr to save his beloved dogs life while he was being rushed to the hospital, only to be told within a couple of minutes are arriving and resuscitation attempts being done that he is gone!
At least with this poor pup’s bad reaction you at least had the decency to acknowledge the fact that it “sounds associated”. You did not even have the respect or decency to consider that back in early June.
I contacted you via the blog, which was the only way I had ability to. I’m glad you got in touch with Merck; my concern was that no one from Merck had heard back from you so there was concern about getting testing done in an appropriate time. As an FYI, an autopsy is ALWAYS recommended, IMO, to determine the cause of death and can only be done so (accurately) within a 24 hour window… unfortunately, you can’t freeze your pet’s remains as it messes up the autopsy. My heart goes out to you for your loss, and I hope you were able to work with Merck to find out what happened. You didn’t provide enough details on my blog to be able to determine what was going on, and I wanted to reiterate the importance of getting an autopsy done immediately. At the time you wrote, Merck had not heard from you nor your veterinarian.
My dog Sammie is a border collie. I have her on Sentinnel Spectrum for heartworms since collies can be sensitive to ivermectin. Sentinnel Spectrum is a great product, but does not cover ticks so I have been trying to decide what product to pair it with so she can be protected from ticks as well. I live in the Midwest where ticks are a problem. I was considering Nexgard or Bravecto, but wasn’t sure about doubling up on flea control. Any suggestions?
Typically, I’m not a big fan of doubling up on flea medication. The good news is that the Sentinel product contains lufeneron which is really safe (it’s a birth control for fleas, but doesn’t kill adult fleas to my knowledge). So it’s likely safe to double up in this situation with an oral product. When in doubt, check with you veterinarian! You do need tick coverage in the Midwest…
http://www.sentinelpet.com/media/pdf/spectrum_product_insert.pdf
I LOVE Bravecto. It is the best product I have ever found for flea control on my two toy poodles. Wonderful result.
I lost my beloved mini doxie, Charlie, on Sunday, November 1 due to multiple organ failure. Charlie dies two days after having a lobe of his liver removed. The vet said the pathology on that lobe showed granulomous hepatitis (please excuse spelling errors). A couple of days after administering Charlie’s second dose of Bravecto he became ill. My other two dogs were not yet on Bravecto and they are fine. Charlie’s symptoms were: decreased appetite, weight loss, increased thirst, excessive urination, lethargy and he was febrile. We had blood work done at our vet which showed increased liver enzymes. We treated with milk thistle and sam-e . He was on mitradonizole and then was switched to doxycycline. After showing a bit of improvement on the doxycycline he took a turn for the worse and internal medicine vet put him on IV antibiotics and fluids. His glucose levels plummeted and he was also supplemented with dextrose.
My dogs are leash walked so I pretty much know what they get into. Again, the other two are fine (they were NOT given Bravecto). Charlie was only about 7 years old. I can ONLY attribute his rapid decline to the use of Bravecto. Please, please do not give it to your pets!
I”m sorry for your loss. My dog developed IMHA after 7 days of her ingesting Bravecto. It was also the 2nd dose (4 months apart). She is 12.5 years old. We saved her life with a blood transfusion. I blame Bravecto. She is not walked outside of our yard. I have chickens that run in the same grass and they are fine. No internal bleeding, no tick borne illness, no recent vaccines and no topical flea & tick to blame for it. Bravecto did it. Report this to Merck and the FDA and EPA. Merck will give you 1/2 of your diagnostic testing back. It helps with the bills a bit, but not the stress and suffering of us or our doggies.
Can I effectively divide larger Bravecto tab for my 2 small dogs?
It’s not recommended to do it this way, so check with your veterinarian to be on the safe side!
Yes, my vet advised me to split them into equal pieces to give to multiple dogs and it has worked flawless for 2 years now! Good luck
Here is the FOI report link obtained on adverse reactions to Bravecto &Nexgard. It was obtained by Dr Elizabeth Carney and is only USA reports up until June 2015 so before both FB groups started.
http://yourpetsneedthis.com/bravecto-and-nexgard-ade-reports/
First of all, Freedom of Information acts are just that – FREE to ALL. It’s readily available on ANY drug and legally required to be available. So this isn’t something that Dr. Carney miraculously discovered. When in doubt, I always tell people to be their own pet advocate and google the FOI on any drug if you are concerned. The direct FULL report is here:
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/Products/ApprovedAnimalDrugProducts/FOIADrugSummaries/UCM399075.pdf
That said, having worked and done adverse event reporting for human and veterinary drugs before, I can say a lot of this data is very skewed and MUST be interpreted carefully. For example, if you started your dog on a new NSAID and he runs across the street and gets hit by a car and dies, it’s reported as an “Adverse Event” or “Adverse Effect” (AE) to the FDA. A lot of the diseases reported on your original link show obvious “diseases” or situations that are secondary to other factors and unrelated to the drug; so one must be very judicious interpreting the results. I hope that makes sense?
When in doubt, always search for the full FOI on any drug you are worried about. I hope that helps!
Several fit young dogs have died. One rescted within 10 minutes of taking Bravecto and had to be euthanized after 7 weeks. This dog never left its owners side so blaming going out in its yard and eatingpoason was not even possible.
Feeding a chemical as toxic as this which has no deterrent and allows your dog to become a host to ticks and fleas makes no sense especially seeing they even say that ticks can pass on tick disease before they die which we have seen happens by the 22 pages of complaints on the MSD SA site.
I have no idea why people would risk using this product or Nexgard.
I agree. Bravecto is not safe. A research study on 200 beagles is not enough to say it’s safe.
Hi
The post you out up was for the approval of the drug. Jane was happy that Dr. Carney received the report of adverse events which is totally different as I am sure you know. Although these are free, they are not published online and it took her almost five months to hear back from the FDA! Luckily whe. She put in the second request, she got it within a month. It’s too bad these reports are not regularly updated and published online.
Is Bravecto effective against Sarcoptic mange?
Is Bravecto effective against Sarcoptic mange?
So far, I’ve only seen data on demodectic mange. You can see the paper here:
http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/8/1/187
Gave our 8 pound Maltese, prince ( who is 8 years old) bravecto on 12/29/15. On 12/30/15 he is very lethargic , lips his lips constantly , will not eat or drink anything. This is just not normal behavior for him. I am very concerned
Oh no – he sounds nauseated (licking lips). I’d contact your veterinarian immediately and bring him in tomorrow to be safe! Please keep us posted! Wishing him well.
Braveto nearly killed my dog. Hope he is ok.
My foster malinois came to me with demodex and the rescue vet put her on antibiotics and ivermectin. I was told to watch her since the ivermectin can be deadly. She was on it for 3 1/2 weeks and nothing good was happening with the mange, not to mention that she stopped eating on Monday and was lethargic. I was able to hand feed her from my hand or a spoon but took an hour to a cup of food down her.
I am overly protective of my animals and read up on the side effects and contra-indicators of ivermectin and seeing that Shepards was one of the breeds listed that the ivermectin causes problems in. I stopped the medicine on Wednesday since she was going back to the vet on sat.
My normal vet trusts me completely and knows that i will do what is in the best interest of the animal. After stopping the ivermectin she was back to eating on thursday night and being a 8 month old puppy again.
I took her back to the rescues vet that Saturday and got told she looked 100% worse then when we picked her up on 11/18, granted this vet has a problem and was telling me everything i do is wrong, if i asked questions it was met with “well we can call the rescue head since it is their dog”.
