Heads up on Promeris - product warning

    • Gold Top Dog

    Heads up on Promeris - product warning

     I got the following email on another board. Did a quick web search about Fort Dodge's new flea and tick product called Promeris - and apparently there are a lot of adverse reactions cropping up. Aside from the vomitting and lethargy, other reports I found where bleached hair at the site of application, swollen face and hives, and several vet techs having to go to the ER due to reactions after applying the stuff. Apparently it also smells horrible!

     So, just a heads up. I know all dogs are different, but these reactions are horrible. Doesn't make me trust Fort Dodge either - not after the ProHeart6 stuff and my girl's reactions to the rabies vaccines made by them.

    Oh, I did do a search on here, and found two post from last year. Callie mentioned that amitraz is what is in the mitaban dip - good info from her and Janet in this old post (http://community.dog.com/forums/p/65039/511692.aspx#511692).

    Hi Everyone- the following message is from a very good friend.  If you don't have a pet, please pass this on to anyone you know you may have a cat or dog....very important.

    This is Jo and this is a very important message to my family & friends who have dogs-cats--and to alert you to the hazard of using a new Flea & Tick Preventative called ProMerishttp: //www.promeris. com/consumer/ .

    This is a new product designed to be a more effective product than other flea/tick treatments that was just released this year. It is available thru a vet and not currently on-line. I got ProMeris this week for my 7 dogs (6 Huskies & 1 Golden-Airedale) , and the results were debilitating for nearly all of them-including me. Since my incident this week, my vet has pulled it from distribution and alerted the manufacturer, Fort Dodge.

    Here are my results: Within less than 2 hours after applying, 4 of my dogs had vomited from 2-4 times, 3 were disoriented and stumbling, 1 was dragging his back leg, 1 was salivating. I had very similar symptoms like an allergic reaction-my lips were swollen, eyes very red, mucous membranes such as eyes, nose, and mouth were stinging. I was very disoriented- dizzy equilibrium and not able to drive. To make this a short story-all 7 of my dogs were admitted to the hospital for veterinarian care, and 3 of them remained for care, IV fluids and observation for 24 hours. I was in the emergency room. I'm home now and so are the dogs. We're all feeling much better. Vet bills were
    over $2,500 and Fort Dodge is paying for these. Not only can the product cause this reaction, it has a highly noxious odor that permeated the house and is just starting to dissipate after 3 days.

    Your dogs/cats might not have the same reaction, but given my experience-I wanted to help you all become well-educated about the product.

    Ann Addison
    Argenta Toy Poodles
    Columbia, South Carolina
    canicheaa@earthlink .net
    • Gold Top Dog

    What's in Promeris?

    • Gold Top Dog
    • ProMeris Duo is the only product available from a veterinarian that contains the active flea control ingredient, metaflumizone.
    • This new compound features an exclusive mode of action that attacks fleas’ nervous system by blocking neuronal sodium channels, which results in paralysis and death of the flea.
    • In addition to metaflumizone, ProMeris Duo for dogs contains a second active ingredient, amitraz, to provide broad-spectrum control of 5 tick species 
    http://www.promeris.com/
    • Gold Top Dog

    Oh lovely -- let's take a proven carcnogen that's literally outlawed in MANY states and make it a staple in a new flea med!!

     Promeris has two drugs in it -- metaflumizone and amitraz.

    metaflumizone is a 'new' drug -- and I haven't read enough about it yet to know how absorbed it is or anything.  But I can tell you a TON about amitraz!

     Amitraz is what's in Mitaban and Tacktic (they use that on farm animals to kill parasites)

    The problem with Amitraz is that it messes with the insulin levels of the body. 

    you can't touch amitraz if you have diabetes or if you take MAO-inhibitors -- nor can you give it to a diabetic animal.

     You shouldn't touch amitraz period ... not at all, not ever.  I wouldn't want to PET a dog with amitraz on it.  It's a known carcinogen.  Big time.

