Consumer Alert Concerning Vectra 3D!

I'll throw a quick disclaimer out there first.  This is only my experience and although many people have had similar reactions with this product and their pets, many have not.  That being said, our 14 year old cocker has had a severe reaction to Vectra 3D.  We applied it to both dogs on Sunday.  This product is applied differently than other flea and tick meds as you apply it from the tail up to collar.  We were surprised by the amount of liquid that was in each tube, but followed the directions.  By Monday night, our older dog was pacing, drinking excessive amount of water and itching uncontrollably.  He was agitated and unable to calm down.  Suspecting it was the medication, I quickly did an Internet search and found that other pet owners had had the same problem, some with very serious results (chemical burns, seizures, etc.).  We immediately washed him, shampooing twice with a special sensitive skin shampoo we have for our younger sensitive dog.  Many people suggest using Dawn dishwashing liquid but we didn't have any on hand.  Then we gave him a Benadryl which our vet has prescribed for allergies in the past. Our poor boy was up the entire night pacing, itching and fidgeting.  The Benadryl didn't really work.  My husband and I both took turns trying to calm him down, but it wasn't until approximately 4:00 am that he finally got a little sleep.  (Don't know whether or not this was just from exhaustion.)  This morning he is still having issues albeit a little less severe.  From what I've read, it seems like this may take a little time to wear off.  We will be washing our 10 yr. old today to prevent him from having a similar reaction.

Much of the information I found was on a WebMD forum:  http://forums.webmd.com/3/pet-health-exchange/forum/2443

Our well-meaning vet had recommended this product to us because many people are finding that Frontline isn't working for them anymore.  Apparently the pests are becoming immune to Frontline.  We will be calling our vet and the manufacturer today to report the incident and obviously will be discontinuing use of this product.

By the way, you should know that this product is deadly to cats and should not come in contact with them.

What a nightmare this has been.  I only hope that our boy feels better quickly and that the other one doesn't have the same reaction, and just maybe this information can help someone else.

UPDATE:  We had to get a prescription for Prednisone for our 14 yr. old because he wasn't getting any better.  After several days on the Prednisone it finally brought him relief.  Our vet refunded us for the unused portion of the Vectra and after two attempts at contacting the manufacturer we did speak with someone and they promptly issued an additional refund through our vet for the balance.  In order to be refunded for the Prednisone we would have had to submit a year's worth of vet records to them.  For $9.00, we decided to skip the hassle of  it and chose to move on.

Book Review Time - The Weird Sisters

Okay, so the cover design and the jacket description looked and sounded interesting, which is why I chose to read this book.  However, I didn't really care for this one very much and this is why.

First of all, the voice/narration is written in a seldom used style that few people like, first person plural.  That is, one voice from all three sisters.  This was very confusing at first because you never understood who was talking.  It took me about 40-50 pages to get comfortable with this style.

The second issue I had was the constant Shakespearean quotes and references throughout the entire novel.  I know this was done to make a point and is part of the family story, which I get, but unfortunately I found this to be annoying.  If you're a Shakespeare fan, then you may enjoy this.

And third, the characters tended to be unlikable.  While I totally enjoy and appreciate multi-layered colorful characters that you both love and hate, these characters lacked endearing qualities which would have made you want to cheer for them.  Because this was missing, I wasn't as vested in these characters as I should have been.

I really, really wanted to like this book more than and I did.  But unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me.  The beginning was slow, it picked up, but then only plateaued.  I am glad that I am finished and can now move on to another, hopefully better, read.

My grade:  Regretfully, thumbs down.

Quote of the Day

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” 

― Neil Gaiman, Coraline