She totally ignored everything i saw happening and was trying to tell her. I was told to put her back on the ivermectin and come back in a week and if that doesn’t work they would put her on a higher dose of ivermectin and she would have to be brought back to the vet office every other day to be bathed, towel dried and then dipped, Not only was this too many chemicals in her little body but also too expensive for the rescue group to pay for.
Well i went to a vet who has appointments on Saturday afternoons because my normal vet office was closed and this was an off site of that office and was told about the Dermatologist vets in VA using Bravecto to control the Demodex mange in dogs.
So i made an appointment with my vets office and was told by him the same thing and prescribed her the Bravecto, that same day i had another checkup appointment with the rescues vet but i was seeing the head of the clinic not the know it all vet that ignored what i would try to tell her.
The head vet asked me why i had stopped the ivermectin. i explained everything that had happened that it was only 3 days and she was coming in anyway and i knew something was wrong, she agreed with me that i was right for stopping it, i also told her that i had taken her into my vet that morning and what my vet had said she looked up the study online, read it and said lets try it. No more ivermectin.
No more then a week after her taking the Bravecto, her hair is growing back no lesions or anything, two weeks later completed cleared and no itching, biting and her muzzle and cheek completely covered in hair.
No problems whatsoever with the Bravecto and the fastest change i have seen in hair growth ever.
I wish i could give this pill to my cat so that he can stop the depo injections.
So glad to hear that your malinois is improving and doing so well! Share a picture on my facebook page Dr. Justine Lee – would love to see the hair growing back! 🙂
My 11 month english bull terrier has developed generalised demodex mange and has just taken a Bravecto tablet.I have to admit i was reluctant to give it to her as it seems to be a powerful drug,but so far she has shown no abnormal signs,although if anything her hair loss seems worse does anyone know if things get worse before improvement?
I’m so sorry to hear about people who have lost their dogs after Bravecto,but this certainly sounds initially preferable to ivermectin or aggressive chemical dips.
It will take weeks for the hair to grow back, so be patient. Ideally, 3 doses of Bravecto have been shown to almost completely treat demodex. My own dog also had demodex as a puppy, so hang in there! Keep us posted on how your bull terrier does! Best of luck!
I adopted my pup from a rescue 3 months ago. The day after I brought her home she had an abcess on the base of her neck. When I picked her up her foster mom said she was on antibiotics for a few red bumps she had and a steroid. She had a scab on the base of her neck that her foster was putting ointment on. The abcess came up right beside that wound. My vet put her on a different antibiotic and aspirated the abcess to make sure it wasn’t cancer. A few weeks later her abcess was gone. She received her second set of puppy shots a couple weeks after the abcess was gone. Around thanksgiving I noticed on her leg she was losing hair in a small spot but didn’t think anything of it. Dec 14th she received her last set of puppy shots.4 days later she had a huge rash on her neck. On Dec 21st I took her back to the vet because her rash was worse and was stabbing up. My vet did a skin scraping and said it was demodectosis. Her immediately wanted me to do Amitraz dip but after reading horrible things about the dip I decided to go a different route. My vet is very old school has been a vet for 40 years. I told him about sentinel and how some vets were using it to treat Demodex mange. He called another vet and that vet did say it had been used. So she is on sentinel daily and has been since December 21st. I can’t say her mange has gotten better but the bumps are not huge and open like they were but she has lost over 50 percent of her hair. I give her benzoyl peroxide baths every other day and rub an organic lotion on her. I know this is an immunity issue and her immune system has to fight this but I read about Bravecto tonight and how it helped a fellow dog the same age with this but I have also read her about their dogs dying so now I am worried. I don’t think this Bravecto is a cure since this in an immune system issue and once her immune system kicks in or gets mature it should clear up. So my question is, do I continue to do what I am doing since she isn’t getting exactly worse and sometimes there are spots that clear up but then a couple days later a couple bumps may pop up in that area or do I try the Bravecto? She isn’t scratching very much. I just don’t know if the sentinel is helping keep them under control a bit. The rescue swears she didn’t have this in their care but mites are on all dogs so I feel the red bumps may of been the start and the abcess and stress of the puppy mill and new home may of tipped her immune system. But boy don’t say that she may of had them in rescue or you will get stoned to death.what are your thoughts?
Honestly, demodex is a pain to treat – you typically need to treat until you get 3 negative skin scraps, one month apart. Both Nexgard and Bravecto can be used and have shown high efficiacy for it. I would have personally used it in my dog when he had demodex as a puppy, as it is really safe and easier than giving oral ivermectin once a day for 90 days. There are very rare adverse effects that can be seen with ANY drug, but in general, you’re seeing rare reports here. Likewise, a lot of people have had awesome success with these other oral meds for demodex also. I use Bravecto in my own dog for flea/tick preventative. Talk to your veterinarian about it. Honestly, your dog may have a SECONDARY bacterial skin infection too that needs treatment! Hope that helps! 🙂
She was on antibiotics the first couple weeks. She is on daily sentinel, that has flea meds in it. I am thinking I need to wait until that is out of her system before I give her the Bravecto. I just don’t know how long it takes. What are your thoughts? Do you feel nexgard is just as good as Bravecto?
The only published study that I know of for these oral drugs working for demodex is here:
http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/8/1/187
Based off this evidence, I would use Bravecto. And yes, I feel it’s very safe, even if she’s on antibiotics and sentinel! Would just stop the sentinel once you talk to your veterinarian.
I have a question about my 6 month old scottie. She has been diagnosed with demodex and we used ivermectin to treat it and turns out she has a sensitivity to it and had sight and neurological issues. Her sight came back and started walking fine again after a few rounds of intralipids. Now that’s she’s recovered we’re trying different options. My vet prescribed bravecto buy I’m a little worried she might have another reaction with this meds. With bravecto have any side affects in dogs with ivermectin sensitivity?
Great question – with ivermectin, we can start to see signs of toxicity in healthy dogs without the MDR-gene mutation sensitivity at 2.5 mg/kg (e.g., dilated pupils, walking drunk) and severe ones at 5 mg/kg (e.g., tremors, seizures). In MDR-gene mutation dogs, we can see clinical signs at MUCH LOWER doses (the reported LD50 is as low as 0.12 mg/kg which is VERY low). The good news is that Bravecto CAN be used in MDR dogs! The demodex definitely needs to be treated.
I own several dogs, all of the same breed, parents are screen genetically prior to mating, all of which are not known to have kidney disorders. All had perfect blood work ups prior to using Bravecto. My youngest (under 3 yrs of age) became ill two months after taking Bravecto. Kidney failure. I am watching her undergo dialysis for the second week now. The other two, have also been tested for blood. A second one, also under age 3, has elevated BUN levels, indicative of potential for Kidney complications. The third one came up clean, thank heavens I may not lose him. I just sobbed as I wrote that, and he looked over at me.
I didn’t want to come on the message boards, but I owe it to others who could lose their sweet precious babies.
What happened is this: I wanted to switch to what was a gentler flea application. A vet told me yes this was it. Fool that I am, I didn’t research side effects. They are posted all over the web. How dare this company not pull the product, to prevent death to our sweet dogs. However, once I gave them these tablets, I did research, for one threw up in 30 mins. I felt sick to my stomach reading the reports. My husband said relax, most likely nothing. Two months later we were looking healthy and enjoying life, balls, playing, and all of a sudden my sweet girl becomes ill. Looked like UTI, kidney failure mimicks that. If you have already given Bravecto, RUN A BLOOD WORKUP FOR KIDNEY FUNCTION IMMEDIATELY.
Another (dog of mine) didn’t look so great, but oddly enough he is the one who is coming up good blood work up. I was so upset as I read the incidents of kidney and liver failure, but my dogs seemed to clear up and look wonderful, but ah kidney failure is sneaky. You don’t see the signs until there is so much damage.
