[bear_42]

I have called around and no one has Interceptor. I have been reading on the forums that they are no longer making it, and I am out of Interceptor. My Vet did recommend Trifexis but I am just not sure about this one. They told me to get this stuff last year but when I read the many reviews, I didn't like what I saw. I am now at a crossroad where, I have no choice, but to get Trifexis. Are there any other options left?

I have a Blue Healer or an Australian Cattle Dog(AKC) and he is little over 3 years old.

 

[ladyshadowhollyjc]

Trifexis has interceptor in it, but it is combined with a flea prevention (comfortis). It works well, and many of our clients are happy with it. Our most common complaint is that some dogs don't like the flavor. If I treated for fleas every month I would use it.
If you aren't interested in it, you can look into a topical like Advantage-Multi (which treats for fleas, heartworms, and intestinal parasites). There is also heartgard, which should also be ok.

 

[kafkabeetle]

Yeah, Trifexis has the same active ingredient that's in Interceptor, but it also treats fleas. Our vet is offering it in place of Interceptor as well (which is what we used to use) but because she's never been prone to getting fleas I went with Iverhart Plus instead since it's cheaper. It has the same active ingredient as Heartguard. I'm actually picking it up at the vet this Friday. I made a thread about this recently if you want to search it. I got a lot of good responses.

EDIT: Actually, here it is. I remembered it had a stupid title that might be hard to search. ;p

 

[Stephie]

That I know of, Interceptor is not discontinued. It is on manufacturer backorder and has been for months. They are shipping limited supplies to vets offices and you should be able to get a 1 month supply at a time. At least, this is the case in my area.

 

[bear_42]

Trifexis has interceptor in it, but it is combined with a flea prevention (comfortis). It works well, and many of our clients are happy with it. Our most common complaint is that some dogs don't like the flavor. If I treated for fleas every month I would use it.
If you aren't interested in it, you can look into a topical like Advantage-Multi (which treats for fleas, heartworms, and intestinal parasites). There is also heartgard, which should also be ok.

I have read in the past that comfortis has problems and should stay away from it because of being AKC.

 

[kafkabeetle]

That I know of, Interceptor is not discontinued. It is on manufacturer backorder and has been for months. They are shipping limited supplies to vets offices and you should be able to get a 1 month supply at a time. At least, this is the case in my area.

My vet says they will no longer carry it, but I assume they've just decided to stop ordering because of the problems.

I have read in the past that comfortis has problems and should stay away from it because of being AKC.

Because your dog is a herder? I think that's an issue with Ivermectin (what's in Heartguard) so Trifexis would be ok since it has the same ingredient as Interceptor. I don't think that's a problem for ACD's though, only collies. I have no idea about Comfortis, though. I wasn't aware of any specific breeds having issues with it.

 

[Poly]

I have called around and no one has Interceptor. I have been reading on the forums that they are no longer making it, and I am out of Interceptor. .

That isn't quite accurate. The manufacturer (Novartis) had to temporarily close it's Nebraska plant to fix some quality control issues with the (human) medications that were manufactured there.

It just happens that this is the same plant where they make Interceptor. So even though there weren't any issues with that product, they obviously can't resume making it until the plant reopens.

They have never indicated that they are discontinuing Interceptor.

 

[dagwall]

Guess I'm going to have to figure out what I want to do myself very soon. Jubel just took his last interceptor about a week ago and sounds like I won't be able to get more from the vet. I think they've switched over to trifexis because I've gotten a few promotional mailers for trifexis from the vets.

Personally I don't want to switch to trifexis because I'll still need to continue with the frontline for tick prevention and don't want to double up on flea treatments. Sounds like (between the info in this thread and Kafka's) Heartguard, generic if possible, is the way to go.

 

[ladyshadowhollyjc]

I have read in the past that comfortis has problems and should stay away from it because of being AKC.

I'm not aware of any breed issues with Comfortis. The Ivermectin (which is what is the Heartgard) has been known to cause problems for herding breeds, but generally the amounts of Ivermectin in Heartgard aren't enough to do any harm. If you're concerned about that, you can always talk to your vet and they will be able to help you pick the best product.

As far as the Interceptor/Sentinal back order thing... we can't get any at all at our clinic. Basically we got a letter in the mail saying that those products as well as a few others were going to be on back order because one of the manufacturing plants closed. They didn't say why or when it'd be reopened and we could get the products again. Novartis is on my poop list. I really liked the Sentinal, personally.

 

[bear_42]

Thanks for all the info. I feel better about getting Trifexis. Does any one know when Interceptor is going to be made again?

 

[hamandeggs]

Novartis's Lincoln, Nebraska plant is the factory where Interceptor was/is made. It sounds like they had some pretty serious problems involving human medications --over the counter drugs (including things like Excedrin) were accidentally mixed up pills from another manufacturer, and the "oops" pills included opiate painkillers (e.g. Percocet). So your bottle of Excedrin might have included Percocet, or vice versa. There was a recall and you might have read about it -- same factory. Here's a link.

Novartis hasn't given any indication of when they're reopening the plant. It sounds like it could be quite awhile.

 

[lauren17]

My mom has had her dogs on Trifexis for awhile now. It seems to work fine for the two little dogs. Her dogs don't go out where they are going to get ticks like mine does. I've had to switch to Comfortis for flea medicine the last year because Frontline quit working and it seems ok except that it only works 3 weeks at the most instead of the full month. Now my vet is only selling Trifexis so I guess I'll be doing that for awhile but I'm not sure what to do about ticks. Last year I had to double up with frontline and comfortis because the ticks are so bad around here but I don't like doing that.

 

[Abbylynn]

My dogs are on a cocktail of Tri-Heart Plus ( has ivermectin and pyrantel in it) and Frontline Plus for the fleas and ticks ... per Vet.

I have also used Revolution in the past ... per Vet.

 

[Candydb]

Guess I'm going to have to figure out what I want to do myself very soon. Jubel just took his last interceptor about a week ago and sounds like I won't be able to get more from the vet. I think they've switched over to trifexis because I've gotten a few promotional mailers for trifexis from the vets.

Personally I don't want to switch to trifexis because I'll still need to continue with the frontline for tick prevention and don't want to double up on flea treatments. Sounds like (between the info in this thread and Kafka's) Heartguard, generic if possible, is the way to go.

Thats what I am switching to I am in the second month for my Schnauzer girl age 3 and the 6month old Berner gt his first dose Heartgard last week and I will Frontline them both this week-- we have bad ticks....

 

[Issibeth]

Yep, we ended up switching to Trifexis because of that problem with Novartis. It doesn't take care of ticks, but neither did Interceptor. It was either that or Advantage-Multi, which also doesn't take care of ticks, but I ended up going with Trifexis. I haven't had any issues with it so far (besides, I tend to be more concerned about flea prevention rather than tick prevention, but I currently have them wearing tick collar and am keeping them in doors for the most part given this supposedly tick-laden season). It's a tad more expensive, which I'm not too thrilled at, but I've been getting them from an online licensed pharmacy here- http://www.californiapetpharmacy.com/trifexis-heartworm-flea-prevention.html and that seems to take care of the cost problem for the most part.

That said, I'll be looking forward to returning to Interceptor once it's back on the market...whenever that is.

 

[bear_42]

Wow, I just bought Trifexis and it was $122 for a 6months supply. That is expensive. Before, I was doing Interceptor with Capstar and Program for flees. I can't do anything that is topical due to the fact that he is half herding and half agility dog. He is constantly in water to cool him off. We have a weekly tick check, so I hope that I catch most of the ticks before they become a problem.

 

[groomerwantabe]

I know at one time if you went on Trifexis website that they had a coupon for 10 off of 6 mon and 20 of 12 mon. I am try it with my schnauzer/ chihuahua mix. I am mainly worried about the fleas around since my kids seem to be a little allergic to their bite and its the only way i can keep her in side. so far it is working.