Trifexis
 

Hi,

I have been using comfortis and heartgard for Addyson and have always given her the two medicines two week apart because it was recommended to give them at intervals instead of the same time.

Trifexis has both medicines in one pill.....so is it now okay to give the little ones both ingredients at once in one pill...if so...the trifexis is the most cost savings way to go.

If anyone has used trifexis I would like to hear about your experience with it. I know some of you do not believe in using any chemicals with your dogs and that is okay, but I have to use them to control the flea population in my area and I have to treat for heartworms. I live in the woods in Alabama....

Thanks.

Macy's vet just changed her to Triflexis and she just got her second dose last week. The first time she threw up about 30 minutes after she ate her pill. I told the vet about it and she said if it happens again she will switch her to something else because they have been having reports of dogs throwing up after taking Triflexis. The first time she had a hard time taking the pill and maybe that is why she threw up. The second time I hid it in some peanut butter and it took her a couple of times of trying to give it to her to eat the pill. She didn't throw up the second time. I only bought 3 pills at one time so her last pill is next month. I'm still not sure about Triflexis.

Ralph had Trifexus once, it just made him sleepy. I didnt give him more because it just was to hard to give Ralph the pill it took an hour! He just didnt like that pill hahah!

Be careful! There have been reports of neuro problems showing up but mostly have about 2-3 months and then their system can't take anymore.

I've been using Trifexis for my two adult dogs since it came out, and never had any problem. One time Jax kept picking the cheese off of the pill and dropping the pill, but he usually eats it right up. I think the trick is to not let them realize there's a pill in there in the first place, so they eat it without thinking about it.

Make sure you give the pill with a meal. That's supposed to prevent vomiting.

The major concern with Trifexis is that it containes spinosad (comfortis). Some of us really don't like it. If your pup is doing well on Comfortis and you are set on it, then there is no reason to avoid Trifexis. However, the heartworm preventative is not equivalent to Heartgard. It's equivalent to Interceptor.

I see no problem giving an all in one pill.

Thanks for all the input. I am leaning toward not using the trifexis now, maybe waiting until it was been on the market longer and the comfortis and heartgard are working good for all my dogs right now.

Thanks again! :)

I don't have anything to add but wanted to hang around this thread because I'm debating Trifexis for Cooper when his Sentinel runs out.

Bella has had two doses. No problems except getting her to take it. This month when I gave it to her, I took a small piece of whole wheat bread, a corner, with a thin smear of peanut butter and rolled the pill in it. I ended up chasing her around the house after giving it to her, because she took it to my new carpet, while I was chasing her, she swallowed. I think I found the key to giving her pills. But other than that she's good with it.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with Trifexis. My vet's office just told me that they don't have Interceptor anymore, and that my choices there would be Trifexis or Heartguard.

I'm going to choose Heartguard. Stoney only weighs 5-6 pounds. The active ingredients must be toxic at some level, or they wouldn't kill parasites.

Mine will get their 4th dose today, and so far (knock on wood) they haven't had any problems. But I still worry.

It was reported earlier today that the Novartis plant that make Sentinel and Interceptor will start back up this month. It was producing other meds as well, some for animals and some for humans (Excedrin, Gas-X, and many others). The article said that they would not be at full production so that it would not resume shipments right away, and also that some products would be discontinued, but they didn't say exactly what products would be cut from their lines. I hope that the pet meds are not going to be discontinued. You can find alternatives to the human OTC meds, but there really aren't any exact equivalents, ingredient-wise, available in the US.

Our Aussies take Sentinel (for flea and heartworm) plus during the summer months they also take Comfortis. Yes, TX has the fleas too! What we do is Sentinel on the first of the month and then Comfortis on the 15th. They have always done well on the combination. Tatum (Yorkie) did the combination a couple years ago but only needed the Sentinel last summer. But as I understand it they both work in different ways and since Tatum seems to be allergic to flea bites, we may give her Comfortis this summer too. Poor thing, I know the fleas die when they bite but by then it's too late for her because the bites make her itch so much.

Sorry I can't help with the Trifexis issues as we've never tried it. Sentinel has always been great for us. We just have to have that extra boost with Comfortis because fleas are a serious issue in our area (and worse yet with us living in the country).

