Message Board
November 2010
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
On 3/2/10, a lawsuit seeking class action status was filed on behalf of pet owners against Hartz, Sergeant's, and Summit VetPharm (maker of Vectra and Vectra 3D, which are sold by Banfield Pet Hospital's under the name FirstShield and FirstShield Trio).
On 8/25/10, a lawsuit seeking class action status was filed on behalf of pet owners against Central Garden and Pet - the parent company of Farnam (maker of Adams and Bio Spot flea and tick products) and Wellmark International (maker of Zodiac flea and tick products).
The lawsuits seek injunctive relief in the form of a recall of the offending products, a refund of the purchase price, for compensatory damages, punitive damages and other relief.
For additional information concerning this lawsuit, click here.
If your pet was harmed by a flea and tick product made by one of the above mentioned companies, and you would like to participate in this class action,
please contact:
Jacqueline Mottek
Positive Legal Group
415.302.5371 (cell)
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ANOTHER CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
A class action law firm Green & Pagano LLP is currently investigating complaints from
New Jersey and New York residents whose pets were harmed by spot-on products.
If your pet was harmed by a spot-on product within the past couple years and you live
in New Jersey or New York, please go to: www.SpotOnComplaints.com
or call Michael Green at (732) 390-0480.
For additional information concerning this lawsuit, click here.
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Dear James,
I would like to share my experience with Vectra 3D on your website.
I recently moved to Ohio and went to a new Vet for a litter of kittens my nephew had given to me to nurse because the mother had been killed on the road at a farm where he was working.
I took them to the Vet for their first set of shots the other day.
I have two dogs, a Shih-Tzu that is fourteen years old and a Treeing Walker-Coon Hound mix that is almost two years old. I also have two cats from Florida, one that is five years old and the other is about nine years old.
While at the Vet for the litter of kittens, he recommended Vectra for cats for them and I told
him that I had been using Advantage for the cats and that Frontline no longer worked in Florida. I had never had a problem with either of these for my pets. (However, after being educated on this website and after really realizing what is in flea treatment, I am so ashamed of myself for simply trusting Vets to do the job that I should have done in researching and evaluating how these could affect my pets.) My new Vet recommended the Vectra and said it was great and even cheaper than Frontline. So, I had Vectra for cats applied to the kittens and I requested two single treatments for my two dogs which was the Vectra 3D. I still had Advantage for my two cats.
My five year old cat sleeps and snuggles with my two year old dog that received the treatment for dogs over 25 lbs. I was never informed that this could be a problem, let alone the kittens being in the same household as the dogs. I keep my kittens separate because they are still small, thank goodness. My nine year old cat hates dogs, no problem there. However, the five year old was cuddled up with my dog while I was running around with the kittens when I got home and I also had other things I was doing.
When I finally got a chance to sit down, I thought I would look up Vectra and see what was on the kittens because they are so young. I just so happened to run across information on Vectra 3D and totally freaked out. This was about three hours after I had put the treatment on the dogs. I read horrible stories about what it had done to people's pets and especially cats. So,
I went in and separated the dogs, but much ignorantly too late.
I should have read the tube. I should have researched a new product. I am at fault for my pet, there is NO DOUBT. However, I am totally taken back that my Vet whose profession is just that, knew I had kittens and cats in my home with these dogs and NOT ONCE DID HE MENTION THERE WAS A POTENTIAL PROBLEM. Do they get kickbacks for promoting
this POISON?
I thought I was in the clear because I had caught the danger. I was wrong. A few hours later, I found the cat that slept with the dog in her litter box and she was carrying on with low growls.
At first, I thought she was growling at the other cat because they do not always get along. But, the other cat was not there. Then I started to worry and it was long until I was in full panic. I picked her up and she just continued to growl with a low growl. I held her and kept trying to evaluate if it was the Vectra 3D on my dog or was it something else with her.
