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September 2009
My mother, as am I, is an avid animal lover and within the past year or so has taken up fostering cats for her local animal shelter. Her dedicated time and effort has helped many of these loving companions find good homes as opposed to being put to sleep. The shelter does not, unfortunately, have a no-kill policy so my mom does everything within her capabilities to ensure that the cats she has fostered do not get euthanized. She has a huge heart and I love her for this. Recently she took on six foster kittens, we believe from three different litters though they have been fostered together. One of the kittens had a thriving issue and my mom has managed to get her back in shape. That's how great she is with these cats. When my mom goes out of town on occasional weekends, I cat-sit for her. I have had the pleasure of having this batch of kittens at my home on two other occasions. It's hard not to get attached watching these wonderful creatures hopping around, playing, running up for cuddles, and purring contentedly on your chest. Being a "foster fail" where I ended up adopting a particularly loving cat from a previous litter my mom fostered, I have enjoyed the company of this set of kittens, but try not to fall in love... so hard. Of course, when my mother asked me for a third time to cat-sit this batch, I agreed without hesitation. Imagine my disappointment when she warned me ahead of time that one of them was having problems. I immediately thought it would be the littlest kitten who initially had thriving issues. It turns out that the kitten with the problem was originally the biggest boy in the group. The last time he was at my home he was huger than the others, frisky, energetic, and not too interested in getting pets -that took away from his play time. She told me that she had used a flea spray because the fleas in her home were taking over, and that while the other five kittens did not like the spray, this particular kitten had an extremely adverse reaction. She was baffled. The flea spray had said it was safe for use on kittens. She took the kitten back to the shelter to have it checked out. I do not know what happened at the shelter other than they kept the kitten for a week before returning him to my mom, although I imagine the shelter probably took measures that likely saved his life for the time being. This morning my mom brought the kittens over. I was excited to visit with them again, but was preparing myself to help out a sick kitty. I have to say nothing really prepared me for this. When she took him out of his cat carrier to explain what type of problems he was having, I was crushed. This "big" guy has lost a bit of weight, no longer the biggest kitten in the litter. Not only that, his head shakes and flops around uncontrollably. He can't focus very well, and though he can walk, he is very wobbly. I was heartbroken to say the least. On the positive side, if I can say there is one, he has become extremely affectionate, meowing insistently for attention and offering up plenty of purring when I pet him. This is nice enough, but he is not the same playful, rambunctious kitten who was in my home the last time. Extremely upset and saddened, I felt some action would help me cope. So, I decided to look up "flea spray problems" and got results about how flea sprays are most effective for solving flea problems. Of course. My mom would try to get the best solution. Still, how could the best solution for fleas cause such a poor reaction in one little kitty? I decided to call my mom and ask her which flea spray she used. Bio Spot. I entered the product name into the search engine and came across a link for a person saying that Bio Spot nearly killed her dog. I checked it out and surprise! There's a site for victims of Bio Spot. How has a product that has resulted in a website dedicated to its victims managed to stay on the shelves of trusted stores where we go to get the best products for taking care of our beloved pets?! How? I have read through this site and recognize the same symptoms of neurological damage in other people's tragic stories that this once perfectly healthy kitten has. A kitten who had a bright future in an otherwise not-so-great situation where animals who have the least chance of being adopted out from a shelter get put down. And how likely is a kitten with neurological damage (thanks to Bio Spot) going to have an optimum chance of adoption now? What about the guilt a person suffers after buying a product intended to help pets and has it result in damage or even death to the very animal they are trying to nurture? I am disgusted that this product claims to be "safe" and that Bio Spot is, at best, dismissive of these victims' heartache. I will be telling everyone I know not to touch this product.
Carrie 9/6/09
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My Shih Tzu (4 yrs) may have had an adverse reaction to his Biospot flee & tick medicine. I have been using it for 2 years now. This is the first tub of a new box a six month supply. I put the medicine on him Friday A.M. (9/4/09). Friday P.M. he is acting
a little strange. He walks strangely and slow. He is also trying to get at the spot where the Medicine went on. He didn't want to go outside to go potty. He didn't want to walk upstairs to go to bed. He sat at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me to carry him up. Saturday morning he again wants to attack the medicine spots. He also didn't want to
go outside again. This is now 12 hours since he went potty. I took him to the vet. The vet said he was not sure if it was a reaction because no twitching, vomiting, or falling over when trying to walk. The vet did give me some medicine to help him if it was a
mild reaction. He is doing better now.
Jim 9/9/09
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Hi James, an adopter of one our dogs a Lhaso Apso just called yesterday to tell what happened to her dog. She had gone to vet in KY and he said that Frontline Plus was
not affecting the fleas in that particular area and to try Vectra which she did and her dog started with seizures she took to vet put on valium to control them and other meds given
I do not know all particulars but did not help then her spinal cord was affected she could not walk only crawl to the owner took back to vet and eventually decision was made to pts (put to sleep). I have not even heard of the flea med Vectra but looking at some other complaints I wonder how many other dogs have died using it.
Any help is appreciated....
Kathy 9/10/09
I am deeply sorry to hear about the loss of one of your dogs.
Vectra 3D (made by Summit VetPharm) contains a high concentration of the pesticide, permethrin. It also contains another pesticide, Dinotefuran, which increases its toxicity.
As you can see from the messages posted on my website, MANY people have seen adverse reactions in their dogs after using permethrin-based flea and tick products, including Vectra 3D. These reactions include any of the following: skin disorders (itchiness, redness, hair discoloration, hair loss, bleeding sores), lethargy, difficulty walking, loss of appetite, changes in behavior, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, and even death. These products are also suspected of causing immune-related diseases, such as AIHA.
In my opinion, Vectra 3D is particularly dangerous because the dosages are larger
than other brands. For example, if you have a 10 lb. dog, the labeled dosage for
K9 Advantix (which also contains permethrin) is 0.4 ml, but the labeled dosage for Vectra 3D is 1.6 ml for 10 lb. dogs - FOUR times as much pesticide.
James TerBush
Website Administrator
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RE: BIOSPOT
I GAVE MY THREE CATS THIS PRODUCT. ONE CAT HAD A TYPE OF SEIZURE, ONE NOTHING HAPPENED, MY YOUNGEST CAT BABIE HAS SEVERE IRRITATION ON HER WHOLE BODY. MOST OF THE TIME WHEN I GIVE MY CATS A BATH I USE SKIN SO SOFT AND THIS KILLS EVERY FLEA ON THEM.. I HAVE NEVER USED ANY PRODUCT ON MY CATS UNTIL NOW, SO I KNOW THIS PRODUCT IS DEADLY ON OUR FELINE FAMILY.. I WILL NEVER USE ANYTHING ELSE ON MY CATS. I HAVE ALWAYS USED SKIN SO SOFT (SSS) AND IT DOES WORK...
Phyllis 9/10/09
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Today my cat almost died from an allergic reaction after I gave her BioSpot Flea and Tick Control for Cats 5lbs and up. My cat is 1 1/2 years old and a healthy young cat who loves to play and run around the house with her brother. Almost immediately after I gave her that product properly she started acting not herself, she started shaking her head and her back leg, her eyes were blinking rapidly and she were hiding under the bed. I called a friend who came over and we started to wash her under the faucet with running warm water and HandSoap. 12 hours later she is still not act right, I will stay up all night to keep an eye on her. I love her so much!
I can't believe that a product like that who causes so many animals seizures and death
is still on the market. I want this product off the shelves! I already called the number on the back of the package and talked to the Animal Poison Center, I already opened up a case too. I will not let go this by just like that. Maybe Shelby and me were just lucky, but what's about all the other animals who suffer and die. What's about the owner's who have to live with this anger and guilt that they "killed" their loving pets. I felt today so low that I caused my baby that uncomfort and pain, it's hard to explain to what kind of hell I went!
Thank you for this site, my husband didn't believed me all day until he saw and read about all the other complaints about this product. Thank you!
Edith 9/13/09
FL
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I am the latest victim of Bio Spot toxicity. On advice from my local pet store owner (and friend), I recently purchased Bio Spot to treat my cats. We have 11 of them. I decided to give Bio Spot a try as it is less expensive and SUPPOSEDLY less toxic than the Advantage treatments I've used for years.
Within 24 hours of dosing all 11 cats with Bio Spot, two became lethargic, stopped eating, lost weight, cried out and the other nine slept for several days. The bottom line is we nearly lost two cats and poisoned the other nine with this product. Once I let my vet know what I had done, used Bio Spot, the horror stories began to be revealed. Out of curiosity, I looked online for information and found just as many stories of death and pain as there are links to purchase the product.
WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT USE BIO SPOT ON YOUR CATS OR FERRETS!!!
I have no dogs, so I cannot comment from personal experience, but I strongly recommend that NO ONE buy/use this product on any living animal!!!
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please protect your animals, but do your homework first. If I had, I would have spent the extra six dollars on Advantage and saved $450.00 in veterinary bills; not-to-mention the unnecessarily pain and sickness to the animals!!! Always talk to your vet BEFORE changing meds for your animals.
Andi 9/14/09
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Bio Spot maker suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These people should be boiled in oil. Look at this pic. It has healed over now 5 weeks, gray skin color and no hair, and I paid to do this to my dog. I am still contemplating the 40,000 people lawsuit.
Anonymous 9/15/09
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I was looking into Bio Spot for my rescues and my own fur babies and thought I should
see if it was any good. Found your site, thank God, I would want to die if those things happen to mine. I used the spray too, the Adams spray and it did NO good but seem to make the dogs, little ones a bit ill but the vet said it was good and even to use it on the cats, when I did, very little too, they started foaming at the mouth and twisting around
and like some of these other stories but I washed it off fast and they were ok in short time. But this Bio stuff I was going to try for cost purposes, have lost kittens and such to fleas. What can we do. Hear so many ideas none I tried work? Anyway is there some
way I can place a link or something on my facebook page? or share it some way.
Jennie 9/17/09
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Hello. I am glad I googled and found others that can relate. My 8 year old Chihuahua, Chloe has NEVER been on flea and tick control. She is not around other dogs, and really only wants to be outside to do her business. She is one of those shy, timid Chihuahuas.
We recently moved to a more rural community and I thought it might be a good idea to start some flea control. I discussed it with my vet who said I absolutely should be using something, and recommended (and sold to me) K9 Advantix. Chloe Just had her second dose at the beginning of this month. On Labor Day (a few days AFTER her second dose) she had what I would consider a seizure, I think. Her one back leg was raised, she was having trouble walking, seemed disoriented etc. I was getting ready to take her to the emergency vet but she snapped out of it and appeared fine. But ever since then, she has not be 100% and night time seems the worse. Usually, she sleeps either in bed with us or on her doggie bed next to my side of the bed. She usually sleeps soundly throughout the night. For the past week or so, she paces the entire house, lets out wimpers every hour or so, lays down for a few minutes but is shaking and then gets up and paces
some more. She is usually VERY clingy but now at night she does not want me to even touch her, or even be in the same room as me. She seems to even be hallucinating…she will stare into space and bark a few times as if she sees something.
I am starting to freak out…because it has been approximately 2 weeks since her last dose. Shouldn’t she be better by now? Could this be permanent damage? Most people I talk to snap at me, “Well, take her to the vet!!” but that is the same vet that assured me that K9 Advantix is perfectly safe and will most likely deny that the product caused these problems, and want to do a zillion expensive tests on her.
I will say that at breakfast and dinner time, she perks up, dances around and acts very happy. Also, during the day she is “ok” but still not 100% herself.
I have been reading up on all the posts…just wondering if you can offer me hope by knowing another person that had a dog that had symptoms for a few weeks but then finally recovered.
Adrianna 9/17/09
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WE WON'T APPLY ANY MORE CHEMICALS TO OUR DOG! FRONTLINE PLUS APPLIED AS DIRECTED GAVE MY DOG A SEIZURE. WITHIN MINUTES OF THE APPLICATION HIS EYES GLAZED OVER, WERE VERY GLASSY AND HE SLOWLY LAID DOWN ON THE FLOOR. HE LAID THERE AND STARED OFF INTO NOTHING AND APPEARED TO BE "STONED". HE HAS ALSO DEVELOPED THESE CYST LIKE BUMPS ALL OVER WITHIN HIS SKIN. WE ARE HAVING ONE BIOPSIED TO GET THE OFFICIAL DIAGNOSIS OF THEM. ARE THESE CAUSED BY THE MEDICATION? AND IS THE "STONED" REACTION A SEIZURE, OR AN ALLERGIC REACTION TO THE FRONTLINE?
-NO MORE CHEMICALS!