    My english cocker Muffin -- the one who died of renal failure -- my vet figures his mast cell cancer was *caused* by the frequent mitaban use Muffin went thru because of the demodex he had.  The primary mast cell tumor was in his foot -- where he would have absorbed the amitraz from standing in the dip. 

    There are a lot of states that won't allow amitraz to be SOLD to owners.  If you want your dog to be treated with amitraz for demodex the vet has to do it -- very few states actually allow amitraz to be dispensed to an owner.  How Ft. Dodge is getting around this I don't know. 

    From the website it looks like this stuff has a special "applicator". 

    I don't know what's in metaflumizone but no way would I use this stuff on a dog.  NO WAY. 

    Not just because of the potential problem for the DOG in an adverse reaction -- but no way would I want to be exposed to the amitraz just in petting the dog!! 

    I'm sure it's got a horrid scent -- I've handled tons of the stuff -- I always wore huge thick rubber gloves past my elbows -- open windows.  etc.  and *I* always felt sick after I had to dip Muffin.

    I've seen it kill.  It's nasty nasty stuff.  It has it's uses -- but man, can they react badly to it.  So can the humans.

    I'm not kidding and I want to make a HUGE point of it -- DON'T HANDLE THIS STUFF if you are diabetic yourself, or if you are taking MAO Inhibitors (like Prozac or the like). 

    I know how hidden these warnings tend to be in the Amitraz/Mitaban literature -- but man, the first vet that sold me Amitraz all those years ago MADE ME READ IT. 

    And btw -- yes, this stuff goes into the bloodstream -- I've seen dogs be Unbelievably lethargic after getting dipped.  I've honestly seen dogs die.  It zooms right in to the bloodstream.

    I will see what I can find out about metaflumizone but just from the standpoint that Promeris has amitraz in it, boy -- I wouldn't use it on a bet!

    • Gold Top Dog

    Bottom-line, if it's from Fort Dodge & I'm aware of it, I will have NOTHING to do with it.

    • Gold Top Dog
    I'm not kidding and I want to make a HUGE point of it -- DON'T HANDLE THIS STUFF if you are diabetic yourself, or if you are taking MAO Inhibitors (like Prozac or the like). 

    Just wanted to clarify that Prozac is not an MAOI, it's an SSRI and this medication does not have any contraindications with SSRI's. It is exceedingly rare to use an MAOI on anyone and in fact most are not even made anymore. It's a medications that is of historical significance because of all it's intersting drug interastions but it hasn't been used routinely for over 25 years. Just didn't want anyone who uses this and takes prozac to think it's a contraindication. As for the reaction with diabetics, it has been shown in studies to cause hyperglycemia in animals. You should not use it on a diabetic animal and avoid handling it, but it won't kill you. A vet board I frequent has a thread about this medication. It seems that in the vet circles there are a fair amount of reported reactions such as drowsyness or itching, but no deaths. Just be careful guys trusting case reports on the net that have no way of being verified. Not that I would use this product, I just think the information we present or post should be correct

    • Gold Top Dog

    We used it for a short while at the shelter, while no cats became very ill from it - most lost all the hair at the application site. It left a horrible filmy white caking on the hair, and then proceeded to all fall out.

    I would never use this on my own animals, and I encourage others to not use is as well.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Thanks for this information.  This is why I don't like to try anything new...would prefer that's been on the market for a long while before I try it.  My vet had just recently told me about Promeris and another new one and I was curious about it.  I stayed with the FL+

    • Gold Top Dog

    Yea... we returned all of our supply. We have switched over to using Vectra 3d and it seems to be working really well so far. No bad side-affects noted yet!

    • Gold Top Dog

    I'm always skeptical of "the sky is falling" emails like this. I received this same email about 15 x yesterday from all different types of sources. With something that is spread that far and wide, there's no way of knowing if the info is legit or not.

    I'm not promoting Promeris or anything (I haven't used it and won't use it), I'm just saying to view this with a skeptical eye - like anything else you read on the internet. 

    • Gold Top Dog
    Yep, I try to take everything with a grain of salt, *but* I 'know' Erica and if she's not using it, I wouldn't either.

    That, and, yeah, it's made by Fort Dodge :/

    • Gold Top Dog

    Jewlieee

    I'm always skeptical of "the sky is falling" emails like this. I received this same email about 15 x yesterday from all different types of sources. With something that is spread that far and wide, there's no way of knowing if the info is legit or not.

    I agree and wondered the same when I read it.  It made me think it could have been written by a marketing competitor.  It did work however to enstill my philosophy of "wait a while, before using anything new on my dogs."

    • Gold Top Dog

    Jewlieee

    I'm always skeptical of "the sky is falling" emails like this. I received this same email about 15 x yesterday from all different types of sources. With something that is spread that far and wide, there's no way of knowing if the info is legit or not.

    I just got an EXACT copy of this email ---only the name at the bottom is different. The email on this forum has Ann Addison (poodles) at the bottom and the one I saw had a welsh terrier person and has been sent to email groups and is on another forum. http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/acslinda/vpost?id=2638387

    I think the email is anonymous and the names we keep seeing at the bottom are people who are passing it on and have not had this problem themselves.

    Wink Seriously when I read the email this morning I was like "6 huskies and a golden-airedale cross???? and she breeds welsh terriers???"

    This product was tested on dogs. It was tested at regular dosage levels plus 3x and 5x the recommended dosage, plus ingesting 10% of a dose to see what would happen if a dog licked at the application spot.

    Here is a summary of one study I found at PUBMED ("A service of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.";) I am sure OTTOLUV could explain it allBig Smile but it looks to me that in this study they found that larger (3x and 5x) dosages caused "very mild, transient hyperglycemia"  and the train wreck of symptoms described in the email didn't happen to the beagles. (see below)

    I know some breeds are more sensitive to certain drugs and chemicals----I am NOT saying that no dogs have gotten sick from this or that I would bathe in it. I'm just trying to share information Geeked cause I'm a geek and that's what I do. LOL

    Four laboratory studies were conducted in Beagle dogs to evaluate the safety of a novel ectoparasiticide combination of metaflumizone plus amitraz (ProMeris/ProMeris Duo for Dogs, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Overland Park, KS) when applied according to the recommended dosage of >/=20mgmetaflumizonekg(-1) plus >/=20mgamitrazkg(-1), at exaggerated and repeated dosages, and if accidentally orally ingested. Parameters evaluated included body weight, food consumption, clinical, physical and neurological examinations, clinical pathology and gross and microscopic pathology. Exaggerated and repeated topical treatment with metaflumizone plus amitraz administered at 1x, 3x and 5x the recommended dose had no effect on clinical findings, heart rates, body weight, food consumption, physical/neurological examinations, macroscopic and microscopic pathology. Very slight, transient, clinically insignificant increases in serum urea nitrogen were noted in some dogs treated at all dose rates tested. This effect was not persistent, was not dose-responsive, nor aggravated by repeated applications and was not associated with a corresponding increase in creatinine or renal pathology. Therefore, these increases in urea nitrogen were suspected to be of non-renal origin and were not considered toxicologically significant. Exaggerated doses (3x and 5x) caused very mild, transient hyperglycemia, most notably in some adult females. Transient and inconsistently noted mild increases in leukocytes, neutrophils and monocytes were observed in some 3x and 5x treated dogs at some intervals. None of the effects noted were aggravated by repeated administration. When 10% of the recommended topical dose was orally administered to mimic exposure due to licking the application, avoidance behaviors including spitting, head shaking, and salivation were noted immediately in all animals. Consequently, voluntary oral ingestion is considered unlikely. Transient decreased activity, slightly reduced body temperature and pale oral mucous membranes were noted in some animals beginning 1-2h posttreatment. Ataxia, resolving within 4h posttreatment, was noted in one female. Oral administration had no effect on clinical pathology. Results from these four studies indicate repeated use of metaflumizone plus amitraz causes no adverse health effects when used as recommended in dogs as young as 8 weeks of age.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17928149?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    polarexpress

    Jewlieee

    I'm always skeptical of "the sky is falling" emails like this. I received this same email about 15 x yesterday from all different types of sources. With something that is spread that far and wide, there's no way of knowing if the info is legit or not.

