SentryPro issues-Any Flea Product can kill

I have an 8 month old Chihuahua named Delilah. I noticed she was itching her knee area on her back leg and thought maybe she had recieved a flea from the backyard and since the weather has been getting warmer, it is the season to re-treat for fleas. I gave her SentryPro which is Sergent’s brand and not Hartz. The reason I want to post this here is because it is not just Hartz or Sergent’s brands that are lethal to some animals. After doing investigations on my own, it is all very bad and it can affect everyone, including your children. Within hours after giving my dog this treatment, her back leg began to jerk. It reminds me of a jack rabbit or a horse bucking someone off of them. The uncontrolled movements made me first think it was the flea bite irritating her or that the flea bit her again before dying. Unfortunately, I didn’t think much else of it until the symptoms got worse. My dog was laying with me, starting to jerk, and then the breathing issues came up. She started to have reverse sneezes. They were constant and I couldn’t stop them. I tried all the remedies on the internet that I could find at 3am and none of them worked. It took me about 30 minutes to figure out that this is not just reverse sneezing and fleas, it is an allergic reaction. I rushed my dog into the bathroom and began to scrub her down. Placing her in a towel, I held her close feeling the jerks and slight convulsions she had. Shaking of her head, kicking her feet, and the overwhelming need to gnaw on her feet and the soles of them. I rolled over on my bed to try and get us both more confortable and noticed that the bed was wet. Thinking at first she may have had an accident, I realized that it was on my pillow too where her face was laying prior to the bath. She was drooling!  I could now see spit collected in her mouth that was dripping from both sides.  I tried to give her water. The reverse sneezing stopped shortly after the bath but jerks and gnawing continued through the night. I was afraid to fall asleep wondering what I had done to her or if I caught it in time. I was angry because the back of the package only says that if SENSITIVITY OCCURS, WASH WITH MILD SOAP AND RINSE WITH LOTS OF WATER. Sensitivity? Isn’t sensitivity more like mild diarrhea? Maybe indigestion? Or a headache? I called the Consumer Affairs with the company today and they told me that they had a a caller just before mine that read things I had read on the internet and tried to discredit them by saying it was opinion. My problem was the box does not say, some side affects may include, seizures, vomiting, reverse sneezing (snorting), jerking, gnawing on limbs, and kidney failure..if this happens contact vet immediately. Product can be washed with DEGREASING Liquid Soap. If I had known these were the side affects, it would not have taken me so long to wash it off my dog. Instead they use sensitivity? I feel mis-informed. Betrayed. I bought this product at Petco. Where all the pets go. I thought that they would at least make sure they checked into the products that they sold before I bought them. I found forum after forum only to find that ALL dog over the counter products like this can be lethal. Hotspot, Hartz, SentryPro (sergent’s). The way these products work is two issues. One is, it is absorbed by the skin which then circulates it through the blood stream. It kills fleas by attacking the nervous system of the bugs. The pesticide cannot distinct between Dogs, bugs, kids, and adult’s nervous systems. Some are more SENSITIVE than others on absorbing this poison. Before you allow your child to wash the dog or do it yourself, consider these items and do your research. Dont take my word for it. What do I know? I found that some of these chemicals used may be linked to parkinsons disease. I found that the EPA doesn’t take into consideration how much dogs sleep with family members or share common items such as sleeping on bedding and cuddling. It is awful what happened to my baby, but I think she will recover. I do not think any of these products should be sold because even a child handles a dog with a flea collar and gives them a bath. It doesn’t have enough warnings NOR an information packet to tell us what to expect or do if something bad does happen. It should be our choice to purchase a product with knowledge of what we can expect. It is just like purchasing tylenol or a sleeping pills. Tell me what to look for so I know when to get scared at least! We always wonder what causes the increased defects and cancer rates other than a higher population and environment. Why dont we start considering poisons like this. They find medication and poisons in our water systems and it makes the news. Why hasn’t this? Just bothers me. I posted something on my myspace (yes I am retarded like that) and emailed people. But apparently some do not look into this kind of thing until it happens to them. I was one of them. Good luck to everyone. The EPA’s # is 800-858-7378 to report a poison issue that happened. I suggest EVERYONE take the time to file their report and issues. Thanks for letting me vent. Written from good ol’ Livermore, Ca.  PS. I see that Frontline is the only one that is less likely to cause these problems. Even K9 advantix has similar pesticides that Hartz uses. I hear that Keri Lotion is also good at preventing flea bites and can be used on the humans to prevent bites while you find other ways of getting rid of your flea problems.