this may help to offset the costs of the spot ons…..

http://communityvet.net/2010/11/splitting-vials-risk-minimising/

its toxicity either targets liver or nerve function. most cats with hepatotoxicity just go off their food, some vomit, and some will suffer liver failure. if your concerned about this you can get his liver enzymes tested before, or intermittently while on treatment.

neurologic are more immediate than a delayed, demetia-style effect. if he’s tolerated proban without neuro effects previously, they proably wont develop, unless his liver starts to fail and the cythioate builds up in his system, and eventually reaches neurotoxic levels.

at the end of the day, the most constant gauge of your cats wellbeing while on proban is his appetitie. monitor it closely and stop proban if he starts to get ‘fussy’.

long haired cats in tick areas are in constant risk of death from paralysis, and its perfectly reasonable to weight the risk of proban toxicity against the risk of death by tick. I agree, spot-ons are unreliable.

i’m uncertain why the product is becoming unavaialable in australia, and it may be a commercial decision rather than govt policy.

you may still be able to source the active in proban, cythioate, as some other banded product from overseas on the net.

hope this helps.

My longhaired cat had a tick on the Thursday before Easter Friday.. so an emergency call to the vet was required.
He was in a bad way, staggering on his legs, fortunately the antidote worked.

Tuesday after Easter he got another tick, another emergency vet visit…saved again by the antidote.

Between the visits, antidotes & hospitalisation the cost was over $1,000.

I asked the vet if there wasn’t a sound tick prevention method….He told me of Proban.

I asked why he hadn’t told me of it before & he said he didn’t stock it as people thought it was too expensive.

I asked how much it cost. $70 dollars & will last about a year for a 5.5 KG cat he replied.

I said “that’s got to be cheaper than $1,000 in 4 days” so I got some and have been giving it to him at half a tablet, twice a week ever since.

My cat is over 20 years old but still seems very healthy (a bit of arthritus).

With all the waffle over Proban I haven’t been able to find out why it is no longer available (did the Gov’t ban it) and importantly what negative effects it may have on my cat in well explained detail that a lay person can understand.

Will it have immediate physical problems and secondary side effects such as dementia or strange behavioural problems ?

I should have mentioned that there is a large bush area next to me and paralysis ticks are a real problem, I get them on me frequently.

Maybe I should have given the Proban a break during the winter months but I thought I was playing it safe by keeping it up to him.

Ticks are less prevalent in the winter but the risk is still there in this area.

I should also mention my longhair is an outdoor cat and loves to sleep in the garden, on the lawn, in piles of leaves & the bush etc.

Longwinded case I guess but I am searching for answers, what has happened to Proban & how do I protect my cat if it is gone.

I have found Frontline sprayon useless, expensive and doesn’t last on an outdoor cat.

Thanks in advance for your help, your information is the best I have found, down to earth all nuts & bolts explanations, bookmarked for future reference.

Regards

Kristy

Both these factors will tend to make long haired cats and dogs of greater risk of tick paralysis. Ticks are part of the spider family, and they climb, or are carried on animals up into trees. They dont fly on the wind with web like other spiders, but they will drop on humans and animals from above ( personal experience with this).

I havent encountered a frontline spray failure but, to be honest, the all over spray isnt used very commonly, so it’s hard to say.

Sorry to hear of your loss. It understandably adds to your frustration surrounding tick prevention.

cheers
m

Someone told me that ticks can ‘float in the breeze’ so even a cat on an enclosed balcony is at risk. Does this sound plausible to you?!

Have you ever encounted a dog or cat with tick poisoning who had been correctly dosed with Frontline Spray?

Sorry for all the questions!

i moved this comment to this post as its probably more appropriate here. Many this season would contend that frontline top spot and even advantix applied fortightly is also ineffective in dogs. I can think of three recent cases of tick paralysis in dogs on which owners dutifully applied these preventatives on time.

Yes, proban is not good for cats, sometimes in the short, and always in the long term. But some owners are forced to balance risk. If their cat is a long haired, hands-off farm cat, that wont tolerate full body spray without sedation. Proban may stave off a fatal case of tick paralysis, and buy some good quality life before hepatotoxicity kicks in.

During the 90′s cythioate/proban was more commonly used in cats and i would comment:
I guesstimate I’ve encountered at least 20 cats recieving over the years.

Rarely were they vet initiated.

Many were owners who had lost a cat or suffered near fatal tick incidents and viewed it as the pragmatic answer to ‘better of two evils’ dilemma.

I havent observed a case of proban failure in a cat.

The only ADR was one cat that was transiently inappetant and returned to good health on discontination. There are undoubtedly more catastrophic misadventures than this, as there are for NSAIDs etc.

This is, of course, all still anecdotal but it adds depth to the debate.

On a side track, in terms of toxicity, advantix aint so good either. Recently i did repeated liver profiles on 2 border collies at induction of fortnightly advantix, on owners request. Female , aged 6, and male 6months, zero and 6 weeks. While the juvenile had no significant changes; the ALT increased from 32 to 154 in the older bitch. Results below.

I could not reassure the client that, although such changes didnt represent any immediate threat to the dogs welfare, there would not be secondary pathology and/or insufficiency in the long term.

Her last dog died of liver neoplasia after years of religious flea and tick control and she blames herself to some degree. In her case, I would agree, proban and collars should be ruled out, probably advantix, leaving only fipronyl. Given its recent failure rate, that choice may run the risk of life threatening tick paralysis.

what to do?

Pre advantix

VETNOSTICS COMMENT
No significant changes. Dr Brett Stone

VETNOSTICS
SERUM CHEMISTRY
Bilirubin 2 umol/L (0-10)
ALT 32 U/L (0-80)
GGT < 5 U/L (0-5)
Alkaline Phosphatase < 10 U/L (1-120)
Protein 65 g/L (55-78)
Albumin 37 g/L (22-36)
Globulin 28 g/L (25-40)
Albumin/Globulin Ratio 1.3

Post 3 fortnightly advantix

VETNOSTICS COMMENT
Mild hepatopathy. Dr Brett Stone

VETNOSTICS
SERUM CHEMISTRY
Bilirubin < 2 umol/L (0-10)
ALT 154 U/L (0-80)
GGT < 5 U/L (0-5)
Alkaline Phosphatase 14 U/L (1-120)
Protein 61 g/L (55-78)
Albumin 36 g/L (22-36)
Globulin 25 g/L (25-40)
Albumin/Globulin Ratio 1.4

Please feel free to confirm what I’ve said with Merial (makers of Frontline) and the Australian Veterinary Assosciation.