New topical treatment kills ticks on cats for over a month

Abstract

Esafoxolaner is a purified enantiomer of afoxolaner with insecticidal and acaricidal properties. It is combined with eprinomectin and praziquantel in a novel topical endectoparasiticide formulation for cats. The efficacy of this novel formulation was evaluated in three Ixodes ricinus and two Ixodes scapularis experimental studies, with comparable designs. In each study, cats were randomly allocated, based on a pre-treatment tick infestation and count, to a placebo control group or a group treated with the minimum recommended dose of the novel formulation. Cats were infested two days before treatment and weekly thereafter. Immediate efficacy was evaluated 48 h after treatment; persistent efficacy was evaluated 48 h after new weekly infestations for at least one month after the treatment (in one of the studies, the first two weeks of persistent efficacy against I. ricinus were not tested). Efficacy was calculated at each timepoint by comparison of arithmetic means of live ticks found in the control and the treated groups. In the three studies targeting I. ricinus, immediate and persistent efficacies ranged between 91% and 100% for five weeks. In the two studies targeting I. scapularis, immediate and persistent efficacies ranged between 95% and 100%, and 98% and 100% for one month, respectively. These studies provide robust evidence of efficacy of the novel topical formulation of esafoxolaner, eprinomectin and praziquantel against experimental I. ricinus and I. scapularis infestations for at least one month in cats.