# Trifexis Alert



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

more crap ... http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.co...33c22571feb54715ee6e918e9ddcfcfd9ba2cf410a55d


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

davetgabby said:


> more crap ... http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.co...33c22571feb54715ee6e918e9ddcfcfd9ba2cf410a55d


Thanks Dave. I haven't used Trifexis or Comfortis but know folks who have.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Pucks104 said:


> Thanks Dave. I haven't used Trifexis or Comfortis but know folks who have.


yeah it's very disheartening with all the food recalls and all the problems with vaccinations and pesticides. I know when I asked Sabine about this when it was relatively new, and she didn't want to recommend it because it was new and untested. Looks like that may be good advice now, who knows, there are risks with all this stuff. I BELIEVE NOTHING FROM AVMA . They'd sooner promote kibble instead of freeze dried raw.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

UGH!!!!! What are we supposed to do?! This is so frustrating.

I will have to consult Sabine…. Thanks Dave


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

lfung5 said:


> UGH!!!!! What are we supposed to do?! This is so frustrating.
> 
> I will have to consult Sabine&#8230;. Thanks Dave


yeah you have a unique set of circumstances for sure , between the food and the pesticides, she can take it all together and hopefully give you some remedies.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I emailed her. Thanks Dave


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

lfung5 said:


> I emailed her. Thanks Dave


great , just remember you're in line, behind me . :boink:


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Ha! I asked her what consult I need. I really just want advice on parasites. I THINK I've got their diets figured out. I looked at my old consultation. Funny when I was reading over it I saw how many calories used to be in a primal nugget and it reminded me why I stopped feeding it!!! I was so mad when they added moisture and raised the price 30%! Oh well, my guys did well on it and Fred's skin seems to be clearing up on the grain free diet. I guess time will tell....


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## chataboutthat (Jun 6, 2013)

tippi's been on trifexis all her life! if she was going to have a bad reaction would she have had it by now? should i take her off of it? what's the replacement?


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Emmie's been on Trifexis for 18 months and has never had a reaction. I think before changing your dog's heartworm/flea medicine that you consult with your vet to discuss in detail. What you read on the Internet may or may not be 100% accurate or applicable to your situation so it's best to do thorough analysis and not make a rash/emotional decision. -Jeanne-


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## Karen Collins (Mar 21, 2013)

chataboutthat said:


> tippi's been on trifexis all her life! if she was going to have a bad reaction would she have had it by now? should i take her off of it? what's the replacement?


http://http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/protecting-your-dog-from-heartworm/?inf_contact_key=bdc4440ab43611a6101b981bb5112b97cd67f5a061b559912d3217cf20092383

This is a good article. I personally have never given heart worm preventative.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I would never use a combined medication like this. I DO use both heart worm and flea/tick (mostly because of ticks!) meds, but I use them as sparingly as possible, for as short a period of the year as possible, and only when needed. WE can go months without seeing a tick, or, with a warm spell in Dec. or Jan, have a treeible time with ticks, when no hearty worm can POSSIBLY develop. Why put both chemicals into my dog when I only need one?

During the time of year when there IS overlap, I want to separate the doses as far as possible, so that if there IS a reaction, I know which drug caused it. I dose only every 6 weeks for heart worm, and try not to dose flea/tick preventative any more often than that either, though occasionally, mid-summer, I need to shorten up the time for flea/tick preventative to monthly for a dose or two. One way or another, there's plenty of opportunity to space the doses of both out so that there is at least a week between them.

Just because a dog has not reacted to previous doses does NOT mean that it's a sure bet that they won't. Some have a bad reaction after many doses.


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

krandall said:


> Just because a dog has not reacted to previous doses does NOT mean that it's a sure bet that they won't. Some have a bad reaction after many doses.


And many dogs never have a reaction. There is no one way/right way for all dogs so each owner must make their own determination on what's best for their pet.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

MarinaGirl said:


> And many dogs never have a reaction. There is no one way/right way for all dogs so each owner must make their own determination on what's best for their pet.


That is true. But if it's YOUR dog that has the reaction, it's a very big deal. And although Havanese have less health problems than a lot of breeds, they ARE more sensitive to vaccines and various chemical exposures than many.

There are times when you have no choice but to decide between the lesser of two evils (for instance, around here, the "bad" choices are between tick preventatives and Lyme disease&#8230; neither of which are great options) But when you HAVE a choice&#8230; to separate two possibly toxic chemical and give them separately, I don't know why anyone wouldn't.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

krandall said:


> I would never use a combined medication like this. I DO use both heart worm and flea/tick (mostly because of ticks!) meds, but I use them as sparingly as possible, for as short a period of the year as possible, and only when needed. WE can go months without seeing a tick, or, with a warm spell in Dec. or Jan, have a treeible time with ticks, when no hearty worm can POSSIBLY develop. Why put both chemicals into my dog when I only need one?
> 
> During the time of year when there IS overlap, I want to separate the doses as far as possible, so that if there IS a reaction, I know which drug caused it. I dose only every 6 weeks for heart worm, and try not to dose flea/tick preventative any more often than that either, though occasionally, mid-summer, I need to shorten up the time for flea/tick preventative to monthly for a dose or two. One way or another, there's plenty of opportunity to space the doses of both out so that there is at least a week between them.
> 
> Just because a dog has not reacted to previous doses does NOT mean that it's a sure bet that they won't. Some have a bad reaction after many doses.


