ProHeart 6 Tragedy: Jack’s Story

Every medication or preventive has the potential to cause an adverse reaction.

After all, you’re introducing a foreign substance into the body.

Even though drugs are tested for safety and common side effects are usually mild to moderate, a tragedy can occur.

Further, sometimes a drug can be safe on its own but not in combination with something else. For example, the ProHeart 6 safety sheet warns against administering the preventive at the same time as vaccinations. As well as it features quite a long list of potential adverse reactions along with a note that sometimes some deaths have been reported.

ProHeart 6 Tragedy: Jack's Story

Our history

Jasmine had her share of negative drug reactions. I always think long and hard before introducing any new drug, and I do my best to stay away from putting things into her system that don’t really belong there. When I do have to give her any, I research the heck out of it.

I didn’t become this discriminate until after Jasmine’s NSAIDs disaster, though. Should you, an owner, have to turn every stone?

Read about our history of adverse reactions.

Jack’s story

Jack was a happy, healthy 6 years old Chow-lab mix. He is now dead. What happened?

When Jack went for his annual check-up, it was a very routine visit. He was checked for heartworm and parasites, weighed and examined. He was deemed normal and healthy.

On the same day, he also received his rabies vaccination and a new injectable heartworm preventive, recommended by his vet, ProHeart 6. Very convenient, it only needs to be administered every six months.

Good deal, right?

After a week or so, Jack started acting strangely. Didn’t want to go for walks and didn’t want to play. Didn’t want to eat. Something was going on and Jack was taken to his vet.

Jack’s vet discovered that Jack was running a fever but couldn’t find anything else wrong with him. Jack was given a shot of steroids and some antibiotics, in case he had an infection. For a while it looked like that was helping.

Things looked fairly good until his owners returned home for a beach to find Jack dead in a pool of blood and vomit.

Why would Jack, previously healthy and happy, suddenly die like that? Did he eat something bad? But GI problem was ruled out…

What has changed? His heartworm preventive.

Jack’s owners went to research the product. Pfizer’s website lists side effects such as lethargy, loss of appetite, vomiting, and … death.

Jack exhibited exactly all those symptoms, in that order.

Other cases

It seems the drug was originally pulled off the market in 2004 because of a high rate of adverse reactions.

“Proheart caused more deaths in one year than all the oral heartworm preventives combined did in ten years. When the FDA notified Pfizer that their drug was causing a problem, the manufacturer claimed it was due to the vaccines being given at the same time.”
Source: The Senior Dogs Project

In 2008 Pfizer was allowed to re-market the drug if they agreed to add additional warning labels and agreed to mandate that owners be given a drug fact sheet and sign an informed consent…

“ProHeart 6 dog owners must be advised of the risks of ProHeart 6 and sign an Owner Consent Form prior to the first administration.”
Source: Pfizer

Doesn’t that just make you wanna run out and get one for your dog?

Jack’s owners were never given any fact sheet, nor they were advised of any risks. They also didn’t know that ProHeart 6 should not be administered at the same time as vaccinations.

When Jack was showing adverse effects, nobody mentioned that it could have something to do with the preventive he received. Was that considered, Jack might have recovered.

Is it conclusive that that is what killed Jack?

Perhaps not. But if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck …

“Measure twice and medicate once.”

Do educate yourself about any product that should be used on your dog, be it preventives, vaccinations or medications.

***

“My babys name was Brandi and she was a full bred american pit bull terrior. She was called up to heaven at only two years old after getting this horrible shot.”

“I lost a perfectly healthy 6 yr old shih tzu after Proheart 6 shot.”
Source: Pets.ca

Original story:
Justice for Jack: Dog Owners Beware

Related articles:
Adverse Drug Reactions in Dogs: Our Dogs’ History of Adverse Reactions to Medications

Further reading:
ProHeart 6 Reported Adverse Reactions

Categories: Adverse reactions • Conditions • Real-life Stories • Side-effects

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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