I hope I can help my second sweet heart. I hope that it is not too late. But literally I have a sick feeling about my sweet girl who is undergoing dialysis. She is not looking good and the Vet (not the one that recommended Bravecto) looks so sad about her illness, and so shocked at how athletic and healthy her heart and body is otherwise. He said this he hasn’t seen before, and cannot imagine what caused it.
So I write this as one is real bad, and the worst is heading our way. A second hopeful, but ah I see how horrid this is, this damage. The third will not understand why his younger pack mates would vanish. Such pain, so avoidable, as is using Bravecto. Avoid Bravecto. Shame on the manufacturer of this product… My heart is with them and part of me will leave with them if they die prematurely at such a young age.
I had to be responsible and post this. I do not want more blood on my hands. It is bad enough i held out the Bravecto and told them good dog as they ate it.
Oh Shirley, I’m so sorry to hear this – can you make sure you AND your veterinarian call to report this to the company (Merck) immediately so they are aware of it? They will pay for some testing, etc., I believe and best to check. Did your veterinarian do lepto titers also? Praying for your 3 pups…
Wondering what oral heartworm preventative products are safe to use with Bravecto?
Wondering what heartworm preventative tablets are safe to use along with Bravecto?
Absolutely – your dog should be on both. That said, I wouldn’t give on the same day or within a few days, as rarely you can see vomiting from Bravecto and you don’t want your dog to vomit up an expensive heartworm medication!
Dear dog lovers everywhere,
My healthy, mix-breed exercise loving, homemade food eating VERY healthy dog developed cancer almost immediately after consuimg ONE dose of Bravecto. I gave her the dose in Sept and since it stays in her system for three months, her recent diagnosis of a VERY unusal case of osteosarcoma not really affecting her bones but presenting instead in her skin that they anticipate started late fall tells me that there is a link here. Perhaps if I listened to my intuition my beloved Ginger might not be fighting for her life right now. I would NEVER reccommend this medication to anyone. I know I’m no doctor, but I am ashamed at myself for agreeing to put poison in my dogs body. please don’t make the same mistake I did.
And Dr. Lee, I’m sure it helps some, but I just thought I would share that when I received a second opinion from another vet, she was shocked to note the bravecto in her medical history and inquired about that specifically from the point of toxicity regarding her cancer.
Hi Holly,
I’m so sorry to hear about your dog. In my professional opinion as a specialist toxicologist, it sounds like a sad incidence of coincidence, as the way many of these products work, they don’t affect the bone. There are definitely some immunosuppressives/immune-altering drugs or environmental toxicants that have been associated with increased risk of cancer that can but as a toxicologist, this doesn’t fit how the mechanism of action, elimination, distribution, metabolism, etc. of the drug.
Having had my own dog die of cancer to, one begins to question the potential causes, but sadly, cancer rarely has “a cause.” It is often genetic (which is why we often see osteosarcoma more in large breed dogs, Greyhounds, and multifactorial. Regardless, I’m so sorry to hear this news.
My dog had a seizure 8 hours after taking bravecto here in Brazil
Oh no! Please call and make your veterinarian report it to Merck ASAP! (And don’t use it again in your dog).
I have a question about the Bravecto. Would it be alright to cut a pill in half for dogs weighing 44-88lb and give it to a dog that weighs 30lbs? This stuff is very pricy but I have two dogs just slightly out of the weight range.
It’s not meant to be dosed that way. I would worry it’s going to dessicate out (dry out) if you stored it. If you’re dosing both dogs at the same time, it’s likely less of an issue, but I’d check with your vet to be safe!
Bravecto should never be administered without liver and kidney blood counts being done beforehand. This killer of a product is sold (often pushed) by vets around the world judging by how far and wide concerned owners are writing from. I was hesitant when the vet’s receptionist enthusiastically promoted it for my Yorkie who has never had a serious flea problem. I asked for Revolution and she suggested I try this ‘much better’ route. When I countered that I wasn’t happy to give my little baby poison, she said ‘don’t be silly, all the vets’ pets are on it!’. The same day, before I gave it to my little dog, I researched it online and perhaps unfortunately came upon this website and Dr Justine Lee’s ‘specialist toxicologist’s’ defence of the product. A lot has happened since then, in a nutshell my baby nearly died and has suffered very serious liver and kidney damage. My vet also defended Bravecto, saying it couldn’t happen unless she had a pre-existing condition. Well if you’re going to prescribe something so toxic wouldn’t it be professional to first do liver and kidney tests and only then prescribe Bravecto and similar treatments? She’d never been sick before in her 7 years. Once she became deathly ill, if he’d been less blinkered and sent for blood tests sooner perhaps less damage could have been done. Fortunately I was eventually privately referred to a vet who immediately sent for bloods and started treating her for liver and kidney damage. Her liver A.L.T. count I think it was (the one that should be under 212) was 1882. Kidneys were also off the charts. It has been an emotionally disparaging 3 months for us (to the day) and the nights that she was in such agony that she would wimper and cower from us in her confused and pained state will not easily be forgotten, and she’s not nearly out of the woods yet. But she lived. Many precious angels have not. Like Shirley who posted and many others, I have blamed myself for being the one who fed it to her, but I have to question the real reason vets are more than happy to promote it. Think about the vet bills incurred, on medicines, blood tests, follow-ups, more medicines, more appointments, special diets. People, trust your instincts – Bravecto really is a killer of a product. LM
I’m so glad you got blood work done – make sure you check a leptospirosis titer soo, as that’s what it sounds like (Leptospirosis causes both kidney and liver injury), and is most commonly seen in dogs < 10-15 pounds (Lee et al, JVIM 2014). I hope she is doing better and that she was treated with doxycycline for 2 weeks to cure the leptospirosis!
Thank you for responding Dr Lee – I think the fact that our vet has saved her life without the doxycycline proves it isn’t lepto. I think he might’ve considered that if it presented in our area. I still believe the common denominator is bravecto – how many sad incidences of coincidence will it take? Thank you and perhaps only promote bravecto for the treatment of mange or demodex if you absolutely must but the owners need to know the dreadful risks.
I’m so glad your dog is doing ok. Lepto can be treated with penicillins too (amoxicillin, Clavamox). Regardless, please make sure to have your veterinarian or you report it immediately to Merck so the company is aware of this! Prayers for your pup!
I wasn’t going to comment on this thread, but this is just too much!
Why on Earth is it that so many vets just refuse to admit that these adverse reactions CAN INDEED be due to the (almost sacred it seems) bravecto!!?? Is it just the money talking, or is it false pride because they don’t want to look stupid in front of the rest of the world!!??
Well, as a registered breeder of GSDs I am telling YOU now, that your precious bravecto stinks! It was dead even before it hit a vastly unsuspecting market! It doesn’t work, because it doesn’t even do what most dog owners buy it for… it doesn’t repel fleas or ticks. Before the so-called “wonder pill” can get rid of the ticks and fleas, the parasites have to first BITE your pet and MAKE THEM SICK. Your pet first have to go through all of what you thought the “wonder pill” would prevent, because it does NOT REPEL!!, And shouldn’t that be the main purpose of a PROPER flea and tick repellent? To REPEL the parasites BEFORE they can bite and make your dog ill? It does kill though: fleas, ticks and dogs… and even humans have been reported to have been adversely reacted after handling it…
If I really HAVE to use a chemical, I would much rather go for something called Bacdip by Bayopet. It repels ticks for two weeks, and kills ticks that are already on the dog at the time of dipping the dog. Drawback is that it cannot be used on puppies younger than 6 months. It is also not effective against fleas. Another drawback is that you cannot deworm your dog for at least a week after dipping with Bacdip. But at least the package insert clearly states all those things! Not like bravecto that is declared safe for 8 week old puppies on one pamphlet, but on another it states that it cannot be given to pups younger than 6 months! So which is it? Ambiguous AND dishonest, to say the least.