As time passed, she became very weird. I tried to feed her to see if she was able to eat and she did eat, but she would not drink. I called an Emergency Vet and he said to give her a Dawn bath in case she still had Vectra 3D on her. I did. Same thing with her hours later. She ate again, but would not drink. I held her and kept her warm the whole night. The next morning she had twitches in her eyes and ears. I was worried about the water, so I saturated her food with water and made a broth and fed it to her through the end of a straw and she began drinking it from a spoon, but would not drink any other way. I continued to feed and water her this way all day and she seems to be better. She is not twitching, but she is acting very strange. I do not know if she is going to die or what the long term effect of this stuff is. But, I learned my lesson. I will NEVER trust a Vet again. NEVER!
I will take what they say and research it myself before I ever let them give my pets anything. VECTRA 3D IS EVIL!!! The makers should have to take a big dose of it so they can see first hand what pets experience and see if they want to put it on the market. Also, I am seeing posts from way back. Why is this even on the market?????
Please go to Judy's Health website and naturally treat your pet for fleas. Use food grade dichotomous earth and NOT swimming pool grade if it works to control fleas naturally. Stay away from poisonous insecticides. I had to learn the hard way. I have cried a river over this.
Cindi 11/5/10
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I had no idea that I would hurt my wonderful 4 pound yorkie. I put bio spot on her. She was shaking so bad. I rushed her to a ER vet, it's about 1 hour away. They kept her I pray she will be ok. The vet said he sees it all the time! This dog is like my baby! How can they sell this stuff! My poor dog was suffering!! I am going to tell everyone I know!!
Cindy 11/10/10
Poplarville Mississippi
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I have a question. I administered bio-spot to my dog a few days before I went on vacation which was Sept 10th of this year. My dog immediately started freaking out and trying to bite
at his hind end after I put it on him. About two weeks later he became extremely ill and was diagnosed with AIHA. I do not have the original receipt from when I purchased it, but I do
have the remaining applications from the package that I did not use. I have spent over 1500 dollars on my dog and he will have this disease forever. Do I have a leg to stand on for compensation? I don't want a million dollars. I just want compensation for my dog's condition.
If I did not have a great vet, he would have died for sure. What steps should I take? Please
help if you can. I am a single girl and I have spent my every last dime on my doggie (all for a good cause because he is my best friend). If this medication was the cause of this, I would
like them to pay for what they did. Thanks alot.
Donna 11/12/10
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We finally had to put Buster down yesterday. His symptoms, which started right after his first exposure to Bio Spot took a long time to claim him, but it became too much. He slowly lost control of his hind legs, then lost bowel control.
I think I could have lived with the situation, but Buster's look of confusion overcame my hesitation. When we got him he literally used to leap with joy, jumping straight up in the air when someone came to visit. As time went on it got to the point where he would fall over just trying to walk, would fall over backwards trying to get on the couch and had to be carried up and down stairs. Buster never understood his condition. He would look at me for an answer.
I could give him none.
I have no interest in suing Farnam. I only have an interest in taking this toxic medicine off the market. I also wonder what kinds of damage their other products do. I also own horses. Are their products also dangerous to them? What kind of clinical trials do they run? How many animals have to be killed before one decides a medicine is unsafe?
Whatever I can do to help bring this company to its knees I am ready to do.
Bill 11/17/10
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Hello James & everyone
My name is Tom & I just learned tonight about all of these different flea products like K9 Advantage, Frontline +, Bio-spot and other fleas products causing all kinds of problems in dogs & cats, Right now my Dog (An 8 yr old Wolf Hybrid) is experiencing a severe skin rash with hair loss and has had to wear an E-Collar for quite a while now due to him frantically attacking his back, legs, sides, belly, feet, & tail. He is like I said frantic about getting to
those spots whenever I take the E-Collar off for walks. He has always drank a lot of water
(But just a little @ a time) but now it's like he cannot get enough & often sleeps on the tile
floor near his water. I've used these same products on him over the past few years K9 Advantage, Frontline + & Bio-spot & Bio-Spot flea collars (Once). I never used any Sargent's products other than flea collars after I treated him. I've used many different flea treatment shampoos like Scratch X. I've tried Oatmeal based shampoos ( Fourpaws' Magic Coat).
I've used NaturVet brand "Love Drops" Skin & Coat pills which really didn't do anything
to calm the itching & nothing really has worked out. He has similar side effects like other people have described on this forum - vomiting, break outs all across his body & fever.