BRENDA 9/20/09
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(Below is email that Jan sent to Kimberly Nesci at the EPA on 9/19/09)
Dear Ms. Nesci:
I sent the e-mail below about a month ago. Many thousands of pet owners
whose animals were severely effected by spot- on products patiently await
further communication from your office. Meanwhile the advertising/media/pet
store blitzes continue full-blown from the Product Manufacturers hawking
their spot-on products as `safe and gentle.' This blatant disregard of the
OPP's warning bulletin should precipitate a response of great concern. The
Product Manufacturers ignoring of bona fide warnings revealed to the public
via the OPP reflects their total disregard for your agency as well as pet safety.
At this juncture, following another flea season, and no doubt thousands of new
`cases' of injury and death, it is as if the OPP's warning is on a back page
and lying dormant and forgotten.
Please consider immediately organizing an advisory committee consisting
in part of consumers who have been through the `system' attempting to make
their pets whole via the toxic poison that infiltrated their system. Consumers will,
no doubt provide you with information you will NEVER receive from the Product Manufacturers unless you mandate a thorough (and no doubt timely) audit
stemming from qualified OPP staff auditors and NOT merely a collection of
data solely provided by the Product Manufacturers. I am very skeptical you will
receive true readings in significant varied areas. For instance, did you know
their is no animal lab gas chromatography test anywhere in the US that is set up
to test the chemical (pesticide) fipronil, (main ingredient of Frontline). Therefore,
one is unable to `prove' that the pesticide infiltrates the system. (The Product Manufacturer, as you should know deny this truth of the spot-on products causing systemic infiltration). I only found this out because of my pet's near fatal reaction
to Frontline and $10,000 in savings spent to save him via veterinary costs. I
wanted to research the `fact' spouted by the PM' that this product is indeed
`safe,' as advertised and non-infiltrating but since no lab test had been created
anywhere in the country (according to the Chief of Internal Medicine, Dr. Rondeau,
at the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania) to reveal the truth, it
was not possible to prove. Isn't that just very convenient for Merial Pharmaceuticals?
Please, make a decision soon and use carefully collected `fair' data (not
solely relying on data that is most convenient in its collection via the Product Manufacturers). Do the right thing and adhere to your role as a true `regulatory'
agency focused towards a goal in protecting the public.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Jan
for `Choe '- Frontline survivor
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I was just researching which flea and tick product to use on our new puppies. We have 2 new puppies because 2 months ago we lost our 5 year old German Shepherd to what
I now know was from using Biospot. We used Biospot on her because Frontline wasn't helping with the ticks. It seemed the ticks loved it. We found Biospot at our local feed and grain store. It was much cheaper, so we thought we would try it. We used it for about 4 months on Jaspen. She got very sick - vomiting profusely until all she could throw up was saliva and she had the diarrhea. This went on all night long - it was the same week I had applied the Biospot on her for the 4th and last time in her short life. I took her to the vet because she was also gagging like she had something stuck in her throat. He checked her airways and found them to be clear. After doing bloodwork on her and seeing her white count elevated, he thought she had some kind of infection going on, so he gave her a shot of a very strong antibiotic and sent her home with antibiotic pills. She was mopey and tired all of the time - not her normal, frisky self and her breathing wasn't the same. After a week of the antibiotics, I took her back to the vet and told him she wasn't much better. She was still throwing up after she ate and she really had no appetite at all. She looked so sad. He gave her a steroid injection because her blood tests were still showing something going on with her blood counts and with her liver now. This injection would help with all of the inflammation she had. Jaspen started to perk up for the next couple of days, but now she started peeing all
over the house (she NEVER did this before)and it smelled very strong. After about 5 days, she became severely ill. Her leg filled up with fluid and she could hardly walk.
She was acting strange. She was throwing up dark stuff - like bile. I went to check on her at 3:00 a.m. and I tried to get her to go outside to go to the bathroom and she was
so wobbly - she fell over. I called for my husband to help me. We carried her to the car and rushed her to the emergency vets about 45 minutes away. They drew blood and again the tests showed her liver was malfunctioning (she also looked very jaundice).
As the vet was telling us what we should do next, Jaspen started gasping for air. The
vet tried to get her on oxygen, but she took one more deep breath and died right there
in front of us. We couldn't believe it. She was gone! Our sweet Jaspen was gone!
After reading all of the other side effects people have seen in their dogs, I know now
that we are the cause of our beautiful family pet dying an early, painful death. We put Biospot on her and it caused her kidneys to shut down. There is no other explanation
for this very healthy, full-of-life animal to get sick and 3 weeks later is gone.
Please, please do not use this product on your pet. If we could go back and do it over again, we would have never used this product and we would still have Jaspen.
