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March 2007
I just left my cat at the emergency [clinic] in convulsions after I gave her biospot yesterday. The vet says they see about 1 animal a month from biospot. I feel terrible and guilty of course but also mad as hell. Is anyone pursuing a class action suit against the manufacturer? Whether or not my cat survives I'm going to have a large vet bill. It seems not unreasonable to demand compensation.
Dave 3/5/07
Check the empty tubes (vials) of Bio Spot for Cats that you used and verify the small label says Bio Spot for Cats. I have received email in the past from people who told me that their Bio Spot for Cats package mistakenly contained tubes of Bio Spot for Dogs.
James TerBush
Thank you for responding. It doesn't look good for my cat. I opened a fresh box [of Bio Spot] labeled for cats. The remaining tube is for cats, but I found the empty and it is indeed for dogs. I feel awful. Thanks, for the information.
Dave 3/5/07
My cat is dead. I'm devastated.
Dave 3/5/07
I am deeply sorry, Dave.
If that was the first time Farnam ever put the wrong product in their packaging, I would say Farnam made a terrible mistake, but I have heard of that problem occurring for a long time. I would like to know if Farnam has ever issued a recall when it has become aware of that problem, or has ever alerted the public, or has ever taken steps in their factory to make sure that it never happens again.
In my opinion, this ongoing problem is not an accident - it's negligence.
James TerBush
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Our dog, Zack, had a Grand Mal Seizure for the first time in his life at 3 this morning. My wife and I freaked out and tried to resuscitate him as we had no idea what was going on. He eventually came around but for half an hour or so (post ictal phase, we learned) he acted extremely strange - scared and growling at us.
Anyway, we took him to a 24 Hour emergency veterinary hospital right after the incident and the vet and technicians explained to us that Zack had had a seizure. They have run a battery of tests on him and have basically ruled out diabetes, infection, and the like and have referred us to a vet neurologist. They have told us it could be something very scary such as a brain tumor as Zack is 9 years old and not really in the age group to develop Epilepsy - this apparently appears for the first time in younger dogs. Zack has had two more Grand Mal seizures today so they put him on Pheno Barbital and of the last report he hasn't had one since. If he doesn't have another seizure between now and tomorrow morning we will get to bring him home.
My question has to do with K9 Advantix. Zack has been using it for several years - before that he was using Advantage and Frontline. About 18 days ago, Zack had a bath and a treatment with K9 Advantix and since has been itching and scratching to the point where he has developed some nasty sores. Do you have any reports of dogs developing a delayed problem or a delayed-adverse reaction with these products? There are several reports of seizures on your site but mostly the reactions seem to be within a day or so. The vet technician basically poo-pooed our inquiry in this regard by telling us not to believe everything we read and that Advantix is a very safe product. We are starting to wonder and are a little pissed about the brush off and very upset about Zack.
By the way, Zack has otherwise been a very healthy dog. He's an SPCA special (we think Whippet and possibly retriever) who weighs in at 35 lbs.
I apologize if this is a little long winded (I did read quite a few of the posts - many of them equally scary) and understand you aren't a vet but any advice, direction or information would be greatly appreciated.
Carl 3/5/07
Virginia Beach, VA
I appreciated your concern with your earlier follow-up so I thought that I'd update you on our dog Zack's situation.
We took Zack to a neurologist after his initial seizures and had a thorough work-up done on him. By the way, we are lucky to even have a vet neurologist in our area as apparently there are only around 200 of them in the world. After the exam, the neurologist suggested that Zack have an MRI as she couldn't be 100% sure that he had a brain tumor or not even though her exam indicated that he probably did not as he is otherwise very healthy. There are, however, problems with Zack's eyes that made the neurologist somewhat suspicious. Nevertheless, we went to northern Virginia this weekend to the IAM's Imaging center in Vienna where they did an MRI of Zack's brain. Unfortunately, they found a mass on his frontal lobe which indicates that he has a tumor of some kind. Tomorrow we will learn more as to Zack's prognosis and to his treatment options - needless to say my wife and I are very upset. We will do for him what we can if it looks like treatment will have a positive impact on his quality and length of life.
