Cat and Dog Owners Please Read...

[PuterGeekGirl]

Thanks for the warning. I use Frontline from the vets office on my little boys dog...seems to be working well!

How is your cat Renee?? Let us know....I hope he's ok. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">

[LadyTech]

OMG Renee!! I just bought the Hartz flea/tick drops for my 9 month old puppy, and was going to put it on him this weekend!!!! Thank you SO MUCH for posting this!! I definitely will NOT be using it!
I sincerely hope your pet will be ok, please keep us posted.. and thanks again!

[Lycia]

Oh Renne, I hope your kitty is ok!

Thanks for the info. None of the crap for my kitty!

[WebHead]

Thanks for the info.

[LabRat]

Got any pix of the little guy healthy? I like cats and hope he's okay.

Good luck and thanks for the public service!

[±Octavian]

Simular product I had bought for my cat. Don't know what brand but i put it on my cat and according to the packaging it takes about 12 hours to wor though the cat coat. What happend was that it made the cat look like a greasey mess. Gave him a wash before anything to the magnitude of damage like Renee had. Hope the cat is getting better.

[Renée]

Thank you all for your concern AND for taking the time to read this post. I don't want any other pets or their owners to learn this the hard way. (LadyTech, I'm SO glad you saw it!) To add insult to injury, my vet bill for the treatment was $200.

It's interesting to me that a couple of my friends I talked to yesterday actually said something like, "Why didn't you check it out before using it?" My response to them was, "Do you do research to buy a cream for mosquito bites or poison ivy for yourself? Or do you just go to the store, read the labels, and buy what you think is best? And if the worst thing the label alluded to was possible skin irritation, would you even ponder the possibility that you might suffer seizures and loss of motor control?" They agreed that they would not do research on that type of product, even if was for use on their very own skin.

Leo seems to be doing fine now. He came home from the vet yesterday at 3pm with no tremors, only some sluggishness. We don't know if there was any permanent liver damage. The only way to find that out is to do bloodwork in a couple of weeks. However, there's nothing they can really do for liver damage, so we may not even pay for the tests. Leo is acting like his old self today, thankfully.

Shift_2_Break, I don't have any pix of him yet, but this little guy could almost be his twin, except that Leo is about four months old. He's a Desert Lynx.

[Kyr0n]

Sonofa B|tch, i'm glad i'm lazy, i have a pack of that crap at the house i've been meaning to put on my dog the last few days, thanks a lot for the warning.

hope your cat gets better

[n8dawg]

sorry to hear bout the lil guy hope he gets well

but like you said there are always other alternatives i have used on all my animals natuaral products and they work great. my sister is a vet tech and she tells me of alot of stories about **** like that.
it sucks cuz we put our trust in a product to help the things we love. and the fact of the matter is that its all a numbers game. and they dont realy care about 300 deaths if they sell 300,000,000 pruducts. its sad

hope your cat gets well i love the bread too great cats

[Joker1]

corporate bastards make me sick! <IMG SRC="smilies/mad.gif" border="0">

good to hear your cat pulled through. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

[ThunderVamp9]

Originally posted by opiate:
<STRONG>Those damn bastards! They should be dipped in sulferic acid until they melt to death(pretty evil huh?).</STRONG>

Even worse. They should be forced to use Packard bells with Cyrix chips and AOL.

Seriously, though, I feel bad for you. Our cat has no trouble with those products, thank god.

[weazel]

Renee,
Glad to hear Leo's doing better. Because of your post, I won't be using any of that OTC stuff on my cat or dog. What is a good natural flea and tick killer for cats and dogs?
Reg

[Auric]

rf, the vets here give em "Program" its very good, my pup takes it, he's allergic to flea bites so we have to be very careful.. and he has never had a flea when he's on program

[ilovetheusers]

I hope you do not take this as flaming you. I’m sorry to hear about your kitty. I hope he feels better. <IMG SRC="smilies/frown.gif" border="0">

Originally posted by Renee:
<STRONG>It's interesting to me that a couple of my friends I talked to yesterday actually said something like, "Why didn't you check it out before using it?" My response to them was, "Do you do research to buy a cream for mosquito bites or poison ivy for yourself? </STRONG>

Um, yes. I look at everything that I put on or in me if it has a chemical base or has a medicinal purpose. I especially check out toxins/poison to see what it might do to the things I put it on.

Originally posted by Renee:
<STRONG> 1 - Almost ALL over-the-counter flea and tick remedies, including collars, that
are available at your local pet store contain pesticides that are truly not
safe for humans or the pets they are intended to treat. The drops (the ones
applied to the animal's back between the shoulder blades) are extremely potent
and likely to cause severe reactions, especially in cats. Of course, not all
pets respond adversely to commercial flea treatments, but anytime a pesticide
has prolonged contact with an animal's skin, the chance exists.</STRONG>

Hartz has the worst rep ever. Imagine them as the Packard Bell of the pet industry. What did you think that pesticide/poison was going to do? This applies to all other toxins you buy to kill off pest infestation, roach spray/bait, ant spray/bait, rat poison, etc. The food you eat is covered in pesticide and the meat you eat once ate veggies smothered in pesticide. It’s a necessary evil that we live with.

Originally posted by Renee:
<STRONG> 2 - There are natural, homeopathic ways to treat fleas without having to use
pesticide-based treatments; ask your vet. Also, even the chemical treatments
prescribed through a vet (Advantage, Frontline) are less likely to cause
reactions than the cheaper over-the-counter treatments.</STRONG>

There are quite a few “natural” flea/tick remedies, and they all work like crap...

The active ingredient in most products that work and are considered non natural (and thus must be unsafe per the laws of the health store) are a plant extract(pyrethrin). Other products contain permethrin that is an artificial toxin based on the pyrethrin molecule. I hate to tell you this but your average dinner will have upwards around 10,000 toxins in it, all from "natural" sources. You just don't die as our bodies got used to them over the millennia. Also may I remind you that cyanide is natural and so are lots of poisonous mushrooms and berries. Natural does not mean safe!

Advantage and frontline are incredible though. I still hear stories about them as well. Usually it is from an overdose. People often use too much or will use other products when treating the animal. Happens a lot, but you can't reboot an animal so you need to do more research before treating.

Originally posted by Renee:
<STRONG>3 - Hartz seems to have the reputation among pet owners for being the most
negligent offender in the industry. Its products are widely stocked, but they
do not have adequate documentation on the packages about precautions, side
effects, and proper application. Hartz is aware of the numerous incidents like
mine, as a case number is assigned each time an incident is reported, but they
will not pull the product from the shelves.</STRONG>

Always have had a reputation for not giving a damn for over 20 years. Never use anything they make. Ever. Sorry you had to learn this first hand.


In the future, do not shop at Petsmart. They are the CompUSA of the pet industry. If you want advice go to the mom and pop shops and ask. You may find a person like myself who has 13 years + experience in the industry who will help you and sell you a decent product.


Reene: If you ever need advice about critters, write me an e-mail at the e-mail address on my fish site

[Sowulo]

Glad to hear things are going better. I haven't had a pet for 4 years now but still get a little misty every time I think about all those who have come and gone over the years....