Profender??

[bama kitty]

My vet has given me Profender to treat tapeworms. We have been battling fleas for a while now but I think the DE has just about taken care of them. Anyway, I have always used Drontal in the past but the vet says this is much easier to apply. Does anyone have any experience with Profender? Is it safe for my kitties? Side effects? I'm sure my vet wouldn't give me anything that would harm them...I'm just extremely paranoid

 

[tdonline]

It worked for my cat who had tapeworms. It's a one time application or pill right? I can't remember exactly. I was nervous too and dubious that a one time med would work but it did.

 

[bama kitty]

It's a topical application like Frontline. I'm just afraid they'll have a reaction to it. Crazy I know, the vet and staff already think I am

 

[ryffian]

Profender is easier for most cats, vs. trying to get them to take a pill. It has undergone testing to ensure its safety. Looks like most of the adverse reactions are similar to any other "spot on" type medication.

Bayer - Profender website

Product Label

 

[diggerled]

Side effect that I know about: If your cat is able to lick the application site, it will make them slobber for a few minutes.

My boy sasha got a dose when his brother got roundworms. He got the large dose and the vet applied it too low on the neck.

 

[carolina]

Originally Posted by Ryffian

Profender is easier for most cats, vs. trying to get them to take a pill. It has undergone testing to ensure its safety. Looks like most of the adverse reactions are similar to any other "spot on" type medication.

Bayer - Profender website

Product Label

My cat Bugsy, the impossible cat to pill, took Profender instead of Drontal.
The only thing to watch out is if your cat is sensitive to topical meds; for example: Bugsy had a reaction to Profender, but he is allergic to Revolution (I should have thought of that, but since he is ok with Advantage, I thought he might be ok...) So if your cat has sensitivities to topical meds, he might have a reaction to it; besides that, it did work, and he was completely fine...

 

[ryffian]

How did you like the Profender? I got some today for one of my cats. It's a little oily (well, it is oil-based, after all) but it doesn't have a harsh chemical smell like some spot on's. Just wondering how things turned out for ya!

 

[carolina]

Besides the reaction on his skin (which could happen with anything topically for Bugsy, it is really a hit or miss in his case), it was great, and it took care of everything in one dose.

I liked it... I would used it again, not on Bugsy though.

 

[bama kitty]

It's been 4 days since I put the Profender on my kitties. I had a mixed reaction to it. My female wasn't phased by it at all. My male on the other hand was slowed down a little bit. You can still see the white powder looking spot on the back of his neck. He also itched for a day or two and the fur came out when he scratched. I don't think I would use it on him again but probably would the female. He just wasn't quite himself for a couple of days but nothing major. Everybody is back to normal now (except for that spot

)

Thanks everyone for the info!

 

[jaimehaha]

I treated all 5 of my cats with Profender after 1 confirmed case of roundworm. 4 of my cats did fine, my 5 year old female Creek had a bad reaction. She appeared fine prior to the application, but over 24 hours later she was lame, spread herself thin on the floor and started panting like mad. It appeared to have absorbed well on my other 4 cats, but left powdery residue on Creek. Took her to the vet in the morning, they said it had nothing to do with Profender. They said she had a heart murmur, did an xray and sent me to have an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that she had infection in her gallbladder. Treated her with Clavamox, which they said probably isn't strong enough so then treated with Metronidazole. She had a terrible reaction to that, her bum was swollen, fire engine red, and she licked constantly. The vet said to leave it alone and it would clear up.

Switched vet, gave her Amoxicillin, all better now! Also relieved that she has no detectable heart murmur. Feel like I was taken advantage of by that vet. My new vet says he can't imagine why they would give Metronidazole.

It's hard to say if it was the Profender, but I have read online that pet owners have been told their cat has a heart murmur after Profender. Will probably stick to Drontal in the future for worm treatment.

 

[hissy]

I only use it on the three hard to manage cats in my clowder. Every one else gets drontal- it is more effective and no side effects as long as you give the proper dose per your vet.

 

[swirlgirl]

I purchased Profender from my vet to use on both of my indoor cats after treating them with Comfortis (for fleas) a few days prior. One cat ran around the house for several hours, behaving as though the medication burned on the back of his neck. Our other cat didn’t have an initial reaction, but when I saw him the next day he had a patch of fur missing from the back of his neck. I wasn’t immediately alarmed, because he didn’t seem to be in any distress. Since it was Sunday, and my vet’s office was closed for the day, I called the Bayer Animal Health hotline to report it, and frankly, the employee I spoke with was rude. She said it happens to some cats, and she didn’t advise me to do anything.

The next day when I returned home from work, the skin on the back of his neck was red he was in distress and trying to lick it. I phoned my vet and his assistant told me to bathe my cat using Dawn dish soap to break up the oil of the medication. I bathed him right away, but a few hours after his bath he continued to appear distressed and he scratched the skin on his neck with his back claws, causing it to bleed. I called the vet again- they were too busy to see him, but asked me to come and purchase a medication (Genta Spray) that should relieve the itching and also prevent infection. I immediately went and purchased it and used it on my cat. It didn’t help enough, and my cat continued to scratch at his neck every chance he could.

