At emergency vet until 3am because of PROMERIS

[LeilaNami]

I had to rush my dog to the vet last night. One of my vets sold me Promeris flea and tick control which I applied and 24 hours later my dog started acting strange. We were going to bed and she started having head tremors. I've had dogs with epilepsy before but this looked more like an idiopathic head tremor. I took her to the ER because I was afraid it was drug toxicity since I've never used Promeris before and it turns out I was correct. Apparently the active ingredient amitraz was causing my dog to have a reaction. According to my vet, collie breeds, such as my ACD, can be sensitive to amitraz due to it blocking signal pathways and becoming trapped. She also said dogs sensitive to amitraz could also be sensitive to ivermectin which would indicate to me that the same MDR-1 receptor mutation might be responsible. It's well known collie breeds and other herding breeds have severe reactions to ivermectin and similar drugs but I had no idea about amitraz. She had to receive antisedan as an antidote and is now being watched carefully. Luckily it seems it wasn't severe toxicity and she only needed one does of antisedan.

I did some further digging on Promeris and it seems many dogs and cats are having severe reactions to Promeris despite the company touting it as less toxic than other flea and tick meds. I would caution anyone who is using this product for the first time.

 

[pitbulllady]

Many primitive or "pariah" breeds, like Akita Inus and Carolina Dogs, are also sensitive to many of the main components of topical flea-tick meds, and since the ACD has Australian Dingo, as well as Collie, in its background, that would not surprise me for one to have a reaction. Hopefully your dog will be OK after her ordeal.

pitbulllady

 

[jayefbe]

I'm glad to hear your dog is doing ok. I've never heard of breed specific reactions to medication before. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

 

[LeilaNami]

Thanks to both of you. It's been nearly 12 hours since the first antisedan dose should have worn off and so far so good. She's acting normally and has had no further head tremors.

Edit: She's had no reaction to Capstar or Frontline which is why it surprised me when the reaction was so strong with Promeris. Then again, they use different ingredients.

 

[The Snark]

This is a blast from the past. We had a terrible problem in So. Calif. of red spider mites wiping out the Aleppo pine. The usual method of control at that time was sulfur and slaked lime. Then along came the rather powerful insecticide Amitraz which worked well. Now, many years down the road they are feeding that stuff to pets?

Hoping your critter recovers uneventfully.

 

[LeilaNami]

This is a blast from the past. We had a terrible problem in So. Calif. of red spider mites wiping out the Aleppo pine. The usual method of control at that time was sulfur and slaked lime. Then along came the rather powerful insecticide Amitraz which worked well. Now, many years down the road they are feeding that stuff to pets?

Hoping your critter recovers uneventfully.

Sure are. It's an active ingredient in a lot of dips, flea collars, and topical flea and tick applications. Usually toxicity of Amitraz happens because of ingestion such as an animal eating its flea collar. My ACD experienced the reaction through purely dermal exposure.

 

[The Snark]

Off the subject a little here. One of the firefighters dogs joined our drill and managed to get soaked with wet water from our pumper. The dog had a constant and severe infestation of fleas. The fleas vanished. So at her request wet did our next drill at her house and hosed down her kennels and back yard. Her flea problem was history.
I have no idea what is in the commercial grade surfactant we used as wet water, and I know a spill is considered requiring a haz mat response, but I have been wondering since that time why some version of it couldn't be used as flea and tick control. Any ideas, thoughts or info?

 

[sassysmama]

If your vet has not already done it, have them contact Fort Dodge (the makers of Promeris) to report this. Fort Dodge will most likely reimburse you for some or all of your vet bill. The vet clinic I work for does not carry or prescribe Promeris because of concerns about Amitraz, but I have contacted Fort Dodge for other issues and they have always covered the cost of treatment for side effects related to their products. I'm sorry your dog had a reaction, I hope she is feeling better.
-Ally

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

Please consider googling "Commercial grade surfactants" and "Wet water."
An awful lot of flea-plagued people might like to know what is in it.

By the way,if some dogs DO become sick from the use of "wet water" their vet will need to know what is in it.

Please consider getting some information on what it is.

Thank you.

Yours very truly,

Louise Esther Rothstein.

 

[The Snark]

Please consider googling "Commercial grade surfactants" and "Wet water."
An awful lot of flea-plagued people might like to know what is in it.

By the way,if some dogs DO become sick from the use of "wet water" their vet will need to know what is in it.

Please consider getting some information on what it is.

Thank you.

Yours very truly,

Louise Esther Rothstein.

Now I'm seriously hijacking this thread. My apologies. We really need someone from hydrology to weigh in on this since this is vast field of science and there are numerous wetting agents out there.
To put it in simplified terms as explained to me in the fire department, people take water for granted and most don't understand it. A couple of aspects: First, water is not wet. It 'clumps together'. That is why we use soap, to break down it's surface tension. When fighting some fires, water coming out of the hose is big glops. We add wet water and... oh crap, now I'm explaining fire management science. Anyway, ordinary water is not wet enough to drown small insects. Make it wet and as the dog's fleas, they drowned. Second, water does not conduct electricity and is in fact an electrical insulator. It needs to be 'contaminated' by some chemical that contains free ions. Add chlorine or salt or whatever and it conducts. Thus rain on high voltage wires doesn't short the wires out. Odd stuff. The problem is, hydrologists don't speak any known comprehensible language to explain the stuff to slow motion brains like mine.