Throughout all of this ordeal, we have talked to many veterinarians and, like the concerned pet owners we are (really more like parents), we have grilled them on possible causes of Zack's seizures. We have heard the opinion (prior to the MRI) that it was possible that the Advantix could have caused the seizures but that it was more likely something else. As we know now, this, unfortunately, is the case. Our primary vet had the opinion that if a dog is to seize from Advantix or some other like product, it will probably happen within the first 24 hours. He believes that the prescription flea medicines are safe but to be careful about the systemic (i.e., bloodstream) tick control ointments. My wife and I value both our primary vet and the vet neurologist's opinions very highly. They are both extremely kind, competent, and experienced - the kind of people I wished everyone had looking after their pets.
Best regards and thank you for your time,
Carl 3/25/07
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Last week I took my seven year old Lab, Maverick, in for his yearly check-up and vaccinations. He has a history of having had a couple seizures in the past and the vet inquired about that. Told her that he hadn't had one in three years so all was well. While there the vet suggested I use Frontline Plus for flea and tick control. Took him home and put the Frontline Plus on both he and our other Lab. Approximately thirty minutes after application he started trembling and acting very scared/disoriented. Our other dog showed no signs of trouble. This incident didn't look like the rigid type of seizure he's had in the past (that we've attributed to epilepsy). I became quite concerned and called the vet's office. I thought he was having a cluster seizure and became quite concerned about his body temperature too. Needless to say this went on for about five hours. He was extremely disoriented, trembling, scared and definitely NOT RIGHT! It was a very frightening experience. I called the Frontline "hotline" today and asked about adverse reactions to their product. Was told that it didn't sound typical. I work in the medical field and pretty much know what that means. Maybe not typical but certainly not unheard of. I truly believe that my dog had a reaction to the neurotoxin in this product. I also realize how fortunate I am that he didn't die or end up in a very bad state. I found your site by doing a search on the internet and am amazed at the similar stories. I shudder to think what might happen to a child who runs their hand over the spot where this product has been applied and then puts their fingers in their mouth! Something definitely needs to be done. Thank you for this site . Now I know I'm not imagining the correlation between Frontline and Maverick's crisis. I'm very sorry to see how common it appears to be and how many people's pets have had a less fortunate outcome than Maverick.
Toni 3/6/07
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Below is email that I sent on 3/6/07 to Sherri Pike, Technical Affairs Manager of Farnam Companies:
Dear Sherri,
I spoke with you five years ago, after my dog had a near fatal reaction (grand mal seizures) to Bio Spot. Fortunately, my dog recovered from the incident and has not had any seizures since I stopped using Bio Spot five years ago. As you may be aware, I created a website about the incident and in the last five years, I have received email from thousands of people whose pets had similar experiences after using Bio Spot and similar flea control products. If you would like to visit my website, please go to:
www.elversonpuzzle.com/biospot.html
I am writing because I received email yesterday from someone whose cat died a horrible death after applying Bio Spot. Upon examining the outer packaging and the small label on the empty vial, this person discovered that the empty vial was actually labeled Bio Spot for Dogs, even though it was inside of a package labeled Bio Spot for Cats. I was not shocked to hear that because several other people have written to me about that mistake in the past.
I would like to know, given the fact that Bio Spot for Dogs is often fatal to cats, how is it possible for your factory to make that kind of mistake? If your own employees can't tell the difference between Bio Spot for Dogs and Bio Spot for Cats, how do you expect consumers to tell the difference?
I do not know why the EPA allows companies like yours to manufacture and distribute flea control products that are known to kill cats. Yes, your packaging has a small outline of a cat inside of a circle with a line going through it on the front, and caution statements buried in small fine print on the back, but surely you must know that people rarely take the time to read all of the directions. You must also know that many households have cats and dogs, and it's very difficult to prevent cats from coming into contact with treated dogs.
Farnam should not wait for the EPA to ban these products, and should voluntarily reformulate their flea control products for dogs so that they do not kill cats. Until that happens, I encourage you to implement additional measures to let people know that Bio Spot for Dogs is potentially fatal to cats. These steps could include: 1) Adding a black box warning on the packaging that says, "DO NOT USE ON CATS. This product may be fatal if applied to or ingested by cats" 2) Making the vials of Bio Spot for Dogs look different than the vials of Bio Spot for Cats (different shape, size, and color plastic vial) 3) Adding a large yellow warning sticker to each individual vial of Bio Spot for Dogs that says, "DO NOT USE ON CATS".
Additionally, your factory should implement measures that would make it virtually impossible for Bio Spot for Dogs to end up inside of the Bio Spot for Cats packaging. If you become aware of a mislabeled batch, it should be recalled, the media should be notified immediately to warn consumers, and information about the recall should be posted on your website.
Thank your for taking the time to consider my request.
Sincerely,
James TerBush
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Thank you so much for posting this website. Here is my story which hopefully will help and convince pet owners not to use any flea products. I have an English springer spaniel puppy named Holly. She is 5 months old and a very very active puppy. Over the last few weeks I noticed Holly had some fleas. I called my vet and they recommended me to use Advantage. She weighed 22lbs. so they gave me the product for dogs 21lbs to 55lbs.
On Mon. February 27, 2007 I gave her a dose of Advantage at night before she went to bed. That night she was up all night very anxious. I wasn’t alarmed because she is a very active and hyper puppy and sometimes is up though the night wanting to play or be held. The next morning she seemed more reserved than normal, I thought she was tired because she hadn’t slept all night. That night she became very lethargic and her eyes started to roll back in her head and she was drooling excessively.
We took her to the emergency and the vet tested her for Parvo (test came back neg. which it should because she was up to date with her vaccinations) and ran blood work which looked normal. I mentioned that I had put Advantage on her about 24 hours ago and she said that this had nothing to do with it. Because Holly is energetic and adventurous, we started to wonder what could she have gotten into. That night she slept with me and was miserable, drooling, crying and even urinated on herself, which she never had done. Also she had a terrible smell coming from her.
That morning, February 28th, I took her to her vet. They kept her there and gave her IVs and ended up keeping her overnight. The next day I spoke to the doctor and mentioned the Advantage again, even though the ER vet said absolutely no. They listened, but concurred with the ER vet that it wasn’t that because her blood work looked good, but still gave her multiple baths just in case. I wish the ER vet would have considered it to be Advantage because we would have bathed her then, almost 36 hours before she finally got washed.
Each day she kept getting worse until they referred me to a neurologist vet. They preformed a spinal tap on her and after many tests and thousands of $ later, still no answer. Today is March 9th (1 ½ weeks after the application of Advantage) and Holly can’t walk and has no control of her muscles. She is still lethargic and cries because she wants to do things but can’t. She is on valium and antibiotics along with prednisone to hopefully reduce the swelling in her brain. It is a waiting game to see if she will recover. It is so sad to think that a product like that can suck the life out of animals like this. Even though I was told that it couldn’t be the Advantage, I know in my heart that it is and fortunately because of your web page and all the horrible stories I know I’m not going crazy. It was too coincidental. Also within the last 3 days I have come down with a rash which is spreading all over my body with red spots and the itching is constant. This sounds similar to one of the stories on your webpage. My doctor believes that I am having an allergic reaction and it could very well be from the Advantage because I held her after it was applied. Anyone who reads this, PLEASE DO NOT use any of these products on your pets.
Diana and Holly 3/9/07
West Hills, CA
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I just found your website...I just had an experience like so many others I read on your site. My cat is still in the animal hospital and they are not sure if she will make it. I cant believe that this product is still for sale. I spent all night blaming myself. I still cannot believe the horror I went thru last night. I do not even know what to do with myself today, just waiting to hear if she is going to make it. I live paycheck to paycheck and have no extra money to be able to afford the bills I am going to receive. I would do anything to save her so its not that...its just this should have never happened in the first place. I am going to make sure I voice this as much as I can. Im going to put flyers up. I have already contact my local newspaper in hopes they can run an article. I had no idea, just like the many others, until they learn the hard way. Thanks for posting your experience. I really thought I was the only one going thru this. The food scare is going on now for most people, which I also had given my dogs...but still show no effect. This was instant and I knew exactly what caused it. She was acting funny shortly after I put it on but I thought it was just cause it was wet and felt funny. Later that night is when I woke up to her seizures and convultions. If you could give me a contact for someone I would appreciate it. I know your story was years ago, so information may have changed. I went to the site and sent a email to the generic email link they had, but Im not confident anyone will receive it. Even if they do, will they even care. I'm so sorry you had to go thru this too. Thank you so much again for posting your experience, I hope to spread the word as well as much as I can. If my Roxy doenst live I hope to atleast save the life of someone's else's family.
Lisa 3/21/07
Powhatan, VA
I am very sorry to hear about your cat. Which product did you use? If it was Bio Spot, did you use Bio Spot for Cats, or did you mistakenly use Bio Spot for Dogs? Many people make the mistake of putting Bio Spot for Dogs on their cats because the packaging looks similar.
James TerBush
Yep, thats what I did. My only reason for doing it was I use to use frontline and the vet always told me I could take a little bit from the one for my dogs and put on my cat, instead of buying a whole seperate application. Well I applied that same philosophy to Bio Spot...its just the result was much different. The only reason I even purchased Bio Spot is because Frontline was not working on my dogs anymore, I was still having fleas. So the vet gave me Advantix, which my dog had an allergic reaction to, nothing like this one, but still a vet visit for a shot. I ran out of options at the vet so I thought I would try something over the counter. I do blame myself, because I should not have used it on the cat. I just figured if you could do that with Frontline you could with Bio Spot too, since they do make BioSpot for cats too. I see now on their website that they have started putting them in more apparent packaging to distinguish the two. I can see how it would have been easily mistaken. I had thrown away the carton and just had the applicator, it says for dogs in small print. Never again, I rather have fleas then go thru that again. The Dr just called and said her heartrate is back to normal which is a good sign but she is still not out of the woods... From what I understand in your situation and as in others you used the BioSpot (for dogs) for your dog and had the same reaction. So not sure I guess how the BioSpot for cats is any safer. Or how this makes it any less partially their fault.
Lisa 3/21/07
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WE USED BIO SPOT ON OUR 4YR OLF AKITA FOR 3 SUMMERS. IN OCTOBER 0F 06 WE FOUND HIM IN A POOL OF BLOOD. HE WAS BLEEDING OUT OF HIS NOSE. WE RUSHED HIM TO THE EMERGENCY VET AND 5 DAYS IN THE HOSPITAL AND TWO TRANSFUSIONS HE CAME HOME. HE IS STILL ON PREDNISONE AND IMURAN. HE HAS HAD TWO SEVERE URINARY INFECTIONS. MY TOTAL VET BILLS SO FAR ARE WELL OVER 4,000 DOLLARS. NOT TO MENTION THIS DOG SEEMED TO HAVE SENSITIVE SKIN AND BLEEDING ISSUES THAT WE NEVER CONNECTED TO THE PRODUCT. ALSO WE BELIEVED BIO SPOT KILLED OUR 7 YEAR OLD SAMOYED. HE HAD A MASSIVE SEIZURE AND WAS DEAD IN 23 HOURS. THIS IS A HORRIBLE PRODUCT. PLEASE DO NOT USE IT.
ROBIN 3/24/07
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Thank-you so much for your site. I had not heard before about the danger of these flea topicals. Once before I had put a tube on our pet Tucker, a 12 pound Shih Tzu/Poodle, and he had an immediate reaction. I do not remember the brand. I immediately washed it off and threw the other 2 tubes away. It had been several months since then and since it is now getting to be Spring and the fleas will be starting up I thought I should start the monthly preventative meds. I bought Adams and put it on Tucker Thursday morning before I went to work. Thursday evening we notice that Tucker was behaving strangely. I noticed he seemed to be breathing heavier than usual and seemed agitated. Since there is also the concern over the dog food contamination, I was afraid that maybe the media had missed our brand of dog food and that my be part of the problem. I also remembered the last time I had put a topical on him. Then Tucker started jerking and could not lie still. He would jerk and jump up and run around and then try to lie down put jerk some more. I thought of a seizure but not sure how a dog with a seizure would behave. I just knew that it was not normal. I put Tucker in the tub and soaped him up and rinsed him off twice. He was still having a jerking problem but had calmed down a little. We thought that he may have a skin irritation from the Adams so I tried putting some Hydrocortizone on his back where the topical had been. After about 10 minutes he relaxed and fell asleep beside me. In the middle of the night he started twitching again so I again applied some cortizone which again seemed to help. In the morning I rinsed him off again--this time with just lots of water. He seemed better. I notice him twitching a little last night but over all he seems much better. I looked up the Adams package this morning and saw that it is made bu the same company as Bio Spot with the same ingredients. I also had an old package of Hartz and Zodiac. All are going in the garbage and I have told all my friends and family about your site and what topicals can do. My sister uses these on her cats and has told me that they are sick with either kidney or liver conditions. I have called her and informed her what the cause may be.
I thank you for your valuable information and I know Tucker does too. Also I am sure that our cats Princess and Brooke do to, not only for their own health but that of their buddy Tucker.
Mary Ann 3/24/07
Lowell, IN
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I have a 5 year chihuahua. We used to use Revolution when she was younger. At one point we noticed that she became lethargic and didn't want to move very much which lasted several days. At the time I thought it had to do with her knees (she has luxating patellas). We stopped using Revolution due to cost (added more dogs to the family). Later she was given some Heartgard and had the same reaction to the Heartgard, lethargic, didn't want to move and wasn't eating. It took two doses (with reactions both times) for me to realize that it was the same reaction that she had on the Revolution (which she doesn't do when she isn't on either chemical). She can't take selemectin (Revolution) or Ivermectin (Heartgard).
Karen 3/28/07
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I have a shihtzu named Max, and he is in good health, (Thanks to God). A few weeks ago, I applied Hartz Advance Care. Max started having this problem with his breathing. It's almost like a seizure. Max has to try very hard to get air in his system. This is not the first time that this has happened. However, the other times that this may have happened to him could have possibly been linked to my applying one of these 4 in 1 Flea and Tick Drops. I have an appt. scheduled with Max's vet, but I'm wondering if the problem is do to the chemicals in the product? Just in case I'm giving all of my dogs a good bath today with lots of fresh water. What do you think? Thank you for any input.
Max's Mom 3/29/07
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I have been using Bio Spot (successfully) for over 2 yrs. on my female Bichon. Because my supply was low (1 month left) I went searching for more. Much to my surprise I found that Farnam has changed the ingredients. Now use methoprene (S-methoprene), don't know what other (if any) ingredients. Why? I asked. Was told because they bought the company that makes the product! Or words to that effect.
So, the question is this:
Is the NEW product safer than the "old"?
Has anyone wrote to you that has used the NEW formula?
When did the new formula come out?
Thank You for a GREAT informative web site.
