Our cat "Flynn" became seriously ill a few hours after administering the tick and flea treatment Bravecto. He was suddenly afraid of me, had seizures and panicked. The veterinarian on duty knew that there is a treatment with fat infusion: intra-lipid.

Kat “Flynn seriously ill a few hours after Bravecto

I hope my experience will be useful to you, so I would like to share it: A week and a half ago, my 7-month-old cat became seriously ill, a few hours after giving bravecto.

First he was suddenly afraid of me, the next day he was lethargic and did not want to eat in the evening. The next day I found him in the morning, I thought he was dead. Crawled in a corner and not responding to anything, so weak and apathetic. Immediately taken to the vet, had blood and urine tests done, which showed nothing. He was given a painkiller and would be treated symptomatically.

Bravecto poisoning was not believed

Bravecto poisoning was not believed at the time. I took him home in the evening, slightly improved, in the hope that he would continue to improve at home. I took him back to the vet at night, he was clearly in a lot of pain and was very restless.

Epileptic attacks

There he had several epileptic fits, could no longer see with both eyes and completely freaked out (panic?). I had since discovered that this poison attaches to fat.

Fat infusion / intra-lipid

The poison normally remains in the body for at least 3 months, which is repeatedly absorbed into the body through the intestinal wall.

I had read that the poison binds to fat, my vet remembered from training that there is a lipid infusion. It was kind of a good bet for her. I have a great vet who was open to it.

She then went to a lot of trouble to get such an IV. After the infusion it took another day, but now he has completely recovered, which is really unbelievable if you had seen him!

Timeline: gave bravecto on Tuesday afternoon, on Wednesday he slept all day, on Thursday I thought he was dead, sick, weak, apathetic, non-responsive. Still, I got it home again at the end of the afternoon. During the night things went terribly wrong: epilepsy, no longer being able to see anything in either eye, panic, tics, especially the head, I could get no contact with him.

Healthy again!

He received the lipid infusion mid-morning on Friday, and he also had a fluid infusion from Thursday night. Saturday morning I took him home and he was healthy again, could eat independently again, moved normally and, as can be seen in the photo, his eyes were clear!

If you suspect that your animal has been poisoned by bravecto, the possible remedy is intra-lipid!!

And this is not common knowledge among vets, apparently.

Bravecto poisoning

My vet has contacted the Bravecto manufacturer, has also filmed my cat during an attack, and is following up on this. I personally think that these poisonings occur much more often than they think, because they are often not recognized as such.

Mary van Vulpen