Bravecto (Fluralaner) now approved in Thailand

[Oxx]

This is a flea and tick medication, taken as a tablet once every three months.

 

Should be more convenient than taking the dogs to the vet every 6 weeks for an injection, which is what I have been doing.

[wayned]

If you have been taking your dogs to the vet every 6 weeks for injections, it was most l;likely for ivermectin.  Ivermectin also prevents heart worms, Bravecto does not, so you will still need some kind of heart worm protection.

[Sophon]

Yes, our vet advised about the coming of Bravecto on our last visit. However, if you search the internet there is a rather alarming number of reports of serious side effects including many deaths from people giving their dogs Bravecto.

 

I understand that any medicine has side effects, and with a widely used product like this there are bound to be people who had problems with the medicine. There will also be incidents where the owner links the use of the of the product with medical problems even if the product was not actually the cause (e.g. Bravecto is given to dogs who have problems with ticks, so a subsequent kidney failure could very well be the result of the ticks rather than Bravecto). Even so, these reports seem out of the ordinary to me, and I'm not sure I would feel comfortable giving my dogs Bravecto. Many reports of people using Bravecto and their dogs having serious problems (including deaths) within hours. Also an alarming (to me) number of reports of medical problems after giving Bravecto in the FDA reports, even though those problems may not all have been caused by Bravecto.

 

Sophon

[Oxx]

1 hour ago, Sophon said:

Yes, our vet advised about the coming of Bravecto on our last visit. However, if you search the internet there is a rather alarming number of reports of serious side effects including many deaths from people giving their dogs Bravecto.

 

The Internet is full of nonsense upon all sorts of subjects, including Bravecto.  There's no scientific evidence whatsoever that it has serious side effects, and plenty of evidence that it's safe.

 

See Snopes for a fuller analysis.

 

http://www.snopes.com/bravecto-flea-and-tick-warning/

[Sophon]

6 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

The Internet is full of nonsense upon all sorts of subjects, including Bravecto.  There's no scientific evidence whatsoever that it has serious side effects, and plenty of evidence that it's safe.

 

See Snopes for a fuller analysis.

 

http://www.snopes.com/bravecto-flea-and-tick-warning/

 

I don't see anything new on that site. Obviously, since the medicine has been approved for use in both the U.S. an E.U. it is safe for the vast majority of dogs, so a study done on "32 Beagles" means nothing. And that a medicine is well accepted by the majority of dogs doesn't mean that there aren't dogs for which the medicine causes serious problems. Remember Bravecto is relatively new, and it wouldn't be the first time a medicine was approved and serious problems with it was discovered later on.

 

As I said, I'm aware that for any widely used medicine there will be reports on the internet linking the product with subsequent health problems, often erroneously. However, if you take a look at the FDA reports of vets reporting health problems in dogs having been given Bravecto, you will see thousands of such reports ranging from lethargy and vomiting to death. It is important to realize that these reports doesn't necessarily mean that it was Bravecto that caused these problems, just that they occurred shortly after the dog had been given this medicine.  I also don't know how many dogs are being treated with Bravecto, so maybe hundreds or even thousands of dogs having side effects is actually an acceptable level. All I am saying is that to me there is an unusual number of reports of health problems out there with Bravecto compared to other products such as Frontguard or Ivermectin.

 

As with most medicine it's a case of weighing up the benefits against the possible side effects, and not even Merck claims that Bravecto is without side effects. Despite treating all our dogs with Ivermectin monthly we lost three dogs to E. Canis and Anaplasmosis (both tick borne diseases) in 2015, so I fully understand the seriousness of possible diseases caused by parasites. Despite this I still haven't made up my mind about Bravecto. We have one dog suffering from serious flea allergy, so I am still considering giving her Bravecto when It comes to Thailand, but I am hesitant because of what seems to me to be an unusual level of reported problems 

 

Sophon

[ammagic]

I now alternate ivermectin injections every 2 months - Frontline in the off month. Plus Serresto tick collars plus spraying their feet with non chemical tick spray before walks. I am in a full blown war now after almost losing a dog this year - to a tick borne disease despite using F/line monthly.

[wildewillie89]

My puppy had demodectic mange, we tried all of the different options in Thai but nothing worked. So my dad sent over some Bravecto (before it was here in Thai) and it cured the mange in a month. The vet couldn't believe his eyes when took skin samples under the microscope. I think in terms of side effects, Bravecto has similar numbers to other drugs out there. Many times dogs that were severely ill or died were due to other reasons, but Bravecto was a convenient excuse. My vet friends swear by it. If it is just fleas and ticks and youre concerned use a softer drug...but for something like mite, Bravecto is the only drug that will work in all cases (others will work in some cases). 

