Advantix concerns.....

[twostep]

I copied this from another site:

Serious Side Effects and Death from Advantix
May 18th, 2003, by Teresa Schliker


There is a serious danger to pets from a new pest prevention medication. In addition to Advantage, Bayer has another flea/tick application on the market called "Advantix". It is being advertised heavily to the general public and pushed to clinics by sales reps, but more and more veterinarians are reporting serious side effects and even death among dogs. This medication is highly toxic and can adversely affect the nervous system. One of the active ingredients is a drug that most veterinarians phased out years ago because of these very risks.

Some of the side effects that veterinarians and pet owners are reporting are death, tremors, loss of motor control, vomiting, inability to tolerate touch, diarhea and unusual behavior. These may occur hours or more than a day afterward. Owners are reporting that this has happened even if the ointment was applied properly (behind the base of the skull where the dog cannot lick it). The incidence of serious side effects does not seem to be rare and many veterinarians are alarmed. They have pulled it off their shelves or let it expire so the sales reps will need to take it back, but in many cases they can face lawsuits for not participating in promotions as advertised (for example, giving away a free sample of Advantix with other products by Bayer).

If your dog or cat shows ANY signs of reaction to Advantix, bathe it immediately and take it to your veterinary emergency clinic. Suitable alternatives to Advantix are Advantage (also by Bayer), FrontLine, and FrontLine Plus.

Bayer is denying that the product normally has more than minor side effects even though it admits it has not adequately tested this drug. Sales reps are denying they've heard of the problem and literally laughing at veterinarians. You MUST report all incidents to the FDA if there is any hope of forcing a recall of the product. Please see the "Links" page to report an adverse reaction to the FDA.

If you want to see what I am talking about, go back to "Articles" and click "Advantix - I HATE IT"...this is a link to a thread in a veterinary technician magazine, mostly visited by veterinarians and technicians. There are more threads on that forum regarding Advantix."

[Chinchilla_Girl]

I read that a while back...I would NEVER use it on my dogs...we use Frontline Plus for them...Anyone hear of another new one called Revolution? It's supposed to be pretty good...they are still researching on whether it helps with ticks or not, but in addition to flea prevention, it's also a heatworm preventative and cures mange! It's too new for me to try, but my vet says it's safe for even rabbits! I'm not so sure, but anyone hear of it?

[CTChin]

One of the techs at my work tried it on her dogs and one ended up with blisters on exactly the spots she applied it

[DirtySouthChins]

I believe Revolution has been out for sometime, I can't quite remember, but I think that is the one I used to give Tabitha and Scooby and Tabitha had a reaction to it. I'm almost certain it was revolution (but could be wrong) and this was a few years ago. If anybody is interested here is some basic info on Revolution....Okay the link didn't want to work, so I'll copy/paste the URL for you http://www.pet-medications-review.co...-for-dogs.html
As for Advantix I have never heard anything good about it. We use Frontline Plus (when we can get here) otherwise we are forced to use Frontline top spot, and I don't care for that much at all, the basic frontline doesn't work nearly as well as the Plus.

[RSbunny]

We sell revolution at work but I've never used it on my dog! Frontline plus all the way with my dog for fleas!! Nothing seems to work as well. Advantix hasn't made it here yet...it must still be too new. Frontline and Advantage are our biggest sellers, Revolution is only used by a couple of our clients....and Mandie I didn't know it was safe for rabbits! That's one for me to remember if we ever have run out of advantage at work for whatever reason!

[Chrisanne]

I don't and won't use it either. I am a fan of if its not broken don't fix it.

Mandie.. I've tried Revolution and HATED IT. It cost more than my heartgard and frontline put together and it DID NOT work on the fleas or ticks in my area. I don't know about the heartworm, but I have heard of way more cases of incidents of animals on it getting heartworm than there should be. (granted at least 50% of those are likely user error) I've never heard the mange thing, but i'd have to see it to believe it.

[dappledoxie]

I hadn't heard this before, I got some free samples from the rep from work and haven't used it on either Rebel or Claire b/c I have the Frontline Plus, that's my fav, I also got some Advantage too. I haven't used it either, don't care for it, since it only gets fleas but I didn't have any of the Frontline for Niki's size but I did have Advantix and so I used what I had. I haven't seen anything happen to her, but now I am a bit worried. Probably won't use it again either.

[piggiemommy]

Revolution is safe on rabbits and guinea pigs. I've used it with success at treating mites and lice on some pigs I've taken in and would not hesitate to use it on my dogs. Using it on the pigs and rabbits is considered an "off-label" use, but it is commonly used among the exotics specialists in my area. Just make sure you have your vet figure out the correct amount if using it for the smaller animals, because it won't be a whole tube!

I have used Revolution many times for my small animals such as my rats and mice. I posted a thread awhile back about the dangers of Advantix, and the vet clinic I worked at did not and will not ever carry it. It is TOXIC to cats, as in if they come in contact with it they will most definitely die. It's horrible stuff and the threat of biting mosquitos and West Nile Virus is extremely minimal and not worth the risk to your dog, period. I use Advatage as the fleas in my area are immune to Frontline and it does no good. Though I believe Frontline is far superior over Advantage, but both are good.

[Rocheal]

Wow. I am so glad Kevin and I did not go ahead and get the flea and tick stuff yesterday at the vet. Now I know what I'm going to get... FrontLine Plus.

I can't believe all of that. That's really aweful. Why doesn't Beyer just admit to the fact since they 'care so much about animals'...

[catnapper]

Oh great, I just applied the first of three months' worth of this stuff to Nicki. She's highly allergic to a lot of stuff... basically most food and all bugs. the vet recommended it because it also has mosquito repellant. I DID notice a lot of disclaimers on it before I applied it (I read everyting.) and got a kick out of the disclaimer saying its highly toxic to fish... "Do not put it on a fish or in it's water" sure, right away. My fish certainly need flea prevention!

Now, since she's had allergic reactions to things before, I've been keeping an eye on her. I put it on about a week and half ago. I have bathed her too in the interim. She hasn't shown one rash or blister (whew) but now I'm going to worry about it even more! She also hasn't shown her normal itchiness dance that she does when she's having a reaction to something. She has a lick granuloma (sp?) on her rear leg that is basically going to be a permanent feature since she's always showing a reaction of some sort!

[Rocheal]

Hopefully it wont both her..

[Dena]

The ingredient that causes the problem is (I think anyway) Permethrin. Its a pesticide it is also the ingredient that is in Hartz/Seargents products as well. Someone posted a thread about the Hartz and Seargents products having adverse affects on cats. I think the generic name for Permethrin is pyrethrin but I'm not sure about that. I would stay away from anything that has either of those listed as an ingredient.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dena The ingredient that causes the problem is (I think anyway) Permethrin. Its a pesticide it is also the ingredient that is in Hartz/Seargents products as well. Someone posted a thread about the Hartz and Seargents products having adverse affects on cats. I think the generic name for Permethrin is pyrethrin but I'm not sure about that. I would stay away from anything that has either of those listed as an ingredient.

Permethrin and Pyrethrin are two very different things. Pyrethrin is completely safe. It's what most flea shampoos are made of, as well as the bird and small animal lice sprays.

[Dena]

Ah yes, thats why I should never try to read big words too late at night. Pyrethrin was the ingredient that was listed in the cat products. Good thing I said I think but wasn't sure, I knew my eyes were googley at that point. Thanks for clarifying that.