My husband and I were given this product from our vet a few months ago. We have a ten month Golden Retriever that weighs 55lbs. The first two doses were fine. Shortly after the third dose we noticed that she began breaking out in sores on her face and along her neck. We were switching dog foods at the time and thought this might be the cause (since she had no prior reactions the first two administrations).

We brought her to our vet who diagnosed her with a secondary skin infection. She said it could be an allergy to anything- most likely something in her new food. She gave us a round of antibiotics and never even suggested it could be due to the Advantix.

One month later we put the Advantix on again. This time it was far worse- as though her body just could not tolerate this again. Within 36 hours we had to bring her to the vet. Our's was on vacation so we called around to others in the area. After describing her symptoms (severe scratching at the ears, leaking of puss behind the ears and swelling along the throat and neck) they asked if we had given her Advantix recently. We said yes and we were old to bring her in immediately. She was having a severe reaction to this and she almost died.

They had to sedate her and they shaved around her ears and neck to expose the affected area. We were shocked at what we saw. In addition to her neck being about five times its normal size, her skin was literally burned from the Advantix. You could see where we had administered the Advantix at the base of the skull because there was a burn hole. Then you could see the path that the liquid took down both sides of her face down to her neck and throat. It had literally burned her skin right off. She had a major infection in these areas that had also crept into her ears and her right eye.

The next 24 hours were awful. We stayed up with her all night and were not sure she was going to make it. It has been about a week now and she is almost fully recovered.

The company that manufactures this drug will only acknowledge that in rare occasions, some dogs do have a "sensitivity" to this. (Although, they gave us little resistance to reimbursing for our vet bills. We also learned, via a middle of the night phone call to our emergency vet clinic, that there was another dog going through this very experience in our same area- they thought we were the same people).

Since then, I have been reading other people's experiences with Advantix on various message boards. It does not appear that these reactions are as "rare" as the company claims them to be. (I also think they have a very distorted version of what a "sensitivity" or "minor reaction" really is).

I am writing this because had we known that this was even a possibility- we never would have put one drop of this on our dog. Our hope, since the company takes no formal responsibility in better communicating the risks associated with Advantix that someone may read this and spare themselves and their dog, the agony of this experience.

If you are reading this and you have experienced similar effects from using Advantix on your dog, PLEASE contact the Environmental Protection Agency. They are required to investigate every complaint against this product. Who knows, if enough cases are documented, they may take this awful poison of the market in the future and spare the health and lives of other dogs.

Anjulee