Katherine is a new listener to DOG TALK® who has a darling Polish Lowland Sheepdog Sofie (whose photo is now on my website. In listening to a show where Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins and I talked about the new tick repellent/killer Vectra 3D, Katherine discovered that her own vet was enthusiastic about it and carried it so she got it right away for Sofie. She was so pleased with the results (absence of any ticks on Sofie, despite long flowing hair) that she did what many of us do when wanting to share something great with others – Katherine posted the following recommendation about Vectra 3D on the Polish Lowland Sheepdog Yahoo group message board:
“I have recently discovered what I believe to be a much better product than Frontline. It’s called Vectra 3D and I heard a vet talking about it on Tracie Hotchner’s radio show “Dog Talk®.” It’s applied monthly as the other treatments are, but it not only kills ticks, fleas and mosquitoes, but also repels them. To my surprise, my vet was already carrying it and highly recommending it. Sofie’s first treatment was last week, and it’s much easier to put on than Frontline, and isn’t oily. She had no reaction at all. Now that the hot weather is here, I’m grateful that I found it.”
But then Katherine was confused when her posting elicited comments with alarmist warnings about supposed dangers and even an excerpt from a Wikipedia listing about Pemethrin, an active ingredient in Vectra 3D (as you can see from my later comment – and you’ll see often in disparaging comments in the New York Times and other publications – Wikipedia has become an object of derision as a source of reliable facts since it is written in a come-one-come-all fashion. But Katherine said:
I posted on one of the PON (Polish Lowland Sheepdog) message boards about Vectra 3D, got some flack about it having Permethrin in it and then someone posted the definition of it from Wikipedia…what do you think?
Go right to my website and there is a page for Vectra with links to their site with a full and clear explanation about Permethrin – which, by the way, is in soldier’s uniforms, mosquito netting and even in the Nix shampoo used for head lice in school children
As for Wikipedia, it is an entirely dubious source of ANY information since anyone can write anything and anyone else can edit it, take it down, etc. I am perplexed why people have come to believe it is a source of facts – it is self-reported by self-proclaimed experts on any topic – an extremely weird model for information. It is considered a joke in most circles when cited for “facts.”
The facts are that weighing the pros & cons of using a highly effective product like Vectra 3D is that the risk is slight (no bad reactions in a year and half on the market) and the risk of horrible illness from any of the tick-borne infections – not to mention mosquitoes and fleas – is SKY HIGH.
Those are facts. Incontrovertible.
If what you want to know is what I think – I think that the Internet and chat rooms attract people who are naysayers and fear-mongers and they love to shake their rattles at anything they know little about. I am never amazed at the propensity of people on the Internet to have huge negative reactions and opinions without doing any proper research or even wanting to. You are different Katherine – or I wouldn’t take so much time responding to your emails. You are super careful and thoughtful but you have a head on your shoulders and you use it. God bless people like you or we’d all still be in the Dark Ages, wearing garlic around our necks to ward off witches – and ticks probably, too.
And it’s really too bad for the people who don’t know how to embrace new technology with gratitude that it exists to protect our vulnerable pets against these horrible ticks and the devastating illnesses they carry.
-Tracie
