Is this a myth?
 

I was reading an old post where the poster said that liquid type heatworm, flea and tick meds can lead to liver disease. Is this true? Are pill based better?

I think it might be a wives tale....I can't see how whether it's a pill or a liquid that it would differ. The chemical makeup should be the same.

Hmm, that doesn't sound correct but any pesticide/insecticide could have the potential to cause it in my opinion. The only liquid heartworm meds I know of are Revolution and Advantage Multi and I wouldn't use either.

what do you use?

Interceptor, then switched to Heartgard (not Heartgard Plus) and now Interceptor again.

Some vets think Interceptor causes less reactions in small dogs but now I have read that one vet wouldn't use it at all. There is some concern about heartworm meds not working 100% of the time, so it's a tough call.

Thanks! I'll have to do some research I guess.... i hate that there isn't one right answer... and i don't even want to use one but i don't want to risk anything either.

Marci -
not sure I am of much help but I would encourage you to do a lot of research especially in light of what Layla is dealing with. I've decided I'm not totally against the use of this kind of thing but I'm not exactly sure they are totally harmless either. I've stretched out the amount of time I give this stuff to my dogs but I don't want fleas etc either. I wish there was an easy answer but the more I read, the more confused I get. By the way, I only gave it to my dogs at the beginning of the summer and have had no fleas....

Thanks! i feel the same way. I'm not worried about fleas as much as heartworm. But i'm going to have to do some serious research. She is done having it for the year now that we have cold weather so i'll ahve a lot of time to figure things out!

I use interceptor - the mosquito population my yard is very, very bad, so I am scared of heartworm.

I used to use Frontline Plus - but this summer we had the perimeter of our yards treated with a barrier that would help with the ticks, and I must say I was pleased with the results. I haven't used the Frontline all summer, and I hope that I never have to use it again :(

There are charts online that show mortality rate with these drugs.
Heartgard averages about 6 a year.
Interceptor 9 a year (but less reactions than Heartgard).
Sentinel I think is 6 a year.
Revolution 36 a year.:eek:

Either these charts aren't accurate or Revolution is 4-6 times more dangerous than the other ones. And then the heartworm protection from it is being questioned. I can't help but wonder why it is still on the market.

It is hard to know if Heartgard or Interceptor is better for Yorkies because different vets have different opinions but I'd really like to see the FDA's data on all of this (right from them so we know that somebody didn't just put a false chart online).

With Heartgard's smallest dose working for dogs 25 pounds and under, our dogs are getting about 4 times what they need a month.:mad: But with Interceptor the smallest dose is 2-10 pounds. It does look like a better dose for Yorkies but it isn't because the company uses five times more than they need to of the active ingredient so that they can say it controls intestinal parasites.:mad: There is a safe heart dose of Interceptor available in other countries, I believe, which would be the perfect dose... Not in the US though.:(

holy crap. throwing out the revolution right now. yikes.... what a mess.... what to use?

I don't know about this either-never heard of it-but we use Interceptor here.

Thanks Crystal. I knew you'd know the answer to this one :)

We use Interceptor too....because of the 2-10# range, and also because a vet here said that he had seen whipworms in dogs recently and Heartgaurd Plus doesn't prevent them.

I value your opinion highly, Crystal....you are soooo thorough in your research and so knowledgeable about our babies! I was just wondering....why are you opposed to the intestinal worm preventors (like what's in Interceptor, besides the obvious--so much more medicine and dosing for something the pup doesn't have)?? I probably need to research more, but the vet said whipworms were deadly, and that he'd seen several cases recently.

(Note: same vet also told me how "safe" Frontline spray was, saying that it says to wash your hands afterward, but it wasn't really necessary; that it had been originally marketed to children with head lice [now I'm thinking about the fact that it's NO LONGER used on children!!!], and then LICKED his finger after touching it just to prove how safe it was!!! And now I read about products like Frontline having the potential [including documented cases] of not just attacking the fleas' nervous system, but attacking the dog's as well....and can attack the human who administers it nervous system as well!! Just saying that to point out, I can't really trust everything a vet says!!)

When you throw out numbers like these it can be scary but I would wonder how many use the various one's. For instance if more people use Revolution, then that would explain why more deaths. Does not necessarily mean that it causes any more deaths per use than others. I have a Collie and the herding breeds are very sensitive to certain drugs so Revolution is about the only one I can give her. So again, I think a lot of research needs to be done and honestly I'm not sure how safe any of these drugs are. And just because it doesn't kill your pet doesn't mean it doesn't have negative consequenses. :( Why can't things be easy?

I am actually not against using intestinal dewormers IF they are truly needed. Usually either the dog will show some symptoms if the have intestinal worms or a fecal will catch it. This isn't always the case but I think for most dogs it is far safer to be on the look-out for worms instead of giving extra pesticides that probably aren't needed.

If your vet really wants you to treat for whipworms every month, that may be advice that you should follow BUT any vet that licked pesticide off of their finger isn't one that I would feel comfortable trusting my dog's life with.

There are times when no diagnosis can be made with symptoms of worms and in that case it is probably best to deworm anyway.

So I use Interceptor because it seems to work well for Ellie but I think it is absolutely wrong for them to add 4/5 extra of their toxic wormicide just to claim that it controls intestinal parasites. They should at least give the option for those who want to use the safe heart dose.

I see what you are saying about the widespread use of Revolution and that possibly contributing to the high mortality rate but Heartgard is probably still much more popular with fewer deaths. I think if Revolution was used as widely as Heartgard, the death rate could easily be higher. This is so hard without knowing exactly how many dogs use these drugs though. Interceptor has been on the market longer than Revolution, I think. I prefer older products that have been tried for longer. While I'm not saying you should switch, Interceptor should be fine for your Collie. It isn't Ivermection. It's Milbemycin Oxime. In the end though, they are all toxic.

I understand that looking at just the number of years in the research isn't as telling as looking at the differences in the numbers of dogs included in the research, but it appears Interceptor was studied over 9 yrs, Sentinal over 5 yrs, and it doesn't say the number of years for Revolution (weird!?) My "guess" would be that a product that has been used over a long period of time would more than likely have more "participants" than a product that has been around for a shorter period of time. Of course, unless we saw the actual numbers, we'd never know....just be guessing. The article mentions a 2004 FDA source, so it may be possible to get the actual results of the research....probably have to do some digging though! :)

Exactly.
And looking at how long Heartgard has been around and seeing how popular it is, I would guess that it is pretty safe. Revolution is already showing 36 deaths a year but it isn't as well know as Heartgard (or probably Interceptor either) and didn't it come out in the early 2000's? That isn't that long ago.

I wonder how we could go about getting this info from the FDA.:confused: