Comments on The Great Trifexis Hoax: 6 Ways to Spot the B.S.

I don't use flea, tick or heartworm medication and it's probably just my own personal bias, but you know, I have to wonder how much has to do with sourcing milbemycin from China.

I gave my new 8 month old puppy his first dose of Trifexis after my new vet's recommendation because, "since it's in one pill, it's easier to administer than the alternatives." (All of this before a friend thankfully recommended many of your and others' resources.)
Anyway, only a few days after this dose, this normally lively and happy puppy suddenly slipped into what appeared to be an EXTREMELY lethargic state; this behavior totally opposite from my time with him the month prior. He was having a hard time standing up and would barely walk without me helping him along. He also experienced head tremors--I had never seen this before, and it was quite alarming. He also had no interesting in eating or drinking.
After almost two days of showing no progress, I brought him into the vet. He had a 104 degree fever and he was dehydrated. Per the vet's recommendations, we put the pup on IV (for the dehydration), urinalysis, full blood work, chest x-ray, and finally a ultrasound. They did each of these one at a time, each one coming back showing completely normal results (excluding the blood test which showed slightly elevated white blood cell count.) The second day there his fever finally broke.
All told, she prescribed a general antibiotic and recommended taking his temperature throughout the day to make sure the fever didn't return.
Waiting for my bill, I noticed a myriad of Trifexis signs all over, but didn't even think that this could be the cause. Neither did any of the doctors, apparently, as it wasn't mentioned even once after I told them during the consultation that he'd been given Trifexis only days earlier. I quickly became suspecting of this drug after only a Google search and about 15 minutes of reading. I find it kind of hard to believe that an issue of such large scale goes unnoticed by a veterinary practice. Who knows.
Needless to say I've learned a lot about these toxic drugs since then and I'd never recommend this or any other "heartworm preventative" to anyone else.

OMG, Andrew's story about his dog having seizures as a result of applying this flea control chemical brings tears to my eyes. And then I feel the terrible sadness spread as I think about all the unconscious people who buy this chemical and use it on their dogs because they love them and want to prevent them from getting sick. This is truly upsetting.
I'm going to post a link to this article on the doggie listservs I'm a member of. We've got to spread the word. Thank you, Dr. Falconer, for these illuminating yet shocking exposés. Makes me wonder what kind of world we live in.

Excellent article. Our young healthy dog recently began having severe cluster seizures, each time after administering Trifexis. The most recent one continued unbroken for over an hour as we raced to get her to the 24 hour Vet ER.
This last seizure was only 13 hours after giving her oral Trifexis, and we have eliminated all other possible causes of accidental poisoning in the environment. It can only be the Trifexis. And looking back, we found each seizure occurred shortly after giving her Trifexis. Cause and effect seem undeniable here.
Our vet is now reconsidering the safety of using Trifexis, which he says is pushed by the Elanco sales reps far more aggressively than most other pharmaceuticals.
We have had time now to research and reconsider the mounting evidence against Trifexis. Elanco's attitude does not inspire confidence. I've seen Trifexis called 'the Agent Orange of pet drugs' in an online Amazon review of Trifexis. I will never give Trifexis or any other oral pesticide to our dog ever again. Thank you for spreading the word online to other dog owners.

You said it better than I ever could. Succinct, factual, and exposing Elanco's whole bogus "necropsy defense." If you are interested, one of our puppy owners taped a 40 minute conversation with Elanco, and is transcribing it for me now. It contains a few more surprising statements by the makers of Trifexis (including advocating giving it to a 3-lb dog, and saying that there have not been 700 deaths). And if folks really doubt the facts stated in the excellent article above - CALL Trifexis (1-877-352-6261) and ask them point blank: "What exactly WOULD be the necropsy findings IF the dogs did die of Trifexis?"
Two things that scare the bejesus out of me are 1) How many non-reported deaths/illnesses have occurred - simply because the owners or attending vets didn't make the connection between Trifexis and the deaths/illnesses? (My guess is in the thousands) and 2) Spinosad, the insecticide which I suspect is the main culprit has been approved as an "organic insecticide" and is being sprayed on our grocery store produce - the rationalization being "that it completely breaks down in 24 hours." (!) (and yet it protects a dog from fleas for 30 days).
Anyway, congrats on an absolutely excellent article - which I hope will be read by every dog owner.