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Tick and flea treatment "Bravecto" turned my dog
into a crazy and stressed dog
My dog "Bep" completely changed into a crazy and stressed dog
after the tick and flea treatment "Bravecto"
This article was published earlier in the newspaper BN-De Stem (AD). A link to the original publication you can find at the bottom of this page.
The European Medicines Agency EMA is researching Bravecto. Looking for a possible connection between the side effects and the anti flea and tick remedy. The anxiety among dog owners seems to be mounting, as vets continue to rely on the chewable tablet. Brigit Groeneveld, journalist for the newspaper Brabants Dagblad, saw her dog change completely.
Our sweet dog Bep, an eight-year-old long-haired crossbreed, was healthy and virtually trouble-free. Until we gave her Bravecto, a long-acting pill against fleas and ticks.
The vet enthusiastically recommended it a year ago. No more spot-on treatment with sticky drops, no more fiddling with a flea collar. It sounded like music to the ears. Just a pill once every 3 months.
It went fine for three quarters of a year and we thought it was a great invention. If only we had delved more into it then. But yes, we relied on the vet.
Suddenly things go wrong
Things went wrong in the fall of 2016. Our dog started showing weird behavior out of the blue. Stressed, restless, pushy. Drinking a lot, panting and drooling. She was completely lost, did not want to lie down and was sometimes indecisive in the room for hours.
At night she continued to wander around trying to dig holes in the tile floor. We no longer recognized her; our relaxed dog had suddenly become a crazy stressed animal. How could that be? When we were about to go to the vet with this strange story, the problems suddenly
disappeared and we had our good friend back. We thought no more about it and certainly did not link it to Bravecto. After all, she had been receiving this medicine for some time.
Hopelessly wrong
The three months after that passed silently and then suddenly it was wrong again. The same complaints, but ten times worse. And finally we came to the conclusion: Bravecto! She had just taken such a pill again, and while browsing the calendar this also happened the last time after administration of the drug. That could not be a coincidence!
Snapping at invisible flies
In the meantime, we had entered an impossible situation. We had a completely neurotic dog in the house who was completely off the track every day for hours. She snapped for invisible flies in the air and kept digging in floors and scratching walls and doors. Day and night. Bad appetitie, hardly sleeping, anxious, not manageable. It disrupted our entire family life. After some googling we lost our courage because we read about all the Bravecto suffering. We were shocked by the terrible stories of other dog owners and were baffled by the sheer number of suspicious cases.
Behavioral problem
Our vet did not immediately find the relationship we suspected with Bravecto plausible and rather thought about a behavioral problem, epilepsy or maybe even a brain tumor. Research followed and we were given medicines, but they did not help. Meanwhile we were close to desperation. It was getting worse. We even considered putting her to sleep. This was no life for her, nor for us. There was only one way to get through the day: drug her with copious amounts of tranquilizers.
A bridge too far
During a crisis weekend we met an other vet. He did find our Bravecto story plausible and advised to consult a specialist as soon as possible. He then explained that fluralaner (the insecticide in Bravecto) had probably accumulated in her fat cells and organs in the past year and that it now possibly also affected her nervous system. Putting a long-acting insect venom in a dog was what he called "a bridge too far," because no one knows what it can do. And to immediately add that it is a tricky issue, because hard scientific evidence that Bravecto is not only deadly for fleas and ticks, but can also be a silent killer for dogs, is not just on the table.
We cried with joy
The specialist did not have a quick solution for our dog. If we could afford it, we had to give her time, hoping that with the slow breakdown of the poison, the symptoms would also subside. We had to take into account that this could take a long time and we did not get a warranty on recovery. On the way home, we decided to go on for a while, no matter how difficult it was for her and us. After a very difficult period, in which we had to tranquilize her almost daily, the situation improved a bit. And when she cheerfully ran around the field for the first time in three months, we have cried with joy, really!
Unfortunately, this revival was short-lived, because on a friday things went hopelessly wrong again. Out of the blue she behaved completely insane again and there was nothing we could do. During the Easter days, her situation took a worrying turn. The weird, stressed and anxious behavior turned into apathy. She crawled into the darkest corner of the garage and wanted nothing. Not going out for a walk, no food, nothing. Just lying in a weird position and with a glassy look, with eyes you can't get in touch with.
Again we were about to have her relieved from her suffering by the vet, but when things got better after six dark days, we decided to continue. Now it has been a lot better for a few days, but for how long? We think a lot about her quality of life and where the limit lies. A very burdensome process, because you do not know what her future prospects are and therefore not when you do it right.
Anger
In addition to sadness and fatigue, anger now also appears. The side effects in our dog were reported to the manufacturer and official agencies many weeks ago. Heard nothing in return. In the meantime, we see with regret that manufacturer MSD / Merck Animal Health continues to say that the product is safe, puts away all victims as silly talk on Facebook, and the officially reported numbers of nearly 1,000 dead and nearly 4,000 sick dogs seems to be ignored.
Anger
In addition to sadness and fatigue, anger now also appears. The side effects in our dog were reported to the manufacturer and official agencies many weeks ago. Heard nothing in return. In the meantime, we see with regret that manufacturer MSD / Merck Animal Health continues to say that the product is safe, puts away all victims as silly talk on Facebook, and the officially reported numbers of nearly 1,000 dead and nearly 4,000 sick dogs seems to be ignored.
(editor: the recent numbers -June 2020- of reported side effects after Bravecto are: around 3000+ reported deaths and over 12.000 reported side effects. Only around 1 % of side effects with animals is actually reported, so possibly this is just the tip of the iceberg).
We may have always been naïve, but this affair has left a huge hole in our confidence in the pharmaceutical industry. With euro and dollar signs in the eyes, MSD / Merck has made a pill that you shouldn't want to make. Which seems to be good for most dogs for the time being, but which is definitely not for a significant group of animals. Many veterinarians (luckily there are exceptions!) in this matter also fail in our opinion. Now that there are so many suspicious cases, they should apply the "precautionary principle" and take the drug off the shelf. Then just fuss with that powerful pharmaceutical company. First find out why it so often goes terribly wrong.
On promotional tour
Unfortunately, the exact opposite is currently happening. The manufacturer is fanatical on promotional tour. And with success, because in almost all veterinary practices they keep selling the pill. The Dutch association for veterinarians (KNMvD) even goes so far as to call the concern about Bravecto a "hype", just like the manufacturer does. Incredible. And thereby insults all affected dog owners, who are already so sad and worried, to the bone.
We feel powerless
On promotional tour
Unfortunately, the exact opposite is currently happening. The manufacturer is fanatical on promotional tour. And with success, because in almost all veterinary practices they keep selling the pill. The Dutch association for veterinarians (KNMvD) even goes so far as to call the concern about Bravecto a "hype", just like the manufacturer does. Incredible. And thereby insults all affected dog owners, who are already so sad and worried, to the bone.
We feel powerless
Our happy dog is now a mess of misery much of the time. We are convinced about Bravecto as the cause. But what do you start against a billion dollar company like MSD / Merck? And how do you get vets to rely less on the highly commercial pharma giants and more on their common sense? Why on earth would you want to put an insecticide poison in a dog when there are so many external (and therefore safer) treatments with which you can effectively prevent and / or control fleas and ticks?
What we can only do now is hope. Hope that our dog will be the old one again and hope that our story makes people think twice.
What we can only do now is hope. Hope that our dog will be the old one again and hope that our story makes people think twice.
Brigit Groeneveld, april 2017
Link to the original article (in Dutch) in the newspaper "De Stem":
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