Did you know Hartz brand flea medication can kill your cat or dog?!?!?

Question

Since 2000 there have been over 33,000 complaints made by consumers across the nation about Hartz flea products. Twenty-four different TV news stations have done reports about the effects of Hartz flea products. There has been one class action filed against Hartz, which was settled out of court.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A nationally sold pet product may be harming or even killing your pet. And now, an NBC 6 investigation has found that a warning label that the maker said could fix the problem is not working.

Flea and tick products are found in millions of homes in South Florida and across America. One of them is generating thousands of complaints and horror stories.

Consumers are reporting that their cats are going into convulsions, seizures, are unable to walk or control their muscles.

An Arkansas veterinarian videotaped several cases of severe reactions. When pet owners like Karen West, of West Palm Beach, saw the videotape, they said it's exactly what they witnessed

I just wanted to get the word out after finding out about this.....
http://www.animalhelp.com/hometown/articledetail.cfm?artid=353
http://www.lapr.org/consumer_alerts.htm#hartz_flea
http://www.lacetoleather.com/HartzProductsWarning.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/hartz/petition.html
www.hartzvictims.org
http://www.geocities.com/againsthartz/LetterCamp1.html

http://www.komo1000news.com/consumertip/story.asp?ID=37470

http://www.mail-archive.com/[e-mail]/msg00343.html

http://www.cathelp-online.com/health/justsayno.php

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=3129158

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/avictimhartz.htm

Answer 1

Ask anyone that works in a Vet clinic and they will tell you that they knew that Hartz killed animals. In 3 years at this clinic, we have seen about 8 animals die from it. All kittens. We warn people all the time but they think it is ok b/c Walmart sells it and it is cheap.

Answer 2

I agree with a previous poster that said it can depend on the dog and his or her reaction to the medication. I have used Hartz (topical flea and shampoos) on my cats and dogs for quite some time now and have never had any type of reaction to it (other than a positive one like it getting rid of the fleas).

Running a rescue group, I treat anywhere from 5 to 20 animals per month with Hartz and have yet to have any problems with any of them.

I think the biggest problem is that people think they can give their 20 lb dog a dose made for a 40lb dog and it'll kill the fleas twice as fast. But this is never the case and is most often the cause of illness and/or reaction.

But yes.....flea medications (be them topical, oral, spray or shampoo) are a minor dose of pesticides and those can be potentially dangerous if used incorrectly.

AND PS: "Greenies" dog and cat treats (those green tooth-brush shaped chew bones) contain 25% of undigestable products. So don't ever give those to your pet either.

Answer 3

Yep!
Here in California Hartz spot on flea prevention for cats is being pulled from the market.

Answer 4

I have heard of it also. I think it is mainly depends on the dog, some dogs might allergic to its ingredient. I personally wont use it unless I have no choice and no money. I bought it once for my cat and it doesn't help killing fleas. It might help for 2-3 days and then the fleas will come back again.

Answer 5

I knew about this. I used it on one of my dogs once. Within 2 hours my 4 year old dog had her first seizure. We bathed her to remove the remainder of the meds. The seizures continued until at 5 years old they were so severe and lasting 15-20 minutes each time that we finally decided to put her to sleep.

Answer 6

this isn't new, for years pet owners have been losing their pets after using Hartz products, I can't believe that they are still selling them, I thought surely after all the trouble they caused that they would have quit making most of their flea preventatives

Answer 7

I have heard about this before. Good for you for putting it on here and hopefully a lot of people will read this and save their pet from suffering what happened to other people's pets. If this was happening to people, it would have been taken off the shelves long ago!!!!

Answer 8

I used their flea collar once on our cat a few years ago; she started twitching a lot and it looked like a seizure.

I called my vet and removed the collar and then used something the vet recommended, I think it was Frontline.

Good info, thanks for posting!!!

Answer 9

THANK YOU SOOOOO VERY MUCH. My animals arelike my kids and I would have brrn very upset had something happened to them. I am having a bad flea problem. Agian I say thank you and I can not thank you enough.

Answer 10

Wow, I didn't know that. That's the brand I use for my cat. Of course, it didn't help with his fleas so I quit using it. Thanks for the information!