Now my cat had a larger patch of fur missing as well as scabs on his neck. I tried everything I could think of… bandaging his neck, bandaging his claws with little socks, gluing Soft Claws on his back feet… he pulled them all off. We tried treating him with ointment, steroid shots, and even antibiotics, but everything only brought temporary relief and then he would scratch it open again.

All the while my cat was miserable- squeezing himself behind furniture to hide and losing weight. I would hold him on my lap for hours at a time to stop him from scratching at his wound. I was pretty stressed out myself, and feeling very guilty for putting the medication on him in the first place. I worried about him constantly, and we both lost a lot of sleep. It took many weeks to heal, but he is finally his happy little self again. Months have gone by now and some of his fur grew back, but there is a scar where he is still bald. I took several photos as all of this progressed, but they are hard for me to look at. A Bayer rep has called to check on his status, and apologized for the issue, but they have not offered to reimburse me for all the money this fiasco has cost us. I have also changed veterinarians, since our vet didn’t advise us about the precautions of this medication when he sold us the two single doses out of the package. (I should have looked it myself.) I never saw evidence that either of our cats had worms in the first place!

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• swirlgirl
• Jun 9, 2014

 

[armageddon]

Hi Swirlgirl

No wonder you've been up the wall worrying about this, that looks pretty bad.  I have used profender on my cat a number of times and she too developes a bald patch but there is no redness or skin irritation with her so as much as I hate giving her this wormer at the end of the day I don't really have an option.   She is a rescue cat and went through a terrible time with previous owners who were druggies who locked her in their flat for 2 weeks with no food.  She drank water out of the toilet so that's what kept her alive.   Needless to say she is spoiled now and is treated like one of the family so at least her last years will be comfortable and loving ones.   She won't take tablets from me or the vet and she is most definitely a hunter and eats all of her prey so requires worming regularly.  In her case the bald patch disappears within a couple of the weeks and she doesn't try to scratch it so I feel that for that reason I can give her profender.   I always know when she needs worming treatment as her fur becomes rough instead of smooth.   

I have to say the bald patch on your cat looks lower down her back, I usually dose my cat a little higher up.

Anyway I'm glad you're wee cat is much better, they are a worry when they are not well and I understand the sleepless nights.

 

[mollymole]

Please think long and hard about using this treatment. This was recommended to us by our Vet; we were given two doses in a packet and  told how to use the treatment. We have used spot on flea treatments before on our cats without any difficulties or adverse effects. We only used this wormer because like most people we thought it would be less stressful for her. However we were not given any fact sheet or warned of these possible side effects. When we saw what had happened we looked for postings on websites we were horrified. They say it’s a rare occurrence but I am not so sure. We definitely will not be using it on our other cat .The worrying thing is when she would need her next treatment  my vet suggested not in the same place for fear of scarring . Can you imagine what she would look like after that one .

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• mollymole
• Jul 29, 2014

 

[lindsey1982]

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• lindsey1982
• Aug 12, 2014

My poor boy today. After using Profender. Called vet and they said it's fine but they won't use it on him next time!! My fault for assuming the medication provided by the vet is safe!

 

[rstoner58]

has your cats hair started to come back at all?  We used it on both our cats but only one had a really bad reaction.   hair loss, scabbing.   My vet was very proactive about treating it though.  We bathed the cat and they gave us antibiotic suspension to put on it.  That was two weeks ago.  The scabs are mostly healed.   And there is some teeny hairs coming back in spots but not all of it.   I am really upset about the fact that there is a product out there that can cause this much damage to an animal.   Our vet did tell us that 1/3% of cats have a reaction at when prescribed but that they had never had an incident.  They have offered to help me with contact with the profender company if I so chose to pursue any reimbursements for damage and vet care.  However they have also seen my cat twice to check on the progress for free.  They felt really horrible.  

 

[rstoner58]

I know I will never use it again on any of our cats. 

\

 

[lindsey1982]

has your cats hair started to come back at all?  We used it on both our cats but only one had a really bad reaction.   hair loss, scabbing.   My vet was very proactive about treating it though.  We bathed the cat and they gave us antibiotic suspension to put on it.  That was two weeks ago.  The scabs are mostly healed.   And there is some teeny hairs coming back in spots but not all of it.   I am really upset about the fact that there is a product out there that can cause this much damage to an animal.   Our vet did tell us that 1/3% of cats have a reaction at when prescribed but that they had never had an incident.  They have offered to help me with contact with the profender company if I so chose to pursue any reimbursements for damage and vet care.  However they have also seen my cat twice to check on the progress for free.  They felt really horrible.  

 

[lindsey1982]

Yes it has started to. Was itchy so he scratched loads but definitely seems to be growing back. My other cat was fine with the medication. Cleo was just unlucky I guess

 

[mollymole]

Hi

Yes her hair has started to grow back. Unlike your vet ours only offered our money back on the one we didn’t use, they didn’t tell us to bring her in so they could take a look, only said he would pass the information on about possible side effects to the other vets in the practice and if we used it again not to put in in the same spot to prevent possible scarring. Needless to say the vet has gone the same way as the Profender… in the bin.  If you do decide to follow this up please let me know as I don’t believe it is as isolated as they say and pet owners should be warned.

Mick.