[Megora]

Novartis Animal Health Halts Production of Various Drugs for Pets | Steve Dale's Pet World

I just saw this pop up - and I'm PANICKING because I prefer to give my dog oral wormers vs topical.

This affects Interceptor, Sentinel....

Assuming this is not going to clear up before spring, what alternatives do I have that would have the same coverage as Sentinel (no more, no less)?

 

[Dallas Gold]

Wow, I'm surprised there isn't more publicity about this.

I just picked up my year's supply of Interceptor. Now I wonder about the quality of it.

 

[Deber]

I too can't believe I haven't heard about this. My crew is on Heartguard for now, but Vet was talking about changing to Interceptor. Wonder what we will do now??

Please keep this thread going until we hear some answers. Very concern about this.

 

[Dallas Gold]

The odd thing is last week I got an email from Novartis reminding me to get a refill because I only had a dose left! So I went on the website and there is NOTHING on there about an issue. So strange. Toby has an acupuncture appointment today so I'll ask the vet if I can remember to ask! If the staff member in charge of ordering and maintaining medications is there I'll ask her because she has a ton of information on these things! She was the person who told me eye medication prices were about to skyrocket due to market consolidation.

 

[Maggies mom]

My vet told me about this last week,While this is going on, members who have dogs that have Seizures DO NOT give them Trifexis. when this product came out I spoke to one of the Reps, while at my vets, and he said This product shouldnt be given to any animal prone to seizures.

 

[Rainheart]

I heard about this through my dog trainer... I have 4 months left of interceptor. I don't really want to use heartguard since it doesn't protect against whipworms (and those are nasty to deal with)...
My vet doesn't carry much besides those and Revolution and Iverheart.

 

[Dallas Gold]

Interesting, this is the website and at a quick glance I see nothing about this on the company's own website. hmmmm, sure hope the company isn't trying to bury this thing in hopes of trying not to create pet owner panic. Of course the poor veterinarians left to explain this to clients....and what about those people who take their dog to the vet once a year and don't hear about this? BAD PR move IMO.

Novartis Animal Health US, Inc.

Edit: I assume from the lack of information regarding pet products that there is not a recall of pet medications at this point, but they are just stopping production at the Lincoln facility until they can get their act together for the human medications that were recalled? Basically, they shut the plant down and there may be further recall notices, but as for now, the medications we have on hand for our dogs are still OK to use, until further notice?

 

[Cathy's Gunner]

I just sent an email to my vet to see what she knows. I may not hear back from her till later if she is busy today. She usually checks email when things slow down or the end of her day.

 

[Megora]

Edit: I assume from the lack of information regarding pet products that there is not a recall of pet medications at this point, but they are just stopping production at the Lincoln facility until they can get their act together for the human medications that were recalled? Basically, they shut the plant down and there may be further recall notices, but as for now, the medications we have on hand for our dogs are still OK to use, until further notice?

That's the gist I got reading the article I attached above. There is no recall. I would not be concerned about giving your pet the meds you have right now.

I was actually wondering, because prior to seeing the above article, I'd read about Novartis having financial issues. At the time I did not connect the name "Novartis" with the dog meds....

Oh, I read about this too...

http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/...lth-of-the-public/20120111novartisrecall.html

 

[Deber]

Cathy let us know what your Vet says...and suggests. Honestly wanted to change to something that would cover everything, but if it gets in short supply the price will go out the ceiling I know. My Vet will not be in until Tuesday and will call and see what she says.

 

[Sweet Girl]

Argh. My dog is on Deramaxx and her heartworm treatment is Sentinel. What's not clear to me is how many facilities they have - as in, is this going to really affect availability? Or will they up production at other facilities to make up for the Lincoln plant. I am very glad I JUST refilled Tee's Deramaxx perscription, so we have 3 months worth.

 

[Rainheart]

My dog trainer told me to stock up... so I would (at least on HWP). It sounds like they won't be shipping any of that out anymore.

 

[Sally's Mom]

We got a letter about this from Novartis dated 1/5/2012. You can use Heartgard Plus, but it doesn't get whip worms. In Maine anyway, whip worms are not usually a big problem.

 

[Sally's Mom]

And yes, it is the human side of things at the same plant that has halted vet product production. The vet product does not have any issues.

 

[Dallas Gold]

And yes, it is the human side of things at the same plant that has halted vet product production. The vet product does not have any issues.

I just hope when I open up the protective cover on the Interceptor pills each month I don't find a Gas-X in place of the HW med! :uhoh: There are real consequences if there are mistakes with some of these meds. Hopefully they kept the human production on a different line than the animal production, but I guess we won't know unless the FDA comes out with a report on it.

My take away is look at every pill you take yourself or give your loved ones or animals. If it looks different, is a different color or something is chipped or broken, call your veterinarian (or pharmacist in human situations). I get Toby's blood pressure meds from a human pharmacy and we recently went to a 3 month supply from a one month supply. When I opened the bottle the pills were white, instead of blue, like they were in the blister packs they give for one month dosing. I called the pharmacy, spoke to the pharmacist and asked if I should be concerned and she said no, they were the same pill, same dosage, just from a different manufacturer (generics, ugh). I'm still glad I called!

 

[hubbub]

VIN News Article

Thank you for posting the information.

I just found this article:

Novartis temporarily suspends production of Interceptor, Sentinel - VIN

I hope this part is true:

McDermott (head of communications for Novartis Animal Health in North America) noted that the changes are being made "voluntarily." The company hopes to resume its regular production schedule sometime in January.

"We're hoping this will be very temporary," he said.

 

[A1Malinois]

I use Revolution but my other one is on Interceptor and I have yet to hear about this . I am not happy.

I cant use anything with Ivermectin in it as both my breeds are at risk for the MDR1 in fact one has the mutation.

 

[Dallas Gold]

Just got back from Toby's acupuncture appointment at his regular veterinary clinic. They are stocked up just fine, if it is a temporary situation, and the vet that saw Toby told me that usually the production lines for animal and human are indeed separate, more often than not in different buildings entirely. We then got into a discussion about dog food manufacturers (particularly one, that I will not name here, but is mentioned as being one of the "better ones") that claim they manufacture a single source protein food for sensitive dogs, but have their foods made in multiple plants around the country where they don't have good controls and the food manufacture is shifted among different products without thorough disinfection and cleaning of the machinery. The single source of course will pick up whatever was produced before so it sort of negates the claim of a single source protein :doh:.

I'm not worried for now, unless and until there is a FDA closure or recall.

 

[3goldens]

I stocked up But I was also told they will be back in production soon. Apparently they shut down to thoroughly decontaminate the plant because of the gas x and others recall.

I have an aussie who is mutant/mutant for mdr1 . I did contact Dr Mealey at WSU (who did the testing on my dog) to ask about this and what would happen if I can't get interceptor. She replied by telling me even tho I have a mutant/mutant dog I could use the Heartguard in lower doses. I am not real comfortable doing that tho, so was able to stock up on the interceptor.

 

[fuzzbuzz]

Last Thursday I stopped to pick up Interceptor for the boys, 51-100 lbs. My vet didn't have any and I had to get Sentinel, got the last 2 pills! Told me to check with them in two weeks, they should have more.