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January 2006
Beware everyone that has pets and uses FRONTLINE PLUS!
My experience is very recent as of yesterday 1-3-2006. I too have just witnessed three horrifying grand-mal seizures by my dog that were caused by FRONTLINE PLUS.
On Monday the 2nd of January 2006 I applied the prescribed treatment per pound on my pet dog Kusko (a very healthy 4 1/2 year old Terrier/German Shepard mix dog 48 lbs). I have only once over the summer given my dog this same treatment and never noticed any adverse affects such as a seizure in the summer of 2005. The next day January 3rd, I let Kusko go outside as the weather here in Northern California has been wet. As I looked back to my bewildered amazement I noticed Kusko violently trying to shake something from his throat (as it seemed). As I got closer to Kusko I noticed something was very wrong and did not know what it might be, perhaps something was caught in his throat, his jaws were locked open and foaming and blood was in his mouth. His eyes were rolling back, and he flopped to the ground thrashing his legs and neck, urinating as well. I then thought he would die from what I was not sure of, but perhaps a seizure. Within about three minutes he snapped out of it and began to breath again -Thank God! What a horrifying moment!!
He has had two more after that time, one an hour later (after I brought him inside and cleaned him up), and another last night at 1:20 am. I have washed him up in the tub and hopefully this has help take out the FRONTLINE DEATH from his skin. I called Merial this morning and have reported the story. They told me that FRONTLINE doesn't have any adverse affects that would cause this reaction because it doesn't enter the bloodsteam through the skin. I told them that my dog grooms himself very frequently and probably absorbed it by licking his hair and skin. This should be a 'no brainer' for FRONTLINE as they know all dogs lick their fur! A guess this study didn't make it in their research!
I would caution everyone who thinks that FRONTLINE PLUS is safe for their pet to NOT use it unless they are willing to risk death for their beloved pet. DO NOT USE FRONTLINE PLUS! This product is not safe as many think, being prescribed in every veterinary office around the country! I noticed that most of the posted experiences were caused by other brands other than FRONTLINE, but I firmly believe that ALL of these type of severe "FAST-ACTING" flea and tick medicines are very toxic and should not be used on any animal - dogs or cats.
Thank you for your website James TerBush! I would have never been able to determine what caused my dogs seizures until I read your article.
Christian from California 1/4/06
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I just read the effects on your website concerning the flea and tick product containing pyrethrin used on dogs. I am wondering if perhaps a product made by Farnam Horse Products was not a contributing factor in our beloved shetland pony's death. We live in Houston Texas and mosquitoes are an ongoing problem. I used a bug zapper and sticky hanger traps in his stall but unless I sprayed him quite heavily with a mosquito spray with the higher amounts of pyrethrins in it, he would suffer a lot of bites. I tried using other sprays with natural ingredients but none worked. Over a period of a year he would have some head shaking that was a tremor. He was under the care of a vet and on the day he had to be put to sleep, he was currently up to date on all his shots and our vet was extremely puzzled as to the cause. Symtomatic was encephilitus but no fever which ruled that out. He wanted to do an autopsy but we chose not to because we wanted him buried on our farm and that would not have been allowable. After reading this article I wonder since he was sprayed daily and heavily over a a long period of time if this was the cause. I recently purchased a six months supply of frontline flea and tick vials to be used down the back of our newly acquired bloodhound puppy. I have not used it yet. I am now not sure I will.
Sandy 1/9/06
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I have treated my dog, little silky Terrier 18 months old female (4.5 kg) with Advantix (4-10 kg dose) yesterday .Today, since the morning, she does not want to walk - stays in one spot and does not want to move until I will pick her up and looks like she is "frozen". Than suddenly she starts walking and "freezes" again. She is not well and looks like Advantix had a reaction on her nervous system.
We went to a vet today and he did not know what is wrong, gave her anti-inflammatory injection (and the bill to me) and said to watch her. He was not sure that this is a bad reaction to Advantix.
I bathed her in the afternoon to wash the remains of the poison.
I don't know what to do and I [don't] know if vet will help her tomorrow.