I took him to his Vet 1 & 1/2 weeks ago & I was prescribed 3 medications for him, Tramadol 50mg, Ketoconazole 200 mg & Clavamox 375 mg and I was told he could possibly have "Phemphigus" but now as I'm reading this forum my eyes have been opened up to the possibilities that his rash is related to these products and these other pet owners stories
are truly very sad & my heart goes out to you all. I do appreciate the information on this
forum as it's helping me to try and figure out what might be his actual problem, I don't
know what else I can say other than these manufacturers really need to inform us all
about the true dangers of their products.
Again my Heart goes out to all that have lost a beloved pet and to all of those who are
trying to save theirs.
My Best Regards
Tom F. 11/17/10
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After my cats experienced a bad reaction to their Bio-Spots flea collars for cats, I called the store and asked for a return. They listened to my story and agreed to give me a full refund dispite lack of packaging, but my experience prompted me to search the internet for more information on this product and that's when I came across your site. Here's my story, feel free to add it to the message board. Additionaly I found your site so informative I sent a link to the petstore where I bought the product and managment is looking into removing these products from their shelves. Thanks for all the information. Here's my story:
On Nov 14, 2010 after dealing with a flea infestation on my two indoor cats naturally I decided to break down and go a chemical route. Not having done any research beforehand I went to a large petstore and scoped their products. They only had carried one flea collar brand for cats and I decided to purchase it because I didn't want a product that was going to be sprayed into my house. I had never used flea collars in the past and wasn't sure what to expect as far as smell or effectiveness. I have two healthy cats of different weights, one weighing 7 lbs and the other a full 15+ lbs. I purchased the collars in the weight range for under 10 lbs. Upon returning home and opening the packaging I was overcome by the smell. It immediately took over my entire 1st and second floors. Not knowing if this was normal or not I decided to put them on them anyway. Within 24 hours of having the flea collars on, both cats stopped eating and started hiding. By the second day I was noticing large doses of diaherra in their boxes and vomiting. Neither cat was acting themselves. Although the smell had since ceased it came to mind that maybe the collars themselves were making them sick. On Nov 17th I decided to remove them and within hours noticed a change in their behavior. Although their appetites have not totally came back their demeanor is back to normal. There is not doubt in my mind that the collars caused their illnessess and I will never again subject my animal to
any chemicals.
Maria 11/18/10
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Thank you for your website. Now I know what is wrong with our 3 month kitten. We applied BioSpot to her and she has changed completely. She cannot jump or run. She walks slowly without any awareness of what is around her. Her eyes lack understanding. She creaks out a meow. She sleeps constantly. She is eating little and drinking water. Lots of water! We are now bathing her as directed to remove any remnants of the "poison".
What is so sad is that she was a happy energetic kitten before we applied this treatment we thought was safe. She loved to chase and pounce our two other older cats. She climbed, sharpened her claws, and ran with total abandon around our property. She "talked" to us constantly, and was happy.
I really hope this will not cause permanent damage to our kitten. Thank you for your info on this site. Keep Snowball in your prayers.
Anonymous 11/21/10
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I recently used Sentry's Natural Defense on my 8 year old Cat who has never had a problem with Frontline or Advantage before. I purchased this product on recommendation from a friend because this summer Chloe liked going outside and would be worried by fleas upon returning inside. I spray this product just down her back to her tail to catch any fleas traveling by. Where
I sprayed the product, the skin began to flake off in large patches and now her hair is coming out. I have taken her to the Vet where they are treating her for something like exzema which was caused by this product. These natural products are not tested or approved by the EPA so they are very dangerous for your Pets. Please be aware! I didn't want to put anything toxic on her so I thought I was protecting her by getting something natural to use. NOT! It is worse than the ADAMS that is so toxic that it puts her to sleep for hours after use.
Thank you for hosting this website for Pet owners and lovers.
Anne 11/22/10
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(Below is a Freedom of Information Act request that I sent to the EPA on 11/28/10)
Please send all records regarding the "Draft Guidance Document for Developing Protocols Designed to Collect Pet Fur Transferable Residues using Mannequin Hands"
The requested records concern the public health and safety of pet pesticide products, which are of significance to the public.
