Information for Cat and Dog Owners
COMFORTIS™ Cats
(spinosad)
Chewable Tablets
Your veterinarian has chosen to prescribe COMFORTIS to meet your flea treatment and prevention needs. Controlling fleas is important to the health of your cat. Please read this leaflet, which describes the proper use of COMFORTIS to treat and prevent flea infestations. If you have any questions about this information, please consult your veterinarian. Additional information can be found at
www.comfortis.com.
What is COMFORTIS?
COMFORTIS is a chewable, flavored tablet that you give to your cat to kill fleas and prevent flea infestations for one month. COMFORTIS is for monthly use in cats and kittens 14 weeks of age or older and 4.1 pounds of body weight or greater.
Why has my veterinarian prescribed COMFORTIS?
Your veterinarian has provided this medication to either prevent a flea infestation or to treat an existing flea infestation on your cat.
What should I discuss with my veterinarian regarding COMFORTIS for my cat?
Your veterinarian is your cat’s healthcare expert and can make the best recommendation for medications for your cat. This includes the prevention and treatment of parasites such as fleas that may cause conditions that include flea allergy dermatitis, anemia, and other flea-related problems.
Key points of your discussion may include the following:
- Treatment with COMFORTIS may begin at any time of the year, preferably starting one month before fleas become active and continuing through the end of flea season. In areas where fleas may occur year-round, monthly treatment with COMFORTIS should continue the entire year without interruption.
- If a dose is missed, administer COMFORTIS with food and resume a monthly dosing schedule.
- To minimize the likelihood of flea reinfestation, it is important to treat all animals within a household with an approved flea protection product.
- COMFORTIS is not for use in humans. Like all medications, keep COMFORTIS out of reach of children.
- Make sure your veterinarian is aware of all medications, including over-the-counter (OTC) medications, that you are giving to your cat.
- Keep COMFORTIS in a secure location out of reach of dogs, cats, and other animals to prevent accidental ingestion or overdose.
How should I give COMFORTIS to my cat?
Give COMFORTIS with food for maximum effectiveness. COMFORTIS is a chewable tablet that can be consumed by cats when offered just prior to or just after feeding. Alternatively, COMFORTIS may be offered in food or administered like other tablet medications. Give COMFORTIS to your cat once a month.
What if I give more than the prescribed amount of COMFORTIS to my cat?
In pre-approval clinical studies, the most severe adverse reaction observed at elevated dose rates was increased vomiting and loose stool. In the event of possible overdose, contact your veterinarian, who is the healthcare expert for your cat.
Should I restrict either my cat's activity or contact with my cat after the tablet is consumed?
Since COMFORTIS is an oral formulation, you may maintain normal activities and interactions with your cat.
How quickly will COMFORTIS kill fleas?
In a laboratory study, COMFORTIS started to kill fleas within 30 minutes and killed 100% of the fleas within 24 hours. COMFORTIS kills fleas before they can lay eggs.
Does seeing fleas on my cat mean that the treatment is not working?
COMFORTIS kills fleas before they can lay eggs when used monthly according to the label directions. Remember that all animals in the household should be treated with an approved flea product to help control the flea population. Female fleas that are living on animals produce eggs that fall from the animal into their surroundings. These eggs hatch within a week; larvae then emerge and spin cocoons to become pupae. The entire life cycle can be completed in as little as 3 weeks, with new adult fleas emerging from the pupae to jump onto your cat. Because each female flea can lay up to 50 eggs per day, there is potential for a large build-up of eggs, larvae and pupae, resulting in a constant supply of new adults emerging in the cat’s environment.
Regardless of the product used to kill the fleas, the cat can continue to be exposed to the fleas that live in the environment. If these fleas jump onto the cat, they will be killed by COMFORTIS. If you see fleas on your cat within a month after your cat receives COMFORTIS, it is most likely that these are new fleas that have recently emerged from pupae and jumped onto the cat. These new fleas will be killed before they can produce eggs that contaminate the environment.