Please help and let me know what should I do?
I've adopted this dog two weeks ago after loosing our beloved dachshund to a disc injury a month ago.
I can't loose this one!
Diana 1/15/06
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I wish I had found this site this morning. (1-17-06). My husband had put bio-spot on our dog last night. My cats were scratching alot, and we are in between pays. I was told by someone who swares by it that as long as I only use a drop or two, I could use the same for the cats. Well, I did just that. I used one small drop on my Fancy, and two small drops on Baby because her coat is longer and thicker then Fancy's.
They both started shaking real bad. I called a vet. They said to bathe both cats at least 3 times with DAWN or TIDE. All I had was TIDE. After giving them both 3 baths, Baby(the bigger more furrier one) started to calm down. But Fancy's shakes kept going, she could not walk very well. This went on at least 30 minutes after Baby had calmed. Then, all of asudden, she had a grand mal seizure. It is now 1:31 AM on 1-18-06, about 10 hours after I put that stuff on them. Both cats seem to be doing ok, but I'm not sure whether it's over or not after reading some of the e-mails on your site.
Please say a prayer for Fancy and Baby. And Thank you again for your web site. If you do, or know of anyone doing a petition to get these items off the market, please let me know.
Anonymous 1/18/06
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This is what I have sent to the U.S EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, please feel free to use it on your site if you'd like.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs (Mail Code 7509C)
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20460
E-mail: opp-web-comments@epa.gov
I found this address on a site I was reading about the dangers of flea and tick sprays on dogs. What I have read has filled me with guilt over the death of my 8 1/2 year old Boston Terrier, Buster. I feel I killed my best friend out of ignorance. He had been completely healthy all his life or so I thought. We lived in an area where I didn't really have to worry about fleas, so I never used flea control on him for the first 7 years of his life. We did live where there were lots of mosquitoes and put him on heartworm preventative pills for about 6 months when he was 3 years old. I didn't associate his drooling uncontrolably to the pills, I just thought he'd been eating slugs or stink bugs while tied outside.
After we moved to a different home, we noticed that it was infested with fleas both in the house and in the yard. I bought Adams Flea Spray and sometimes the spot stuff from Wal Mart for dogs and used it on him. Again the drooling started along with his noticeable look of feeling bad all over and his head would even feel hot. I started giving him baths in Dawn dishwashing liquid because I thought the fleas were driving him crazy. Sometimes he would sit beside the bathtub whining, but I guess he knew the spray was making him sick and wanted it washed off. He seemed to feel better after the bath within an hour or two and by the next day seemed ok.
After I moved again, I noticed this yard was also ridden with fleas and bought Buster a Harts Flea collar; within 2 days he had his first seizure which lasted about 10 minutes. Not realizing it was the collar, I left it on him and he had at least 4 more seizures within the next 2 days. I took off the collar and the seizures eventually stopped within a day or two. I decided to try something different and bought the Sargents Flea Shampoo; he had another spell the next day. A week later, I gave him another bath and he had 3 siezures that night. I was still thinking it was from his age like the vet said. (I trusted the doc knew what he was talking about with the older dogs.)
I took him to the vet over them and after a negative blood test he put him on heartworm preventative pills, Iverheart Plus and within 2 days had 3 more seizures. After another visit, he was put on Phenobarbitol, 64.8 mg, half a pill twice a day. After the liver culture a week later, the vet assured me the meds weren't hurting him. I asked if he might have a brain tumor or something and he said dogs his age just tend to have the fits, or he may just be sensitive to the toxins in the flea control poisons . On the same visit he recommended the Frontline Flea and Tick spray. Buster did fine on the first go round of the Frontline, he didn't have a seizure for 3 or 4 days. That weekend he had at least 8 more spells. The vet never examined him for anything else.
The vet told me that the Phenobarb could cause liver damage if given in the wrong dosage but said it seemed to be doing fine and Buster wouldn't need another blood culture for a year. He even told me that if he had the fits while on the pills to give him another half a pill. I figured he did need them since I forgot to give him his nightly dosage once and he had a seizure that night. After about 2 weeks he started running away from me when I was trying to give it to him. It was like he knew those pills were hurting him. I noticed he started drinking more and more water and was hungry all the time. He was even gaining weight, or swelling from the steroids, but I got conserned when he had to start going out at least every 10-15 minutes to urinate. I asked the vet about that to and he said it was probably due to the seizures in a certain part of his brain causing the insatiable appetite and thirst. I asked if the Phenobarb was causing probs with his kidneys and he said not likely. Again, no examination to rule that out.
Well, on Monday before Christmas this past year, I gave him his monthly dose of Iverhart Plus like the vet said I could do because it was safe with the other meds...he seemed fine except within an hour he was running to the door every 5 minutes to go pee, he went to the basement which was one of his signs before a spell and then laid on the couch. Within 5 minutes he went into a severe seizure and started foaming at the mouth really bad. I put him in the floor so he wouldn't fall off and hurt himself and he just kept foaming and stiffening his legs out and he sounded as if he was choking on fluids. He got up after about 10 minutes and starting pacing all over while spitting foam every where. I litterarly had to go behind him with a mop, that's how bad it was. I called the 'on call vet' and asked what to do, he said give him another half tab of Phenobarb and he should be ok, if not give him another one a few hours later. I gave him one and he got worse. He said since I was so far away I could wait until morning to bring him in if I still needed to. I had to eventually take him to the basement because it got so bad and all he would do was go in circles constantly. I went back upstairs and he would try to follow me up and would almost fall down the steps so I put up a barricade to keep him down there. After a while I went back down and he was jerking to the left over and over again while going in circles, almost like he was trying to get to whatever was hurting him but the jerking wouldn't stop. He would jerk so hard I was scared he break his back or something. I had to hold him after he did the circle thing for what seemed like 2 hrs, which I think it was. I couldn't get him to lay down at all. I finally held him down to get him to rest and he started going in circles on his hip, over and over. Finally I got him to lay down while stll jerking. I figured by now he had to be exhausted. Sorry this is so long but I've got to let you know ALL that went on with him.
I noticed after keeping him down about 5 minutes he was breathing harder and he almost choked to death 3 times on the fluids almost pouring out of his mouth by then. I told the vet he acted like he had been poisoned but he said it was just the seizure, more than likely...anyway when I tried to stand him up, he couldn't stand at all by then. It was like his legs had given out. He never stood up again. I stayed up with him all night, wiping foam and fluids off of his face. I tried giving him water in the corner of his mouth through a straw but it was like he couldn't swallow it. I knew he had to be getting dehydrated. By 7 a.m. that morning I had to get a couple of hours of sleep before I could drive him the 45 minutes to the vet hospital. He either drowned in his own fluids or the seizure took its toll on him because he died on the way there on Tuesday before Christmas. Believe it or not, this was his favorite time of year because he loved opening his presents and always got so excited. We buried him with his unopened gifts. It didn't seem right not putting them in with him. My kids and grandkids were all terribly hurt over his death too. He was a family member to us all!
The only reason I didn't take him to the vet sooner was because I honestly didn't think he'd make the trip that night and I knew he would probably die in the hospital alone with no one watching him when he did go. I couldn't handle that at that time. I pulled over to the side of the road and held him while he passed and they wouldn't have done that for him there.
I don't know the actual cause of his death, but I do know he was healthy until I started him on the Iverhart Plus, flea control sprays and shampoos. Everything I read on that site gave almost the same exact symptoms Buster had. He hadn't even shown signs of aging until I started using this stuff on him. I thought I was doing good for him because the fleas were making him miserable. Isn't there something that can be done about these poisons killing our pets? I mean he was an AKC registered, full blooded Boston! He got his vaccines for what he was supposed to along with his rabbies shots. I did what I thought was right but I feel I ended up killing my own dog. He even tried letting me know what I was giving him was hurting him and I couldn't see it until it was too late.
I have mourned my pet as if he was my child. He would've been 9, Feb 14th and I had him since he was 4 weeks old. He was my child. He was my constant companion while my husband was on the road and now he's gone. Only those who have lost a loved pet like this knows how I feel and the hurt I have gone through. Not a day goes by I don't see him or miss him terribly. I know it won't bring him back, but isn't there anything that can be done to prevent this to others in the future?
Here's the site I found the info on...
Maybe someone should read these sites and see how many other pets have died over these poisons we use trustingly that were recommended by our veterinarians.
I'm sorry I went on so long but I hope someone will read this and have some compassion over what we are going through, and all for the sake of a dollar. Even the vets need to be informed as to what they are doing because they may not even realize it themselves. Thank you for reading this and I hope you can help in some way. If I don't hear from someone about this, I will just continue to write others until something happens.
Brenda 1/18/06
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I also had problems with Frontline on my Toy Fox Terrier, 1 minute after I applied this on her skin it turned blood red and her skin was red all over her back in just a period of time it took me to call my vet. I bathed her several times with dawn dish liquid as instructed, by next morning the redness had left but the healthy dog I had before this no longer exists. She constantly has health issues now. This was last spring, 2005.
Jan 1/26/06
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MY DOG WAS POISONED BUY BIO SPOT. CAUSED HIM NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE. HIS FACE AND LEGS BECAME PARALIZED. I TOOK HIM TO LOCAL VETS IN FL. AND THEY DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS WRONG BUT KEPT ASKING ME IF HE COULD HAVE BEEN POISONED. I TOOK HIM TO THE VET COLLEGE IN GAINSVILLE FL. COST ME $2,300. THEY DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS WRONG. THEY SAID HE MIGHT HAVE MS. THEY RECOMMENDED HE BE PUT TO SLEEP. SAID HE WOULD NEVER WALK AGAIN. IT WAS NOT TILL AFTER I FOUND OUT IT WAS CAUSED BY THE BIO SPOT. I WAS HEART BROKEN AND FEEL GUILTY EVERY DAY FOR CAUSING THIS.FARNAM REFUSED TO COMPENSATE ME FOR THE VET BILLS. SAID THEY DID NOT CONCLUDE WHAT CAUSED THE NERVE DAMAGE. I NOTICED THAT ON HEARTGARD COMMERCIALS ON TV THEY STATE THAT IN CERTAIN RARE INSTANCES IT COULD CAUSE NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE. HOW ARE THESE CRIMINALS GETTING AWAY WITH PEDDLING THIS POISON TO OUR PETS? THIS IS AWFUL. THESE PEOPLE ARE DESPICABLE. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE. I'LL HELP.
GAIL 1/30/06
I JUST WROTE A LETTER TO FARNAM TELLING THAT I'M AT WAR WITH THEM. I ALSO WROTE A COMPAINT ON LINE TO THE ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL ABOUT BIO SPOT. PLEASE POST IT ON YOUR WEB SITE AND URGE OTHERS TO DO SO. AT A WEB SITE CALLED FLORIDAPETPAGES.COM THERE IS A POST TITLED "TOPICAL FLEA CONTROL PRODUCTS" WRITTEN BY A VET. I TOLD THE ATTORNEY GEN. TO LOOK IT UP.
GAIL 2/1/06
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I WASHED MY KITTEN GIZMO WITH SARGENTS SKIP-FLEA & TICK SHAMPOO. HE IS 4 MONTHS OLD, SAYS IT IS SAFE FOR KITTENS. WITHIN 1 HOUR HE WAS HAVING A SEIZURE , LABORED BREATHING, EYES ROLLED BACK IN HIS HEAD. I TOOK HIM TO AN EMERGENCY VET, OF COURSE BY TIME WE GOT THERE , HE WAS FINE. THE VET SAID IT WAS PROBABLY AN ALLERGIC REACTION TO THE SHAMPOO, HIS EYES WERE DIALATED, AND HE HAD A FEVER, AND NEVER TO USE ANY PESTICIDE ON HIM EVER AGAIN, SINCE HE IS NOW FINE, BUT HAVING A REAL HARD TIME GETTING OFF THE FLEAS.
CHRIS 1/30/06
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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.