This is true. My guys were on Advantix for months before they reacted to it. Both my boys had severe reactions to it&#8230;.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Karen,
What are you currently using for heat worm and flea and tick. I was meaning to talk to Sabine about this, but I got so busy. Plus, I haven't been using heart worm since it's winter.
I am using Heatguard and frontline plus. In the summer I add the preventick collars….


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## Karen Collins (Mar 21, 2013)

lfung5 said:


> Karen,
> What are you currently using for heat worm and flea and tick. I was meaning to talk to Sabine about this, but I got so busy. Plus, I haven't been using heart worm since it's winter.
> I am using Heatguard and frontline plus. In the summer I add the preventick collars&#8230;.


Linda,
I am not a huge proponent of prevention if it involves using poison. All the stuff sold to prevent disease, heart worms and ticks are poisonous. If you ingested any of it, you would call poison control. And we are many times bigger than our little BFs.

I prefer to exercise reasonable caution with exposure and treat when necessary rather than prevent. Thats not a very popular notion today, so I don't have any magical natural alternative to offer you.

Heartworm prevention is nothing more than a daily dose of the same drug used to treat an infestation. Therefore, I would rather wait to see if they ever get sick and treat it all at once rather than give a well dog a lifelong dose of poison.

My dogs don't live outside where thousands of mosquitos have access to their bare skin 24/7. Constant movement and thick hair helps prevent mosquitos from lighting and biting. Yes, the occasional mosquito does come inside and buzz around tormenting us all, but we usually kill it and problem solved.

Contrary to marketing, it takes many years of constant exposure to develop a heartworm problem. I would rather take my chances and treat if something ever manifests. In other words, the likelihood of getting sick from the prevention is greater than the likelihood of getting the disease.

I've never seen a tick at my house. I have seen ticks when we are out walking in the woods, but I don't do that very often and I just give my dogs a thorough grooming when we get home. I've never had a tick bite my dog. I have had them crawling around on top of fur, but I simply removed them by picking them off. They don't move fast, so they are easy to get.

For fleas, I use frequent bathing and treat my yard. I do get fleas and its a constant battle during the summer and I almost wish I didn't have dogs, but in the end we all survive and I know its the price I pay for bringing an animal indoors to live with us.

Somehow the world has convinced us to use all these drugs and we mindlessly fall in line, usually out of fear or convenience. Its easier to buy the pill and administer than fight the pests.

Sorry I didn't have anything more to offer you.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

lfung5 said:


> Karen,
> What are you currently using for heat worm and flea and tick. I was meaning to talk to Sabine about this, but I got so busy. Plus, I haven't been using heart worm since it's winter.
> I am using Heatguard and frontline plus. In the summer I add the preventick collars&#8230;.


I used Interceptor for Heart worm until it became unavailable. Now I use Heartguard, but space the doses out to every 6 weeks (you have to be VERY careful not to let the timing slip if you are doing every 6 weeks) And only end of May through end of Nov.

I use Advantix for the ticks, which I know you can't use. Fortunately, at least so far, Kodi has been OK with it, and it seems to be the ONLY thing around here that REPELS ticks as well as killing them. In Kodi's case that's important because he has a massive reaction to any tick bite, whether it is diseased or not. (he gets a huge, hard lump that lasts for months, the hair falls out over the bite, and if we're lucky and the hair grows back in, it grows in white. He has a huge white streak on his head from a tick bite when he was younger that makes him look like Morticia on the Adams Family!  With the Advantix, I gauge it by the cat&#8230; She spends a lot more time outdoors and in the woods. If she starts coming in with ticks, I put the Advantix on Kodi. (I don't need to worry about the toxicity to cats, because Snowbelle hates him, an won't go near him! ) I don't dose him more closely than every 6 weeks, and he probably gets no more than 3 doses in a year.

In between, if we need more coverage, I use Sentry Natural Defense, which is essential oils of several different herbs. I use the powder under the mats in his crates, and the spray on him if I know we are going for a walk in the woods. It makes him smell like the spice cabinet, but, hey, it works!  (I do carefully cover his eyes and nose when I spray him&#8230; the smell is quite strong, and if I don't it sends him into a sneezing fit!) The one time we got fleas in the house, I washed all the bedding in the areas that both he and Snowbelle sleep, and used the Natural Defense power in the carpets, (as recommended on the label) rubbed it in, let it sit for a couple of hours, then vacuumed it back out. Never saw another flea, and the house smelled very nice.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Karen Collins said:


> Linda,
> I am not a huge proponent of prevention if it involves using poison. All the stuff sold to prevent disease, heart worms and ticks are poisonous. If you ingested any of it, you would call poison control. And we are many times bigger than our little BFs.
> 
> I prefer to exercise reasonable caution with exposure and treat when necessary rather than prevent. Thats not a very popular notion today, so I don't have any magical natural alternative to offer you.