But not that it really matters… fact is that it works like Russian Roulette: it isn’t safe to give to ANY dog, because you just don’t know what’s going to happen next. Pull the first trigger, it may be a hit! If you’re lucky it’s a miss. Lucky pet! The 2nd trigger may also miss! And the 3rd! But beware, a revolver only has so many shots, and Russian Roulette requires that you load at least one bullet. What happens when you get to the loaded spot, in this case just the correct lethal dose of fluralaner?! Because like all isoxazolines, it builds up in the system of the dog until you reach overload because the liver and kidneys cannot expel it from the body… and then “BANG!”
So you see, the only certain thing is that it kills because it’s poison, and that it kills the parasite… and eventually it will kill the host too… unless you stop pulling the trigger (administering bravecto in this case) after which it will cost you probably $1000’s to try and get your puppy or adult dog back to normal! IF you ever do!
Lepto my ass! Why don’t you tell these people that in order to even contract Lepto, the dog has to live in an area where rats are a problem? Why don’t you try HONESTY for a change!? Bravecto has altered the meaning of killing parasites big time, hasn’t it? It has perfectly geared the vet industry to make more and more money out of innocent unsuspecting dog owners who love their dogs and will pay whatever their … um … trustworthy vet charges them in order to “prevent” their pets getting sick… and then pay anything to make their beloved companions well again, AFTER they have already paid an arm and a leg to get them sick so they can be treated! Makes ME sick!
So dear DOCTOR Lee: please get over yourself, cut the sarcasm and start being a VET for heavens’ sake! Try taking RESPONSIBILITY for once! And if you cannot do that, then at least take the honourable way out and quit being a vet!
And now can go and delete this comment so that nobody else can read it so that you can retain your sphere of heroism… or you can be ethical for a change and let it through… the choice is yours…
Amber Tiscale
I’m not a fan of dips. While Bacdip is effective, it’s a low concentration pyrethrin and too low to have a good “repellancy” property (has to typically be higher concentration like 40-60%, like Bayer’s K9 Advantix). With oral meds, the tick kill is so rapid (as early as 4-8 hours) that you don’t need a repellancy. When in doubt, check with your veterinarian to find the best product. For me, I absolutely disagree with having CHRONIC dermal exposure to pyrethrins to children in the house, to the environment, etc.
I wasn’t going to reply to your reply either, but you make me rise to the bait like a fish.
Just the following: dipping a dog every 14 days to repel ticks can hardly be seen as CHRONIC exposure. Especially since the dip dries on the coat of the dog, making the chance of possible reaction virtually zero. Evan if the pet should then get wet, the worst that can happen is that the repellent is diluted to the effect that it is rendered ineffective to the extent that another dip may be required. Now if you consider that “chronic”, what do you call it when a deadly drug lurks in your dog’s bloodstream for all of three months, with no available antidote, and to be repeated every three months for at least all spring and all summer?!
Furthermore I prefer a low concentration pyrethrin/pyrethroid that washes away when it gets wet to a much too high concentration isoxazoline that stays in the bloodstream of my dog for goodness knows how long.
Advantix? Typical to (once again) suggest the stronger POISON. And I am not a fan of Advantix, The Permethrin in there is too deadly to my liking. Don’t want to mess around with my pup’s life by using that on her…
Check with my vet? No thank you! The last time I did that the vet tried to sell me bravecto. Well, actually, she tried to push me into buying it. Should I have done that, and actually have given it to my pup, she may have been dead right now, seeing that she was a puppy weighing only about 1kg.
The “rapid kill” of the so-called oral “meds” would have been okay if it remained with killing parasites. But it doesn’t. It kills our dogs too…! There are many safer options available…
I’m not advocating for any pyrethrin – I’m merely stating the low dose pyrethrin concentration that you’re using has little repellancy. Repellancy is typically found in higher concentration products. I don’t like using ANY topical pyrethrin due to the higher documented risk of adverse effects. Obviously, we beg to differ, so choose whatever you feel is effective and safe.
Well, if you have read my first comment properly, you would have noticed that I have used the words “If I really HAVE to use a chemical”. It should therefore be clear that I really HATE chemicals.
And if I had to continue debating the vices and virtues of pyrethroids (Flumethrin is a pyrethroid not a pyrethrin) You would have successfully steered me away from the REAL issue, which is the extremely high level of toxicity of isoxazolines (fluralaner, afoxolaner and sarolaner, which are the active ingredients in bravecto, Nexgard and the newly approved simparica). I sincerely hope there won’t be any more of these!
I maintain that these drugs should not be used on ANY animal, especially since there is no antidote to any of the three drugs.
To anyone interested, please visit the Facebook group “Does Bravecto Kill Dogs?” And whatever you do, DO NOT use either bravecto, nexgard or simparica on your dog.
This is me signing off, I have had my say. If I have reached one or more persons then I am pleased.
Amber Tiscale
Bravo and very well said Amber!
How can any vet say it is “SAFE” to feed dogs these new class of Isoxazoles insecticides is beyond me. If you look up Fluranlaner it states “Due to their recent introduction there is very little knowledge on tolerance in different dog breeds or in young, old or otherwise weak animals”.
Yet vets assure customers it is safe and many are spending thousands trying to save their dogs lives. Yes there is no proof, just many coincidences with one link. There has to be a reason why even young fit dogs are dying.
Just so you guys know, the Freedom of Information act is available for EVERY single drug in the United States. I’d recommend that access, download and read the whole thing here for further information to accurately determine any reported side effects (required by the FDA). You can download it here:
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/Products/ApprovedAnimalDrugProducts/FOIADrugSummaries/UCM399075.pdf
Thank you so much Sally! 🙂
Amber Tiscale
I gave my two healthy Labrador retrievers Bravecto and the next morning they had diarrhea, lethargy and no appetite. Three days later and they still have the same symptoms, so I started doing some investigating and found this article. I am so mad at myself for giving them this terrible flea/tick medicine. I refuse to take medicine myself due to all the harmful side effects – I just can believe that I did this to my pets.
Oh no! I would call and get to your veterinarian ASAP and make sure they contact and report it to the company ASAP. Hope your two Labradors are doing ok and praying for a speedy recovery!
Great that you have decided in future to stay clear of Bravecto Becky. Wish I could have been in a position to warn you before this happened. Also stay clear of Nexgard, Milbemax, Trifexis, Comfortis… actually any poison containing drug that has to be taken per mouth.
Bravecto stays in your dog’s system for at least 4 months, even tho the package insert says 3 months. This is not good for your dog’s liver or kidneys, which are the organs that are supposed to dispel toxins from the body.
There is a great group on Facebook called “Does Bravecto Kill Dogs”. It already has 9000 members, almost all of whom had bad experiences with Bravecto. Just search the term “Bravecto”. It will be listed automatically. On that group you will find lot’s of info on how to get your dog’s back to health. For starters, a detox of at least seven days will be necessary to counter the toxins in the body. This group is really awesome, you won’t be sorry if you join it.
Hope your babies will be fine soon.
