Trifexis (heartworm med)

[ellensy]

Hi!

Snapples' vet recently told me that there is a shortage of Interceptor and gave me Trifexis instead. I already bought 3 dosages, went home and look up reviews regarding this product. It seems that there are a lot of negative comments about using Trifexis including hair loss, seizures etc etc. Now I'm totally nervous giving Snapples this heartworm medicine. I'm considering returning the meds to the vet.. Any comments/experience on this medicine would greatly help!

Thanks,
Ellen

[Karen]

Here is a decent article that explains the situation:

http://www.gvma.net/i4a/headlines/headlinedetails.cfm?id=131

[Jessika]

We switched to using Trifexis at my previous clinic, and my current clinic uses their brand of it (same product, just under a different name).

Just like with ANY medication, you are going to see some type of reaction on a large scale. In the 3 years we've been using it at my clinic, the ONLY complaint we've had was vomiting. 9/10 the vomiting was because the owner did not give the pill with a meal.

It is perfectly safe. I use it on my own dog with no adverse reactions. Any "new" product is going to have a lot of uproar over it at first until it's established on the market. I like it a LOT better than other combo products on the market. Separately, the products are interceptor and comfortis... so look up reviews for those products separately and I'm sure you'll find more good than bad. It's just because they've combined it "recently" and put a new name on it so people are being overly-cautious with it.

EDIT: For clarification, Trifexis is not just a heartworm medication. It is also your monthly flea control but it is NOT labeled to work on ticks (there is some talk that it may have some efficacy against ticks, but the data isn't successful to the point where they can put it on the label.)

[*LabLoverKEB*]

We sell Trifexis at my hospital, I love it! It's a three in one so its a prevention for heart worms, ticks, and intentional parasites all in one! I use it on Levi too. The only (and not too common) reaction that we see is like stated before, vomiting. But again that's because the owner didn't give it with a meal.

[lizbud]

I have no experience with this drug, but don't like to use combo type meds. I personally think using them would tend to cause more problems
than using one product for one purpose. I'll stick to Heartgard(Heartworm) and Vectra, (fleas).

[Jessika]

I have no experience with this drug, but don't like to use combo type meds. I personally think using them would tend to cause more problems
than using one product for one purpose. I'll stick to Heartgard(Heartworm) and Vectra, (fleas).
A HUGE bonus to using an oral combo product is the fact that you don't have to use the topical pesticide on your pet. In households with children or cats, some of those topical pesticides can be toxic if ingested (Vectra 3D is one that if a cat ingests it while it's wet, it WILL kill a cat). So in that case, it's just so much safer. And in my experiences, they don't tend to cause any more problems... in fact, topicals tend to cause more problems because of the situations I described above. But again, it's all situational. :)

[kneeshawe]

We sell Trifexis at my hospital, I love it! It's a three in one so its a prevention for heart worms, ticks, and intentional parasites all in one! I use it on Levi too. The only (and not too common) reaction that we see is like stated before, vomiting. But again that's because the owner didn't give it with a meal.
Another reaction is death I gave my perfectly healthy dog Trifexis and one month later he died after a horrible month of struggling. Please check the internet, Facebook, and you tube for more details of this. There are several vets now that will no longer use trifexis.
My dog started 24 hours after his first and only dose First came the surprise that he would no longer take his favorite treat, then he would no longer eat his favorite food had to change his diet The came the problem with his back legs just giving out from under him, then the liver failure and finally a seizure and death
He was in and out of the hospital over the month trying several things but nothing could save him.