We just got 2 other puppies because we missed her so badly. It's never going to be
the same without her. We will not be using these products on them.
Angie 9/21/09
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(Below is a letter that I sent to the EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel in regards to
an upcoming meeting on October 6-9, 2009)
September 22, 2009
Office of Pesticides Program (OPP) Regulatory Public Docket (7502P)
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20460-0001
RE: Meeting of the FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel, October 6-9, 2009; Request for comments; Federal Register Vol. 74, No. 141, P. 36708, July 24, 2009; Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0516
Ladies & Gentlemen:
The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 was enacted to protect children from harmful pesticides, but the EPA has circumvented the FQPA via its reregistration review process - a process which lacks scientific integrity. Instead of protecting children, risk assessments are routinely manipulated by the EPA to allow dangerous products to remain on the market. This betrayal of public trust is evident in the reregistration eligibility decisions for d-phenothrin and permethrin.
During the reregistration process for d-phenothrin, the EPA discovered that a pet use scenario was omitted from the original assessment due to a “calculation error.” After
a deterministic risk assessment was performed, risks of concern were identified for toddlers. The EPA tried to eliminate the risks by performing a probabilistic risk assessment, but it too identified risks of concern. Instead of mitigating the risks by reformulating the product or canceling its registration, the EPA used a benchmark
dose analysis to hide the true risk to toddlers.
The reregistration of permethin is even more troublesome. When the process began,
the EPA set the dermal absorption factor at 30 percent, and applied a 10X factor to
its occupational and residential risk assessments to account for uncertainty. Under pressure from the pesticide industry, the EPA lowered the dermal absorption factor
to 15 percent, and lowered the FQPA Safety Factor to 1X. Under additional pressure from the pesticide industry, the EPA lowered the dermal absorption factor to 5.7%,
and indicated that it is willing to go even lower if the pesticide industry can provide
data to support it. Even more appalling is the fact that the EPA relied on a seriously flawed study, (MRID 465941-03) which was submitted by a registrant, to assess the
risk to toddlers from spot-on pet treatments. In addition, the residential portion of its
risk assessment relied extensively on data supplied by the Residential Exposure
Joint Venture - a group of pesticide registrants.
The EPA should be prohibited from using probabilistic risk assessments to conceal acute risks to toddlers from residential exposure scenarios, nor should it base its risk assessments on bogus studies and surveys that are provided by the pesticide industry, nor should it assume that a dissipation rate of 10 percent per day for indoor pesticide residues is conservative.
Sincerely,
James TerBush
Website Administrator
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Dear James: I was extremely upset as a dog owner/pet lover to read of poor Hamish's ordeal. I today, am extremely angry at the companies that persist in supplying an unsuspecting public with essentially pet nerve gas. We are lucky our beloved toy poodle "Pluto" is still alive and recovering at the vet's even as I write this. Here is what happened in our case:
I woke this last sunday morning to my wife running water in the bathroom tub for quite awhile. I found she was washing all 3 of our toy size dogs. I said what on earth is going on? "They have flees, all of them, and they are going crazy scratching at them". We have had dogs for over 11 years and never had a case of them so my wife was pretty much freeking out worrying about the dogs. I said maybe we should get a flee collar or treatment of some type. I said that we should call the vet Monday and ask what is the best method (not having combatted the nasty hoppers before). My wife said she would run down to the local C____Hound Pet store and see what they had, it was killing her watching their discomfort. She came back 20 minutes later with BIOspot treatment which had I believe 4 blister applicators. She had said it was cheaper than the Frontline and that the 18 year old girl at the store essentially had said she should spend the 50 plus dollars and buy that as it works better at killing the fleas. My wife decided to be frugal and buy the biospot as the packaging said it was more effective than a lot of the vet brands. I've attached an image of the claims they make on their website. I've modified it slightly in Photoshop to be more accurate. Please don't be offended or think bad of me, I modified it as a passive means of venting.
