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June 2004
I used Frontline TopSpot on my cat earlier this year. From reading your message board I would say that the action described by the manufacturer (Merial, part of Aventis) is similar to that of Bio Spot. The capsule contains drops which are put on the back of the cats neck between the shoulder blades to eliminate fleas.
Within a few hours he was in distress, anxious, trembling, salivating and in a crouched position. His eyes could not tolerate light. Within two days a fine white film developed over one eye which passed off within 48 hours, only for it to happen with the other eye, then both eyes at the same time. The area where Frontline Top Spot was applied lost all its hair and hair loss became apparent along the spine as the Top Spot spread throughout his coat. His skin started scaling off like an extreme case of dandruff and his fur became very thin. At every opportunity he crept into my lap for comfort and felt the need to be close. It is not possible to wash this stuff off and the manufacturer has stated there is no antidote. The problem with his eyes has come and gone in waves and became worse after he lay in the sun. He became very nervous and appeared to find being picked up painful. Although now, four months later his eyes seem to have stabilized, they remaining slightly filmy. If he survives, I can only wonder whether he will eventually become blind. He has lost a great deal of weight and become very thin. He is now unable to tolerate many foods which he used to eat with relish. The food he does eat passes through his body too quickly for him to be able to utilizes the nutrients. He has trouble with his gait - his back legs have become very weak.
From speaking to others it is obvious that there is much under-reporting of adverse reactions and much misdiagnosis. This is serious for owners as they don't get to hear of the dangers inherent in using these products and the animal concerned suffers terribly.
Sally 6/6/04
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I applied Bio Spot on my Great Danes last week, on June 1. My son was lying with the dogs on Friday morning, June 4. As the morning progressed my son's face swelled up and got very red, hot and splotchy looking. I washed his face with soap and water and decided to just see what happened as the day progressed. His breathing was normal, the swelling did not increase nor did any other symptoms show up. On Sat. am his face was even more swollen so we took him to the doctor. He was treated for a severe chemical burn on his face. The swelling has gone down, but the redness still remains. The only thing he touched that had anything to do with chemicals were our dogs.
Over the last two days I've noticed that my male Dane is now losing hair close to where I applied the Bio Spot.
I was so excited to find a product that covered fleas and ticks at a reasonable price. Now I am very disappointed on how this is turning out.
Heidi 6/7/04
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Just wanted to let you know that my dog also had a severe reaction to Kiltix (prior version of K9 Advantix) that I had gotten through our vet. After the first application, she had a mild seizure, was unable to stand and started panting heavily. Unfortunately, I didn't connect the episode to the Kiltix. I didn't know what was wrong. I gave her a second application over a month later. She had a major seizure three days after applying the product according to the instructions. Symptoms included unable to support herself, eyes rolling back, panting, etc. It was very scary. We ended up taking her to an urgent care center. They did a full blood panel and physical on her and could find nothing wrong. To be on the safe side, the vet administers an antibiotic and an antihistamine. Luckily, she recovered fairly quickly.
After researching the product on the web, I believe the Kiltix caused the seizures. I reported the incident to Bayer and they had the nerve to tell me that they don't see cases like this! I was very disappointed with my conversation with them, there seemed to be a complete lack of responsibility on their part. I never would have used the product had I known what could happen.
Thanks for getting the word out on how harmful these products can be.
Anonymous 6/8/04
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Thanks for your website!! Oh I wish I would have found it sooner. I am sitting here thinking about how I may have killed or hurt my best friend by using this crap. I am devastated that this is still being sold. I am soooo livid. He was acting erratic all night and the people at the hotline said that is not possible. When I told them about all the web pages they said people are paranoid!!!! My poor shih tzu is twitching and can't sleep or sit still for a second. I am sooo sad.
Kelli 6/10/04
He is in the hospital now! I bathed him, 3 times. The company is Zodiac but it is the same ingredients as bio spot. He is on muscle relaxers and antihistamine. The company is totally doing what you said. They say it is not a common reaction but I have talked to many many people and vets that say that is bull. I am going on a mission to inform people about these products. What do you use on your dog now? I am thinking about holistic medicine. UGH!!! I am soooooooo mad. How did your dog recover? How long did it take? George thank you so much. You are doing an awesome service.
Kelli 6/11/04
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I am trying to find info regarding Bio Spot. I used it last month on my dog and I have noticed her hair isn't growing back in the spots it was on. Have you heard of this? Now that I am thinking about it her behavior was really strange for a few weeks last month. My husband thought she was losing her mind. She is now back to her self but still waiting for fur to come back. Any info would be great.
Gina 6/10/04
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My cat just had a reaction to Hartz flea and tick control for cats ten pounds and over. She is at the emergency vet as we speak. I stumbled across your website while I was trying to find out what was wrong with her....she was shaking and twitching uncontrollably and had problems with walking. She is getting IV therapy as well as muscle relaxors so that her temperature doesn't increase from all the shaking. This bill is going to cost us around $500.00. Is there any way the company will pay for this? We have given her this med. before with no reaction...I don't understand what happened this time.
Aimee 6/12/04
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After reading most of the emails posted on your site, I am convinced my Sharpei/German Shepard mix Duke is dying from an adverse reaction to these chemicals. Last weekend Duke escaped from my backyard and was picked up by the pound. I picked Duke up from the pound and gave him, along with my beagle and cocker, baths in flea and tick shampoo and then applied the Hartz flea and tick drops. Then I got to thinking the pound may have already treated Duke with something. I called the pound and they said they gave him Frontline. This means he had a double dose within a 2 days. The pound convinced me he should be fine. I went out of town for business on Thursday and when I returned I noticed Duke wasn't his normal energetic self. On Sunday Duke wouldn't eat at all not even his treats and I really became concerned. He was hiding under the bed and wouldn't get up when normally he is chasing birds and very energetic. He wouldn't eat a thing when normally he eats everything in sight. He looked like he was dying. I took him to the emergency room. I told them about the tick drops but they didn’t really seemed that concerned about the drops. The vet took blood and started Duke on fluids. Duke took almost a liter of fluids since he was severely dehydrated! The blood work came back normal. The vet didn’t know what to do. I kept pushing the idea of Duke being poisoned by the drops. She looked up Frontline in her medical book and it said that there were no reported cases of dogs or cats having adverse reactions even after been given 5 times the recommended dose. So the vet ruled that out. She recommended easy digestion dog food and said if he begins to eat to give him the Metronidazole (antibiotic) she prescribed. He has tried to eat today but vomited it up about an hour later. He still is hibernating under the bed. I don’t know if I should bother bathing him with dish soap since he had the treatment one week ago, it is probably absorbed in his system. So far $250 in vet bills. Duke was already underweight due to digestive disorders. Now he is wasting away, even his muscles are deteriorating. He is starving to death. I don’t know what to do. This is definitely something more than his digestive disorder. Any recommendations?
Rachel 6/14/04
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My two pets had a bad reaction from bio-spot. However, it took a while for me to figure out what their problems were. My small dog became disoriented, weak and dizzy and then a week later had a seizure. My bigger dog itches like crazy and has developed a rash.
Jackie 6/17/04
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I used Biospot (33-66 lb. dose) on my 66 lb. keshound/german shepard mix last Sunday and got the scare of my life as my dog started howling in pain, salivating, and hiding under the dining room table. By Monday he was having difficulty walking and his hind legs were not functioning normally. My vet rolled his eyes when I advised him what I had done. He advised me biospot uses a toxic concentrated organophosphate Permethrin which most fleas and ticks have already developed resistance to since the product has been around for almost 20 years!! Foster & Smith (the retailer from whom I brought the product) claims this product is safe!! I googled biospot toxicity and found thousands of dogs and cats have died or suffered serious toxicity to this product!! I have e-mailed Foster & Smith urging them to drop this product immediately!! Luckily, after washing Ramsis 2x with Dawn dishwashing liquid and giving him the Prednisone and Robaxin my vet prescribed he made a full recovery!!
Joseph 6/20/04
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My cat, Casper, had been treated with Bio-Spot for Cats one time with no ill effects, at least none that I noticed. Last night, within minutes of being treated, Casper started to twitch and blink uncontrollably. He seemed to be having numerous seizures. The vet told me that he was certain it was the Bio-Spot and highly recommended I do not use it on either my cat or my dog. He said that studies have shown that as many as 1 in 20 cats cannot tolerate this chemical. Casper will be in the hospital for several days, being treated with medications to control the toxic effects and being given IV fluids and watched closely. It will cost me between $300-$350 dollars, and hopefully, he will recover.
Needless to say, I am very unhappy with Drs. Foster and Smith, which highly recommended the product in their catalog. When I called them they apologized, but informed me that they get many calls from people who love the product. I told them that I felt they had no business selling this product and that I wanted my complaint on record. I will never use it again, and I will make sure everyone I talk with knows of my experience.
