Bravecto is ideal for my two, for a couple of reasons, one being that we walk in deer forests most days , but also they aren't restricted re water which they also go into most days too .
I live in an area where babesiosis is endemic and my dog had it 3x in his life. My advice: watch how your dog pees. If you notice red / dark red urine, don't postpone a visit to the vet. The vet will do a blood panel (low platelet count and low rbc count are usually the most apparent sign). The dog may or may not lose his appetite, and may or may not have a fever. The drugs are very effective against babesiosis but the most important thing is that you should act quickly! The dogs that died and / or needed blood transfusion shows that the diagnosis was made too late. It's either because the owners missed the signs or the vets misdiagnosed the disease. Babesiosis is very treatable if diagnosed on time! As far as prevention is concerned, there is no effective vaccine, so you have to rely on tick repellents. These are not 100% effective, so be vigilant.
Searched around the internet but haven't found any evidence of Bravecto causing major health issues, but that could be because it's still a very new drug on the market. There is a website in the USA run by a vet that requested data on reported health problems of both Bravecto and Nexguard but unfortunately couldn't get to the data reports only the summary of the findings which didn't contain any relevant information on actual incidence of side effects. Bravecto is licensed in the EU for use against Dermacentor reticulatus, the tick responsible for carrying the babesiosis and is effective for 12 weeks. It is not licensed against the Dermacentor reticularus in the USA but covers other nasties instead. No where can I find the time scale for it to become effective. For other ticks it is 12 hours, so I guess it would be the same although of course our dogs could have ticks attaching and feeding in that timespan so it would seem best to give the Bravecto in the evening so it is effective for the morning. In controlled trials the most common side effects are gastro-intestinal - vomiting and diarrhoea, both pass normally with no adverse reaction. What is a little unclear is whether the efficacy of the fluralaner, the active ingredient, is impacted by a stomach upset. In the EU Summary it states in Contra-indications "Do not use in case of hypersensitivity to the active substance or to any of the excipients." I'm not sure how you are expected to know if your dog is hypersensitive to Fluralaner though. It also states "Special warnings for each target species - Parasites need to start feeding on the host to become exposed to fluralaner; therefore the risk of the transmission of parasite borne diseases cannot be excluded." Apart from that it seems to be safe for use with no contra-indications for use with other common drugs. So, having read all that, I'm still not sure whether to try a switch to Bravecto. Part of the concern is around the gastro-intestinal side effects knowing that Juno has had a couple of bouts of diarrhoea recently and I just don't like the thought of ticks having to feed on her before they die.... Anyway here are the relevant licensing documents for EU and USA
Not always easy to see what colour your dog's pee is , but symptoms to be aware of are weakness, lethargy, pale gums, red urine and fever. It seems that best advice, for us in the UK, is to make sure that your flea/tick treatment covers the Dermancentor reticulatus, keep the treatment updated, and regular checks
I had a brief chat with my vet about it this evening, and he thinks Bravecto is a far better option for us than Advantix. I think I'm going to give it a go and see what happens. One creepy-factor concern I have is that I don't think Bravecto works as a deterrent, which Advantix does. So, does that mean that my dogs are going to be covered in ticks before they die and fall off? Honestly, I'm talking about a couple of hours running around in this area and they had at least two ticks each, each time, with Advantix. So, without the deterrent effect of Advantix, will they have many, many more? The place I'm talking about is the property we're in the process of buying. Where it isn't pine forest, the land is currently covered in long, dry grass, perfect tick territory. We will be clearing the land in time, so it will be far less suitable for ticks, but at over 77,000 square metres of land, and lots of work to do to make the house habitable, this isn't going to be done overnight. Ticks are gross.
@snowbunny They drop off pretty quickly just a very short time after giving Bravecto , I`m talking very quickly The first time I gave it to the dogs , I then took them to the deer forest and on return , I took a dead one off Millie that wasn't there when we went out .
Oh, really? I thought they remained attached for many hours. That makes me feel a little less queasy!
There's a vaccination against biliary (tick bite fever), Nobivac Piro that contains antigens from the parasites, Babesia canis and Babesia rossi. I don't know anyone who has used it, but I heard about it a few months ago.