Regards,
Dawn
Merck has a terrible history with respect to safety, responding and following up. My cats almost died from Activyl. I called them over and over. Nothing was ever done. The Veterinarian saying Merck has to follow up or report is either paid by Merck or been mislead. Now, the word about Activyl is out but sadly Merck continues to sell it. There is no way to speak to someone ” at the top” to report products. You can try Senators & get guidance. The FDA is overwhelmed already especially with influx of foreign prod u cats entering through the mail like ” legal highs” “vape products” & diet, aging, performance products.
Before Social Media we had consumer magazines but now it’s out of control. Not everyone has Facebook either. The generics of Brand drugs slide in under the radar as well. If someone says their pet got sick or died, believe them. Don’t think you have to wait until it hits the big news because there’s no path for complaints that works. Even this Vet went to disbelief by quoting Snopes rather than trying to contact the owners. Saying that a drug company has to report negative issues is a joke. Even if they’re brought to court, they’ll say the person who took the message didn’t send the information up the ladder.
When there’s money to be made, the very worst in human nature comes out. We only have each other. I appreciate every person who takes the time to share because they care enough to make sure other’s don’t have to experience what they did. Shame on anyone, paid or just ass kissing, who tries to delegitimize those whose pets were harmed or killed. I am so sorry for your losses!
Remember, when someone shows you who they are, believe them. So when someone tells you what a drug or drug company has done, believe them too. Why would ANYONE lie about losing pets? I can only think of reasons to lie about drug safely because that makes money.
Give us a Merck website to post our negative comments with equal access as the positive comments. Facebook doesn’t reach everyone plus they do strip down negatives. If a product is truly safe, why not allow ALL comments? Why have non medical, snotty, rude people answering their phones? Why don’t they have Veterinarians answering the phone like the poison hot line? They certainly make enough money to have that. We all see the problems but companies who consistently don’t provide solutions should be boycotted. But how to get the word out?
I will add that I am trying Diatomaceous Earth by putting the powder in a sock, tying a knot and patting it on pet areas. I have reduced fleas. There is a website called DiatomaceousEarth.com and it’s really, really cheap so check it out if you want. No,I am not connected and don’t get paid by anyone.
Our dog is my son’s service dog so I take every comment seriously. That’s our only strength. Support and believe each other and don’t wait for those making money to be honest.
I have two boston terriers – a 12 year old and a 7 year old. Since pups I’ve given them Trifexis and they never had a reaction. I was pulling 3-4 ticks off of them every summer so we looked into another med. I don’t like topical meds so Bravecto was suggested by my vet. the older dog has had 2 doses and the younger just one – both doses were last given May 1. Neither has had a side effect. yesterday I pulled a dead tick off my younger dog. I am so happy about this and love this product
Hi Rev Davis,
I was totally thrilled to read your post. It’s great to know that I am not the only one feeling like you do and that, like me, you are not afraid to speak your mind. So sorry about your cats nearly dying because of Activyl. I have a pup that nearly died after Milbemax was administered by a vet without my consent when she was much too small to receive it.
To answer your question on how to get the word out: Facebook does sometimes pull down negative statements, comments and even groups, but it is done in quite a responsible and fair manner, and moderation is necessary to control the “haters” that will keep trolling message threads without it. Facebook is quite a good resource, with groups and pages such as “Does Bravecto kill dogs?”, Does Nexgard kill dogs?” and “Does Trifexis kill dogs”. Thanks to these groups, the accounts of anecdotal evidence has increased almost exponentially in the last few weeks. Having gained over 2000 members in just the last few days since 8 June 2016, the Bravecto group now has nearly 15000 members and stands out as the Facebook group that is currently the most effective in advocating against adverse veterinary drugs. Most of the members have suffered losses as a result of adverse reactions of their dogs, and even deaths, after Bravecto was administered.
There are also a few petitions circulating the internet. The US based Change.org petition against Bravecto (Petition for the immediate withdrawal of Bravecto (flea & tick treatment) from the market) currently has nearly 5000 supporters.
Everyone doesn’t need to have Facebook. As you said: “we only have each other”. But “each other” can become quite powerful fast. I believe it will take another few months before the public opinion against Bravecto will have reached a point of “critical mass” after which it will begin turning in our favor. When that happens, it will become progressively easier to fight against these drugs that are killing our pets.
If you wish, please look us up on Facebook: “Does Bravecto Kill Dogs”. You will receive some valued moral support, and at the same time you will be kept in the picture of where the fight is heading, and where it is at all times.
Dr Justine Lee:
Why did you delete my comment regarding Dr Stephen Spurr’s comment?
Amber Tiscale
I came to his website by searching for information on Bravecto. I realize that vomiting is a listed side effect but I wanted to share my experience. I gave my 3 English Bulldogs, ages 1,2 and 8 Bravecto with their dinner yesterday at 4pm. We just spent a hellish night with 3 vomiting dogs. No one in this house slept a wink and we have laundry piled sky high. It’s like when our kids had the flu when they were little. Not sure why anyone would do this voluntarily, much less pay $150 for the priveldge ($50 per tablet). My story can’t compare with people who have lost dogs but something isn’t quite right with this med if it makes dogs this sick. We’ve owned dogs for years and never had a flea and tick med (or any other med for that matter) cause this kind of reaction.
I’ve just purchased Wondercide for out dogs. I’m very concerned using any type of pill or drops. Has anyone used this product?
Dear dr. Lee,
I have a rescued dog with demodex diagnosed. I gave my dog Bravecto (which isn’t registered to work against demodex in my country).
It’s two weeks ago that I gave him the Bravecto.
Now he has earmite and the vet doesn’t know what we can give to treat that in combination with the bravecto. My other animals I gave Stronghold (selamectine) spot-on. But we still have no solution for my dog with demodex?
Do you know what’s safe to give against the earmite near the Bravecto? I went to two different vets and both don’t know.
We are not sure what breeds are in my dog but a DNA test will give the results in a few weeks.
I really hope you can help.
Thanks in advance from the Netherlands.
Hi Uni,
It is safe to use both together – that shouldn’t be a problem. That said, you might as well wait for the DNA test to make sure there’s no MDR-gene mutation in your dog. In the meantime, I would consider using a TOPICAL ear medication (ear flush + a topical ear drop that is daily for a few weeks) instead of the selamectin spot-on UNTIL you get the DNA test.
Hope that helps!
Dr. Justine Lee
I have a stray malti-zhu that was abondoned on my street. She was missing a lot of fur and had red, itchy skin. At the 1st vet check she had no mites. We used several antibiotics along w/medicated bathes every 4-5 days. At the 2nd vet check at six weeks 1 mite was found. The vet also found they were using the wrong antibiotic for her skin problem. She was changed to a different antibiotic and Bravecto to get rid of the demodec. The vet said to take 1 Bravecto chew every month for the next 3 months. Everything I am reading states it will work on demodec for 3 months on 1 dose. She has tolerated her meds so far but I am concerned this might be over medicating with the Bravecto. Is it normal to give 1 Bravecto chew for 3 consecutive months?
Hi Suzanna,
Yes, this drug works GREAT for mange (as compared to 3 months of once a day ivermectin). You can read the paper here.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25881320
It is safe to use it 3 months in a row, however, just one dose was almost 100% effective. You can always just use one dose and do skin scrapes at your veterinarian at month 2 and 3 to verify. I’d still continue the Bravecto every 3 months for at least 6 months to cover flea and tick season + ensure the demodex is completely treated!
Hope your malti-zhu heals quickly!
I gave my rescued Greyhound Bravecto this past June b/c of the area where we live is so highly infested with ticks. I regret it. She has definitely had an increase in thirst and obvious behavioral changes particularly restlessness and pacing at night whereas before she was as laid back as she could be. I will never give this to any dog again. I am hoping that there will not be any lasting side effects due to this drug. It’s about at the end of the three month period and I have noticed that she is starting to sleep through the night again but the thirst still remains increased.