Is it safe to give my cat COMFORTIS?
COMFORTIS has been demonstrated to be safe in cats when used according to label directions. Safety was shown in cats and kittens 14 weeks of age and older, in multiple laboratory studies and a field study in household cats. The safe use of COMFORTIS in breeding, pregnant, or lactating cats has not been evaluated.
What side effects might occur with COMFORTIS?
Side effects may occur after administration of COMFORTIS. In some cases, cats vomited after receiving COMFORTIS. If vomiting occurs within one hour of administration, redose with another full dose.
Additional adverse reactions observed in clinical studies were lethargy, decreased appetite, weight loss, and diarrhea. Since the introduction of COMFORTIS, additional side effects reported are behavioral changes, itching, incoordination, hyperactivity, excessive salivation, panting, vocalization, difficulty breathing, twitching, and seizures.
In some cases, death was reported. Some of these reports involved cats with heart disease, including cats with previously undiagnosed heart disease.
Can other medications be given while my cat is taking COMFORTIS?
Yes, COMFORTIS has been given safely with a wide variety of products and medications. Your veterinarian should be made aware of all medications, including over-the-counter (OTC) medications, that you are giving to your cat. For heartworm prevention, use products that are specifically prescribed by your veterinarian.
How should COMFORTIS be stored?
Store at 68 to 77°F (20 to 25°C). Temporary periods of time outside of this range between 59 to 86°F (15 to 30°C) are permitted.
If you have questions regarding the use of this product, consult your veterinarian, your cat’s healthcare expert. Additional information can be found at
www.comfortis.com.
For technical assistance or to report suspected adverse drug events, contact Elanco US Inc. at 1-888-545-5973. For additional information about adverse drug experience reporting for animal drugs, contact FDA at 1-888-FDA-VETS or
www.fda.gov/reportanimalae
COMFORTIS™ Dogs
(spinosad)
Chewable Tablets
Your veterinarian has chosen to prescribe COMFORTIS to meet your flea treatment and prevention needs. Controlling fleas is very important to the health of your dog. Please read this leaflet, which describes the use of COMFORTIS to treat and prevent flea infestations. If you have any questions about this information, please consult your veterinarian. Additional information can be found at
www.comfortis.com.
What is COMFORTIS?
COMFORTIS is a chewable, flavored tablet that you give to your dog to kill fleas and prevent flea infestations for one month. COMFORTIS is for monthly use in dogs and puppies 14 weeks of age or older and 5.0 pounds of body weight or greater.
Why has my veterinarian prescribed COMFORTIS?
Your veterinarian has provided this medication to either prevent a flea infestation or to treat an existing infestation on your dog.
What should I discuss with my veterinarian regarding COMFORTIS for my dog?
Your veterinarian is your dog’s healthcare expert and can make the best recommendation for medications for your dog. This includes the prevention and treatment of parasites such as fleas that may cause conditions that include flea allergy dermatitis, anemia, and other flea-related problems.
Key points of your discussion may include the following:
- Treatment with COMFORTIS may begin at any time of the year, preferably starting one month before fleas become active and continuing through the end of flea season. In areas where fleas may occur year-round, monthly treatment with COMFORTIS should continue the entire year without interruption.
- If a dose is missed, administer COMFORTIS with food and resume a monthly dosing schedule.
- To minimize the likelihood of flea reinfestation, it is important to treat all animals within a household with an approved flea protection product.
- COMFORTIS is not for use in humans. Like all medications, keep COMFORTIS out of reach of children.
- Keep COMFORTIS in a secure location out of reach of dogs, cats, and other animals to prevent accidental ingestion or overdose.
- Make sure your veterinarian is aware of all medications, including over the counter (OTC) medications, that you are giving to your dog.
How should I give COMFORTIS to my dog?
Give COMFORTIS with food for maximum effectiveness.
COMFORTIS is a chewable tablet and is readily consumed by dogs when offered by the owner just prior to feeding. Alternatively, COMFORTIS may be offered in food or administered like other tablet medications.
