Abstract
BackgroundSafe and effective flea and tick treatment options for cats are important in companion animal practice because of feline ectoparasite infestation prevalence and the potential for parasitic disease transmission. Retrospective cat owner purchasing transactions at United States of America (USA) veterinary clinics were obtained for three topical feline flea and tick ectoparasiticides. One medication, fluralaner, had a 12-week redosing interval, while two other medications (fipronil/s-methoprene/pyriproxyfen; imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen) were approved for monthly redosing. The annual number of doses purchased by cat owners was determined for each of the three medications and then compared between medications. The objective was to evaluate whether 12-week retreatment intervals resulted in a different duration of coverage compared to monthly treatments for ectoparasiticide products.MethodsStudy results were obtained by analyzing the transactional records from a commercial database derived from veterinary practice management software. The study database consisted of cat owner purchasing records from January 2017 through June 2019 from 671 veterinary practices representing 41,630 cats.ResultsCat owners purchased an average of 1.5 doses of fluralaner per year which, based on a 12-week redosing interval, provides 4.2 months of treatment coverage. Cat owners who used monthly flea and tick medications respectively purchased 3.6 months (fipronil/s-methoprene/pyriproxyfen combination) and 2.8 months (imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen) annually of each of the two medications. Average yearly cat owner purchases of fluralaner provide a significantly longer duration of coverage than for cat owners purchasing fipronil/s-methoprene/pyriproxyfen (17% more) or imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen (50% more).ConclusionsCat owners who obtained a flea and tick treatment with a 12-week redosing interval (fluralaner) protected their cats for up to 17% or 50% longer duration each year, respectively, compared to the duration of protection obtained by cat owners who used a medication re-dosed monthly. Cat owners should increase their duration of flea and tick coverage to come closer to achieving veterinary recommendations.
Highlights
Safe and effective flea and tick treatment options for cats are important in companion animal practice because of feline ectoparasite infestation prevalence and the potential for parasitic disease transmission
The geographical distribution of the veterinary clinics in this study was defined by the clinics that were included in the study database
The three ectoparasiticides selected for comparison in this study (Table 1) made up the largest proportion of the feline ectoparasiticides provided to cat owners as recorded by the veterinary practice transaction database in the United States of America (USA) for the study period
Summary
Safe and effective flea and tick treatment options for cats are important in companion animal practice because of feline ectoparasite infestation prevalence and the potential for parasitic disease transmission. A multi-center study conducted at veterinary facilities in nine European countries evaluated 1519 client-owned cats untreated with ectoparasiticides in the preceding month [9] and found an overall 15.5% flea infestation prevalence. A flea infestation prevalence of 22.9% was reported in feline patients at 13 veterinary practices in Hungary [10], and a 21.1% prevalence at 31 practices in the UK [11] In both the Hungarian and UK studies, the flea infestation prevalence in cats was considerably greater than the prevalence in dogs evaluated concurrently at the same sites. Feral cats, untreated rural cats and indoor-outdoor cats may have considerably higher levels of infestation, associated with their increased outdoor exposure to fleas, than indoor cats [3, 10]
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