Thanks,

Addy is the same way and it really is a problem with the flea allergies because the fleas do have to bite before they are taken care of.... Thanks for the input on what you do to help control these nasty fleas!!!!

I just started using trifexis on my bichon,Kirby. I used comfortis on her without any incident. I used to use comfortis , you must make sure they take trifexis or comfortis on a full stomach. I think the miminum weight is 5 pounds so when Khloe gets larger I plan to use trifexis.

You're welcome. The way my vet explained it (in the way it relates to our high flea population) is that the monthly treatment doesn't actually always last a full month so staggering the different methods works well. One of them (Sentinel maybe??) works when the flea bites but Comfortis works when the flea gets on them. Or maybe it's the other way around. Whichever, we've had really good results with using both but only use the Comfortis during the peak flea season. Summer kinda snuck up on me this year and I noticed a flea on one of the Aussies the other day which reminded me that the Sentinel was probably not doing the trick so well since it was the end of the month. I need to go get some Comfortis before the 15th.

I have noticed about the end on the third week on comfortis Addy sometimes starts to get fleas.

Horrible reaction to Trifexis
 

We have an 8 year old Yorkie, but this is about our 2.5 year old Beagle. We were given a supply of Trifexis from the vet and gave the first months dose to him on Friday around 1pm. He was playing and happy when we left around 5pm. Upon returning at 9pm I found him sleeping on the bed and acting very tired and lethargic. Upon getting ready for bed around 11pm he was still laying in the same spot and I noticed some tremors in his legs. Yesterday morning we woke to him shaking and breathing very funny. He was craning his neck back and panting. When he tried to get up to go outside he had a difficult time standing and was shaking badly. He hesitated going down our front two steps as if he didn't think he could do it. I ended up carrying him back into the house because he just stood in the lawn shaking with his tail pulled in tight and his neck drawn at a strange angle. We called the vet and took him straight into emergency. The vet believed he was having a reaction to the Trifexis and called their hotline. She came back and said that they told her they had not received neurological complaints as long as the dose was administered properly -- she checked and assured us it was the proper dose and that his weight was actually at the high-end for that dosage. She informed us she would be on call all of this holiday weekend if we had problems but that she thought it would pass within a couple of days and he would feel better.

All day yesterday and through the night he shook with tremors, was lethargic, acted very disoriented, was extremely weak and his eyes looks glazed over. He also seemed oblivious to activity around him, no response if you said his name, etc.

Today is Sunday afternoon. It has been over 48 hours since he took the Trifexis tablet. He is just starting to show some signs of feeling a little better - wagging his tail a tiny bit etc - but he is still weak, just laying on the bed with his head down, when he does try to walk he seems very unsure of himself and walks very slowly. He is still having tremors but they are not as bad as yesterday and last night.

I realize all animals react differently. My suggestion if you are going to give this to your dog is make sure you stay with them to watch for adverse reactions. I could understand throwing up or diarrhea, but the neurological problems our dog is going through is very frightening and has turned an active, playful, healthy dog into a trembling, zoned out pitifully weak pup within a few hours. We will never give this to any of our animals again.

In researching Trifexis yesterday, I have found many people who's dogs have experienced the same side effects ours had and even a few "suspected" Trifexis related deaths. Our dog was only given his first dose but it appears other dogs have appeared fine only to have a bad reaction after later doses.

This was off of another board:
"Be careful! There have been reports of neuro problems showing up but most have about 2-3 months worth of doses and then their system just can't take anymore."

I am so sorry you have had this horrible experience; thank you so much for sharing what has happened.

I decided to keep Addy on comfortis and heartguard; I give them to her two weeks apart. I feel giving both at one time is just to much at one time.

I hope your baby has a full recovery and is back to being happy and healthy!!

I posted earlier that the comfortis was not lasting for a full month, but this month it lasted without seeing any fleas. I think at the beginning it just took a couple on months to get rid of all the fleas.

We use revolution. How does that compare. We have not had any problems with it.

I don't know about revolution I have not researched it. I was interested in trifexis because I knew it was a mix of comfortis and heartguard. But, after reading the responses here and other research I am not going to use any product that has both chemicals in one. I just think it is to much at one time.