Give COMFORTIS to your dog once a month.
What if I give more than the prescribed amount of COMFORTIS to my dog?
In pre-approval clinical studies, the most severe adverse reaction observed at elevated dose rates was increased vomiting. In the event of possible overdose, contact your veterinarian, who is the healthcare expert for your dog.
Should I restrict either my dog's activity or contact with my dog after the tablet is consumed?
Since COMFORTIS is an oral formulation, you may maintain normal activities and interactions with your dog.
How quickly will COMFORTIS kill fleas?
In a laboratory study, COMFORTIS started to kill fleas within 30 minutes and killed 100% of the fleas within 4 hours. COMFORTIS kills fleas before they can lay eggs.
Does seeing fleas on my dog mean that the flea treatment is not working?
COMFORTIS kills fleas before they can lay eggs when used monthly according to the label directions. Remember that all animals in the household should be treated with an approved flea product to help control the flea population.
Female fleas that are living on animals produce eggs that fall from the animal into their surroundings. These eggs hatch within a week; larvae then emerge and spin cocoons to become pupae. The entire life cycle can be completed in as little as 3 weeks, with new adult fleas emerging from the pupae to jump onto your dog. Because each female flea can lay up to 50 eggs per day there is potential for a large build-up of eggs, larvae and pupae, resulting in a constant supply of new adults emerging in the dog’s environment.
Regardless of the product used to kill the fleas, the dog can continue to be exposed to the fleas that live in the environment. When these fleas jump onto the dog, they will be quickly killed by COMFORTIS.
If you see fleas on your dog within a month after your dog receives COMFORTIS, it is most likely that these are new fleas that have very recently emerged from pupae and jumped onto the dog. These new fleas will quickly be killed before they can produce eggs that contaminate the environment.
Is it safe to give my dog COMFORTIS?
COMFORTIS has been demonstrated to be safe in pure and mixed breeds of healthy dogs when used according to label directions. Safety was shown in puppies 14 weeks of age and older and adult dogs in both laboratory studies and clinical field studies. You should discuss the use of COMFORTIS with your veterinarian prior to use if your dog has a history of epilepsy (seizures).
Is it safe to give my breeding dogs COMFORTIS?
Use with caution in breeding females. You should discuss the use of COMFORTIS with your veterinarian prior to use in breeding females. Safe use of COMFORTIS in male dogs intended for breeding has not been evaluated.
What side effects might occur with COMFORTIS?
Side effects may occur after administration of COMFORTIS. In some cases, dogs vomited after receiving COMFORTIS. If vomiting occurs within one hour of administration, redose with another full dose. During clinical studies, no severe or prolonged vomiting occurred. Additional adverse reactions observed in the clinical studies were decreased appetite, lethargy or decreased activity, diarrhea, cough, increased thirst, vocalization, increased appetite, redness of the skin, hyperactivity, and excessive salivation. These reactions were regarded as mild and did not result in any dog being removed from the studies. Since the introduction of COMFORTIS, additional side effects reported are itching, seizures, incoordination, trembling, and behavioral changes.
Can other medications be given while my dog is taking COMFORTIS?
Yes, COMFORTIS has been given safely with a wide variety of products and medications. Your veterinarian should be made aware of all products that you administered and/or intend to administer to your dog. For heartworm prevention, use products that are specifically prescribed by your veterinarian.
How should COMFORTIS be stored?
Store at 68-77°F (20-25°C). Temporary periods of time outside of this range between 59-86°F (15-30°C) are permitted.
If you have questions regarding the use of this product, consult your veterinarian, your dog’s healthcare expert. Additional information can be found at
www.comfortis.com.
For technical assistance or to report suspected adverse drug events, contact Elanco US Inc. at 1-888-545-5973.
For additional information about adverse drug experience reporting for animal drugs, contact FDA at 1-888-FDA-VETS or
www.fda.gov/reportanimalae
Elanco™
Revised: June 2024