Judy & Nikki .... my lovable adopted- rescued dog 3/29/07
Thank you for taking the time to write. I wasn't aware that Farnam had a new Bio Spot for Dogs formula, and do not know if anyone has written to me about it yet. Now that the weather is getting warmer, people we begin using these products again.
I just went to their website, and it looks like they replaced the insect growth regulator Nylar with methoprene, but it still contains 45% permethrin, so I would not consider it any safer than the old formula. Any flea control product that contains 45% permethrin (including K9 Advantix which is sold by vets) has the potential to cause severe adverse reactions. I am glad that you have been using Bio Spot for over 2 years without any problems.
The individual applicator tubes of the new Bio Spot for Dogs are now labeled "DOG", and they also look different than the tubes of Bio Spot for Cats, so hopefully people will not use it on their cats by mistake (which was a common problem with the old packaging). The text warning about using it on cats is also more prominent on the back of the new packaging, however, the warning on the front of the new packaging (the cat inside of a red circle with a line going through it) is NOT PROMINENT ENOUGH.
It should also be noted that the new Bio Spot for Dogs is labeled "for dogs only, 6 months or older." The old Bio Spot for Dogs was labeled "not for use on puppies under 12 weeks of age." This may indicate that the new Bio Spot for Dogs is even MORE toxic than the old version.
James TerBush
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I just got a pupp from the animal shelter. We brought her home and then we gave her a bath in Sergeants SKIP-FLEA AND TICK SHAMPOO and she seemed fine. The next day we noticed that she wasn't eating, so we took her to the vet and they did a parvo test. Thank God it came back negative, however the vet said that she would not rule it out. Then she gave her a shot in the neck and some antibiotics. Over the next 2 days she still wasn't eating so we went for a second opinion. This vet said that she did not have parvo and then he asked what we fed her, and if the water she was drinking was clean. It was then we mentioned that we gave her a bath in this dog shampoo. He said that this was what was probably making her sick with diaherra and vomiting. He told us to keep giving her the medicine and feed her raw eggs. If she didn't get better then we should bring her on in and then he will give her a shot. If anyone knows anything that could also help it would be much appreciated if you would email me at chass_ratliff16@yahoo.com. Thanks.
Anonymous 3/30/07
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I came across your website and have been amazed at how many dogs have had such serious reactions and how many companies deny their products having anything to do with it.
In September of 2006 I applied Advantix to my 3 Samoyeds. I've never had a problem with it before so I wasn't really concerned. I worked in a vet clinic that sold it and was confident that it would be fine to use. Two of the dogs were fine and had no reaction. One of them was 3 years old and had never had a problem with Advantix. The other was 6 months old and I had put Frontline Plus on her the 2 previous months. The 3rd dog was also 6 months old and I had been applying Frontline Plus without a problem. This was the first dose of Advantix and with the more I read I am certain he had a reaction to the Advantix. Within a week of applying Advantix on him I woke up to him banging around in his crate. I called his name but he didn't stop. By the time I was able to get up and get a light on the banging had quit but he was foaming at the mouth. I assumed it was a seizure but it was hard to tell because he got up and seemed fine. I took him to work with me and we drew blood to check everything out. While we were finishing up the tests he had a seizure. My vet sent us to see a neurologist. The neurologist could see nothing wrong with him and all his bloodwork was fine. At the time I didn't even think about the Advantix. He diagnosed my dog with epilepsy and put him on Phenobarbital. Since my dog had two seizures in such a short period of time and at such a young age he said it would be difficult to control even with the medication and that we would still see seizures.
The following day we washed my him, still not thinking about the Advantix, but just because he needed a bath. He has gone 6 months completely seizure free and we haven't applied Advantix (or any other flea products) to him or the other dogs. We are currently in the process of weaning him off the Phenobarbital. Neither of the other dogs, who are his litter sister and his mother, have shown any signs of seizures.
Brandy 3/31/07
Copyright © 2002-2009 BioSpotVictims.org All rights reserved.
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.
