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December 2004
Below is email that I received from the U.S. EPA (Office of Pesticides Program). It emphasizes the importance of reporting all adverse reactions from flea control products to them.
James TerBush 12/1/04
Thank you for contacting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with your concerns about Bio-spot and other flea control products. I am sorry to hear about the adverse reaction that your dog experienced two-years ago and hope that he has recovered. EPA's Pesticide Program is responsible for registering pesticides in the United States and ensuring that their use does not pose unreasonable risks to human health, animal health, or the environment, so we share your concerns.
EPA bases its pesticide registrations on the best available scientific data, and we constantly review new data to ensure that our registrations reflect current health and safety standards. All registered pesticides also bear labels that, as you are probably aware, are intended to provide clear directions for effective product performance while minimizing risks to human and animal health or the environment. All label language must be approved by EPA before a pesticide can be sold or distributed in the United States, and the courts consider a label to be a legal document. If necessary, EPA may at any time take action to revise labels or product registrations in order to ensure health and environmental safety protection.
We have visited your Web site, and we also receive emails and letters from pet owners whose pets have experienced adverse reactions after being exposed to flea control products. We forward copies of these emails to EPA's incident database manager for inclusion in our incident database. The incident database includes the date and location of the incident, the type and magnitude of effects observed in various species, and the use of pesticides contributing to the incident. We use information from this database in support of regulatory action on pesticides.
EPA is currently monitoring a number of pet products, using incident reports and other data to determine what further regulatory action may be warranted.
Again, thank you for contacting us. I can assure you that the protection of humans and animals from the potentially negative effects of chemical products is among our topmost priorities, and we appreciate having this opportunity to respond to your concerns. Should you have further comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
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I recently had bought Bio Spot for my 3 labs this past October, 2004. We had put it on all 3 dogs and our youngest one had been licking the back of the other 2 on & off throughout the day. We tried to keep her from doing it, but they are inside dogs and lay & play together. Later that day, she had started to have a seizure and it lasted for about ½ hour. She is over 2 years old and has never had any problems like this before & I wasn't sure what would have caused it at first until I learned of her licking the backs of the other dogs.
I called Bio Spot & asked if this could have been caused by the drug and was never told a "yes" answer. She had said that it was possible she had too much in her system since it was on her back plus licking it off the back of the other dogs. Although she was very helpful and told me to wash it off of her and refunded my money for the product, I'm still wondering if my dog will suffer any more seizures due to being exposed to the biospot. So far, she has been ok, thank God. and my other 2 dogs seemed fine. I won't be using that product again.
Kelly 12/7/04
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Thank you for administering this site, I regret to have found it under such horrific conditions. Below is a letter I sent to the EPA email address you so kindly provided on your message board.
Dear Sir/Madam;
As I sit here, my beautiful 1 year old Devon Rex cat, Macy, is currently at the Vet's office suffering from a horrible adverse reaction to Hartz Advance Care Fleas and Tick Drops Plus. I applied the drops, AS DIRECTED, last night. We awoke this morning to find her in full seizure on the bathroom floor. I immediately picked her up and rushed her to the vet. They are treating her and will have to stay overnight, we have no clue if she'll make it or not or even if she does, it may take weeks to determine if she's back to normal or not. The odds are not good. Since returning home from the vet's office I have done extensive research on this product, tracking the hundreds - possibly thousands of complaints lodged against this company and many others like it. I am utterly disgusted that this product is still on the market.
I expect that the EPA will join the effort to remove this product and others like it from the market.
Amy 12/10/04
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My daughters colour point Persian cat died yesterday, Friday, from breathing difficulties after she sprayed him on Wednesday evening with Frontline. She was advised to do this by her vet because the cat had lost some fur from his neck. He had been given a steroid injection one week earlier to calm down his skin. He was an indoor cat and has never been troubled by fleas in the past. By Thursday evening he was off his legs and incontinent. The vet gave him an injection and antibiotics. On Friday morning we returned again to the vets, the cat looked as if he was dying.
The vets were not able to get a firm diagnosis of what was wrong with him before he passed away, but it seemed to be that all of his organs just failed one by one. the symptoms that he had were severe breathing difficulties, loss of bladder control, a mass on his chest that didn't respond to a needle test to draw off fluid, but looked like a severe attack of asthma. His windpipe was being crushed upwards and it was so rapid that we are all in shock. In the end he died on the table as the vet was trying to do an ultrasound of his heart. He simply died of heart failure the Frontline was in date but was near to the end of it's shelf life. 01/05 I am convinced that the cat had an allergic reaction to the spray but now it is too late to prove it. As a family we are heartbroken.
Christine 12/11/04
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The other day, I went to treat my cats and dog with Frontline. I only had enough Frontline for the dog and 2 of the cats. The third cat received BioSpot because the pet store was out of Frontline and said this was just as effective without the cost. So far, that small tube of BioSpot has cost me $600 and he's probably not done with medical bills. About an hour after receiving the BioSpot, he began to tremor and then having seizures. I rushed him to a vet hospital (this was on Saturday of course) and they began treatment right away. He spent 2 days there and so far 1 day at the vet's. He will probably spend at least one more day at the vet's office. What sickens me is that the warning label says nothing of this. My cat's medical info states directly on it "BioSpot" toxicity. In talking with different vet workers, apparently this is something they see often; "hundreds of cats per year" was the figure given to me. That $600 really burns me, but I wasn't about to let him die. My four children were horrified at the seizure and it's a shame it had to happen at all. Talk about a Christmas present.
Simone 12/13/04
I contacted Farnam and the receptionist was quite friendly. But of course they need proof of my purchase, even though the vet stated directly on the admission paper 'BioSpot toxicity'. My problem is I no longer have the receipt (I've been looking, but I had no reason to keep it). I also went to the pet store to try to get another receipt to no avail. I also don't have the original box. My kids threw all that away that same afternoon because of what happened to Simba. So I guess I'm out $600.
Simone 1/26/05
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We are writing concerning the use and availability of Bio-Spot. We bought Bio Spot: Flea & Tick Mist for Cats (Product Code 3004379, EPA Regf. No. 270-307), at our local Petco because it was cheaper than the more expensive flea treatment. We have a 3 yr. old strictly in-door female cat. We noticed a few fleas on her this last month, and she began to scratch constantly. How she got fleas, we have no idea, but we just wanted to end her misery. We normally bathe her a few times a year, so this was no big deal to simply spray the product on her - it's supposed to last for 3 months. Following directions on the label, we applied the product, and proceeded to let her air dry. Within a few minutes the kids noticed she was drooling, and after 1/2 hour, she began to throw up and have bowel movements on the floor. This is very unlike her, and decided to immediately give her an oatmeal bath. While the Bio Spot most decidedly got rid of the fleas, it almost killed our cat. She was listless for days following, and she seemed depressed. We thought it might be an allergic reaction to the product, but thought she would have had a similar reaction if we used a different type of flea product. This was not the case. Hating to waste the product, we decided to spray it on the carpet, as directed on the product bottle. Within minutes of this, she started drooling, vomiting, and having loose stools. We immediately gave her a bath, and cleaned the carpets. Please take this product off the market! We have spoke to other pet owners who purchased and used the same product and had similar results. Please take this dangerous product off the shelf. We have contacted the EPA and our local Petco about this product.
Anonymous 12/16/04
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Some time ago, we had one of the pest control companies coming in regularly. The residue was very heavy around the kitchen cabinets. You could see it. Both dogs developed seizures after a few months. We finally figured it might be the spray and asked them to spray only once a month or less. (we get large cockroaches). They refused., saying we needed it every week. We stopped the spray as both dogs were getting worse. One was having seizures almost every day. After 6 months spray free, the seizures decreased and finally after about a year, were down to one every 4 months or so. After 2 years, no more in either dog. Both dogs lived out their lives seizure free, one living to the ripe old age of 18.
Carl 12/19/04
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I was having flea problems even though I was using advantage on my Shitzu so decided to try Bio-Spot after talking to my dog's groomer . She was groomed on the 23rd of Dec. 2004 and on Dec. 25th she started acting funny. She acted as if she was in pain and could not get comfortable. Every time she laid down her little back end would jump. She would cry and whine, jump up and run from one spot to another, never staying still and always whining. I called the vet Sunday night. We had been out of town and they told me to give her some bendaryl that it would help until I could get her to a vet Monday. She went to the vet and he thought she might have allergies. He gave her a shot and she came home. All that night she done the same as the day before. I called him back Tuesday morning and took her back in. She stayed all day at the vet's office and he was still puzzled as to what was wrong with her. Told me to watch her close and bring her back Wednesday A.M. and to give him specifics on what she was doing. I video taped her that night all the running and restlessness. I told the vet that she had Bio-Spot put on the 23rd of the month and he became concerned with that. Took her and the tape back to the vet Wednesday. She then had blood in her stool he kept her again to run some test. She was dehydrated and the vet feels now that all her problems are stemming from the Bio-Spot. He checked her liver, kidneys and that checked out fine. Her blood sugar was elevated and he thinks that it's from the Bio-Spot. They sent her home with pain medicine to take twice a day and she has to be bathed everyday to try and wash this Bio-Spot away and I was told to watch her carefully.
And for using this product on my little Shitzu I had a vet bill of 175.68. She is worth the money but I feel that I should be reimbursed for this. She is still very uncomfortable running from place to place and whining. I guess she will be this way until all of the Bio-Spot is gone. My vet told me that he has had two of his patients die after using this product - one of them within a few hours. This product needs to be removed from shelves everywhere.
Mrs. Y 12/29/04
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Two days after applying Bio Spot for Cats and Ferrets we had to take our eight year old cat to the vet. He has been home since yesterday and seems to be recovering. The vet was fully aware of the dangers of this and similar products. We plan to try to get back some of the $741.00 we spent to save his life from the company. I'm also interested in doing more than alerting the EPA, which apparently, people have been doing for some time. Is there a possibility of a class action suit to get them to, at the very least, label these products more accurately? The pet store employee who recommended the Bio Spot had no idea, I'm sure, of the possible dangers.
Denise 12/31/04
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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.