Thank you for all your efforts. This product should be removed from the market, and hopefully, your website will help to get the word around.
Becky 6/22/04
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Last week i treated a horse with a spot on permethrin product, a couple days later i noticed the signs of her scratching or rubbing her face and then noticed round flat ulcers on her lips the only thing different that was done, was the spot on treatment, also i think she may have got some on her face as she jumped around a bit when i put it on. we have not had the vet out yet as it is very early in the a.m. (her temp is normal) one vet i called thought it didn’t sound like an emergency but to have it looked at, also three other horses treated the same day with the same product are fine, but for certain the others did not get any of the product on face.. this product is freedom 45 spot on fly killer. has anyone else had a problem like this?
Sheila 6/23/04
hi sheila again, my regular vet called a couple hours after the first one and after hearing the symptoms (this is horse rubbing face and neck and with ulcer type sores on her lips, one week after using freedom 45 spot-on fly killer/repeller ) said it was the 2nd CASE THIS WEEK!... same thing permethrin 45% he said to wash her immediately and if the sores were not better in two days she would probably need cortisone and anti-histamine shots....and i trusted a store to use this product....also i tried to call the company, who makes this and no 800 or regular number! The website they gave had only product info but no contact number. (pretty scary) thank you very much for your web-site it is what prompted me to call another vet after the first one said dont worry about it.
Sheila and "Tirawa" 6/23/04
I went to the Star Horse Products website (www.starhorseproducts.com) and was SHOCKED that there is no corporate address or phone number listed!!! Is there an address on the packaging? The EPA requires manufacturers to put their name and address on the packaging. Companies that make similar products often include a phone number for reporting adverse reactions to them, and will reimburse your vet expenses if their product is suspected of causing an adverse reaction.
I found it interesting that the directions for Freedom Spot-On 45 state "Do not use on horses intended for food use. Caution: Harmful if swallowed or absorbed through the skin. Avoid contact with skin, eyes or clothing." It's considered safe to put it on the skin of horses as long as you don't eat them!!! I guess the EPA believes it's safe to put high concentrations of pesticides on dogs as long as you don't intend to eat them.
James TerBush
Hi James thanks so much for writing! every address you mentioned for Star Horse Products is different from the pkg. AND another one the epa, nat. pesticide center has. they could not find a phone no. directly to the co. but gave me a number for their rep. who handles this product and many others, he said his firm had tests for the dog flea products but they had NEVER looked into the products for horses! and yes isn’t it scary what the label says about not getting it on your skin but your supposed to put it on an animal. he did agree that the label should be changed, especially to consider that horses in a pasture will always touch each other, it is their nature....so isn’t this also what is happening to dogs and cats? no matter how carefully you put on these products animals can get these products on each other in their mouths etc. and what is it doing to us! what kind of down the road illness' are we going have come up for us humans as well as our animals! Now i have a second horse who is losing hair in his face, and the 1st horse is maybe improved a tiny bit we will watch them closely and probably have a vet out on Monday unless there is a big change.
Sheila 6/26/04
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I bought a Pitbull puppy about two months old a week ago she had fleas pretty bad so i bought the Fleatrol drops and applied to back of her neck the next day she became extremely thirsty and acted real sick the next morning her skin started opening up and and became infected i immediately took her to the vet were she still is were there treating her with medicated baths and antiseptics. Fleatrol should definitely be took off the market.
James 6/26/04
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I found your website and I hope you can offer some help. As we speak, my dog is in the hospital from chemical burns from BioSpot. The skin down his entire back was so severely burned that is literally falling off. The doctor wanted to keep him boarded to watch for secondary infection and to keep him lightly sedated to ease the pain. I am so furious at this company that I don't know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Keith 6/26/04
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I used Advantix on my 6 1/2 yr old Shih Tzu on a Tuesday night. She became very ill and started vomiting and had serious, foul smelling diarrhea. It just got worse, so I took her to my vet on Thursday, the vomiting stopped but my girl was not eating or drinking anything and so I took her to the Univ of PA Vet Hosp on Friday. She started to drink water there in the emergency room and they thought she would be okay and told me to take her home. The "runs" got worse and she still consumed no food and almost no water. I took her back to the Univ of PA on Sunday and she had to stay there until Tuesday. This just happened and she is still iffy. I have spent $2,200 so far. She may still need an endoscopy. DO NOT USE ADVANTIX!!!!!. I had a very happy, healthy dog on Tuesday and a very sick one on Wednesday just 12 hours after the initial application of Advantix. It did not affect my Jack Russell Terrier. I believe additional 50+% weight difference may be why she was not affected in the same manner. I called Bayer and got the "non systemic" mantra read to me three times.
