TITLE:
Preference of Dogs between Two Commercially Available Oral Formulations of Ectoparasiticide Containing Isoxazolines, Afoxolaner or Fluralaner
AUTHORS:
Lénaïg Halos, Douglas S. Carithers, Ruchika Solanki, Heather Stanford, Sheila J. Gross
KEYWORDS:
Palatability, Preference, Oral Ectoparasiticide Treatment, Compliance
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
11,
2015
ABSTRACT: Because of their convenience, oral dosage forms are an emerging trend in companion animal formulations.
Ectoparasiticides represent a significant proportion of the treatments administered to
pets, and recently oral formulations have been commercialized. They have to demonstrate high
palatability to ensure that they are voluntarily accepted by the animal especially because they are
repeatedly offered medications. The present study aimed to compare the dog’s preference between
two commercially available oral ectoparasiticide formulations containing either afoxolaner (NexGard®, Merial) or fluralaner (Bravecto®, MSD Animal Health). In two separate experiments, 225
individual dogs (115 and 110 respectively) were offered a choice of afoxolaner or fluralaner chewable
tablets. The 225 dogs were given an opportunity to smell both products, and then the products
were simultaneously offered to each dog by hand for 4 consecutive days with products offered from
alternate hands on each day. Individual consumption and related behaviors were recorded. The
same individual offered the products to the dogs throughout each study. The total number of chewable
tablets for each formulation was recorded and preference was evaluated as the consumption
of a given formulation during more days. A total amount of 797 tablets were consumed by the 225
dogs during the 4 days of the studies. A total of 573 (71.9%) afoxolaner chews and 224 (28.1%)
fluralaner chews were consumed voluntarily. The overall consumption ratio was 2.56 to 1 for
NexGard®to Bravecto®, with significantly (p ®than Bravecto®on each day. As for dogs demonstrating a preference over the entire test period; 83% of the
dogs tested preferred NexGard®to Bravecto®, resulting in a preference ratio of 5 to 1 for afoxolaner formulation versus fluralaner formulation. This study demonstrated that when dogs were
offered a choice between the two ectoparasiticide products, a significant preference for NexGard®was observed.