Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
jkl2009

Comfortis

jkl2009
15 years ago

I know many of you have used Comfortis with great results but I would like to share my use of the product with you so you can make an informed opinion before you decide to use it. I had 4 Shih Tzu girls & one of them likes to bathe my youngest one, so when my vet suggested using Comfortis I thought it might be safer than letting Brandy ingest the topical drug. I did consult with him about the side effects & he went over the pamphlet that he had from the Lilly Co..

I was concerned about the vomiting but there was nothing to indicate that there may be real danger involved when giving this drug to your pet.

I gave all 4 of them the Comfortis on 10-31-08 & Bacardi vomited 1 1/2 hours later but I did not remedicate because the pill was already digested.

2 weeks later she began vomiting & I took her to the emergency vet. They hospitalized her immediately & did the blood work & radiographs. Her liver levels were so high they could not accurately measure them & the radiographs showed an enlarged liver. She was in the hospital here - hooked up to an IV because she could not eat without vomiting. My attending vet asked if there was anything that could have caused her problem & the only thing different in her life was the Comfortis. My vet called the Lilly Co. & they said they had complaints of liver problems but there was always an underlying cause for the problem not related to their drug.

After 2 weeks of hospitalization my vet decided I should take Bacardi to Kansas State Vet Clinic for surgery. She survived the surgery but died 12-01-08 from cardiac arrest -she was only 9 years old.

It is my opinion that the Comfortis caused her problem & I would like the Lilly Co. to warn people that there are real dangers that could occur in some pets. I know that this would not help my little girl but it could save someone else.

Comments (27)

  • joepyeweed
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm sorry for the loss of your pet.

    Thanks for sharing your experience.

  • trinigemini
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sorry for the loss of your pet but it was very kind of you to come and warn others.

  • katyroadpink
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am so sorry for the loss of your pet and all you had to go through when it happened. Thank you for the warning about the possible consequences of Comfortis.

    I googled comfortis liver problems and saw that you were not the only one who has experienced this. More alarmingly, their own product label mentions that mild elevations in ALT occurs in all the dogs treated with Comfortis chewable tablets. ALT is the liver enzyme that they measure in blood tests and elevations are bad. Here's the link to the product label if anyone is interested:

    http://www.comfortis4dogs.com/_layouts/downloads/comfortis-product-label.pdf

    I was surprised to see the high number of dogs that suffered from other side effects, as well, but at least those weren't fatal, except for maybe the puppies mentioned in column three. The ALT statement is in the first paragraph in column three, BTW.

    After hearing your story and reading the product label, I am going to stay far, far away from this pesticide. Thanks again for getting the word out.

  • jena0525
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My dog Jessup passed away last week. My point in this e-mail is to pass the word along about what happened. There as been no direct explanation for his sudden passing, but I have my suspicions.
    Last Monday July 13, 2009, I took Jessup to the vet for his annual check up. He had his 3-year rabies shot, yearly physical and tests everything was perfect. There were no concerns by the vet at all for my 8-year-old mixed lab/chow dog. As I was leaving I remembered I needed more heartworm and flea medicine for him. They had a poster in the wai ting room for a new pill flea medicine called Comfortis. The vet said as long as Jessup has not had a history of seizure or heart issues he should do well with this flea medication. Jessup has never had either of these. So, I decided to try it with him because I was tired of fighting him over the liquid flea medicine each month. The vet told me to give him the medicine after he had food in his system, so on Wednesday evening as Jessup ate his dinner, I thought now is a good time to give it to him. Around 8:00 pm, I gave him his Heartguard and Comfortis pills. My husband and I went out for the evening. We returned home about midnight, Jessup acted normal and he showed no signs of side effects. Jessup slept in the bedroom with us, and around 12:30 am we all went to bed.
    At 3:30 a.m. Jessup woke us up as he whimpere d and made other vocalization sounds. In the beginning, it sounded like he was having a bad dream. Occasionally, he would do this when he is in a deep sleepÂusually he will snap out of it within a minute or respond to us when we call his name by shaking his head and he goes back to sleep. Not this time his vocalizations became louder and louder.. even growling and flopping his tail around. I continued to yell his name .. at that point my husband clapped his hands and said his name repeatedly. When we realized he wasnÂt responding my husband jumped up and turned the bedroom light on. At that point, he realized he had defecated on the floor. Jessup was unresponsive and my husband could feel his heart beating rapidly. My husband pumped his chest a few times with no response. We rushed Jessup to the emergency vet office.. from our house we were there within 10 minutes.. However, he was dead on arrival.
    Around 4:15 a.m. the emergency vet called the 1-800 number for Comfortis, she was hoping to receive any time sensitive information about this medicine, for instance, areas on JessupÂs body to check or fatality information about the medicine. The Comfortis operator had little to no helpful information. She told us that the company hours were at 8:00 am, she said weÂd have to call back then.
    At 7:30 am I went to my regular vetÂs office. My vet contacted the company for Comfortis, which is Lilly. They offered to do a full autopsy with Jessup to see what could be determined about his death. However, the nearest university to do this was in Gainesville, which is 2 ½ hours from where we live. The company offered to pay the fees, but we had to get his body there. I was not willing to UPS my dogÂs body and we were unable to drive him ourselves, so my husband and I opted not to do the full autopsy. Also, my vet spoke with the doctor at the hospital in Gainesville. The doctor said there is very slim chance that he would find any information to directly link the medicine to my dogÂs death. Typically, these autopsy are inconclusive. My vet was able to do a brief autopsy and look for any abnormalities within Jessup that we may have been unaware of. He found nothing inside Jessup abnormal.
    In conclusion, the only difference in JessupÂs life was the Comfortis medication. The emergency room vet told us she has seen dogs come in with seizure like symptoms from this medication. Typically the side effects begin after the second or third dose. She flushes their bodies out and they are fine. Never has she seen it cause death. My vet said the same thing. Since Thursday I have been researching this medication a little more in depth. I have come across about 5 stories very similar to mine, which resulted in the death of their otherwise healthy pet after the Comfortis pill has been given. Also in one of the stories I found,, Lilly paid for the full autopsy it came back inconclusive "the gray area", they called it.
    Pets are a wonderful addition to a family. I cherish the memories I have with Jessup and plan to have other pets in the future. This information is just food for thought. I know some people use this medication without a problem in the world. I just wanted it to be noted about my first and only experience with it.
    Jennifer e-mail: Jena0525@aol.com

  • lprevete1031
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    PLEASE DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOG COMFORTIS
    LESS THEN 60 DAYS AFTER GIVING OUR BELOVED DOG PEPSI 7 YRS OLD COMFORTIS, HE DIED OF A MASS IN HIS BELLY AND KIDNEY FAILURE!!
    There was no symptoms initially it came on real quick!
    please dont use it!!!!!!!!!

  • brucemlieb_gmail_com
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi everyone,

    Thanks for sharing your stories on this board. I just tried comfortis for the 1st time with mgt 2 standard poodles (41 and 65 pounds. I started looking into it and it is concerning. I do not think that I will give my dogs a 2nd dose next month. I am hoping that If I switch next month back to frontline if thwy will still be exposed to this dangerous side effect. Thanks for sharing your stories and warning us all. I understand how hard it is to lose our beloved furry members of the family....and in such a senseless way. Lilly needs to start dealing with this. This is so terrible. I am sorry that you all had to go through this.

    Bruce

  • lzrddr
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You should discuss your case (or rather your veterinarian should discuss your case) with the ASPCA poison control center in Illinois. That is the nation's center for toxicology information, disemmination of information to doctors and clients, and gathering of information (like these cases). Without that input, getting to the bottom of what is going on will never happen.

    I asked over the veterinary web site (VIN) if any practitioner out there has had any cases even close to this. Even a sick animal (yes, lots of cases of mild vomiting)... nothing. The ASPCA has not a single serious case of poisoning recorded with this product. No one I know has had a problem with it, either (no other vet's clients, at least). I am not saying these cases are totally unique, but they sure aren't making any waves (yet). The problems with deaths like these is there needs to be post mortems done so the definitive diagnosis can be ascertained (and despite what you were told, frequently changes in liver tissues are recordable and often attributible to exact causes). At least there would be some corraborative proof. Proof is what is needed or these poor pets all died and only hearsay is left.

    Just a note about the liver changes on the label information about Comfortis- that was in dogs receiving more than 16x the prescribed dose, not dogs on a normal dose of spinosad.

    I take these cases seriously, but I am troubled by the lack of an exact cause of death. I see too many cases of dogs and cats dying after getting this or that drug, that nearly always, once accurate diagnostics and pathology are done, end up being clearly attributed to something completely unrelated. That doesn't always turn out to be the case of course, as many pets do die suddenly for completely unknown reasons, and sometimes necropsies and even pathology do not give us the answer. Those mysteries are very frustrating.

    I certainly understand your reservations about using this product from now on, and perhaps, were I you, I would feel more comfortable using Frontline or Advantage from now on. But I still like the product and use it in all my dogs.

  • denjr_bellsouth_net
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am extremely upset over this. Vets are being told it's great and they are passing the info on to pet owners. We have had similar reactions with our little chia-pom, Samson. Now Im afraid we have damaged his liver and kidneys. When we took him to the ER vet the first time he told us, no way could it have been the Comfortis. He had a siezure after screaming 4 or 5 times (this from a little guy who never barks). He then passed out in my arms on the way to the ER. Heart erratic and barely beating. Then he vomitted several times and defecated. After that he seemed to feel a little better. They gave him IVs and kept him overnight, and even reported to our vet that he had siezures, but it had nothing to do with medication.
    One and 1/2 years later, we tried this again. The 1st dose we gave only 1/2 the dose. He did okay. 6 weeks later another 1/2 dose. Winter came, we did not dose him again until Monday this week. I gave him 3/4 dose prescribed. Two hours later he screamed 2 or 3 times, went stiff in my husbands arms and passed out. He came to and walked like a drunk over to his kennel, which he rarely uses and tried to hide. Within 5 minutes while we were talking to the Vet, he vomitted violently twice. He seemed okay and she said if he didn't vomit again he would be okay. He seems ok now, but he still can play only a little while without lying down on his side and resting. He seems to be sleeping more, I am so afraid now after reading others horrible stories. We did see our vet and she told us she thought he was fine, but she would never use Comfortis again with him "just in case". By the way, he hated it. We had to force him to take it. He knew it was BAD STUFF. Lilly should be admitting to this and warning the Vets about possible reactions. I'm so afraid he has liver damage and more now. My heart is breaking.

  • AtTheFarm
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi,
    My sincere thoughts to those who lost or nearly lost their beloved dogs.

    We live on the the East Coast of NSW Australia. Recently unbeknownst to us, we visited a flea infested house with our 3 dogs and since then we've got fleas :(
    Prior to this we were flea free.

    Our dogs are BARF fed and only use natural remedies and medicines.

    Recently a friend mentioned that he's had great success with a new product called Comfortis. I was tempted with the product and thought to do a little research before trying it out as one of our dogs is old and frail.

    My findings led me to this and other sites where people have described some terrible experiences.

    Having read about these reactions after people using comfortis on their dogs I have decided not to use it. I will persevere with my natural remedies, but I will not take the chance with my beloved dogs.

    I thought to post some of my findings onto my yahoo dog related groups to let people know that they might like to read some of the posts before deciding on giving this product to their dogs.

    Here is another link I found where other people have had bad experiences.

    http://www.viewpoints.com/Comfortis-reviews?N[]=28+4294331966

    Again I'm really very sorry for those people who have lost or nearly lost their beloved dog and thank you from the bottom of my heart for posting your experiences for others to read.

  • truthseekerone
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is very alarming. According to my own research Comfortis interacts with other drugs and poison.

    Vaccination being one of them. I can only assume that the dog that just had received his rabbies shot (a money making scam in itself since rabbies cases are VERY rare) that this poor dog's immun system was so compromised by these two doses of poison that liver failure occured. The fact that most vets won't make that connection and choose to still vaccinate at will for greed and money is criminal.

    I won't even drive to Canada to visit my family anymore because they require vaccination papers.

  • yrwilson1_aol_com
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I came across your site while researching the dangers of Comfortis. I have a one year old Boxer, a six year old Rat Terrier and a 6 year old Miniature Rat Terrier, all three of my dogs were healthy. Unfortunately I went to Petsmart's Banfield Clinic and was able to purchase 3 tablets (depending on weight) to give to all three of my dogs for flea control. I was able to obtain this product and prescription without ever seeing or speaking to a veterinary Dr. This was the first time that I had used this product and gave all three of my dogs a Comfortis tablet Sunday night (4-17-11) and within hours all three of my dogs began to vomiting severely. Fortunately the vomiting lasted only a few days but my miniature Rat Terrier began to become very disoriented, began to tremble, his eyes became glazed and looked hazed with a white cloudy look, his pupils were dilated and by the evening of 4-20-11 he had become completely blind. Just early that day my dog had been chasing my Boxer around the yard as they do everyday all day and doing well. I called the 1800 number for Comfortis/Elanco and spoke to one of their Veterinarians by the name of Dr. Rosencran and at her request I took him to my vet to be examined at their expense. My Vet completed a full check up and eye stain on my dog and could not see anything that would have caused my dog to go blind within hours. My Vet recommended my dog be referred to see a special veterinary ophthalmologists. Elanco immediately called my vet and approved the ophthalmologist visit for my dog next week. The more I research the side effects of Comfortis, the more I am reading about dogs going blind in the same manner that my dog did. It sounds to me that Elanco is well aware of what's going on and knows more than they are saying! I have formally made a complaint against Alanco/Confortis as well as with Petsmart Banfield Clinic for prescribing a dangerous poison to all three of my dogs without ever seeing my dogs as required. If anyone has any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at yrwilson1@aol.com.

  • syvmom
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My little pom is in the hospital right now with severe pancreatitis. She was dosed with Comfortis about 2 weeks ago. She has had pancreatitis once before (4 years ago) after getting into some garbage, but I know she didn't get into anything this time. The vet doesn't believe it's connected to the Comfortis...and he may be correct.

    Here's what I'm wondering though...have any of you noticed that the UK and AU web sites that sell comfortis have warnings on the pages that the product is not to be used in dogs with pancreatitis or epilepsy. I'm just wondering why the warnings are on those pages, but not on the U.S. company pages. I've posted a link to an example page.

  • musgro1_aol_com
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have 3 poms. Last october I put the two bigger dogs on comfortis, suggested by a banfield vet. My dogs weigh 15 lbs, 11 lbs, and 4 lbs. After three monthe he two older dogs became sick. Vomiting,lethargy,etc. they soon got better. I did not connect it to the comfortis. My husband and I thought it might be the food, however the small dog eats the same food. The only difference was the two dogs were on comforts, I now believe that was what caused the problem. On our last visit to the vet, both dogs had extremely high liver enzymes.

  • kmorg
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just lost my 12 yr old Scottish Terrier and wish I had known ahead of time what some other pet owners have been experiencing. I recently switched to comfortis after the Frontline became ineffective. The first dose of comfortis went well and worked miracles with the flea situation. The second dose brought on some vomiting, but not uncommon from what I hear. The third month I gave him the dose after supper as done previously. My Scotty had vomiting and rapid panting. He seemed a little better by bed time, but at 2 in the morning I was awakened by his shrill yelping. He ran down the hallway toward my bedroom and collapsed and died on the rug with some blood coming from his mouth. This scene will haunt my family always. I can't prove anything, I just want my story out there. My vet says my Scottish Terrier's recently diagnosed early stage heartworm could have been a factor, but you can't convince me. He had no symptoms or unusual behavior prior to the final dose of comfortis. If you should not give the medication if other pre-existing conditions exist, they should clearly state this and the vet should impart this knowledge.

  • Princess513
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    OMG...... so I was researching pancreatitis and Comfortis when I found this thread :'( My fur baby is in the ICU right now with Pancreatitis... he has NEVER had ANY health problems.... I gave him comfortis for the first time on Monday.... he became sick right away...... The vet told me that it may upset his tummy so when he started to vomit I gave him Evangers pumpkin to settle his tummy..... nothing helped.... his vomiting got to where he was vomiting 8 times in one day... the next morning he was lethargic... that was the following Sunday.... 6 days later :/ I rushed him to the emergency vet and only to find out that he was in complete kidney and liver failure...... Pancreatits.... NOW... the only thing that was different was this was his first time ever taking this medicine. I was told there was a good chance he would NOT survive.... I refused to give up on my fur baby and decided to spend the (now up to $2000) money to treat him..... I had to give him his best chance...... I was kicking myself as I was going to sign him up for pet insurance the day I bought the comfortis but decided to read more about it first..... apparently this wouldve covered this... oh well. You know what they say about hindsight...... I did call the manufacturer today and open a case..... I hope that EVERYONE who has had their babies react to this medicine call also. It is THE ONLY way to get the proper warning labels on this product :'( when we call they have to report it to the FDA. It looks like my baby will pull through..... THANK GOD! I was mortified to find this page...... read all the sad stories.... I will NEVER EVER use this medicine again. My vet told me today that Shadow CAN NEVER take this medication EVER AGAIN!! This last couple of days has been a nightmare wondering if my baby was going to die :'( and all because I was being a "responsible pet owner" making sure my baby was protected...... SHAME on these companies for not warning us better... I shouldve googled problems with Comfortis BEFORE I gave it to him.. but I had previously used it with another dog :( but the fact is all medicines can affect different pets in different ways.....unfortunately it can be deadly to some :( ALL OF YOU that have had these issues, PLEASE call ..... let the manufactures know what happened to your babies..... PLEASE.... its the only way to get the warning on there and protect other precious fur babies from this horrific side effect :'(

  • Princess513
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My Shadow died this morning..... his lungs filled with fluids and his heart enlarged and he died from Coronary attack.........

  • Lubocal
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My cat (7yrs old) got Comfortis for the first time 24hrs ago, and just dropped dead. Stay away!

  • TammyFlorida
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yesterday at 5:00pm I gave my 8 year old Chihuahua Comfortis....2 hours later I found him lethargic and unresponsive on the floor. He was in this state for hours. His heart slowed, breathing was shallow, eyes rolled back, limp, head flopped back... I wrapped him in a blanket and cried and held him all night. By morning he was coming out of it. Its now 5:00pm next day and he is weak, taking food and water but tires just from going out to potty. I know it was the medicine. I am praying for his recovery and threw the rest of the Comfortis away. Comfortis should pay for causing such suffering to pets and their people. They are making money and getting rich and people and pets are suffering. Our springer spaniel had to be put down 3 months ago from liver failure....she was taking Comfortis too! No one mentioned Comfortis could cause this. Never again. I will spend my last breath warning people of this product. Thank goodness for the internet.

  • eahamel
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, I'm sorry all of you have had such bad problems from Comfortis! I've used it off and on for several years with both of my dogs and never had any problems, but this is making me rethink it. It is a really good flea control, but there has to be a safer way.

  • Bella103012-112213
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My cat was given this drug for her fleas just yesterday and it killed her within 12 hours. She was perfectly fine and in great health before taking this pill and i came home to find her dead by her food bowl! this med is unsafe and should NOT be given to any animal!!!!!!

  • celticmama_45
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I live in England and gave my cat Comfortis, prescribed by my vet. One hour later she started vomiting. Eventually she was vomiting nothing but blood and was too weak to stand up. She was in agony for 12 hours in all, before she passed away. It was the worst experience I've ever been through in my life:, to watch our 'family member' have to go through that. The drug company is having a post mortem done and will get back to me soon. Our vet said the company has not known an animal die from this drug, but from what I've been reading here, they must be very aware of the risks to some pets. What can be done?