I use Bravecto or Nexgard on my two mainly for covenience of oral dosing and because they swim daily and i don't want to either contaminate the waterways or reduce efficacy of a topical product. I am in a moderate tick area and see none on the dogs, even when other local dog owners report problems. On holiday in a high risk tick area I also saw none on the dogs but a couple on the human members of the family (yuck). This is despite the fact it does not have a repellant action. Side effects in dogs in general are fairly uncommon and I have seen none in my dogs with it being used all year round as per instructions. If I was in a situation of tick overload in a given area, I would not hesitate to put a tick repellant collar on them such as Seresto or Scalibor as a belt and braces approach to control a short term onslaught. This would be in addition to the Bravecto/Nexgard I think I posted a reasonably comrehensive review of tick prevention on here last year - applicable mainly to the UK. I'll have a hunt and post a link if I can find it.
I've heard it's not effective. Vets here don't administer it. Some here use imidocarb as prevention but it doesn't last long (2 weeks maybe) and it's hard on the liver. As far as spotting the colour of your dog's urine, it's not that difficult. I've been doing it for years, you just get used to it. With babesiosis, it turns the colour of coca cola. You can't miss it.
I've had a quick look on the Nobivac Piro which has been withdrawn in Europe but seems to be available in America - my link to paste has disappeared on the phone! Will try from tablet layer. The only way I would be able to spot the colour of Juno's urine when she squats would be by trying to catch some in a dish, and even that would be difficult considering the places she likes to wee
I don't think they have a problem with B. Canis in America. That's funny. I didn't know it was withdrawn. I wonder why. Just wanted to share typical blood panels of a dog with babesiosis. Notice the significant platelet (PLT) drop. Differential diagnosis is made via blood smears, since other TBDs may give a similar profile. The incubation period is around 7 days. If you find a tick on your dog, be vigilant in the next 7-10 days (depends on how long the tick has been feeding until you've found it). Now, mind you, Cookie had babesiosis 3x, and I only found the tick once. Symptoms varied with all three. First time: loss of appetite, dark red urine, a little bit under the weather Second time: loss of appetite. Brought him in as soon as he refused his first meal, which was pretty early on, so the urine hadn't turned dark red yet Third time: orange coloured urine, a little bit under the weather. Didn't lose his appetite He had fever only the first time, his body temperature was normal with the 2nd and 3rd babesiosis. His gums were normal. Treatment: imidocarb (imizol) + vitamins imidocarb (imizol) to be readministered in two weeks I usually add milk thistle afterwards for liver regeneration
Yes, I think it's a lot easier to see the colour of a boy's wee than a girl's. I think I'd struggle to see Willow's once the snow has gone. She likes to go on grass/dirt, too, rather than tarmac/concrete, where it tends to hang around a bit better for inspection! I suppose the answer for girlies would be, if you're concerned about it, drop a tiny piece of tissue where they've had a wee to soak it up and see what colour it goes.
I'm from South Africa. My vet said in our area (W Cape) we have two types of tick bite fever each with a different incubation period. One has an incubation period of 7-10 days, the other 1 month. (Before I heard this I'd always thought it was just 7-10 days.) I know of someone whose Golden Retriever died within a few hours of cerebral biliary without showing any signs of lethargy or loss of appetite, all normal until the seizures. The change in urine colour is a useful indicator.
Details on the Nobivac piro which according to the info is "For active immunisation of dogs of 6 months of age or older against Babesia canis to reduce the severity of clinical signs associated with acute Babesiosis (B. canis) and anaemia as measured by Packed Cell Volume (PCV)." so was only licensed for the one tick. I cannot find any info on why it has been withdrawn though http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index....eterinary/medicines/000084/vet_med_000152.jsp Just for clarity tick bite fever, biliary and canine babesiosis is one and the same. The strains found in Europe and North America being relatively mild while strains found in S. Africa can be lethal within hours. Anyway, for anyone who is interested here is a link to an article from 2012 which is quite comprehensive. http://yourownvet.com/tick-bite-fever-in-dogs-biliary-babesiosis/
That's interesting. Thankfully I only know of the one case where the dog died. I know of some who showed signs of loss of appetite, were taken to the vet, blood smear tested positive, administered drugs, and recovered quickly and completely. But of course I live in the city so one doesn't hear of worst-case scenarios. The dog that died lived in a semi-rural area. And the other cases were when the dogs were taken on holiday to a bush area. There is a belief that local populations of dogs in rural/bush areas have immunity to tick bite fever because they are not treated for ticks and are basically left to fend for themselves.
I would probably agree with that being possible. The Nobivac piro vaccine is/was only designed to reduce the severity of symptoms not to prevent the disease. I would think it entirely possible that dogs who survive the fever produce the antibodies to fight the disease thus creating a natural immunity. What would be interesting is whether, if they have immunity, it would be possible to pass on to offspring, or create stronger resistance, on a mum to puppy basis.
