Teken-vlooien.nl / Ticksandfleas.org
zo blijft je hond gezond / how to keep your dog healthy
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Rico died March 2nd, 2016, one month after BRAVECTO (pesticide against ticks and fleas). Shortly after giving the drug a tremendous agony started, which ended after a month - From this day the battle against pharmaceutical company MERCK / MSD (manufacturer of Bravecto) started.
Both our dogs had heart arrhythmias only a few days after administration
Vet's advise
"Rico" was a vital, spirited dog who could still easily make considerable long distance walks.
On our vets' advise, on February 1, 2016 he was given Bravecto together with my other dog "Mika" to protect them against tick bites on our holiday in Spain.On February 5th both dogs were having problems with heart rhythm (arrhythmia), they both made a strange air "gasping" sound. Now we realized that they had already had these symptoms before on our holiday to France in april 2015, when we also gave Bravecto to our dogs.
Upon arrival in Spain Rico's health suddenly deteriorated rapidly. He could hardly walk ten meters, he had severe palpitations, his head hanging down, standing with sagging back and drooling a lot, panting, saliva dripping from his mouth. Rico also collapsed a number of times. The next days we let him rest as much as possible, and only made the necessary short walks. It seemed he was ok that way. Fortunately, he still ate some food.
Our vet thought he had heart failure
On February 16 his health situation got worse, and so we decided to travel back home to the Netherlands as quickly as possible. Upon arrival, we immediately visited the vet. He was quite sure that Rico was suffering from heart failure, and that was one of the two possibilities we were considering as well. Our vet suggested to make an X-ray. That would definitely show that heart failure was the cause for his health problems.
But to his big surprise there were no abnormalities in his heart and his lungs were fine too. We got hope that nothing serious was going on.
Because of this unexpected outcome of the investigation we expressed our suspicion that there could possibly be a connection with the "Bravecto" pill (also because of the side effects that we had already seen in 2015 with both our dogs). The vet thought it unlikely, and expressed later by saying: "Bravecto is at the bottom of my list." I'm still wondering on which he based that conclusion really.
Gaba antagonist
We did our “homework”, and decided to ask him if he knew that this drug is a so-called “GABA-antagonist” (ingredient affecting the neurotransmitting system). The vet immediately denied that this was the case. We checked again, and we found out he was wrong. So apparently our vet was not aware of the way the active ingredient (fluralaner) in Bravecto works. So how can he say that Bravecto is “at the bottom of his list”?
I urged the vet to make notification to the manufacturer (MSD / Merck) of (possible) side effects of the drug. Meanwhile, the health of Rico was quick to deteriorate, and he got high fever of over 40 degrees Celsius. He had a very fast, but remarkably shallow breathing (abdominal muscles strangely did not participate in breathing).
The manufacturer offered to have Rico examined at their own expense at an “independent” specialized clinic (not really independent, I discovered later). His condition was already so deteriorated that travelling there (a one and a half hour drive one direction) Rico probably would not have survived. For that reason we didn’t agree.
Little hope
In the period from 18 / 24th February, he still has the same very fast breathing and fever. (Especially at night above the 40, during the day about 39.5 degrees). He now eats only very small amounts, and loses a lot of weight. 25 t / m 28 February, the breathing was calmer again and the abdominal muscles were participating again. The fever is gone.
We get a small glimmer of hope, but on the other hand, walking (waddling conspicuous because of coordination problems) is very difficult, it takes a lot of effort to walk on. After a few meters he stops, as if the batteries are exhausted.
Especially at night walking is very difficult (he actually no longer wants to go outside), the view seems worse. Food he does not want any more, keeps losing a lot of weight, and weakened.
February 29, 1 and March 2, 2016 - "Rico" has no strength to stand tall, doesn’t want to go out. He dies on March 2, 2016, a month after Bravecto .....
After Rico's death Mika had a very poor appetite for about 5 - 6 months. She used to love eating (boiled) eggs, but now she hated the smell of it.... Her belly was colored pink and felt very warm for weeks. Her feet also felt very warm during the same period
Rico was a very vivid dog
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Artikel in De Groene Amsterdammer: Onderzoek - Veel baasjes weten het niet: Het goedje waarmee ze hun hond beschermen tegen vlooien en teken is uiterst giftig
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