# Certifect for flea/tick control



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

Has anyone heard of certifect made by frontline? My vet is suggesting this over the frontline. We have a lot of ticks here in Central NJ. I hate to put anything on Charley but last year he got a tick and was treated with an antibiotic. I'm thinking this year I should do something although my vet says that Frontline doesn't do the job anymore.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Frontline doesn't prevent ticks here either, and I'm not convinced that it kills them in time to prevent infection. I know the cat and dog formulas are different, but I have pulled some pretty swollen, live, ticks off our cat, who has Frontline on all the time. 

I use Advantix on Kodi, and he has never had any problem with it. I do use it on a 6 week schedule, rather than monthly, and I only use it during the winter months if there is an extended warm period and the ticks come out again.


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## Atticus (May 17, 2011)

Frontline doesn't work for me anymore my vet recommended Vectra 3D. i do the same as Karen, wish I didn't have to but I do. I did find a still small, bloody tic in his hair,looks like it bit him but then dropped off. You will still see tics crawling on your pet, so you need to always check. Hopefully they will not attach,or at least not for long!


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

Since Charley is black the ticks don't exactly stand out. I'm so not sure what to give him at this point. I hate to put these pesticides on him. Frontline doesn't appear to work in my area anymore. But when I read the reviews on Certifect or any of them - I hear these horror stories about the side effects.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Charleysmom said:


> Since Charley is black the ticks don't exactly stand out. I'm so not sure what to give him at this point. I hate to put these pesticides on him. Frontline doesn't appear to work in my area anymore. But when I read the reviews on Certifect or any of them - I hear these horror stories about the side effects.


The trouble is that ANY one dog can react poorly to ANY of them. none of them are 100% effective OR 100% safe. The majority of products are relatively safe for most dogs. If your dog is one of the unlucky ones...

So you just have to weigh the cost/benefit of using them, and then watch closely for ANY signs of reaction. I also make sure that I don't apply flea/tick preventative within a few days of heart worm meds. If Kodi HAS a reaction, I want it to be clear what he's reacting to. I also think it's less of a hit on the immune system not to double up on things like this.


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## HannahBearsMom (Jul 31, 2011)

My fiance found a tick attached to Maccabee when he was with him in PA (of course, the call came in 30 minutes after I left the house. GRRR...). At the time, Maccabee was on Frontline. My vet suggested switching him to Vectra 3D. We haven't had any problems or seen any ticks while in that. 

Maccabee was off the Vectra 3D all winter, mostly because he was sick and I didn't want to give him any additional medications. Plus, since he is litter box trained, I kept him inside and away from other dogs. I discussed tick/flea treatment with our vet last week and he said that although the Vectra 3D should be fine, if Maccabee was his dog he would hold off due to the liver shunt. He said to check him carefully when he comes inside now that I am taking him on short walks. If we plan to spend an extended time outdoors, he said I might want to consider Revolution instead of the Vectra 3D.

I decided not to apply anything right now. He is scheduled for a consultation (and probably surgery) next week at the University of Tennessee. Once he recovers from that I will put him back on Vectra 3D.


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## m0rg4n (Feb 8, 2013)

I've read mixed reviews in terms of giving flea/tick meds to puppies under 8 months.
Can anyone give me more Havanese specific information on this?


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

I didn''t give it to charley at that age just b/c I didn't want to load him up with chemicals but I don't know what the right thing to do is.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

m0rg4n said:


> I've read mixed reviews in terms of giving flea/tick meds to puppies under 8 months.
> Can anyone give me more Havanese specific information on this?


I don't think there is a clear cut answer to this. I think it comes down to cost/benefit analysis again. A severe flea infestation can cause severe anemia in puppies, and ticks carry nasty diseases. In a perfect world, we could keep our pups (and dogs!!!) away from these insect pests. But we don't live in a perfect world, and depending on where you live, it may be impossible to avoid them. I think this is a matter that you need to discuss with your vet and your breeder, and come up with the plan that makes them most sense for YOUR puppy, under YOUR circumstances!


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

*Certifect*

Last year was a terrible tick year for us. I had been using Frontline Plus, and then tried Certifect. Cali had a terrible reaction to Cerifect. She was so itchy and uncomfortable. She moaned and groaned and rolled around on the floor. This lasted for 24 hours and gradually the symptoms dininished. I know this isn't the worst reaction story ever, but I would never use it again. We're back to using Frontline Plus. Her coat is short, and I check for ticks after each outing.


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## m0rg4n (Feb 8, 2013)

krandall said:


> I don't think there is a clear cut answer to this. I think it comes down to cost/benefit analysis again. A severe flea infestation can cause severe anemia in puppies, and ticks carry nasty diseases. In a perfect world, we could keep our pups (and dogs!!!) away from these insect pests. But we don't live in a perfect world, and depending on where you live, it may be impossible to avoid them. I think this is a matter that you need to discuss with your vet and your breeder, and come up with the plan that makes them most sense for YOUR puppy, under YOUR circumstances!


