Saturday, June 16, 2012

Fleas, Ticks or Worse

We live in an area that has a lot of deer ticks. Duke already had Lyme disease when we adopted him from the shelter, so he went through a course of antibiotics. Both dogs have been on Frontline Plus since we got them, plus Interceptor to prevent heartworms since picky Maggie will not eat Heartguard chews. We didn't think too much about it, just took preventative care once a month. That was until three weeks ago.

Zombie dogs
 Midday Saturday I applied Certifect, a new flea and tick repellent which our vet said was more effective than Frontline against ticks and is made by the same company. By Saturday night both dogs were completely lethargic and didn't want to go for a walk or eat. Sunday morning Maggie woke up in a pool of pee and had trouble walking, she could barely use her back legs. It was too early in the day to call the vet, so I went online and found out that many dogs have had similar or worse reactions.



I washed both dogs to remove as much of the Certifect as possible, which had spread an oily coating over most of their backs. Here is a list of potential side effects from the European Public Assessment Report:

"Dogs may show some temporary reactions at the site of application (discolouration, hair loss, itching or redness). The itching and hair loss can in rare cases be more extensive. Dogs that lick the treatment area may salivate, vomit, have blood sugar levels higher than normal, be more sensitive to stimulation, lack energy, and have a slow heartbeat or slow breathing. These signs generally resolve without treatment and within one day. Certifect must not be used on sick animals (with systemic diseases such as diabetes, or with a fever) or convalescent animals. The medicine should not be used in rabbits and cats.
Certifect should not be allowed to enter surface water, as it may be harmful for aquatic organisms."
Certifect and other "spot-on" flea and tick products are designed to disrupt the nervous systems of fleas and ticks, "which results in uncontrolled activity of the central nervous system and death of these parasites", according to the  EPAR. They can also affect the nervous system of the host animal in some cases. Maggie was lucky that her symptoms went away over the course of 48 hours, and she didn't have seizures, heart issues, vomiting or permanent nervous system issues as some others have reported. She did have a bladder control issue last year, which we thought was a UTI (urinary tract infection) or spay incontinence at the time. We now realize that all "leakage" issues coincided with Frontline application, and our vet has said that we can never use these types of products on Maggie again as she is too sensitive. We won't use these types of products on any of our animals now, as the cats are indoor only and I don't want Duke to have to go through what Maggie did. We're trying a cedar oil flea and tick repellant spray recommended by Save a Dog, a local shelter that advocates holistic treatment rather than chemicals. Hopefully your dog won't have an issue with flea and tick treatments, but if they start having some of the symptoms mentioned and your vet can't find another underlying health issue, ask if it could be a reaction to the "spot on" product.

18 comments:

  1. Scary. I stopped using spot on flea and tick stuff a while ago, not because of any issues my dogs had specifically, but because I felt that applying deadly chemicals to their skin every month was probably doing them worse harm in the long term than if they ended up with the fleas the medications are supposed to prevent.

    The most effective ways to prevent fleas that I have found are three things. Vacuum all carpet as often as possible, daily or twice daily if you have a flea infestation. You can even put a flea collar in the canister of the vacuum to help kill all fleas that get sucked up.

    When you bathe the dogs, rinse them with a diluted vinegar solution as their final rinse. It is good for their coat and skin, and helps repel fleas. Neem oil is the other most effective repellent I have found. I mix up a small batch fresh each time I want to use it, a few drops of neem oil, a couple drops of castile soap (to dissolve the oil) and some water. Then I spray that solution on the dogs, cat, and on all the pet bedding.

    Oh, using borax on the carpets before vacuuming can help as well.

    Good luck! Hope your dogs are fully back to normal and that you don't have to encounter this kind of thing again!

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    1. We haven't had flea problems since we were using the spot on treatments, hopefully the cedar oil spray will prevent it. The Neem oil seems much more affordable, thanks for the info!

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  2. Those treatments can be good but also can be bad. I use revolution on all our pets and have never had a problem with them. I'm glad Maggie is felling better!

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    1. A friend of mine used revolution on one of her dogs and ended up with almost eight weeks of treating the chemical burn on the dog's back due to a bad reaction. Just like any of these chemicals, some pets have had it used on them for ages with no problems, but others may react strongly to them.

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    2. The Dude, our big tiger, has a permanent bald spot between his shoulder blades from one application of Revolution that the vet applied to get rid of fleas before we brought him home. It was the only thing the vet said he could use on a 2.5lb kitten. (We have a different vet now.)

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  3. Oh no :(

    I'm glad that the symptoms went away quick. It's scary how sick these things can make our dogs.

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  4. Hi guys great info and loved the zombie dogs , there is a little of that in all of us. Have a great Sunday and a great Daddy Day!
    Best wishes Molly

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  5. How horrible. I'm glad Maggie and Duke are okay. Surely the vet must have been aware of potential side effects. A bit tardy of him not to mention them :( Georgia uses Revolution which is similar to Frontline. It's supposed to be for both fleas and heartworm prevention. I must say I don't like using it too much and always keep an eye on her, even though she's not had any bad reaction in 3 years of using it. After reading about your experience, I think I might have to suss out some alternatives too. Thanks :) x

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    1. It seems like most vets don't think about the side effects since so many dogs don't have issues with these products, and the effects of tick-borne diseases can be pretty severe.
      Maggie seemed fine for the first 3 years using Frontline, we didn't make the connection last year when she had leakage issues. The new product was stronger, plus they were at the top of the weight range for Frontline 23-44lbs at 44 lbs and at the bottom of the 45-88 range for Certifect at 50lbs. The vet is great, she immediately said that we could not use this type of product on Maggie again and offered to buy back the unused ones. Some vets would charged for a lot of tests for other issues and not made the connection at all.

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  6. That's so scary. We don't get many tics here although Hades had lots when we first adopted him. We also don't do the preventive care, though we should and I definitely appreciate this warning. Everyone is fine, now?

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    1. Everyone seems back to what passes for normal for them!

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  7. Ohmidogness! How skeery! I'm so glad everybuddy is okay.

    We're very much lucky that we live in a place without many fleas or ticks so we don't have to worry. But mom read abouts this stuff called diatomaceous earth. Have you ever heard of it? http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

    Wiggles & Wags,
    Mayzie

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    1. I used to use it when I had outdoor barn cats years ago. Thanks for the reminder!

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  8. How scary! I'm glad the symptoms cleared up - did you report the symptoms to the manufacturer? They need to know what you experienced with your dogs.

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    1. I emailed the MFR from the Contact Us link on their website, haven't heard back.

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  9. Oh my gosh. So scary. Being in your same neck of the woods we have similar problems with ticks. (For some reason we don't have a big problem with fleas, thank goodness.) I've used Frontline on Beau and Bella but am always a little leery of topical applications. I think I'm going to look into K-Koira's suggestion of the Neem oil as well as Save a Dog's recommendation. (They are just down the road from us and an awesome organization!)

    I am so glad Maggie's feeling better and that Duke was somewhat unaffected. It's tough when we're trying to do the very best by our dogs and have bad things happen anyway. :( Thanks for sharing this information.

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  10. I'm a little behind on my reading. So glad both dogs are doing okay now. It's so scary when they have unexpected reactions to medications. We don't have too many problems with ticks around here, but fleas can be bad. We use the topical applications generally once every 3 months on our dogs, but the rescue wants us to treat Howie monthly.
    So far, no reactions, but definitely something I'll keep an eye out for.

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  11. Oh, that is so scary! We are glad things turned out okay...

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