I've obviously added the second to the last line. I was a little leary of not talking to the vet first (I'm not a huge fan of chemicals in general) but I trusted her judgment and thought in the back of my mind that if the sales girl recommended the more expensive product it must have been because it was stronger. I thought the worst that could happen is that this stuff wouldn't work at all and the vet could help with a better alternative....I have never been more completely wrong in my life. My wife read the directions and applied they product to each dog (since they all showed signs of flea infestation). They all went their seperate ways and layed around the house the rest of the day as they often do on a Sunday (bad day for a walk as well which may have been a good thing). I mention this as a lot of these companies now apparently try to dismiss this as an issue stating that maybe in multiple dog or cat households that the product is ingested from licking other treated housemates. I would also like to add here that fortunately my young children did not pet the dogs much that day...that scares me now beyond belief. Later that night my wife who was reading in bed came running to me telling me that Pluto was shaking and that she thought something was wrong with him. I ran upstairs and looked at him and thought well maybe he was cold and he's a typical high strung poodle at times and he tends to shake a bit when riled. He seemed to calm down while I petted him..mistake number 2. His mood seem to subside by the next morning. What didn't jump out to us is he was getting more withdrawn, more sleepy and was not really that interested in food. By Tuesday he seemed to be a bit more active but as both of us are at work on Tuesday during the day it is hard to judge well. By Tuesday night I finally said your right, he's way too lethargic. We need to take him to the vet first thing in the morning Wednesday, we live in an area without 24 hour vet clinics. It suddenly clicked in my head OMG was it the BioSpot? Then I got online and found all this information on how horrible this is, the Center for Public Integrity has done an excellent job as have you on bringing this issue to light:
This morning my wife rushed Pluto to the vet who at this point would take a small bowl of water put in front of his face and drink a decent portion but he was not standing on his legs. This was bad, really bad. When he was admitted to the vet at 8:05 he had almost no pulse, severely dehydrated, listless, and twitchy eyes. The vets at our vet [clinic] are completey awesome people they immediately put in an IV and began a detergent bath. I asked why they knew to do this? We had just explained that we used the Biospot. Our vet's exact response is we will try to eliminate another underlying cause but right now we are almost certain that it was the Biospot....we've been seeing this a lot!!! They went on to say at worse we'd lose him, at best he'd make a full recovery as in their words, he's very close to dying. The worst outcome they stated is that he'd live but have neurological issues as the twitchy eyes can be a sign of this and they were really concerned possible brain damage was affecting his desire to eat and drink. My wife is devastated, she blames herself. She kept saying but I read the instructions. How can they sell this crap??? I am happy to report that thanks to our vet's last minute efforts that by 10:00 he was doing better and was taking the IV well. He's starting to stand on his legs again and walk. I will stay hopeful but I am not sure he's out of the woods yet. I prayed all day for him. This is one of the worst things as a pet lover I can imagine, as a parent I think what if it got on my kids? We are outraged. This has to stop. I am as big of a free market supporter as any conservative in this country but profit at the sake of a life even a pet's life is dirty money. That these companies can continue to pump this stuff into the market without a care stating that most cases are the owner's fault or an underlying issue, or from pets licking other pets is lunacy. What if drug companies said "well we know that this drug has killed a lot of people or ruined their nervous system but it doesn't affect everybody" and we can't spend the money to research all nationalities and make-ups of people can we?" The public, country, government would be outraged and shut them down. Why is this being allowed? (I'm not asking you to respond to that question). What should I do next? I am tempted to ask the pet store to pull it from their shelves. I also thought about posting the 7 page print out form the Center for Public Integrity or your front page of your site on their pet for adoption board. They've got to know there is an issue here as well and for the girl to recommend a different brand supposedly because it works better and never tell my wife "oh and by the way the cheaper stuff can kill your dog" is absolutely shocking.
Thank you for your site. Hopefully if enough people cry out on this one or just simply stop buying this pesticide it will force them to reformulate or pull entirely this harmful product.