Donna 6/22/04
I submitted copies of my pet's medical records to Bayer. After much delay, they finally said that they wouldn't reimburse me as their findings are that my pet's illness was coincidental to the application of Advantix. I am going to get info on small claims court and may take that step next to get reimbursement. Just wanted to follow up an let you know their reaction.
Donna 9/15/04
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I wanted to write to you concerning a terrible accident that happened to us last night. Although not the fault of BioSpot it has me rethinking the use of this product. I have 4 cats and 5 dogs. All are different in sizes. I was applying BioSpot to the animals. I had some leftover tubes of Revolution [3tubes] for cats, Frontline for cats [2 tubes] and 1 BioSpot for large dogs. # of the 4 cats got the revolution applied. I thought that I had picked up one of the Frontline tubes, and applied it to the 4th cat. Upon checking I noticed that I had applied the single large tube of BioSpot. The cat was jumping around Like she was on fire. I immediately wiped the product off wife tissues, and then scrubbed the area with a wet wash cloth. She seemed Ok and we went to bed. 1 of our dogs started barking about 3:30 in the morning. When we investigated, we found our kitty thrashing around on the floor. Since she was fine earlier we thought it must have something to do with the BioSpot. We called the Vet, who had us bring her in immediately. On the way, she began to siezure. We had also called the number on BioSpot and only got a busy signal. We also called Poison Control, who had no information on BioSpot. Our vet washed her, and gave her carcoal, and valium and IV fluids. Late in that afternoon I went to visit at the vet to see her and make a desision on wether i would have her put to sleep. The vet had told me that she had not responded to the treatment so far and was still having seizures and constantly violently shaking. After spending some time with her, I decided to wait untill morning to make a decision on what I would do. During my visit she held my finger with her paw which made me feel that on some level she new I was there. This morning she was quit a bit better, when I visited. She was somewhat responsive, Wanted her ears scratched. She was still not able to get up, but the trembling has stopped. She still was not eating. I called this evening and the vet told me that she was better, but only wanted to lick that spot where the Bio Spot was applied. The vet said that she sedated her and again scrubbed her back, this time using Iodine scrub for surgery. So as it stands at this time, I will see how she is doing in the morning. She is a really tuff little fighter, and we are hoping that she will survive this. She has come back from the brink of death before. We got her that way . she had been abused, and almost starved to death, full of worms and ear mites. It makes me cry to see what she is going trough because of my mistake, but it also scares me wondering what the long turm affects of this product will be to her, should she survive this and also what this stuff could have done on the long turn to my dogs. I know I will never buy this product again, and I know I will be more careful in using any poison like this. I think the warning label on this product was not adequate, and the tubes were made to look like the more expensive brand.
Sandra 6/29/04
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Add us to the list of regretful numbskulls who tried to save a few bucks on Frontline by buying Biospot over the counter. We treated a Golden Retriever and three cats (using the feline-specific product on them). One of our cats has been DRAMATICALLY and TRAGICALLY effected by this poison. She is (was?) the most loveable and affectionate 4 year old cat you could imagine. About a day after treatment she began yowling, almost as if she were in heat (she was spayed when she was one year old, immediately following a heat cycle). The yowling was accompanied by drooling, a far away look in her eyes, and a loss of balance. After a day or so, and after her "bouts" got significantly worse -- including loss of bladder control -- we finally put it together that she was having seizures, and that it may have come from the bio-spot treatment. We took her to the 24 hour animal hospital, where she was put on valium, bathed, and kept over night for observation. On Monday morning we took her to our regular vet, who kept her all week. She's back home, but is no where near her normal self. She wanders aimlessly, is eating constantly (she's gone from a normal, svelt domestic kitty to looking distinctly chubby in about 4 days), and is generally "out of it." We can only hope that with a lot of love and time she'll come back.
I cannot believe that this product is allowed on the market. Though I despise the litigous nature of our society, I must say that this is -- and should be -- a class action suit waiting to happen. This company should be taken to the cleaners, and this product MUST be taken off the market. THIS IS CRIMINAL!!!!!!!!!
Mike 6/29/04
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DISCLAIMER: Below are messages that I have received from others whose dogs and cats experienced adverse reactions after using flea control products. I have no way of knowing if the information in these messages is factual, or if the products they used were the actual cause of the adverse reactions.
