Pets and Animals

 by: ANOJ J. CHEERAN

Insider Tips in Controlling Ticks & Fleas effectively - Part 1

This is 'Part One' of a series on Tick & Flea control programme.

Most of the animal owners face a real challenge in tackling

ticks, fleas and lice which infests their animals resulting in

reduced productivity and health. Even more importantly, they

are also concerned about the zoonotic nature of those

infestations.

In-fact, field veterinarians are mostly smart enough in

choosing the best molecule to tackle this menace, but

the issue is also related to the compliance on the animal

owners' side. And, animal owners are often unaware of

the many marketing gimmicks, tactics and arm-twisting

practices of the trade.

Field practitioners are often concerned with the indications

and contra-indications of the product. Other than this, many

pharmaceutically significant aspects influence the real field

effectiveness and product compliance.

A simple point to illustrate is that, many synthetic preparations

are photo-sensitive and as such, these products may have

undergone considerable degradation before reaching the client !

Typically, the product would have been exhibited in the trade

counters for days and kept even at window-panes of animal

shelters before it was applied. This stresses the importance

to choose a reliable and time-tested product from the market

as proven manufacturers always (or know how to) use more

' chemically stable or competent ' formulations.

This raises question to the mere concept of "chemical analysis"

to prove label claim and effectiveness. Emulsion properties,

particle size, water miscibility, penetrability, biological activity, therapeutic index, mammalian toxicity and rheologic properties are only a few of the other numerous parameters considered.

Also important is the knowledge about the combination of

formulations you choose. When you choose a particular brand

of ecto-parasiticide for spraying around the animal house and

resting places, it is equally important to use similar classes of

compounds to be applied as dusting powders. This gives an

extra edge to your tick & flea control programme. Be cautious

when preferring brands that cannot complement your strategy,

i.e., using different formulation of the same chemical, at the same

time. Of course, one formulation may be quiet effective; but use

of different molecules at the same time may induce conditions

of cross-resistance.

Compliance of a product starts right from the ease of opening

the containers ! Some of the containers are too strong, secure

or tiny that it may be quite difficult for the animal keeper / owner

to open it efficiently without any difficulty or spill offs. Ask your vet to open such 'secure' or ' tiny' containers themselves and

imagine how the laymen would have handled it. Many of the

containers are just adaptations of other product packings or

use of idle machine lines. As you would agree, the containers

should be of reasonable size and sealing for client convenience.

Also, the highly priced product need not always be the best

in the market. Pricing of similar formulations of different

companies are wildly deviating. Then, where are these huge

margins diverted ? Truly, such products are not priced on the

cost price plus margin, but certainly on the concept of how

much you can afford to pay or opportunity cost.

Ask the product executive of each company about their trade

discount structure and free offer trade policies ! Probably,

it will be difficult to know the real situation; but if you get the

chance, you will be amazed to know the real market game.

Obviously, the heavy free-trade-offer pushing is seen for the

new market entrants as well as for the poor product players.

For certain antibiotics, there are even 1:1 free offers in the

wholesale trade, just for "retail counter - pushing " !

On the other hand, stronger brands can always offer competitive

pricing by mass production and balancing their overheads on a

range of their own products. Again, remember to avoid spurious,

inferior or cheap products. Quite sadly, 'copy-cats' follow the

most unethical means of selling.

Here is where the vet's prescription preference decides; whether

the animal owner can afford such inflated / unethical pricing or

the vet's ability to strike a balance between product performance

and market dynamics. Or do you think the animal owners would

comply the prescription when he finds the product too expensive?