Thank you. We have an appointment for Indy this Saturday and I'll bring it up then. It's difficult with so much information out there and I don't know our vet well yet so it's hard to take everything they say as fact. Like Doctors, sometimes they give you an answer that may or may not be based on the most recent information. I just wanted to check in and see if anyone had heard or had any more Hav-specific information.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

m0rg4n said:


> Thank you. We have an appointment for Indy this Saturday and I'll bring it up then. It's difficult with so much information out there and I don't know our vet well yet so it's hard to take everything they say as fact. Like Doctors, sometimes they give you an answer that may or may not be based on the most recent information. I just wanted to check in and see if anyone had heard or had any more Hav-specific information.


I think that's why it makes sense to run it past your breeder too. They not only know Havanese, but they are experts in THIS line of dogs!


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## Beau's mom (Oct 6, 2011)

As for when to start, my vet recommended that we start Beau on Frontline at the first puppy visit. He was 3 months old. She advised that it was better to protect him from the nasty diseases than to worry that he might have a reaction. This year she, too, said that the Frontline is having too many failures. We're using Advantix -- and, so far, so good.


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

krandall said:


> I think that's why it makes sense to run it past your breeder too. They not only know Havanese, but they are experts in THIS line of dogs!


Tom doesn't use Frontline or any of those products. He just uses a natural wipe that's put on the dog every several days.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Charleysmom said:


> Tom doesn't use Frontline or any of those products. He just uses a natural wipe that's put on the dog every several days.


But Tom doesn't live where I do, in the heart of Lyme territory, and his dogs don't run in the woods on a regular basis, the way Kodi does.

Also, Kodi has a very severe reaction to the tick bite itself, even with no disease. He develops a huge, hard lump that lasts for weeks, and then the hair falls out. If I'm lucky, the hair grows back, but it's ehie instead of black. In other cases, the hair never grows back at all. He has several bald spots as a result.

Talking to your breeder about it doesn't necessarily mean that you will end up doing exactly what they do. It's just one more thing to take into consideration.


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

that's true about the location. I don't know about NC but Central jersey is loaded with deer and ticks. Charley and I don't go in the woods for that reason but there are places I'd love to take him but don't. 

Gee I never heard of the hair falling out. Charley got one bite last fall and he too had a large bump that lasted for weeks. Right smack on his little snout.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Charleysmom said:


> that's true about the location. I don't know about NC but Central jersey is loaded with deer and ticks. Charley and I don't go in the woods for that reason but there are places I'd love to take him but don't.
> 
> Gee I never heard of the hair falling out. Charley got one bite last fall and he too had a large bump that lasted for weeks. Right smack on his little snout.


Yeah, that's why we switched to Advantix. We need something that is a repellant as well as killing the ticks. The bite itself is hard on him.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I've been using HALO cloud nine on them and it seems to work really well. They're not out and about all over like Kodi is, so I'm not sure how it would work for a really active dog, but it's great for us.


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

What is the Halo CloudNine. I thought that was just a shampoo? I've heard that Advantix repels - I'm glad to hear that it is working. I will look into it.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I found Advantix works the best repelling ticks. I can't use it because both my boys had a bad reaction to it. My vet stopped carrying it because of all the dogs having reactions to it. I am still using Frontline plus along with the Preventick collar which repels ticks. It is not perfect in the spring when ticks are the worst. Seems this year it's less effective than last year....Last year we only found 2 ticks all year long. This year I've already found a handful! I hike my dogs, so tick prevention is a must. Plus, I've had Lyme disease 3 times and it's not worth the risk.

FYI. A couple years ago Scudder got lyme disease and he was on frontline plus......

If you use the herbal sprays, the ticks end up crawling off the dogs and into the house. I would much rather them stay on the dogs! I tried it once until I saw like 5 ticks crawl off scudder right onto my bed. The ticks get on the dogs, but they don't stay on them. Just long enough to come into the house!


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Currently, I use Vectra-3D on my 3 non-Havs but only use it April-October 4-5 times. We haven't had much a a tick issue at all and this schedule seems to keep the fleas at bay. I live in the Piedmont of NC. I came across a product yesterday that I was wondering if anyone else had used. It's Earth Animal Herbal Internal Powder (yeast-free)? It states that "if taken regularly it makes your animals less attractive to infestation". Just curious about other's experiences with this product.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Cloud Nine is an essential oil dip that you can add to shampoo and make a spray out of. I like the smell. They sell it on Amazon.


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

thanks I will look into Cloud Nine. Have you ever heard of Shoo Tag? Or Only Natural Pet oils?


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## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

I'm in Florida and the ticks are awful this year. I am trying to be holistic with the dogs but I'm pulling the ticks off on a regular basis. I broke down this week and applied Advantix to the Lab and a small about to the Hav. I am also spraying them with herbal spray but after reading the previous post I am worried I will start a tick colony in my house! Should I spray the yard or would DE work? My dogs are both indoor and we take long walks but mostly on cement. I live in an urban area but there are lakes around. I dont know where they are picking up these ticks!


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