Interceptor Update

Those of you who use Interceptor for their heartworm prevention may know there has been a shortage due to a stop in production for quality control reasons of other drugs-mostly human OTC drugs.  There was not actually a problem with the Interceptor or the Sentinel.  

I read a statement from Novartis today indicating that Sentinel should be back in production this fall.  Sentinel, if you are not familiar with it, is essentially Interceptor with the insect growth regulator Lufenuron added.  Lufenuron sterilizes flea eggs but does not kill live fleas so I have always found this product to be very overrated.

There is no date yet set for the production of Interceptor to begin.  In fact, the company may not bring back Interceptor in it's original form at all, instead opting for a more broad spectrum product also containing the drug Praziquantel, which controls tapeworms.  This formulation is already available in other countries.  

I find this highly annoying because Praziquantel and Lufenuron are both expensive additions that my dogs don't need.  I almost never need to deworm my dogs for tapeworms and with the use of flea products that actually kill fleas, I also don't need to use a product like Lufenuron.  I think most people will agree that unnecessarily driving up the cost of heartworm preventative is not going to make anyone happy.  

I don't have any issue with Heartgard except that it does not control whipworms and I really like having that additional parasite covered since my dogs go so many places.  This development will probably make Elanco (makers of Trifexis) and Bayer (makers of Advantage Multi) happy since their products also control whipworms.  However they are also flea preventatives as well which some people don't need or want leaving  no options for those who just want regular old heartworm and intestinal worm control at a good price.  

Let's hope Novartis comes to their senses.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.