Advantix

[Oona]

Recently our office manager informed us that she received notification that there was a sudden increase in adverse reactions in dogs who had been treated with Advantix. I have not heard what reaction they were having, but this product has been pulled from our shelves. Has anyone else heard anything?

[bigdog]

actually, no I hadn't heard anything until you mentioned it. BUT, I have just seen this, on the US Environmental Protection Agency website.. (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/flea-tick-control.html) dated very recently...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is intensifying its evaluation of spot-on pesticide products for flea and tick control due to recent increases in the number of reported adverse reactions in pets treated with these products.

The EPA has provided a list of EPA registered products (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/prodname-reg.pdf) , Im not sure if it has anything to do with this?

So perhaps its not a problem with this product in particular, but rather an EPA crack down on these type of products??

[bigdog]

The recent EPA announcement not only included several Over The Counter flea products, but also (and unusually) two spot-on Flea preventative drops sold primarily through veterinarians- Frontline® and ProMeris® on the EPA’s list.

In general vets think that OTC (Over The Counter) flea medications are more dangerous than veterinary advised spot-on's - in particular many vets in the past saw many problems with Pyrethrins in some OTC's, causing problems especially in cats. Ask your local vet for advice, but essentially they should be able to give your fair unbalanced advice on this.


Dr. Hal Little, the Director of Field Veterinary Services for Merial, maker of Frontline®, says their internal records do not indicate any increase in adverse events associated with that product. “In fact,” he continues, “the number of reported adverse events has remained consistently low since Frontline’s® introduction in 1996.”

The EPA has not released any details of 44,000 adverse events reported in 2008. At this time it is unknown whether more serious reactions are associated with a smaller group of products, or if the larger market share of a product places it on the EPA’s watch list.

There is no real solid scientific details confirming that any of these products can be linked with the adverse events reported, as most of these events are simply reported directly from consumers rather than vets or manufacturers. The EPA admits that they do not confirm the authenticity of these reports.
Many pets also receive booster vaccinations, heartworm preventive and other medications at the same time as their flea control, further confusing the issue! :)


Nothing in this thread by any of the participants is (nor is intended to be), a diagnosis or a suggestion or recommendation for treatment or a suggestion or recommendation of any procedure or product.
To obtain a diagnosis and treatment for your animal you will need to take your animal to your personal veterinarian.