[dick dasterdly]

On 1/2/2017 at 6:37 PM, Sophon said:

 

 

As with most medicine it's a case of weighing up the benefits against the possible side effects, and not even Merck claims that Bravecto is without side effects. Despite treating all our dogs with Ivermectin monthly we lost three dogs to E. Canis and Anaplasmosis (both tick borne diseases) in 2015, so I fully understand the seriousness of possible diseases caused by parasites. Despite this I still haven't made up my mind about Bravecto. We have one dog suffering from serious flea allergy, so I am still considering giving her Bravecto when It comes to Thailand, but I am hesitant because of what seems to me to be an unusual level of reported problems 

 

Sophon

I apologise for 'snipping' so much of your post, but only wanted to respond to this paragraph.

 

Agree entirely that "it's a case of weighing up the benefits against the possible side effects".

 

My vet recommended this product recently as for some reason there are MANY ticks where I live (god knows how they survive as there are v few mammals in the area!) resulting in tick 'epidemics' on my dogs every now and again - making tick-borne blood parasites a never ending problem....  To make it worse, one of my dogs is suffering serious problems that resulted in the blood parasites making his problems even worse.

 

Consequently, much as I hate giving any 'poisons' to my dogs either orally or via injections - Bravecto seems a risk worth taking in my (or more accurately, my dogs') particular circumstances.  It killed all the ticks on my healthy dogs pretty much immediately (although obviously it couldn't be given to my sick dog), and I haven't seen any ticks since.

[connda]

Just curious.  My vet does not have this in Lamphun.  Where in Chiang Mai are ya'll buying Bravecto? 

 

[connda]

7 hours ago, Arjen said:

It is only allowed to be sold by a vet. So you must find a vet.

I'll just post this in the CM forum. Thx.

 

[MikaQ5]

I used Bravecto for the first time recently
I haven't seen a tick since
And no effects to the dog visible

, my own vet recommended it ( and had stopped selling me the tick collars as he said they Just don't work in thailand )

Sent from my BTV-DL09 using Tapatalk

[wildewillie89]

Many vets still will not have it as Thai go by gossip and not research (even the most professional of jobs). One of my vets was incredibly scared to sell it as he heard the stories about side effects. Side effects that are similar to other drugs that he does sell lol. He then saw how magic the drug was on my dog and has since ordered it. Just dont bother asking any questions about the drug, they have no idea (do your own research).

[meatboy]

2 hours ago, wildewillie89 said:

Many vets still will not have it as Thai go by gossip and not research (even the most professional of jobs). One of my vets was incredibly scared to sell it as he heard the stories about side effects. Side effects that are similar to other drugs that he does sell lol. He then saw how magic the drug was on my dog and has since ordered it. Just dont bother asking any questions about the drug, they have no idea (do your own research).

what W89 said [do your own research] that is 150% true what he says.for 18months of our boy had been given a multitude of different medications,we now have our vet to give us the name and we check them out before we give him any.even the blood tests we can tell you what is a high count or a low one and what needs to be given. we had a gutsfull of our boy being used as an ATM. it gave us a lot  of heartache.i did post a couple of yrs.ago about my suspisions regarding blood tests that were not carried out at the clinics that we were attending.

i found this web site last week and it makes very very interesting reading.

www.drplechner.com    "how long before blood must be tested" [beware warnings]

[wildewillie89]

1 hour ago, meatboy said:

what W89 said [do your own research] that is 150% true what he says.for 18months of our boy had been given a multitude of different medications,we now have our vet to give us the name and we check them out before we give him any.even the blood tests we can tell you what is a high count or a low one and what needs to be given. we had a gutsfull of our boy being used as an ATM. it gave us a lot  of heartache.i did post a couple of yrs.ago about my suspisions regarding blood tests that were not carried out at the clinics that we were attending.

i found this web site last week and it makes very very interesting reading.

www.drplechner.com    "how long before blood must be tested" [beware warnings]

Everything is just a lack of research/training and money. Like vaccines, it says on the actual box 3 years but Thai will do it annually. They will give a reason it is because the climate (which is bullshit). Even though the World Small Animal Veterinary Association came to Thai and told them what they are doing is stupid. But, i think it is 14% of a vets income comes from vaccines. I learnt the expensive way, my dog had a bad case of demodectic mange. So we did the Thai program and it ended up finishing around 10,000 baht. So i thought <deleted> this and did my own research. Saw Bravecto was successful. I asked a vet friend back home, and went and got my dad to get some (from the vet) and send (before it was legal here). Fixed the dog in a month (no sign of mite under the 5 microscope skin samples). 

[96tehtarp]

What is the cost for Bravecto (Fluralaner)? 

