Once again we have a post inspired by social media! Last week thousands of people were sharing a post with the headline “FDA FINALLY ADMITS DANGERS OF FLEA/TICK PREVENTIONS!”, with the article attached. Naturally, I opened the link and read the FDA report. So let’s be clear, the FDA did not “finally admit” anything. The link provided was published in August 2023 and simply listed products containing Isoxazoline and included the warning from the manufacturer that states products including Isoxazoline may cause illness and seizures. The FDA also stated that it considers these products to be safe and included information for each manufacturer and how to contact them if you have any issues with using the product for your pet.
You are probably thinking, “but Mel, this is the FDA admitting there is an issue”. Sure. However, no medication makes it into circulation without a warning label and list of possible side effects. Flea/Tick medications are no exception. So ultimately, Isoxazoline products possibly causing seizures in pets is not new information and it’s fairly insignificant statistically speaking in the grand scheme of things. There was a drug trial before the products were put on the market and side effects have been documented for decades. The fact is, when you use flea/tick or heartworm prevention, you are using a pesticide. So yes, you are either applying a pesticide onto your pets skin or allowing them to ingest it.
If you are concerned with the safety of these products and wish to use something more natural, that is your choice to make. Please consider where you live and the risks fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes pose to your pets. I’m the first to admit that I did not routinely use preventions on my dogs for years when we lived in New Mexico. It just simply wasn’t necessary in our area. We never once saw a flea or tick on our dogs in New Mexico and I never had to help treat a heartworm positive dog in that state. During our years in Connecticut however, flea/tick prevention was a MUST. I was seeing flea infested patients multiple times a day. Finding dozens of ticks crawling on my dogs, myself, and in my home weekly during peak tick season. Lyme, anaplasma, ehrlichia, and heartworms are a serious problem in the state of Connecticut. So for me, using prevention on my dogs and cats while living in Connecticut, was a no-brainer.
Limiting Your Pets Exposure
Maybe you live in an area or have a lifestyle that limits your pets exposure to fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes. What are your options?
- Get a fine-toothed comb and comb out your pets daily. Even with my pets on preventions, there were days in CT when the ticks were so bad I was combing them out of my dogs fur daily. Keep in mind, preventions are not repellants. The flea or tick must bite your pet in order to die. You may still find them crawling on your pets fur or even attached and dead.
- Get rid of any standing water around your home. Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes; whether in a watering can for the garden, a dip in the yard that always seems to be wet, or the stagnant edges of a pond.
- Make sure the areas of your yard that are frequented by the dogs are clear of tall grass, leaf litter, and piled up branches. If fleas or ticks are going to grab onto your dogs, it will likely happen when they are rummaging through piles of yard debris or walking through taller grass.
- If you need to spray your yard, I’d recommend trying Wondercide Cedar Spray. It’s made from cedarwood oil and is a hundred times safer than chemical sprays. I’d recommend spraying your yard before the sun comes up or in the evening after sunset. You wouldn’t want to accidentally spray your bumblebees. I wasn’t sure Wondercide would work but after several days of finding ticks crawling in my house, I decided to give it a try. I saw an immediate difference. Avoid chemical sprays whenever possible. Chemical sprays will leech into your soil, killing the beneficial insects, contaminate your vegetable garden, and could poison your pets and wildlife.
- Several plants have shown promise in repelling fleas, ticks, and mosquitos. It may be a good idea to include these plants in your garden. Many studies are being conducted to find an effective means to prevent insect bites to combat the malaria issue that many countries are unsuccessfully dealing with. Plants that have shown promise in these studies include lavender, camphor, catnip, geranium, jasmine, eucalyptus, lemongrass, amyris, carotin, cedarwood, chamomile, cinnamon, juniper, cajeput, soya bean, rosemary, olive, and violet. So get to planting!
Many of my veterinary friends are probably rolling their eyes and thinking “just give the damn preventions!”, but nothing is without consequence. Just last year a study revealed that insecticides used in pet flea preventions were found in 99% of river water samples collected across England. That’s concerning. The chemicals are entering your pets body and then being released into the environment in chemically recognizable form. The body is not breaking down and eliminating these products. This could have disastrous effects on wildlife and also means those pesticides are ending up in your food and water supply as well.
I do believe that flea/tick and heartworm preventions have their benefits and are incredibly useful. They have saved the lives of thousands, if not millions, of pets. A flea infestation can kill your pet. In fact, recently there was a cat that was unsuccessfully being treated for anemia that was caused by a flea infestation. The owner refused to put “chemical” pesticides on her cat and refused to use chemicals in her home to fix her flea infestation. As a consequence of her choice, her cat is slowly dying. The anemia could easily be corrected and the cat could recover if the owner chooses to treat her home and cat for the flea infestation. Unfortunately, this is a situation where the human’s judgment is clouded by their strong beliefs and opinions.
To wrap this up, yes, the FDA understands that there are risks to flea/tick/heartworm preventions and wants you to know about it. Yes, there is a warning either on the package itself or in the insert for the products you are using that will explain the risks and possible side effects and may even tell you the statistics from their drug trials. Yes, there are alternatives, but these alternatives should only be used when your pet’s life is not at stake. Not to mention the alternatives must be conducted daily, not monthly or every three months like the FDA approved products. Stay tuned for my next post. I’ll explain when traditional preventions should not be used and cover some alternative options.