I’d get to a vet to get her checked out, as you shouldn’t be seeing side effects TWO months out. Something else may be going on and it’s worth a vet exam and blood work to be safe.
Dr. Lee, for months people have reporting their dogs are experiencing seizures after taking Bravecto. These reports have been made to Merck and the FDA. There are numerous accounts of seizures on the Facebook group called Does Bravecto Kill Dogs. Just recently MSD/Merck released a new topical version of Bravecto. Their topical version has warnings that the active ingredient may cause seizures in dogs that never before had seizures. However, despite numerous reports of seizures after dogs took the oral version, MSD/Merck has not revised the product warning for the oral form. They have not informed vets. What is your take on why they would not release these warnings. Even if the percentage is low, it is a side effect that is reported by owners and is acknowledged in the topical form. Shouldn’t they release this warning for the oral and let vets know. A dog in the margin of safety study for the oral had a seizure. It seems very inappropriate that warnings are not being changed.
I have 5 kids and we very much love our fur babies. I have been battling fleas this year and tried almost everything. My vet had us try Bravecto on both my olde English Bulldog and our Dashy. It worked!!! My question is if I bought the pill that goes up to 80 pounds could I buy one for the Dashy and split it up? Just tight on money and this stuff is the best that I have used. Just looking to save some money but not at the expense of our dashy’s health.
As long as you are using it all at once (same day), it’s likely ok, but it’s not “covered” that way in case there are any problems, as it’s not according to veterinary recommendations or the drug recommendations. I would NOT split it if you were saving the next dose for 3 months from then, as the drug wouldn’t preserve well once it’s opened and exposed to air. When in doubt, check wiht your veterinarian.
Lost my Louie dog within 24 hours of giving this to him and my 5 other dogs. He had a seizure 12 hours after his dose and continued to seize throughout the night, howling and crying as I laid on the floor cuddling him and telling him what a good dog he had been and that I loved him so much. Had the vet out first thing in the morning but it was hopeless. He was deaf and blind, blankly staring while hiding his head between the wall and sofa. The seizures continued hourly. He was euthanized as I held him in my arms. Devistated…
2 weeks later his younger brother started drinking huge amounts of water. Blood work shows kidney failure. He is deaf, losing his fur, compulsively licks walls, dog beds, carpets. His spark has been snuffed out.
Think twice before giving Bravecto to your pet.
Oh Kate, I’m so sorry to hear this and hope you had your veterinarian report this to the drug company asap. Please know my heart is going out for you about Louie! As an FYI, if you ever notice your dog seizuring (even if it’s from epilepsy), you should always seek veterinary attention if the seizure lasts longer than 5 MINUTES, as they can get hypoglycemic if they continue to seizure. They definitely need emergency care immediately if it’s longer than 5 minutes or if it’s a cluster seizure (even short seizures lasting < 5 minutes, but more than 2 in a short period of time).
I am so sorry to read this story as we have had the exact same experience on Thursday with our doggie, he started having seizures two weeks after the second dose of Bravecto. We had to put him to sleep on Friday morning after he had a all night seizure the Thursday night, I also sat up with him trying to make him comfortable but I knew we have reached the end of the road he was exhausted and just could not make it through this one, we are heartbroken and my 14 year old daughter cries herself to sleep as she has lost the doggie she has fallen asleep with the last 11 years of her life. Thank you to Bravecto ? How many dogs have to die before they see what they are doing?
Oh Darlene – I’m so sorry to hear this. My heart goes out to you. Did he have any seizures after his first dose of Bravecto 14 weeks prior? Please make sure to let your veterinarian know too. My deepest sympathies…
Hello Kate
I am really sad to read your story as we have had a very similar experience on Friday.
We had to put our Seun to sleep due to seizures, the very same as your experience he had a all night seizure on Thursday night and by Friday morning we knew he was just not strong enough. We struggled for months to try and get the seizures under control we had scans done and endless blood tests. nothing really could be conclusive? I am really really sad for your loss and I know exactly how you are feeling, my deepest sympathy.
Hello Justine, you know I can’t remember as everything got really blury when the seizures become life threatening and we realized that it could take his life, On the other hand we where still recovering from the ordeal we had with Tolletjies (we almost lost him to) We really did try our best we had medication that had to be given at certain times I started cooking rice and chicken for the doggies, as soon as the one started looking better the other one would have a set back. I think the only reason why Tolletjies survived his ordeal is because he never got the full second dose in, he just would not take it and I thank God for that every day, but unfortunately Seun was not so lucky. You know the last dose of Bravecto they got was in MARCH 2016 but on Friday when we buried Seun he still did not have a FLEA on him so I am just curious how long does this drug stay in the body? Tolletjies is also still clean not a flea in sight, I am absolutely sure if I had given them ‘n third dose we would have lost both of them and Seun most probably much sooner,
I’m so sorry to hear that. It only lasts 12 weeks in the body for effective flea and tick control, although it tapers after that. Did both your dogs seizure?
Justine
I have a shar pei that is allergic to everything! And fleas are a big problem here in TN every yr. After yrs of chewing himself completely raw and trying everything under the sun and known to man I was giving up. My vet mentioned bravecto to me so I switched from comfortis. I then changed his food to the 4 health brand. Can I tell you that the last 6 months have been heaven!! My baby has hair and is so much better. I feel like any meds come with taking a chance either in people or pets. Now I love my baby more than life itself but I’ve got to trust my vet knows best just like I’ve got to trust my Dr knows best for me. After dose # 2 still no health issues..knock on wood!!
So glad to hear! My dog does great with it too. 🙂
On Monday, I took my Shiba Inu, Lucy to the vet for her first visit with a new vet. She was running around the office and full of her normal energy. Went home with Bravecto to give to my Lucy that evening. Got home and Lucy ate her dinner and after about an hour I gave her Bravecto, within one hour she was very tired and lethargic. At 2:30am Tuesday morning she woke me up throwing up, I took her outside where she threw up once again. After throwing up she had diarrhea, She finally came into the house and went straight to her water bowl and drank all the water. I didn’t refill the water as I didn’t want her to throw up more so I waited, while I was getting a cup of coffee I heard something in the bathroom, upon going to bathroom I found my Lucy drinking water from the toilet… something she has never done. She became very weak and laid down and just stared at me with a blank stare. I called the Vet and went to his office where he ran more test and informed me that this will be the second case he has notified Merk of concerning Bravecto. His other case was a case of pancreatitis and he ran the pancreatitis test which came back negative- he said this is what had happened on his first case with Bravecto but he ran the test a second time and it came back positive for pancreatic. After being home a few hours on Tuesday and my getting home to see how lethargic she was, was laying outside on the ground and couldn’t move but a few steps before she laid down again, I called my Vet. He informed me he notified Merk of a possible case with Bravecto. CASE # 18166 OR 2016-US-18166. I explained how Lucy had been acting and he wanted her back in there. This is day 3 and Lucy is back at the vet since this morning being given IV’s and Antibotics and my sweet Lucy seems like she is lost in space with how she looks at me. I am totally devastated that I was NOT warned about this drug before I gave it to my poor baby! I understand that the Vets may totally have faith in this Bravecto but we should be notified of the side affects ahead of time! I will visit my Lucy this evening for a follow up on how she is doing and ask the Vet if he notified FDA of this case. If not, then I will notify them. I will also be contacting Merk myself to speak with them. The cost are unreal for something I paid for to protect my sweet Lucy and all I did was poison her with a toxin! heartbroken!