  • MPH101
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am sorry to read these alarming reports regarding the loss of your pets.
    I have used comfortis for over 3 yrs on a monthly basis for my 3 cairn terriers. The flea problem is severe here and where it used to back off in the high humidity of the summer it does not. Cairn Terriers are highly adapt to skin infections from flea, or other bug bites. Miserable for the dogs and costly in fighting with antibiotics.
    The topical s do nothing and when they did, results were very limited with frequent wet dogs in rain and weather. Reapplication and cost add up and they are not all so safe either Comfortis changed all of the flea problems quickly given about 30 -35 day intervals and it doesn't wash off.
    It is a powerful drug and I worried about using it. I have had difficultly with vomiting at first .
    My dogs are 2 (M/F) from the same litter, the other (M) is 2 yrs older from a earlier litter all having the same Mother. Age of these Cairns are 5 and 7 and weight about 15 lbs ea. The only problem I've had as I said thus far in 3 yrs with doses given every month of the yr was spitting it out or one vomiting early on. My dogs are fed once a day with no free range on feed. Directly before the meal I wrap the pill in something such as a treat cheese, meat, or peanut butter and they eat followed directly by their full meal. So they have a full stomach with the pill eaten first. This ceased the earlier vomiting situation and the vet agreed this is a must have medication with a fully belly. While I will research and watch with caution I will continue to use this medication because it is very effective and in this environment the other choices are very poor. I have had good long term results with 3 small cairn terriers and the outcome with skin disease and fleas without it would be more dangerous and problematic for my dogs and my household.

  • MPH101
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am sorry to read these alarming reports regarding the loss of your pets.
    I have used comfortis for over 3 yrs on a monthly basis for my 3 cairn terriers. The flea problem is severe here and where it used to back off in the high humidity of the summer it does not. Cairn Terriers are highly adapt to skin infections from flea, or other bug bites. Miserable for the dogs and costly in fighting with antibiotics.
    The topical s do nothing and when they did, results were very limited with frequent wet dogs in rain and weather. Reapplication and cost add up and they are not all so safe either Comfortis changed all of the flea problems quickly given about 30 -35 day intervals and it doesn't wash off.
    It is a powerful drug and I worried about using it. I have had difficultly with vomiting at first .
    My dogs are 2 (M/F) from the same litter, the other (M) is 2 yrs older from a earlier litter all having the same Mother. Age of these Cairns are 5 and 7 and weight about 15 lbs ea. The only problem I've had as I said thus far in 3 yrs with doses given every month of the yr was spitting it out or one vomiting early on. My dogs are fed once a day with no free range on feed. Directly before the meal I wrap the pill in something such as a treat cheese, meat, or peanut butter and they eat followed directly by their full meal. So they have a full stomach with the pill eaten first. This ceased the earlier vomiting situation and the vet agreed this is a must have medication with a fully belly. While I will research and watch with caution I will continue to use this medication because it is very effective and in this environment the other choices are very poor. I have had good long term results with 3 small cairn terriers and the outcome with skin disease and fleas without it would be more dangerous and problematic for my dogs and my household.

  • Nicole Marie
    7 years ago

    I gave Comfortis to my little fur baby a few days ago and she has been acting strange ever since. It is the only thing I have given her so I know it is the flea medicine. Her behavior is different and she is yelping when I try to touch her stomach. I will never give her this flea medicine again. I just hope and pray this passes. She is like a different dog.

  • socks
    7 years ago

    Sorry to hear that your pup is not well. If she is not better in a day or so, better get to the vet.

  • rou lis
    7 years ago

    I gave comfortis all the summer, 3 pills for every month and we did some blood tests and they came up with extremely elevated bile acids. That means liver problem and 2 vets here in Greece told me this is from this pill like 80%. They told me that they have been informed for liver toxicity of this pill by vet seminars. Be aware pawrents.