Texas Bulldog Owner Wins Verdict Against Hartz Mountain Pet Products

[responsiblek9]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/03/hartz_mountain_court.html
Texas Bulldog Owner Wins Verdict Against Hartz Mountain Pet Products
Consumer Affairs - Lisa Wade McCormick
A 72-year-old dog owner has won what may be a landmark decision against the country's leading maker of pet care products and fueled ...
'Diesel' died less than 40 hours after flea and tick drops were applied

[hopesclan]

Hartz told ConsumerAffairs.com that it believed the case was "without merit," but did not appeal because of the time and cost involved.

Won't this case bite them in the butt in the long run?  Loose one and it sets a precedent.  I would assume it would be worth their time and cost to push that off (though I also suspect they were banking on his lack of preparedness and second time around he might get some actual backing).  Maybe they will start thinking twice about potential harm their products cause or actually responding to customer concerns since this is an obvious problem.

I'm glad he won.  Surprised, but glad.

[Roxie]

Many of you may remember almost 2 years ago I used Sargeants Flea & Tick spot on for my Service Dog Tay.  Tay became viscious (like Cujo!) and wobbly within about 6-8 hours after I put the product on him.

TAy almost died and had to have emergency and in-patient treatment because of a very severe toxic reaction to the Sargeants chemicals in their product. We had been instructed by poison control out of Kansas State Vet School in Manhattan KS to wash him with Dawn and get him to a Vet. He displayed severe neurological problems. Tay did recover.

Sargeants was responsive after I faxed them his medical records. They did reimburse me my costs with an agreement I would not sue or talk about the problem to anyone but them.

Roxie

[Kirsten]

I'm boycotting Merial for the way they treated me and their refusal to honor the guarantee they have printed on their packages of Frontline.  It's long past time these companies were held accountable for their products.  Frontline stopped working and as a result two of my dogs got hot spots from flea breakouts, including my service dog, Cole.  The Frontline did not appear to do anything to any of the fleas, in fact, their numbers grew in the days following the treatment.  When I put Advantage on, however, the fleas were dying within hours.  Over night 80% of the fleas were gone and most of those that remained were clearly neurologically impaired.  My vet said Advantage was safer anyway, so that's what I use now.

Here's the EPA's page on spot-on flea and tick products:  http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/health/flea-tick-control.html

[Roxie]

I tried Advantix ... I think that is by Advantage? ... not sure . It kills ticks in addition to fleas.

I only used in one month. Too scared to use anything on him. I tried holistic... but with minimal (very minimal) success.

Thanks for thanks for the link Kirsten.

Roxie

[Kirsten]

Advantix is Advantage plus tick protection.  It's more dangerous than Advantage alone (which is only rated for fleas, though I and others have found ticks not to be a problem while using it, even though it doesn't say it's for ticks).

Advantage is safe for puppies and kittens and for nursing mothers.  I believe it is the safest spot on flea product out there.  However you have to be careful with Advantix (which I have also used) in that it is lethal to cats.  If a cat licks a dog or has physical contact with a dog and then licks itself while the chemical is still wet, it can kill him pretty quickly.  I do have cats.  So the two times I treated with Advantix I got paranoid and locked the cats in the basement and the dogs in their crates over night.  By morning the dogs were completely dry.

There's a permethrin type chemical added to the Advantage to make Advantix and it's that chemical that is toxic to cats.

Advantage = very safe, but officially only for fleas, not ticks
Advantix = safe for dogs, lethal for cats, works on both fleas and ticks

[hopesclan]

My vet said Advantage was safer anyway, so that's what I use now.

What makes it safer?  Just curious.  I use flea preventative (advantage) because of public access as well as flea allergies, but they do scare me.

Edit: while posting it the question is answered, but I will leave it anyway because I am curious to know more.

[Spectrum]

I'm considering trying Advantix this summer. I've been using Frontline simply because the merial reps give it to us for free (along with heartgard), but with the mosquito problem I had last year, I want something that will repel mosquitos too. I've never had a flea problem with Gavroche, but I don't know if it's because he has Frontline or because he isn't really exposed to fleas.  With his skin and mosquitoes, though, we need something. I may try skin-so-soft if I can't got ahold of Advantix for a decent price.

We have this chart hanging up at work the doc found on the internet; it has pros and cons for each flea preventative. I don't remember which drug it was, but one of them one of the pros was "cool applicator."  Come on now, with that as a pro, who wouldn't choose it?

[Kirsten]

The Advantix worked well.  I used it when we had a sudden burst of ticks.  I got a decent deal on it because of a promotion they were doing.  I think it was buy six get two free.  With three dogs, I use it up pretty quick.  But I use the Advantage year round, Advantix just when the ticks are bad.

There's nothing like a Luna-tick to spoil your day.

[k1maplewd]

If you are an IAADP member you can get Advantix or Advantage for your SD for free.  Your vet needs to contact Bayer with your IAADP member number and info.  So that is one way you can get it if cost is an issue.  I use Advantix and find it works great.  We do have lots of ticks around here and with the Advantix I find dead ticks, with Frontline I was still pulling live ticks off.  One thing about the advantix though is I find that my dogs get a slight skin allergic reaction to it for about 48hrs after putting it on.  So I was told by the vet to apply it in smaller multiple spots all along the dog's back from head to rear and that does help.

[hopesclan]

Hope's never experienced an allergic reaction to advantage or advantix (rash on belly), but she does get the itches after application and rub her back back and forth on my wall.  I think it dries her skin some so I add some conditioner a few days later.

[Roxie]

Luna tick!!! !!!! Kirsten I love your humor.

I think I will have to use Advantix this year. We are having a very wet year, and I live a few yards from a forest. We don't go there because I'm scared of the river and snakes.

I will try it again. I just worry about Tay.

Roxie

[Gretl2009]

I used Hartz Flea and Tick stuff on one of my Pomeranians about a year ago and he got so sick - I thought he was a goner.  Thankfully, he pulled through with no adverse reactions.  But since then, I am not to keen on using those products.  I used the K9 Advantix on my SD with no reaction - but I think I will just continue to spritz a little lemon juice diluted with water on my Pomeranians.  I am too scared that their size is just to risky for the commercial products. 

[Sheenar]

I've used Advantix on Pebbles for our entire partnership without issue (I've had cats since June 2009, and thankfully, have had no problems with them contacting the preventative).
 Since someone posted that I can also get Advantage through IAADP, I am interested in switching to that to be safer for my cats. But ticks are a big problem around here seasonally(National forest is nearby) and I don't do so well with pulling them off (hard to get a grip with tweezers with the little strength in my fingers).
 Thankfully, the only time I have had to deal with ticks is when we visited my friend's house in Austin --she had many little ones and Steph's mom pulled them off for me (guess they hadn't been attached long enough for the Advantix to kill them).

[BlindMag]

Since finding that Frontline was no longer working for me, I switched to Adams spot on treatment; it has worked pretty well for me, and my previous dogs with allergies had no trouble with it.  We have a lot of ticks and I haven't found a single live tick on any of my dogs using it; I only find a few dead or dying fleas if my dogs have been wet repeatedly and its almost time to reapply the stuff.  If I had to use something else it would be Advantage. I also use RAID bug bombs on my house periodically to prevent infestations, since it kills fleas, ticks and alot of other annoying bugs, and will keep killing them for awhile if a few strays wander in on the dogs. (All animals have to be out of the house for at least 4 hours to set off the bombs).