From the Rainbow Bridge ps this is the opinion of the guest blogger – and it is not meant as medical advice!
Please read my warning
November 15th 2005 3:38 pm
My 4 goldens were on monthly heartworm preventive pills. But I was told all about Proheart6 six month injectable and that it was “perfectly safe”
and I decided to switch my dogs over to it one at a time. Hunter was first.KayCee got her her first injection Aug. 1, 2003, Hunter his 3rd on Aug. 28,
and Honey her 2ed on oct. 1. This is the story from there.
I noticed Hunters’ pale gums on Oct 9, 2003 & got him to the vet that day. Diagnosis after tests was autoimmune hemolytic anemia. He was put in
ICU on constant IV of vitamins & other drugs, heavy doses of prednisone. I visited him later that day & my vet and I went over everything in the
previous 2 months and the ProHeart6 injection was the only thing different. He said when it came time for the next one, we were going back to the pills.
I visited Hunter 3 times on Fri and 3 on sat, taking boiled chicken each time. His neck had been shaved to draw blood twice a day, both frontlegs shaved for IV. Being closed on Sun it was arranged for me to come in at 8 AM and 6 PM to visit. I went at 8, then in the middle of afternoon got a call that Hunter had had to have a transfusion, his HCT had dropped to 9.7 (he should have been dead when it went below 11) and they were thinking of removing his enlarged spleen. I could come right in.
When I got there, just 10 minutes later, my vet had changed his mind. X-rays and ultrasound indicated Hunter had cancer of liver and spleen. Next day the other two vets ran ultrasound and looked at x-rays and agreed, cancer.
I visited Hunter 3 times on mon, tues, and wed. By wed we knew the first line of drugs was not working, so he gave Hunter the cyclosporine, which is the next step, and ordered more from drug store in next town. I was to pick it up. I didn’t go see Hunter Thur aAM as i was waiting on call from . It came at noon and I went and got it and went right to hospital.
Hunter looked bad. His eyes were sunken and his belly so bloated you could not see his privates. It was noted on his chart he had been throwing up, which was not unexpected with the new drug. For the first time he refused his boiled chicken.
I went back at 5:45 and my heart sank. That golden boy could not be my Hunter. This dog sat there with head bobbing up and down, eyes twitching unable to focus, any movement all jerky. I opened the door and sat there inside the door of the large cage and I brushed him and told him how beautiful he was, how wonderful, how good, how much I loved him. He pressed his head to my chest and that steadied him some. When I felt my voice was going to break, I hushed and just hugged & kissed & brushed him. I knew in my heart he would be gone by morning. They close at 7:00, but the receptionists said they would stay til i was ready to leave. Three times I went to the front, but had to go back and tell my “Petey” how much I loved him. I left at 7:15. At 9:02 i got the call. Hunter had gone into seizures and died at 8:40. This was Oct. 16, 2003 Continue Here
www.marvistavet.com/html/oln_october_04_proheart6_unava.html
Between June 2001 when it was released and August 4th, 2004 the FDA received a total of 5,552 reaction reports, an unusually large amount but hard to interpret in light of the long activity of the product. The FDA’s mission is to protect the public and these reports cannot be ignored. What do these reports mean and how many are really drug reactions? The FDA has called for an independent research group to sort these reports out and until they are finished Proheart6 will be unavailable for use.
Because cancer was detected and we have his littermate sister, we decided to have a necropsy done. My vet saw cancer in the liver and spleen. But guess what, when the histopath came back from state lab, NO CANCER. Just severe damage. I was to learn that liver damage was pretty common reaction to Proheart6, and so was AIHA. The number of reactions and deaths concerned the FDA enough they “requested” it be pulled from the market and it was on Sept. 3, 2004.
As I tried to find info on Proheart6, i started finding people telling their stories on the web. As we started finding each other a group was more or less formed and it has grown. One in Colorado took all 3 of hers in at the same time. In two months 2 were dead–one of liver disease, one of AIHA like Hunter, and the 3rd is on meds the rest of his life. Several lost 2 dogs, many had one die, one sick. One lady who almost lost her dog set up a site where information could be found. There are also several stories and pictures of dogs that died or almost died. It is found at www.dogsadversereactions.com under the Moxidectin Section.
The company is trying to bring it back out. They tried in Jan and the FDA said not yet, to many questions, not enough testing, etc. But they are still
trying. My Hunter and over 600 more are dead because of it, thousands will be on meds the rest of their life because of it. My Hunter was the the most caring, gentle soul and it it were possible, he would be writing this warning himself to try to save other moms and dads the grief we went thru, and to try to save as many dogs as he could.
He was so popular while in ICU that one day while i was there an off duty tech came in to check on him. Another time an off duty doctor called to check. I heard over and over that he was the best patient they had ever had, he never refused to go back in his cage after blood work or being taken outside. he never barked or howled, just sat and watched the techs and vets go about their care of other animals, he never tried to refuse his pills, etc. They all loved him.
They all agreed that he tried so hard to live and they think it was because of his love for me. He was my heart dog, my soul mate of dogs and we had a bond that everyone that saw us together commented on. he might could have overcome one of them, but not both AIHA and live damage.
I love and miss you so much my “Petey” boy.
Many have read his story and asked me to come to their group and tell it. I still cry when I write it. Tht last day was so horrible and he looked so so
so bad, not at all like my graceful boy. I wish that was not my last mental picture of him. But I would do it all over again, he died knowing how much he was loved and that is so important to me.
Fort Dodge is trying to get Proheart6 back on the market and we are truly fighting to keep it off, and are still warning folks in case it does come back. We want them to know about it and not learn the hard way like we did.
It was pulled Sept. 3, 2004 and in Jan. they tried to get it back and there was a meeting with I am thinking 15 on the panel to judge. I know severl that attended, 4 from Texas including a vet to testify against it. It was voted down by one vote. this does not make sense. They were asked that if it came back on the market, what would their reccomendations be and one that voted FOR the return said “A black box warning on the label.” I didn’t know what that meant, but looked it up and found it is the most severe, strongest warning possible. AND it had never been used on an animal med. If so safe, why a black box warning?
I just learned they tried again in June and it didn’t wash this time either. But I hear from my vet it is suppose to be back out next month. We are all hoping that is just salesmen talk.
At first they claimed it was safe for heartworm positive dogs. But then those dogs did start to die. turns out all the worms were being killed and forming like a clot that was killing some of the dogs with heavy infestation. The FDA said to change the label. And then the lable had to be changed again becuase of problems arising that were not listed. If you go to www.dogsadversereactions.com and click on the Moxidection Section, you can find all kinds of info about it, and you can also read the stories of many dogs (and see pictures) who died or had a bad reaction. I know of one who developed AIHA like Hunter and his owners have spent close to $30,000 trying to keep him alive. You do not cure AIHA, just gt it in remission which can last week,s months, sometimes years. This dog has had like 3 or 4 relapses and spent up to 2 weeks at a time in ICU getting very expenise meds, trasfusions, etc. The last drug Hunter was on would have run us $600 a month.
Sorry to h ave gone on so, but this is just so important to me. I do not want another owner to have to go thru what me and thousands of others have, nor another dog go thru my precious boy did, or any of the ones that suffered gastric bleeding,liver damage, neuro problems, etc. Some fought for up to 2 years and still lost their fight. It just breaks my heart when I get an e-mial like the one I got about 6 weeks ago from the owner of a mini snauzzie how had his first seizure on the way home after his PH6 injection, they kept coming and after about 1 1/2 years, he couldn’t handle them any more.
So yes, please post and post and post. I appreciate all the hlep Hunter and I get. Thanks so much, Sandra