Oh no, I’m so sad to hear this Shirley! Prayers and good thoughts to Lucy and you and so glad you reported it to Merck. Please keep us posted!
Thank you for the prayers, justinelee. DAY 4, Lucy came home last night after spending day at Vet on antibiotics and iv fluids. She ate her first bite since Monday, not a lot but it is a start. This morning I took Lucy for a short walk this morning, hand feed her a few bites of food, so far she didn’t drink water this morning. Finding her laying in her bed just staring at the wall and wont respond when I speak to her. It is heartbreaking.
So glad she’s eating at least a little bit! Thinking good thoughts and hang in there! 🙂
Lucy follow up: She is a fighter, brought her a new puzzle today last night along with new lean treat to put in the toy. Toy kept her busy where she was active, she is doing MUCHO better as of last night, she at more and woke me up this morning to go to the bathroom. No signs on constipation as this point. Have a all in to the Vet to ask about putting her on Milk Thistle as a detox for the Bravecto.
Wonderful! She would only need milk thistle or SAMe if she has increased liver enzymes, as these holistic medications are hepatoprotectants (liver friendly/helping drugs!)
Dr Lee,
A vet gave my 5 mth old approx 10lb puppy Bravecto on Wednesday.
He has been eating, playing, and drinking fine. (He only wants to eat the bland homemade food ie rice, chicken, etc.)
The only side effect I am worried about is that he has had diarrhea since Thursday (it is now Monday) and no signs of it thickening up.
All these posts about death, seizures, organ failure, has me alarmed.
How long can I expect this to last?
Gastrointestinal signs are actually the most common side effects of Bravecto – the ones posted here are REALLY rare. Puppies also get stress diarrhea from going to the vet. 🙂 They <3 rice and chicken, and it's bland but you can talk to your vet about adding in a high fiber canned food to help too! I'd call your vet!
Thid bravecto stuff is potenmtially dangerous…. its russian roulette.
Search facebook for bravecto, it killed numerous dogs, mdr 1 gen affected or not. Maybe a qualityty issue, maybe china or india quality who knows….is potentially deadly,
don’t take the chance please!!! we’re talking hundreds poptentially thousands of killed dogs.
I wouldn’t trust Facebook as an accurate source of news, as the Presidential election proved!
I sure don’t always trust FB either, but the vast number of people claiming their dogs became very ill after taking Bravecto also should not be automatically discounted:
As of 2-28-16, this was stated in the link below:
“Since Bravecto was approved in the United States in 2014, a total of 5,319 ADE reports have been filed with the FDA, including over 160 reported deaths. These numbers include only ADE reports filed in the U.S. We are aware of many additional reports of side effects and deaths in other countries.”
http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/pets/dr-fox/bravecto-anti-flea-drug-hurting-dogs/article_b43aee91-d17f-5938-8c25-333742067f83.html
Hello, somehow I missed your reply to me on October 18 regarding the study for approval of the topical Bravecto. I googled the FOI and it states that the first two dogs that you referenced had NO history of seizures. You commented above they they had a history of seizures. The third dog that was off balance does not state if there was a prior history of neurological issues. That appears to be why the FDA required the seizure warning. And I am not sure what you are looking at, but the FDA reports showing adverse events are posted online at http://www.youpetsneedthis.com and seizures are amongst the top 10 side effects.
Dr Lee
Question? My dogs were given Bravecto yesterday, my problem is I
have a Dachsund at about 20lbs and a Pit/Pyrenees mix at about 55lbs.
Baby Girl,dachshund, ate hers no problem. When I gave Missy hers she kept
spitting the pill. I cut it in half and wrapped it in smoked pork. When I was giving her the smaller half
she spit it out and Baby Girl snatched it. I tried to reach down her throat but it was gone.
Baby Girl hasn’t shown any adverse effects but I’m worried cuz Missy didn’t get her
right dosage. I can’t afford another pill right now. I do have Revolution for Dogs. Can I put a partial dose on Missy?
A partial dose won’t be therapeutic depending on the weight. That said, if you use Revolution, that’ll be effective too! Make sure your dog is heartworm negative before applying Revolution and contact your veterinarian to be safe. Your dog has to be heartworm negative before applying Revolution.
ARe you sure Bravecto kills the hard shelled deer tick that spreads Lyme Disease? The Merck website does not include that tick as one that Bravecto kills. http://us.bravovets.com/
Great question – it kills Ixodes and was originally tested on the European version of Ixodes. But yes, it is highly effective against Borrelia (Lyme).
We gave our dog Charlie Bravecto last year and he had a seizure within 12 hours and was unresponsive for about 4 minutes. I thought he was dead. It was such an awful feeling to know and still is that I made a choice out of fear to give him something that could have taken him from us. We were so lucky that his neurological facets are still intact. I feel for all that have lost their pets from this drug. Our vet stood behind Merck when I called to report it – that had talked me into giving it to him. The Canadian rep of Merck paid for Charlie to have blood work done at the time. They however never reached out in any way. Our vet after many other incidents of illness and seizures no longer offers Bravecto to clients.
I’m so sorry to hear this and hope Charlie is doing better? I definitely wouldn’t use it again in him!
Sorry about your dog. That sucks.
I just posted some links I found on Bravecto. I was set to buy it after I was told it was safe, but after reading the experiences of many others after their pets took Bravecto, I am not willing to try it now.
I was looking up the pricing of Bravecto after it was recommended to me by a vet tech and came across this information:
1 – http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/pets/dr-fox/bravecto-anti-flea-drug-hurting-dogs/article_b43aee91-d17f-5938-8c25-333742067f83.html
2 – https://www.facebook.com/groups/411371212394679/
3 – http://yourpetsneedthis.com/
Someone on Facebook just said that Bravecto contains antibiotics. It this true? Just wondering. I’ve been using it on my lab-mix for a year.
It has NO antibiotics in it! You get a lot of wrong info on the internet = be careful. 🙂
Well I’ve given my 3 puppies bravecto and no problems! My vet says he’s experienced no negative effects so far.
Just administered bravecto to my 2 year old Catahoula for the second time and we are experiencing gastrointestinal problems (diarrhea, vomiting bile, red blood in stool, lethargy) for the second time. Something is not right about this and this will be the last time I give him this medication. I guess we will go back to the old fashioned frontline spray since my dog is a indoor dog.
Oh no! I’m so sorry to here this. I wouldn’t redose it and would have your veterinarian check your dog to be safe. I’d also recommend having them call to report this!
Is it safe to give Sentinel Spectrum AND Nexgard monthly (separated by about 2 weeks) to my dogs during flea season? A breeder who boards my dogs feels that I am overdoing the flea medication.
Thank you for being such a conscientious pet owner. Because Nexguard is so fast acting, you likely don’t need the lufeneron in the Sentinel. However, this is a super safe birth-control for fleas and doesn’t even really affect mammalian tissue. More importantly, you need the other active ingredient milbemycin as the heartworm preventative. So carry-on. you’re doing great.
I found this post while looking for info on Bravecto’s ingredients, because my dog was recently diagnosed with a meat allergy. I appreciate that you mention that it uses hydrolyzed protein as the flavoring, which means it should be fine, but I’m still too spooked to give her basically anything oral except for her prescription food (she was diagnosed after becoming EXTREMELY ill and being hospitalized for 4 days).
Now, her symptoms also first started about a week after her first Bravecto dose, and worsened a week after her second. Admittedly, despite my commitment to science, I started to muse on the potential that the Bravecto had something to do with it (and to be sure, GI side effects are one of the actually documented ones!). But correlation does not imply causation, and the way some folks here talked about what had happened to their pets really brought that back to the forefront for me. It’s far more likely that our girl has had an allergy for a long time, and her body just finally decided it wasn’t putting up with meat anymore.
