Just got a call from my vet’s office that Interceptor will no longer be available…EVER!! Novartis is discontinuing production of it. Called Novartis to confirm and was told that will not be making it any more but that I could use Sentinel which has the same HW med as well as flea preventative.
This just is the pits as far as I’m concerned-frankly I don’t like the flea product in Sentinel (I don’t wish to put the fleas on"birth control"–I want them to DIE). I liked being able to give a safe HW product to my Aussie (and yes Heartguard has been discussed but if I didn’t have to take a chance with it I wasn’t going to) as well as a seperate flea prevention. This way if the Comfortis did upset his stomach (which it hasn’t for 2 years) at least he wasn’t throwing up his HW prevention as well. This was the reasonI didn’t like Trifexis as well.
Would love to hear what others who are using Interceptor currently are planning to do.
Well, even if you do Sentinel (which does cover more intestinal parasites than HG Plus) you can do Frontline or other topical flea/tick prevention without problems.
I too was a fan of Interceptor. I now am doing HG Plus and Frontline Plus. BUT…had Sentinel been back in the swing sooner, I would’ve done that plus Frontline.
Like you, I’m not a fan of just using lufenuron (the flea “birth control”) you speak of. I want to kill the fleas and ticks too.
You may want to look into a new product by Bayer for fleas and ticks. It’s called Seresta. It’s a collar and good for 8 mos. We got samples at the clinic. Not for me with two dogs who wrestle, but might work for you?
I started my dogs on Trifexis after the whole Interceptor/Sentinel shortage. One reason is because a lot of herding dogs (Aussies, too) have problems with ivermectin. Trifexis still does the HW prevention, works for the other worms, and prevents fleas (which aren’t exactly an issue in Colorado), I’ve been very pleased and will stick with this stuff.
Just a thought 
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about Heartgard and herding dogs. Here are the facts from Washington State, the research arm that does the MDR1 testing for herding dogs.
[I]"What heartworm prevention products can I use if my dog has the MDR1 mutation?
Fortunately, the dose of ivermectin, selamectin, milbemycin and moxidectin in the commercial heartworm preparations are low enough to be used safely even in dogs with the MDR1 mutation. It is only when the drugs are used at high doses, such as those used to treat mange (50 times higher dose than the heartworm prevention dose), that dogs with the mutation will develop neurological toxicity. Attempting to use large animal formulations of these drugs is likely to cause neurological toxicity because it is difficult to accurately measure.
My dog has tested positive for the MDR1 mutation. Now that Interceptor is no longer available, what heartworm preventive product should I use for my dog?
Any of the monthly heartworm preventives (administered at the label dose) can be used in dogs with the MDR1 mutation. We recommend avoiding the 6-month or 12-month injectable products and we prefer the single-ingredient products to the multiple ingredient products."
[/I]
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/FAQ.aspx
There’s also information on the site about how test to determine if you dog has the MDR1 gene.
Thanks for the input. As mentioned I really want to stay away from Trifexis because of the whole vomiting side effect for Comfortis-I do use Comfortis and like it and so far have had no problems but I stagger giving my HW preventitive first and then Comfortis 2-3 days later just in case-I don’t want him throwing up the HW preventitve.
I have researched the whole Ivermectin/ MDR1 gene website and know lots of people who give their herding dogs HG with no problems but I was just in the camp of if I don’t have to chance it with an alternative why risk it.
As for Frontline here-I mights as well put drops of water on his neck as it was not effective at all.
Thanks again-more than likely I will end up on HG but will be extremely paranoid the first dose LOL.
Ah, somehow I totally missed the part about the vomiting. Guh, blonde day! Sorry…makes perfect sense and I do NOT blame you!
Laura, thanks. I have had more than one vet warn me (and as a former tech…well, you know). Good to see more research has been done! I’ll continue with Trifexis for my crew (since I have it and am pleased with it), but I will keep the ivermectin though for future and try to keep from scaring folks from it. Truly appreciated!
[QUOTE=Kenike;6959791]
I started my dogs on Trifexis after the whole Interceptor/Sentinel shortage. One reason is because a lot of herding dogs (Aussies, too) have problems with ivermectin. Trifexis still does the HW prevention, works for the other worms, and prevents fleas (which aren’t exactly an issue in Colorado), I’ve been very pleased and will stick with this stuff.
Just a thought :)[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately this does not work as well on the fleas/ticks as Frontline. So here in the NE, I end up having to do both. It ends up being pretty pricey for 2 dogs.
In the south the fleas laugh at Frontline
LOL!!! Amen to that!:lol:
