# Who's using Vectra?



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I have never heard of this. I'll bump it up.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

We've been using Vectra 3D since last spring and it works great. Our vet also recommends it over Frontline and K9 Advantix and they just started carrying it last year. We just got some more of it last week for the upcoming spring and summer seasons. We didn't have a single flea or tick all last spring or summer with it. I highly recommend it.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I just bought some to use on Tito once we start going in the field. My vet also recommends it over Frontline Plus and Advantix, and it's the only thing he will use on his own dogs as well.


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## Crazy4Gold (Mar 11, 2007)

About two years ago Frontline just plain quit working on my three.Living in Florida fleas are a HUGE issue.My vet recommended Vectra 3D.Had GREAT success with it.Fleas disappeared completely after a day or so.My only issue with it was it left an oily residue on them.They rough house all the time and I was worried about them getting it in their mouths.However, I never had any bad reaction.

Last May I started having flea issues again.This time my vet recommended Comfortis.It is a pill form and I'm not real fond of giving flea meds by mouth, but I was desperate to get rid of the fleas.I treated them in May and again in June and have not treated (other than normal baths) since and have not seen flea one.The only thing with Comfortis is if you give heartworm preventative it is recommended to not use any Ivermectin based heartworm preventative in conjunction with Comfortis.So I switched to Interceptor (on vets recommendation) for their heartworm preventative.

I would still use the Vectra 3D if it wasn't for the oily residue.It did work great.


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## Angel_Kody (Feb 27, 2007)

Thanks for the replies. I had just applied Frontline Plus on Jester before I found out about Vectra and I have one more vile of Frontline left so I may switch in a couple of months if I keep hearing good things about it. I'm not crazy about the oily residue but I also hear that it "repels" ticks which I like. The tick doesn't have to bite to be killed apparently.


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## Rctriplefresh5! (Mar 24, 2010)

our 8 year old who just passed was on vectra for a good portion of his life. he developed cancer early.

our great pyrenees will not be on vectra..we will use frontline

i feel better about frontline than vectra. shane was on vectra for a good portion of his life...after all of my research it is a terrible med.

vectra has
dinotefuran 4.95 percent
pyriproxyfen .44 percent
*permethrin* a whopping 36.08 percent

permethryn is highly liely to cause cancer...and it is a whopping 36.08 percent of the product.
pyriproxyfen is a safe chemical...but at .44 percent who cares.
dimotefuran is another insecticide and is not the greatest for pets, although after learning about the pyrox..i quit searching there...

*FRONTLINE* on the other hand..contains two ingridients.
Fipronil at 9.8 percent
(S) Methoprene at 88 percent

s methropene is very safe according to my research...while fipronel is not too safe. good thing fipronel only makes up 9.8 percent of the product and not 30 plus. fipronil also didn't say it would cause cancer.
according to green paws it said...

''Chemicals:
Fipronil -- 

Fipronil is considered a possible human carcinogen. [source] It also blocks a neural pathway responsible for preventing excessive stimulation resulting in over-excitation of the nervous system in both insects and humans. Fipronil binds less readily with mammalian nervous receptors than insect receptors, reducing its toxic effect in humans. Signs of poisoning from fipronil may include sweating, nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, dizziness, agitation, weakness, and tonic clonic seizures. When exposed to sunlight, fipronil breaks down into a compound nine to ten times as potent as fipronil itself. Studies have shown that fipronil residues from pet fur can get transferred onto a wipe or a child's hand. Fipronil is also suspected to disrupt the endocrine system. [source] Fipronil is listed as a least-toxic chemical control by the Integrated Pest Management Practitioner. It is listed on EcoWise Certified IPM Program Materials List. 

There are significant health concerns associated with fipronil but in areas with severe tick problems, limited and careful use may be warranted.
Toxicity:

Possible carcinogen
Toxic to the nervous system
Suspected endocrine disruptor ''




my main concern is that walking winston in the sun will trigger the fipronil to be 10 times worse.


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## BUTTERSisMYmaster (Nov 30, 2007)

We have been using Vectra on Butters and Koda since last summer and I can't remember finding even one flea or tick. It leaves a bit of a residue if you aren't diligent about parting the hair and dispersing it all the way down the back. I find that if I take the extra time to really part the hair and get it on the skin as opposed to the hair, the residue is minimal. And even when there is a residue, it seems to disappear within 2-3 days. 

I did have a concern when I applied if the very first time because Butters had what seemed like a dizzy episode while we were playing fetch. I talked to the vet, posted something about it here, and have watched him VERY closely ever since and I haven't noticed anything similar. 

My vet also recommends it over frontline, however, he never said exactly why. The cynical side of me assumes it is because that is what he is getting a kickback on... but maybe not?? 

Also, there is a mail in rebate when you purchase at least 6 doses I think. I purchased 1 years worth of the product for both dogs and I received about $60 back which my vet allowed me to use for heartguard meds.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Rctriplefresh5! said:


> while fipronel is not too safe. good thing fipronel only makes up 9.8 percent of the product and not 30 plus.* fipronil also didn't say it would cause cancer.*
> according to green paws it said...
> 
> ''Chemicals:
> ...



You do know that "carcinogen" means cancer-causing, right?

Look the fact remains that putting an insecticide on your dog's body or in their bloodstream with an oral pill isn't something we love to think about and do. But having them be miserable with a flea infestation and covered in bites isn't good either. You have to weigh the benefits and the risks and see what you are comfortable with.


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## Rctriplefresh5! (Mar 24, 2010)

missmarstar said:


> You do know that "carcinogen" means cancer-causing, right?
> 
> Look the fact remains that putting an insecticide on your dog's body or in their bloodstream with an oral pill isn't something we love to think about and do. But having them be miserable with a flea infestation and covered in bites isn't good either. You have to weigh the benefits and the risks and see what you are comfortable with.


neither are oral pills
also the vectra is likely to cause cancer

while the frontline is a POSSIBLE human carcinogen

that sounds a lot better in my books!


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Rctriplefresh5! said:


> neither are oral pills
> also the vectra is likely to cause cancer
> 
> while the frontline is a POSSIBLE human carcinogen
> ...



I didn't say Vectra or Frontline are oral pills. I said that we as pet owners put insecticides on our dogs' skin with topicals OR in our dogs' bloodstreams with oral pills. 

I don't use either Vectra or Frontline for flea control for my dogs (we use Comfortis) but, again, it's just something you need to weigh the pros and cons of and do what you are comfortable with. I don't like the idea of feeding my dog a pill of insecticide every month, but with a flea bite allergic dog in the house, I don't really have a choice. 

If you are truly concerned about it, you could look into a more natural way of flea repellant that we had some success with called Bug Off Garlic. There are no chemicals in that.

I think you also need to realize that no matter what you do, no matter what you feed, no matter what flea prevention you use for your dog, cancer is still a possibility because unfortunately it's just very common in not only our chosen breed of GR's, but dogs in general.


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## Rctriplefresh5! (Mar 24, 2010)

how come you switched from bug off to comfortis


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## attagirl (Aug 11, 2011)

When using Vectra it is good to spread out the dose on their back. If you leave too much sit in one spot it can give them a burn/hot spot. Apply it in the a.m. on a day you are home to observe them if you haven't used it before. That way if they have a reaction you can bathe them immediately. 

One of my dogs had a terrible reaction to this topical, the others were fine with it. 

I dislike flea meds, but I dislike fleas even more!


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

We have used Vectra 3D on Jaro since he was a pup. One thing to be aware of is to remove the collar for a few hours. If it is colored the color may come off onto the fur, some dyes react that way. That being said Jaro has no reaction to it at all. When we used Frontline on our previous Golden he went crazy rubbing all over the place for a few minutes. The Vectra is a little oily, but I don't think as much as the Frontline.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Rctriplefresh5! said:


> how come you switched from bug off to comfortis



Bug Off garlic works as a natural flea/bug repellant. It doesn't kill any fleas that get on the dog or even guarantee it works every time. For one of my dogs, it seemed to work really well. I never once saw a flea on him, he never got the itchies, even during summer when the fleas are bad around here. The other dog all of a sudden kept getting hot spots that year. After taking him to the vet, we discovered the hot spots were forming over irritated flea bites and he is severely flea bite allergic. He would get red rashes around bites and bite and scratch it to death until a hot spot formed. Even though he was never infested with fleas, even just one bite would be a big problem for him, so I knew I had to do something more substantial for flea prevention. 

For the flea bite allergic dog, he gets Comfortis AND Bug Off Garlic, and since we made the switch, he has not gotten one hot spot from a flea bite. Honestly not really sure why it has worked so well considering in order for the Comfortis to kill a flea, it has to bite the dog, but I'm not going to complain and I'll just be happy that it seems to work well for him. Maybe it's just that the Comfortis will kill the flea before it bites him more than once and the BOG does still help keep some fleas away? Who knows.

I think had he not had such a bad reaction to the occasional bite, just using the BOG would have worked fine for us.


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

I use it when I can get it for free. It really works a lot better than Frontline.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I'm about to take the Vectra plunge. I read the packaging though, and it is intense. Has anyone experienced trouble with it?


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I use Vectra...what is not current in the packaging is how to apply it. The video on their website shows the current recommendation to apply it. You are supposed to go from rump to withers in a continuous line. I started using it last Fall and never saw another tick. It doesn't just repel ticks, it repels fleas.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks, Sally's mom! Hearing that a vet is using it is good enough for me. I am going to try it today as the ticks have been overwhelming. Parastar Plus is doing nothing.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

It also repels mosquitoes...


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

Sally's Mom said:


> I use Vectra...what is not current in the packaging is how to apply it. The video on their website shows the current recommendation to apply it. You are supposed to go from rump to withers in a continuous line. I started using it last Fall and never saw another tick. It doesn't just repel ticks, it repels fleas.


I asked our vet about Vectra at Cookie's last appointment, and she said that it worked well, but it wasn't as long lasting as Frontline, especially if your dog swims. Do you know if that is true, or were they just trying to steer me to the product line that they sell (Frontline)?  The ticks are driving us crazy and Frontline doesn't seem too effective.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Rctriplefresh5! said:


> permethryn is highly liely to cause cancer...and it is a whopping 36.08 percent of the product.


That isn't true. Permethrin is technically considered a carcinogen because sufficient doses cause tumors in mice. The same is true of some artificial sweeteners. Carcinogen classification and a real danger of cancer in the dose applied are two very different things.

Frontline's fipronil is roughly as dangerous to dogs as permethrin. The issue is that ticks are far more dangerous than either.

FYI - permethrin is highly toxic to cats, so much so that you can't even use it on your dogs if you have cats in the house.

Also, you can't really use the percentages to gauge what you're measuring here. Chemicals are effective or dangerous at very different concentrations relative to each other. Just because permethrin is 30% instead of 10% doesn't mean it's three times as dangerous or three times as carcinogenic.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

FYI - Frontline doesn't repel ticks. It kills them over a 24-48 hour period. They tend to lose some nervous system function before that, so they become ineffective at embedding sooner than 24 hours, but they don't die and they can embed for up to 48 hours after they come in contact with the dog.


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## mflag714 (Dec 7, 2011)

SallysMom and Tippykayak, thanks for being a voice of reason in a sea of alot of disturbing information via Mr. Google.

We have spent the last 6 weeks debating about going the "all natural" route for flea prevention, especially after having seen so many posts on a variety of sites related to adverse reactions to Vectra 3D and the others. Cooper had a brief adverse reaction in Jan..running in circles and then lethargic for a bout 5mins..but I actually think I applied it incorrectly. The vet instructions say in a "wide zig zag" from the base of tail to shoulder blades but I watched the video on the Vectra website last nite and it is suppose to be a straight line. Also, Cooper was on only 25lbs and I wondered if he may do better with it now that is is closer to the end of the range for this dose. After reading all that is entailed in making an all natural program successful, it seems like a ton of work and not sure it even works. 

what finally made us choose going back to the Vectra after skipping Feb/March..no fleas..is here in PA they are anticipating a really bad year for fleas because of the weather. Cooper already seems like an "itchy" allergy prone pup that i think the flea bites would cause him even more trouble. Plus, with our allergies, and my phobia about little things jumping on me, this just seems like the most practical approach. 

Finally, I am in the people health care field and know what I think when my patients look up every potential adverse reaction to a drug, even those that are <1%. If people looked up tylenol I think they'd be surprised that has its own list too.
In the end, like my job, it is weighing the risks and the benefits. Right now the benefits of Vectra seem to outweigh the potential risks. 

So SallysMom and Tippy, your common sense posts were quite helpful, thank you!!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I agree with those thanks, and I am about to put it on my dogs now. I am that neurotuc person who thinks the 1 percent on the tylenol bottle will be me, so these voices of reason are helpful!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

My vet's really pushing Vectra, but I've been hesitant to go away from Frontline after 10 years and zero positive tests for Lyme (two positive tests for anaplasmosis, though). I may have to take the plunge too, once my current box of Frontline runs out.


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## Lucky Penny (Nov 13, 2011)

I took the plunge and did vectra two weeks ago. I try to stay as holistic as possible and did that route last summer, and still had ticks and fleas. Was able to get rid of them holistically, but it was work. This summer, knowing ticks and fleas will be worse, I decided to just use vectra for the summer. No complaints so far.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Of the folks that have had success with Vectra, do any of you take your dogs swimming a whole lot? Frontline really seems unaffected by how much we swim or don't swim.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Most of these companies have satisfaction guarantees... Mine do not swim much, so I cannot attest to how well it holds up. We find frontline seems to be ineffective .... As far as cats, LuckyPenny called the company last week. The company said it was fine after it dried on the dog.... That is no different than the way I did things when my kids were young.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Sally's Mom said:


> The company said it was fine after it dried on the dog....


Really? Wow. I had read that permethrin was really, really dangerous to cats, even in tiny amounts. I guess if that's the official word from the company, though, they must be very confident that it's safe once it's dry, otherwise they're exposing themselves to massive liability.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

I have been using Vectra 3D for several years now and over that time I can count on one hand the number of ticks I have found on my girls. I do a considerable amount of field work from the Spring thru the Fall, both on land and in water. I apply it monthly. FWIW.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Very reassuring to know, Hank! Frontline Plus and paraStar Plus are doing no good at this point.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Ljilly28 said:


> Very reassuring to know, Hank! Frontline Plus and paraStar Plus are doing no good at this point.



I believe Angel Cody, thread OP, and I may have the same vet. In Washington, NJ?


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## babettesfeast (Jun 26, 2009)

FWIW, my vet (well, ex-vet) told me that Frontline is no longer working against fleas who are mutating like mad and are now resistant to it ...


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

babettesfeast said:


> FWIW, my vet (well, ex-vet) told me that Frontline is no longer working against fleas who are mutating like mad and are now resistant to it ...



My vet said the same thing about fleas in our area when I complained that Advantix wasn't working for one of my dogs very well.

We use Comfortis for flea control as ticks are not a concern in my area.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Well, Merial has added amitraz to Frontline for the tick control. Frankly, amitraz scares me more than permethrin... But Merial has done nothing to get better flea control...IMO, they have a lot of excuses...


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## sameli102 (Aug 23, 2009)

My vet recommended Vectra last year and I've used it since. Never a flea or tick on any of them.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I saw Certifect at my vet's office the other day. That is the "upgrade" to Frontline Sally's Mom was talking about. Apparently it is a big seller there, but amitraz also scares me too much to switch to certifect. 
For now, Frontline Plus is working on my boys, so I am not in a hurry to switch.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

cgriffin said:


> I saw Certifect at my vet's office the other day. That is the "upgrade" to Frontline Sally's Mom was talking about. Apparently it is a big seller there, but amitraz also scares me too much to switch to certifect.
> For now, Frontline Plus is working on my boys, so I am not in a hurry to switch.


My vet had all the advertising stuff up for Certifect, but when I finally decided to try it, they were no longer carrying it-too many client reports of adverse reactions, mostly rashes, burning, etc.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Amitraz is the active ingredient in mitaban (used to treat demodectic mange). It can cause extreme sedation...


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