 

I'm going to try it. I've been injecting Ivermectin on my three dogs for a couple of years, however this year it's not very effective.  

[wildewillie89]

13 hours ago, 96tehtarp said:

What is the cost for Bravecto (Fluralaner)? 

 

I'm going to try it. I've been injecting Ivermectin on my three dogs for a couple of years, however this year it's not very effective.  

Depends on the vet. One vet in my city charges 750, and another charges 1,200. But he uses it as advertisement to cure demodectic mange as well, so he feels he is justified (not a very good vet). Like all drugs watch for side effects, they are within the margin of allowed drugs (less than 10% from memory), but they are out there. But yes, the drug is the most effective method. 

 

13 hours ago, Arjen said:

But wait for other people who will reply very soon here. They will have scientific based information for you.

 

You would want to hope that results are based on scientific experiments, otherwise the world would be a very underdeveloped place and people would still be pouring car oil on dogs to try and cure mange. Or spraying to try and prevent ticks.

[Nienke]

On 2/14/2017 at 11:48 AM, dick dasterdly said:

I apologise for 'snipping' so much of your post, but only wanted to respond to this paragraph.

 

Agree entirely that "it's a case of weighing up the benefits against the possible side effects".

 

My vet recommended this product recently as for some reason there are MANY ticks where I live (god knows how they survive as there are v few mammals in the area!) resulting in tick 'epidemics' on my dogs every now and again - making tick-borne blood parasites a never ending problem....  To make it worse, one of my dogs is suffering serious problems that resulted in the blood parasites making his problems even worse.

 

Consequently, much as I hate giving any 'poisons' to my dogs either orally or via injections - Bravecto seems a risk worth taking in my (or more accurately, my dogs') particular circumstances.  It killed all the ticks on my healthy dogs pretty much immediately (although obviously it couldn't be given to my sick dog), and I haven't seen any ticks since.

I just got my first dog that most likely reacted very badly on the Bravecto. His kidney levels went through the roof. 

Also the owner of this dog weighed up the benefits against the possible side effects and decided to give his dog this product after doing quite some research first.  
But little did (could) he know that his dog likely was in a high risk group for side-effects of this product. Based on the beautiful shiny and soft coat and huge energy level of his dog, although a bit on the skinny side, he thought his dog was in splendid health. 
And yes, no more ticks. But in this case also almost 'no more dog' and likely a dog with permanent damaged kidneys. The dog is not yet 1-year old.  



 

[wildewillie89]

12 hours ago, Nienke said:

I just got my first dog that most likely reacted very badly on the Bravecto. His kidney levels went through the roof. 

Also the owner of this dog weighed up the benefits against the possible side effects and decided to give his dog this product after doing quite some research first.  
But little did (could) he know that his dog likely was in a high risk group for side-effects of this product. Based on the beautiful shiny and soft coat and huge energy level of his dog, although a bit on the skinny side, he thought his dog was in splendid health. 
And yes, no more ticks. But in this case also almost 'no more dog' and likely a dog with permanent damaged kidneys. The dog is not yet 1-year old.  



 

http://www.walkervillevet.com.au/blog/does-bravecto-kill-dogs/

An interesting article.

 

Bravecto lasts for a 3 month period and is then repeated a further 3 times. Say a dog gets sick once a year, that month has to obviously fall within a period of Bravecto being used. Thus, making the majority of dog owners believing that it was the drug that caused the illness, rather than the illness having a completely different cause. Even in this dog, under 12 months old, so not many months to play with. Could it just be a problem as his immune system has not fully developed and he has picked up one of the lovely diseases Thai has to offer? Generally the common adverse side effects are more your vomit, diarrhoea, lack of energy etc. 

Was it a reaction to the Lepto vaccine that is a non-core vaccine for a reason. As it is not effective and can cause the very disease it aims to stop (which can result in renal (kidney) disease). What size is the dog? Many variables.

What is the high risk group for the drug? Was the dogs bloods taken previously to make sure he was healthy? The in-laws dog acts incredibly healthy, but her bloods weren't so good (since treated).  

 

I am always curious as I treat my own dogs with the drug, so always want to find out more. But I am also aware that the scientific testing has been given with doses 3-5 times higher than the usual dose without any life threatening adverse side effects. Obviously, individual dogs/breeds may present with higher risks. That is why I ask what is the high risk group?

[perconrad]

I have searched for Bravecto for month here in Kantharalak, Sisaket and in Sisaket and Ubon R., but did not find it, neither at vets or pet shops.

 

But now I have just bought it at Lazada, a month ago they did not have it.

 

Look forward to have ticks free dogs a Golden and a Thai dog.