Thank you for continuing to respond to folks on this post. Obviously at times you became frustrated, but it’s hard not to when people are proposing unscientific solutions that fly in the face of your years of training (I know how long it takes to become a vet- I considered it as a path myself!). We all get passionate about our pets, so I understand why folks are also getting frustrated because they feel like there’s a clear link that isn’t being publicized, even if I don’t believe that to be the case. It looks like the furor has died down some over the years but I still wanted to thank you for trying to engage even when people have come in already on the attack.
Thanks so much. I hope your pup is doing ok too! I generally recommend asking your veterinarian what they do for their own pet – as I always treat all my patients the way I would if they were my own, so appreciate your comments!
FYI, I just saw this newest update from the FDA here:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/flea-tick-pills-can-cause-nerve-reactions-pets-fda-warns-n911536
December 2018
Absolutely HATE Bravecto!! It is awful.
The veterinarian who gave this to my cat without my permission only narrowly escaped legal proceedings. Read the studies critically before believe the Merck / MSD promo hype. If you would like a spreadsheet with a critical summary of the research articles that Merck is advertising on its website – I would be happy to provide. This product is NOT safe for as many animals as people think. The safeness of it is being extrapolated out of very specific research conditions and subject characteristics – and THAT is not good science or clinical practice!!
My pussycat experienced high Bravecto toxicity. He is 18 years old (no studies to support that Bravecto is safe for such a senior animal), he has FIV, had a liver infection at the time (Bravecto is eliminated via the liver, not studies to demonstrate that Bravecto is safe for cats with FIV or FeLV) and had just had a blood transfusion for anemia. There are NO studies outlining the effects of Bravecto on animals with ANY infectious, inflammatory or chronic health conditions. If you don’t know if your animal has any of these conditions – then you may be giving your animal the wrong dose – based on weight rather than on age or health condition.
What is worse – if your animal does have an adverse reaction – there is NO antidote / remedy to reverse the damage it will do. There are NO longitudinal studies to confirm / refute if there are any long term effects to the vascular system or liver.
No Justine Lee – Bravecto is NOT a safe product. Not by a long shot.
I’m so sorry to hear that! I personally wouldn’t use it in a cat that senior with underlying disease – it’s not recommended in that situation. I hope your kitty is healing. Thinking of your cat.
This stuff is straight up deadly. Almost killed my dog. She started to refuse it, then some diahhrea, then vomiting and it was BAD. Luckily she is recovered, but that event coincided with her beginning to get lipomas, so we are trying to detox her. It crushes me that I didn’t listen to her when she refused. Horrible stuff, and so many vets buy into the safety of it immediately, including my own. We are going back to topical. So mad at myself – I knew better.
All I know is that I gave my Westie this along with Intereptor and within two weeks she developed SARDS and went blind. I would avoid this like the plague. SARDS is an auto immune disease with a slew of bad things that can devleop…kidney and liver issues being the top of the list. I have told all my friends to NOT give this to their dog. Wish someone had warned me.
Unfortunately, there is no known cause for SARDS – most associated with hyperadrenocorticism signs. You can read more here:
https://drjustinelee.com/sudden-blindness-in-dogs-dr-justine-lee-dacvecc-dabt-board-certified-veterinary-specialist/
Dr. Lee,
Please stop telling people that they are wrong about Bravecto’s side effects. I have registered a case file number with Merck. Also my vet has resister a file with Merck, shet works out of a very excellent animal hospital. Have you not seen the FDA warning report that came out in Sept 2018.
I understand not all pets are having problems with Bravecto but, there is enough data now for the FDA to be
concerned and watching the report carefully.
Please do not continue to put these concern pet own’s down, because you feel you have all the answer.
You known it takes years for the FDA to get all the data to take a product off the market.
So, if you continue your comments in a flip way —–I will believe that you are a quack quack!!!!!
If you thoroughly searched my site, you would have seen that I posted an updated blog with updated FDA info as it came in here:
https://drjustinelee.com/internet-rumor-on-bravecto-the-oral-flea-and-tick-killer-dr-justine-lee/
I never put concerns of pet owner’s down, and if you read the 400+ comments, you see I always advocate for seeking veterinary attention immediately and calling the FDA to report it. I’m not flippant, but if you need to respond with immature and inappropriate commentary/name calling, please feel free to leave my blog. Best of luck with your dog.
Dr. Justine Lee, DACVECC, DABT
BEAWARE SHARPEI OWNERS do not use this mislead product on your dogs since pei have kidney problems to start with in most dogs I cant tell you how many vets I had to educate about FSF because I was told my dog needs to be vaccinated Really so a sick dog with an immune disease needs to be vaccinated which could kill them How misleading is that to lead an owner down the wrong path ??? Vets are not nutritionist to start with Look at some the horrible brands of food that are being sold at vet clinics ie Science Diet for one Makes me livid Since I had to now resort to bringing my dog over to the States to see a pei specialist from Cornell University I wont post her name but google can help you if would like to further educate yourself on this primitive breed My point is this I own a breed that vets can make a killing off of and yet majority have no clue about FSF mucin bubbles etc so why would I listen to anyone in vet medicine when they cant even tell me the simplest widely known facts about my beautiful boy ? I live in Canada and if I don’t have to purchase any food or products from the US then I absolutely wont chance my dogs health No I am, we Canadians are better but I our health standards and testing above most countries DO YOUR RESREARCH DO NOT JUST SIMPLY TAKE THE WORD OF ANYONE UNTIL YOU CAN MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION AND OPINION !!! No not all vets are misleading but just like any other profession profit is a HUGE motivator of greed and deceit This is simply my opinion so take it or leave it I didn’t come on this webpage to leave a comment but I feel I need to do my part when it comes to my boy and a breed that needs to better understood Maybe Bravecto has worked for others but I I highly suggest not using these chemicals on breeds like pei who already suffer enough from lover and kidney failure
I gave both my dogs their 1st dose Heartguard August 26 because of moving to FL. My one dog start drooling In October and brought to vet. They said she need her teeth cleaned And said her rabies expired – gave rabies shot. Said against the law for them to treat without it. Then foamed started blood work, low white count sent to pathology no cancer cells. Teeth cleaned two teeth removed and tissue samples – lesions in mouth. Came back not cancer. Mentioned other causes could be drug reactions, neoplasia. Vet said auto immune disease like Lupus. Could it be from heart worm medication? Vet says no.
I agree – NO, it’s not from the heartworm disease. Some dogs do occasionally get lupus like disease but it’s more common in certain breeds. Worth consulting with a dermatologist!
Oh wow, let me tell you do i regret getting that product on my cat. Tonight’s the night she’s just meowwing me out of my skin. She must be poisoned or she must just be irritable. This stuff is the well it’s not for us, i guess. I don’t have money to go to the emergency room visit tonight. I got this from the vet’s office and i wasn’t too much concerned of reading the box, so i will admit, i wasn’t very attentive, i just was glad to get her back home from the visit and that turned out to be alright but she’s had a flea problem and it was pretty bad and so they tried this and what i can say, it’s not favorable i guess to this poor cat. And that meowing is just…
part of life.
i was almost 2 weeks late giving Bravecto pill. I have heard it can last almost 4 months. Do you know if this is true
It’s labeled as 3 months, so it’s definitely safe to give right away. I give it exactly every 3 months to be safe but it can last slightly longer but efficiacy drops thereafter as time passes.