Poison Prevents Heartworm and Risks Life
The comments continue to pour in, across the internet: “I gave Trifexis, I lost my dog.”
Did a whole lot of vets miss the memo that giving pesticides to kill heartworm larvae and fleas and ticks has tremendous potential to also kill dogs? If Trifexis side effects include umm, death, wouldn’t you hope your vet was fully aware of that before prescribing it?
Or even stocking it?
I sure would.
But perhaps the profit potential for Dr. WhiteCoat makes him less likely to hear the distressed calls of people who’ve lost a furry family member to this poisonous chewable.
Like the vaccine machine, when your bottom line is impacted by selling something, it’s easier to keep selling than to look honestly at the consequences of what you sell.
Trifexis Side Effects a Year Later?
Imagine happily giving this wonder drug that Dr. WhiteCoat sold you and seeing no illness in your dogs at all.
What’s all the fuss about? Are these people making this stuff up about seizures and sickness and death?
Here’s an eye opening recent comment that appeared on what’s now my site’s most popular page, bar none (The Great Trifexis Hoax: 6 Ways to Spot the B.S.):
Just to let you know that my dog, who is a year and 7 months this week, was on Trifexis since she was 4 months old without any discernible issue. This past September, she had what I now know was a small seizure … head /throat/ear spasms … in the middle of the night. We called the emergency vet but didn’t end up going as whatever it was, … she went back to sleep. We emailed our regular vet that night and spoke to her the next day but she wasn’t concerned as ours was an isolated, and mild, incident. This past Friday night (right after Thanksgiving), she had another incident but much more symptomatic of a seizure. I was scared to death and we were in a hotel out of town. We went to the emergency vet who didn’t say much of anything but gave us an article on seizures and tremors, and recommended we see a neurologist as soon as we get home. I had given her Trifexis at 8:15pm right after dinner, and the seizure was at 5:00am. It wasn’t until we got home last night (Monday) that my other half remembered we had emailed the vet after the first incident, and to our amazement, it was ALSO ON A NIGHT WE HAD GIVE HER TRIFEXIS AFTER DINNER. I was so relieved to have found the connection and be able to tell the neurologist this morning at our appt. Though she was very reluctant to commit to the correlation between Trifexis and the seizures (kinda odd, as it’s not a regular vet but a specialist practice, so they don’t sell it there), she did advise we stop the Trifexis after our dog passed her neuro exam with flying colors. Also, not to put her on Comfortis or another that I can’t recall right now. I think we’re going to go the Heartguard route but would love advice in that area. Anyway, I’m replying to your post bc Tippy mentioned that you hadn’t seen any effects in a year of your dog being on it, and NEITHER DID WE! I am sick that I was unknowingly poisoning my baby girl, sick that this med is still being prescribed, and concerned that some (most?) vets aren’t doing their due diligence and researching what they recommend. It unfortunately only takes a quick Google search to see what’s happening! I do realize that ultimately, it’s on me to research what I give my pet but why wouldn’t we all trust our vets who, at least in my case, we chose after MUCH research and bad experiences elsewhere. I’m calling my vet first thing tomorrow and telling our story. This whole situation has me channeling Erin Brokovich!
Whitney, 12.1.2015
Death After a Year’s Use
The Indianapolis Star’s investigative reporter, John Russell interviewed me briefly months before his hard-hitting series came out on the pet drug industry, lead by a story on Trifexis and it’s association with (then) over 700 reported deaths.
His lead animal story is about Sesame, a healthy eight year old Golden Doodle who collapsed and died 5–6 days after a dose of Trifexis. The day before, Sesame had vomited twice and was wobbly. After a rush into the E.R. on the fateful day, Sesame died on the table, with no discernible cause. His liver enzymes were slightly elevated.
Sesame’s owner, Dr. Nimu Surtani, a human surgeon, found no evidence that anything else could have caused Sesame’s death. He was a hale and hearty 65 pound picture of canine health, who regularly ran with his owners. A month prior, he’d been put under for a dental cleaning and sailed through with flying colors. All tests then were normal.
And he died, days after taking Trifexis. After having been on it for nearly a year.
You could not kill a dog quicker,” Surtani recalled, “unless you gave him the wrong medicine and put him to sleep.”
What Is This Stuff?
Trifexis side effects come from the combination of a flea pesticide called spinosad and an heartworm larvae pesticide called milbemycin oxime.
Spinosad, derived from a soil bacteria, started life as a crop pesticide. (That alone should start your inner concern voice: “Would I knowingly consume a pesticide? Heavens no!”)