    I just got an EXACT copy of this email ---only the name at the bottom is different. The email on this forum has Ann Addison (poodles) at the bottom and the one I saw had a welsh terrier person and has been sent to email groups and is on another forum. http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/acslinda/vpost?id=2638387

    I think the email is anonymous and the names we keep seeing at the bottom are people who are passing it on and have not had this problem themselves.

    Wink Seriously when I read the email this morning I was like "6 huskies and a golden-airedale cross???? and she breeds welsh terriers???"

    This product was tested on dogs. It was tested at regular dosage levels plus 3x and 5x the recommended dosage, plus ingesting 10% of a dose to see what would happen if a dog licked at the application spot.

    Here is a summary of one study I found at PUBMED ("A service of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.";) I am sure OTTOLUV could explain it allBig Smile but it looks to me that in this study they found that larger (3x and 5x) dosages caused "very mild, transient hyperglycemia"  and the train wreck of symptoms described in the email didn't happen to the beagles. (see below)

    I know some breeds are more sensitive to certain drugs and chemicals----I am NOT saying that no dogs have gotten sick from this or that I would bathe in it. I'm just trying to share information Geeked cause I'm a geek and that's what I do. LOL

    Four laboratory studies were conducted in Beagle dogs to evaluate the safety of a novel ectoparasiticide combination of metaflumizone plus amitraz (ProMeris/ProMeris Duo for Dogs, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Overland Park, KS) when applied according to the recommended dosage of >/=20mgmetaflumizonekg(-1) plus >/=20mgamitrazkg(-1), at exaggerated and repeated dosages, and if accidentally orally ingested. Parameters evaluated included body weight, food consumption, clinical, physical and neurological examinations, clinical pathology and gross and microscopic pathology. Exaggerated and repeated topical treatment with metaflumizone plus amitraz administered at 1x, 3x and 5x the recommended dose had no effect on clinical findings, heart rates, body weight, food consumption, physical/neurological examinations, macroscopic and microscopic pathology. Very slight, transient, clinically insignificant increases in serum urea nitrogen were noted in some dogs treated at all dose rates tested. This effect was not persistent, was not dose-responsive, nor aggravated by repeated applications and was not associated with a corresponding increase in creatinine or renal pathology. Therefore, these increases in urea nitrogen were suspected to be of non-renal origin and were not considered toxicologically significant. Exaggerated doses (3x and 5x) caused very mild, transient hyperglycemia, most notably in some adult females. Transient and inconsistently noted mild increases in leukocytes, neutrophils and monocytes were observed in some 3x and 5x treated dogs at some intervals. None of the effects noted were aggravated by repeated administration. When 10% of the recommended topical dose was orally administered to mimic exposure due to licking the application, avoidance behaviors including spitting, head shaking, and salivation were noted immediately in all animals. Consequently, voluntary oral ingestion is considered unlikely. Transient decreased activity, slightly reduced body temperature and pale oral mucous membranes were noted in some animals beginning 1-2h posttreatment. Ataxia, resolving within 4h posttreatment, was noted in one female. Oral administration had no effect on clinical pathology. Results from these four studies indicate repeated use of metaflumizone plus amitraz causes no adverse health effects when used as recommended in dogs as young as 8 weeks of age.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17928149?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA

     

     Your assessment is correct and I'm glad there is another "geek" around ;)  Something is fishy about the emails to me as well.  I just think if one is to spread information, it should be correct if at all possible.  I think erica's info to me is much more important then a chain email or a bunch of hysteria about the medication which is incorrect and contrary to available medical literature.  I'd actually be a little leary of trying it based off of her info.

    • Gold Top Dog

    I didn't even consider that it could be a hoax.  Geez....but Fort Dodge does have some angry former customers lurking about and for good reasons.  And yep could be a competitor passing that off too.  I stuck with Advantix since we had no problems with it last year. A couple of stray ticks the whole summer considering we are in the woods daily that wasn't so bad.