Table 4.
Owner assessment of pruritus using a visual analogue scale (PVAS) for cats in homes naturally infested with fleas before and after treatment with either a single topical dose of fluralaner or three consecutive topical treatments with selamectin
| Treatment group | Days post-treatment | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28–30 | 40–45 | 56–60 | 82–86 | ||
| Fluralaner1 | # Cats | 31 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 |
| Mean PVAS Score3 | 5.9a,x | 2.6a,y | 1.9a,y | 1.1b,y | 1.2b,y | 1.0a,y | 1.1a,y | 0.9a,y | |
| SD | 2.31 | 1.93 | 1.61 | 1.40 | 1.70 | 1.32 | 1.71 | 0.96 | |
| Range | (1.1–10) | (0.0–8.2) | (0.0–5.2) | (0.0–5.0) | (0.0–6.3) | (0.0–5.1) | (0–6.7) | (0.0–2.7) | |
| % Reduction4 | 56.0 | 68.0 | 80.7 | 79.7 | 82.7 | 81.7 | 84.3 | ||
| Selamectin2 | # Cats | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 26 |
| Mean PVAS Score3 | 6.6a,x | 3.1a,y | 2.7a,y | 2.9a,y | 2.6a,y | 1.3a,y | 1.6a,y | 1.6a,y | |
| SD | 2.58 | 1.09 | 2.12 | 2.40 | 2.31 | 1.46 | 1.92 | 2.12 | |
| Range | (0.3–10) | (1.0–5.1) | (0.0–8.0) | (0.2–8.8) | (0.0–9.3) | (0.0–4.7) | (0.0–7.5) | (0.0–6.7) | |
| % Reduction4 | 53.6 | 58.9 | 56.6 | 60.6 | 80.9 | 76.2 | 76.5 | ||
1In the fluralaner group cats were treated once topically on day 0 (Bravecto® Topical solution; Merck Animal Health, Madison, NJ, USA)
2In the selamectin group cats were treated on day 0 and once between days 28–30 and 56–60 (Revolution®; Zoetis, Whippany, NJ, USA)
3Arithmetic mean pruritus scores as assessed by cat owners using a PVAS scoring sheet
4{(Day 0 arithmetic mean PVAS score – day x arithmetic mean PVAS score) / day 0 arithmetic mean PVAS score)} × 100
a,bArithmetic mean PVAS scores in a column with unlike letter superscripts are significantly different (P < 0.005; │t│ ≥ 2.882)
x,yArithmetic mean PVAS scores in a row with unlike letter superscripts are significantly different from day 0 (P < 0.001; │t│≥ 8.680)