Cobb dog owner says flea drug killed her dog

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Cobb County veterinarian is asking the FDA for help in solving the case of a dog that died soon after taking a popular flea pill.

"It's the hardest thing ever.  I'll never forget that sound," said owner Sarah Flowers.

The sound to which she referred was her dog Chewy's painful howl just before he died in her arms.

"It was 45 minutes after we gave him that pill, and he was out here running around, happy.  He had no health issues what so ever before that."

A necropsy found pulmonary hemorrhage and necrosis (dead tissue) in the digestive system.

The report does not given any reason for an otherwise healthy dog to die so suddenly.

The dog had taken flea medication Comfortis a month before with no ill effects.  Comfortis is a sister drug to another flea medicine, Trifexis, which was the subject of a Channel 2 investigation.

Trifexis is a once-a-month combination pill made by Elanco for heartworm, parasites and flea prevention. Elanco is the animal health division of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.

Owners from all over the country are blaming Trifexis for their dogs’ deaths.

Comfortis is for fleas only and is made by the same company as Trifexis.

Dr. Toby Carmichael, a veterinarian who is not involved in the case, says any reaction to the drug would more likely have hit with the first pill.

“In the sense of having one dose, and then the second? That's going to be highly, highly unusual," he said.

Carmichael reports dispensing 10,000 doses of Comfortis over the last two years with no serious side effects.

The FDA lists 222 deaths reported and another 118 by euthanasia. The FDA admits the numbers are dated and from an old reporting system.  They also constitute no proof, only suspicion.

Channel 2 consumer investigator Jim Strickland has requested more accurate numbers from the FDA.

Flowers' vet is asking the FDA if any of the reports match what happened to Chewy.

Carmichael is concerned that overly cautious pet owners will ward off crucial medications in general.

"This is fear. This is complete fear that we are scaring people off of our products," Carmichael says.

Carmichael says heart worm cases are up and the number of dogs on heart worm prevention is down over fears about pet medications.

There is no proof that either pill is to blame for any deaths.

WSBTV