An Indianapolis Star investigation found that … spinosad, ranks third among all pet drug ingredients for reports of convulsions, fourth for blindness, sixth for aggression and paralysis, and seventh for reports of unconsciousness, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The other active ingredient, milbemycin oxime, ranks fifth for convulsions and ninth for deaths.”
Indy Star Article
If you are a label reader (you are, aren’t you?), you may know that spinosad is the active ingredient in the flea poison called Comfortis, made by the same outfit. (Don’t you love that name? Makes a poison sound like a plush dog bed or hammock on the beach).
Like most flea and heartworm poisons, spinosad kills pests by paralyzing their nervous systems. No longer able to respire, they suffocate.
The nervous system. Isn’t that the same system involved in sudden weakness and ataxia, the wobbliness commonly listed among Trifexis side effects?
Milbemycin is classed as a macrolide, and is sold as a stand-alone heartworm drug called Interceptor. It’s a near cousin to ivermectin, the widely used dewormer that used to make me sick every time I used it in horses.
Interestingly, the warnings accompanying Trifexis speak of “serious adverse reactions” when spinosad was combined with ivermectin.
Not too large a leap to imagine similar serious consequences from combining spinosad with ivermectin’s cousin compound in the same family, is it?
Problem? What Problem?
It’s business as usual at Elanco, the veterinary division of Eli Lilly and Co, who is still selling the drug associated with so many illnesses and deaths. They are sticking to their story: there’s no proof. “And we are helping so many, many dogs avoid the horrible risk of heartworm and fleas and ticks.”
It’s as if nothing has happened, in the eyes of Big Pharma in Indiana.
As if all the people experiencing illness and death after using Trifexis don’t exist. Or are the victims of short sightedness and, the bane of scientism advocates, making a correlation into an actual cause.
As Elanco spokewoman Julie Lawless (gotta love her name being part of this story) said,
What we continue to say is there is no link established between Trifexis use and death… Reports are not an indication of cause.”
And the people who’ve experienced illness or worse, death, after giving Trifexis know better.
Detox Time
If you have had animals taking Trifexis who haven’t shown side effects yet, I submit you are in a dangerous position. As you’ve seen, animals have been stricken and even died after no apparent adverse reactions for a year or more on the drug.
I’d advise getting off the risk wagon immediately so you’re not wondering when the other shoe is going to drop, making your dog a statistic.
A good first step when you stop using Trifexis is a deep acting detox protocol. Pesticides are poisons, right? That’s how they kill the pests. They poison their little nervous systems.
Poisons are largely processed in our most amazing of organs, the liver, which, when it’s not busy moving toxins out of the body, is also tasked with:
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blood building
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immune system enhancement
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digestion of fats
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storage of fat soluble vitamins
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hormone management
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blood sugar management
…and innumerable other functions that mammals depend on for health.
Helping your dog’s organs of detoxification helps your dog stay ahead of the risks that chemicals like Trifexis pose.
It’d be worth your while to search out a detox protocol you trust if your animal has been poisoned with Trifexis. Here’s one I use in my homeopathic practice.
What’s the Alternative?
I’m glad you asked.
I knew from early experiences with patients in Hawaii (land of year round mosquitoes!) that preventing heartworm could be accomplished without the tradeoff of intoxication of your pet. It’s been confirmed over the 25 years since, with patients in Texas, Florida, and many other states and countries.
I was moved to write up the protocol that I developed years ago, and further refined that a year back with an audiobook version. Hundreds of you now have seen for yourselves that it works for you, year after year.
It’s called the Drug Free Heartworm Protocol, and it’s presented in my ebook and course called Vital Animals Don’t Get Heartworms! (<–click here for details).
In the book, I walk you, step by step, through what’s worked for hundreds of my patients for over 20 years, most of them living in heartworm endemic areas.
Willful Ignorance? I’m Not Paying for That!
But let’s not mince words, shall we? If your vet is still sending Trifexis out the door of his clinic, and has chosen to ignore the many reports of its side effects that range all the way to death, why would you give him your hard-earned money?
You’ve got a card to play to help change this practice and send a clear message to everyone you share your story with.
Fire Him!
And tell him why.
Then, tell the world.
Are you not sick and tired of risking your animal’s life in the name of prevention?
I thought so.
Tell us in the comments how you’ve dealt with this. Remember: you are not making these decisions for Vital Animals in a vacuum. Many have boldly gone before you. Sharing our stories helps us all grow in confidence.
