Cobb Dog Dies After Taking Flea Meds, Vet Says Two Unrelated

New fears about the safety of some dog medications were raised after a dog in Cobb County died after taking a flea pill.

Sarah Flowers’ three-year-old dog Chewy died in her arms 45 minutes after taking his monthly dose of Comfortis, Flowers told WSB-TV. Comfortis comes from the same family of drugs as Trifexis, another flea med which hundreds of dog owners say killed their pets.

One vet is not convinced the medications are to blame, especially in Chewy’s death. Dr. Toby Carmichael told WSB-TV that Chewy dying after taking his second monthly dose of Comfortis and not the first monthly dose led him to believe the two actions were not linked. Normally, any adverse reactions a dog might have to the medications would come after taking the first dose.

Chewy’s necropsy showed a pulmonary hemorrhage and dead tissue in his digestive tract, but these could not be connected to the medication nor were they conclusively linked to Chewy’s death, WSB-TV said.

The FDA said in a July 2014 statement that it urged consumers to understand that “reports of adverse events do not necessarily mean the product caused the event,” adding that factors such as preexisting conditions, exposure to chemicals, or other medications could have also been involved in the events.

According to the statement, the FDA is continuing to investigate Trifexis and will add warning labels to the product if any definitive link between the medication and the deaths can be established.

In the meantime, Carmichael told WSB-TV that worries that dog owners will take their pets off their medications due to fear, leaving them susceptible to fleas, ticks, and heartworm.