The EPA shares the public's concerns over pet pesticide products, and has already made available to the public its evaluation of pet spot-on incidents that were reported in 2008.
BioSpotVictims.org intends to post the requested records on its website to further public understanding of this issue.
BioSpotVictims.org is a non-profit educational organization which has no commercial interest in the requested records.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
James TerBush
Website Administrator
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(Below is a Freedom of Information Act request that I sent to the EPA on 11/28/10)
Please send all records, including correspondence to/from registrant and companion animal safety studies, regarding six new pet (dog) spot-on products from Sergeant's Pet Care Products, Inc., which contain 20%-30% cyphenothrin, and have been assigned the following EPA Registration numbers:
2517-RGN
2517-REO
2517-RGR
2517-RGE
2517-REI
2517-RET
The requested records concern the public health and safety of pet pesticide products, which are of significance to the public.
The EPA shares the public's concerns over pet pesticide products, and has already made available to the public its evaluation of pet spot-on incidents that were reported in 2008.
BioSpotVictims.org intends to post the requested records on its website to further public understanding of this issue.
BioSpotVictims.org is a non-profit educational organization which has no commercial interest in the requested records.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
James TerBush
Website Administrator
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Hello! A friend sent me the link to your site after I had to take my 2 cats
to the emergency vet this weekend after using BioSpot for cats. We
purchased BioSpot for cats 5lbs and up in Petco, after telling a Petco
employee there that we wanted something that wasn't too strong, as we have
an 8lb cat (her sister is 12lbs). Within an hour of applying it, both cats
seemed nervous. the 12lb cat seemed distressed. she gagged a few times.
within 2 hours i noticed both cats were salivating (like before they throw
up a furball). within 3 hours, the 12lb cat began having a leg tremor (her
right hind leg). we thought she might have stepped on something, but then
within 4 hours after applying the BioSpot, she began having tremors in both
hind legs and our 8lb cat started having tremors in her front left leg and
her rear right leg. The 8lb cat also had an eye tremor (her eye was darting
back and forth). The BioSpot box doesn't list adverse effects but we
googled it and found a suggestion to wash it off with Dawn liquid dish
detergent. We tried to wash it off their backs (our cats are not easily
bathed) and took them to the emergency vet. The emergency vet bathed both
cats and kept them for 2 hours for observation. She said they had toxicity
from the product and were exhibiting neurological side effects. She said
she could give them a shot but the shot has side effects of its own so she
would advise keeping the cats under observation at home and make sure they
were warm and resting, and eventually the side effects should wear off. 48
hours after applying the BioSpot product and the 12lb cat still has leg
tremors. It's now 60 hours after and our 12lb cat no longer has the
tremors, but she isn't herself. She has stayed in her cat bed all day.
Both cats used to be active and very vocal (they are part siamese) and now
they just lay around, and act very on edge (everything spooks them).
We reported the incident to the EPA and the NPIC (National Pesticide
Information Center), the Petco store we bought it at, Petco's corporate
headquarters, and the manufacturer of BioSpot. The Petco store was very
sympathetic and refunded our money and said they said they would pass along
our complaint that their store carries this product to their manager.
Corporate Petco also was very sympathetic and told us to fax our paperwork
from the emergency vet and they would pass it along to the appropriate
department. The BioSpot manufacturer transferred us to a toxicology
veterinarian that works for the ASPCA. She pretty much assumed it was our
fault and placed none of the blame on the product. She said we probably
mixed up the dog and cat products, since the majority of the time that is
what pet owners do. We told her we don't have dogs and we bought the pink
box with the cat on the box and it was clearly marked for cats 5lbs and up.
She said she would need the lot number to investigate the incident, which
we gave her. She said it should take 5-7 days for the side effects to go
away.
Now we're just trying to get the word out to as many people as possible and
to try to get Petco to stop carrying it.
Jennifer 11/6/10
I am very sorry to hear about your cats' reaction to Bio Spot.
It doesn't surprise me that the ASPCA tried to blame you for the incident. The ASPCA
has a contract with Farnam to "manage" their adverse incident claims. I would contact
Farnam again and find out how to submit your emergency vet expenses to them for reimbursement.
James TerBush
Website Administrator
Copyright © 2002-2010 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.
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