I understand, Karen, and that goes to what I was saying about people needing to choose the lesser of two evils, depending on their particular circumstances. I waiver on the Heartworm issue&#8230; we don't have a LOT of it in our area, but I do have friends who have dogs who are essentially invalids for the rest of their lives following treatment for active Heart worm. And these were not "yard dogs", but performance animals, who lived in the house and received excellent, regular care. So Heartworm DOES scare me.

Ticks and tick borne diseases are a HUGE problem in our area. Sixty percent of all dogs have seroconverted to positive for Lyme by the time they turn 3. That's HUGE. And I have the added problem of Kodi's severe reaction to tick bites in general. AND, like Linda, and unlike your dogs, from what you say, Kodi is in the woods with me frequently. We also live on a horse farm where Kodi moves through out the property with me daily. Even if I wanted the chemicals in the soil (where they are harmful to many other animals besides ticks) it would be impossibly expensive (if logistically possible) to treat the whole farm. So, in our case, I have decided that judicious use of chemicals I don't like are the "lesser evil".

I think the REALLY important thing is that people not just blindly dose their dogs with everything some manufacturer advertises as "good for him". People need to read the pros and cons of all treatment and prevention options, choose what is best for their animals in their unique situation, and then use as little of whatever it is as they can. They also need to space out dosing of ANY treatments/preventatives so that it is really clear if a dog has a reaction, and what it was to.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I wish I didn't have to use poison on my dogs. We are just very active. My dogs hike in the woods, nature preserves and swim in streams and ponds. I can not avoid these chemicals. I also live in the number 1 area in PA for lyme disease and have had it 3 times since getting the dogs. I love them dearly but not at the price of my own health. 

I try to limit the heartworm doing it only during the months consistently about 57 degrees.
The flea and tick I give monthly because 1 warm day and my guys will end up with several deer ticks on them. They are impossible to see on black dogs….

I cringe every time I have to give these products but I have no choice.


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## DawnH (Jan 21, 2014)

The vet who did Manny's puppy exam gave him Trifexis. I'd never heard of it. Her reasoning for giving it was that it was a pill instead of topical and less likelihood of improper application. I was concerned because I had a dog in the past who got heartworms while on pills. Her vet felt that she spit them out because my other dog, who liked chewables, was negative for HW's. I was leary of giving pills and reading this only reinforces my concerns. 

Unfortunately, I don't feel that I have an option except to give HW meds. I live on the Gulf Coast in NW Florida and mosquitos are a major problem (along with every other parasite known to man). I also live on a creek that makes it even worse. I plan on asking for an alternative medication when we go back for another round of shots in 2 weeks. I'm curious about which meds others are using.


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

I've been very happy with Trifexis. In order to minimize an upset stomach, give the medicine after you feed Manny breakfast as it needs to be given on a full stomach. I feed it to Emmie in a pill pocket, which she loves, and she's never spit it out. In fact, she looks forward to it each month.  

-Jeanne-


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## DawnH (Jan 21, 2014)

Jeanne, thanks for you reply...not sure how I missed it for so long! I had a hard time getting the Trifexis down Manny even in the pill pocket. He ate the pockets but kept spitting the pill out. The vet switched him to Heartgard and Comfortis and said the Comfortis would probably be just as hard getting it down him, but I'm much more worried about heart worms than I am fleas. Apparently there's some negative feedback on Comfortis on the forum but I couldn't pull up the article that was posted. I'll have to research it so that I can worry about that one too! lol


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## FRANKBULLETT (Mar 31, 2013)

*TRIFEXIS*

My Vet quite selling or recommending Trifexis. She is not the quickest to react when issues like this arise so it must be a serious problem.


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Rosie has been on Triflexis for over a year with no problems. I have to grind it up and mix with wet dog food to get it down her. I had read that collie type dogs were having trouble with it, so have not given it to my English Shepherd. I use the Heartguard and for fleas I just rub Sevin through his coat every once in a while. The yard is treated so fleas are really not a problem, but the ticks are everywhere this year. I check him for ticks daily. I can only find them if they have started to fill up. ugh. Just running my fingers through his coat until I feel one. I know some don't believe in Sevin, but I have used it for all kinds of animals and on my vegetable garden. When I had chickens and doves I sprayed it in the hen house for the mites.


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## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

Have you tried Diatomaceous earth for ticks?


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## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

DawnH said:


> Jeanne, thanks for you reply...not sure how I missed it for so long! I had a hard time getting the Trifexis down Manny even in the pill pocket. He ate the pockets but kept spitting the pill out. The vet switched him to Heartgard and Comfortis and said the Comfortis would probably be just as hard getting it down him, but I'm much more worried about heart worms than I am fleas. Apparently there's some negative feedback on Comfortis on the forum but I couldn't pull up the article that was posted. I'll have to research it so that I can worry about that one too! lol


I live in Florida also and have found that advantage has stopped working around here. I am not comfortable giving my dogs pills so am going to try the Activyl. I dont give my dogs the heartworm though...I am not convinced on that. I do have them tested though.


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