Brian 9/24/09
Holland, MI
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I am so glad that I found your website. About a month ago, I started using Frontline PLUS on my Italian Greyhound dogs to control fleas. I have had my male for 6 and a half years (10 years old) and my female for 4 years (8 years old) and I have never had to use anything for fleas before this year. After treating Ally, my female, with the spot-on liquid, I started having problems with her but did not realize there was a connection with the Frontline. I have had her to the after-hours vet twice in a month and have spent nearly $2000 for both visits. The first time she was dehydrated and her food was not moving through her digestive system properly. A little over a week ago, I had to take her back. She was very lethargic and would not come when I called her. She had a hard time walking down the steps and she didn't want to eat her dinner. Her abdomen was a little distended which made me think it was her stomach again. I have had her on a chicken and rice diet because she wasn't tolerating her regular food. The vet at the after-hours clinic did not find anything remarkable from her examination. They drew blood and ran chemistries and a complete blood count. Her chemistries were fine except she was dehydrated again. But, her CBC revealed an anemia with her PCV and platelets lower than normal. The vet did say it was a regenerative anemia because her reticulocytes were increased. She said that Ally either had contracted a tick-borne illness or an autoimmune disorder. I authorized the tick panel, costing $200, which came back negative. Ally seemed to be getting her energy and her appetite back, but still came down the steps very slowly. Yesterday, I realized that it was time to treat the dogs and the cat again. And I gave the dogs their Interceptor for heartworms. I saw an immediate change in Ally's behavior. She became very lethargic and has been laying around now for the past two days. She did not eat dinner last night or breakfast this morning. She did eat tonight, which I am thankful for. She has no energy. Today, I made the connection that this started with the Frontline. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow, but strongly suspect AIHA. Can you tell me where I can get more information on this disease in canines? I will never use Frontline or Interceptor on either of my babies again. My sister gives her dogs diatomaceous earth in their food. It kills any and all internal parasites. You can also put it on the animal's fur to kill fleas. My sister and her husband also take a heaping teaspoon full a day. Have you heard of it? It is loaded with silica, which helps clean out human intestines, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, and helps with arthritis and joint pain.
Thanks for starting this website.
Debra 9/27/09
(Please see follow-up message which Debra posted on 11/3/09)
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My 2 yr old lab was acting like fleas were driving her crazy so I went to the pet store for something quite frankly as funds are limited and I didn't have money for a vet visit. Well I put the sergeants Gold on her from her neck to half way down her back as the instructions said and I had the right dose for her weight.
Within a day or so Blackie started acting funny and my husband noticed her acting like something was stuck in her throat. Then she threw up her food all over the kitchen and was eating grass. Next she piddled on the floor and had diarrhea and was literally cowering when I came down to the kitchen in am as she never makes a mess in the house.
At first we thought it was her food and I went to pet store and got something different but now noticed that she is drinking a lot and acting like she needs to go out a lot and than eats grass. I became curious about the connection with the Sergeants application and did a search on web and found your site. Blackie has all the symptoms, itching, pacing, acting generally out of character. I just finished putting her in the tub and washing her down with dish soap per other comments and am hopeful she is better tonight and tomorrow but I am so angry that this stuff is on the market. I am sure this is the problem and as to Sergeants having a warning on their web and making it out to be incorrect dosage, that is crap. I did what the instructions said.
The other thing that makes me crazy is I have a 5 year old grandaughter who is constantly hugging Blackie and am wondering if she got this on her. I kept her away from Blackie for the first day but if this is still affecting our dog, could it effect my grandaughter who now has a cold and ear ache?
I will call their damn 800 number and tell them what I think of their product and I will call Petsmart with the same complaint. If everyone called their pet store where they bought it maybe it would help.
Get this off the market please.
Gayle 9/27/09
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(Below are links to letters that I sent to the EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel in regards to an upcoming meeting on October 6-9, 2009)
The letters are posted on this government website:
James TerBush
Website Administrator
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I brought home a small golden Persian from the humane society in June and he had fleas. It was a Saturday when I noticed it, and couldn't get him to the vet until Monday. The only thing our pet store had were various OTC treatments, and I bought the BioSpot for cats. I bathed him and then applied the awful oily stuff to the back of his neck. Overall, he didn't seem to have any adverse reaction to it, he just didn't like having something on the back of his neck. A couple weeks later he started getting sick every single morning between 5:30 and 7:30am like clockwork. He would throw up bile, sometimes with a small hairball and/or food. It smelled awful and was tough to clean out of the carpet. This continued for about two weeks straight. I took him to the vet, and they thought the BioSpot could have been the problem. (They also mentioned IBS, food allergies, obsessive nighttime cleaning resulting in morning hairballs, etc.) I changed his food to
Wellness brand, and after about a week or so more, he stopped throwing up altogether. Due to the timing of things, I'm not sure if the food change is what helped, or if he was having a reaction/toxicity to the BioSpot and it had run its course. I can't help but wonder every day if it was due to the BioSpot, and I worry that it may have resulted in some kind of long term damage to his organs or who knows what. Anyone else had this kind of long term vomiting spell as a result of using BioSpot? Now that I've found all these horror stories online about this terrible product I'm just sick that I used it on him. I hope it didn't do any permanent damage to my little guy.. Thanks.
Natalie 9/29/09
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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.
