My Bonnie is 4 years old, and has never had a problem with any shampoo’s, sprays, or treatments for fleas when needed. Over the past month, she’s been having continuous seizures (at least one daily). Every muscle in her little body turns hard as a rock, her ears go back, mouth wide open, and she pants almost violently. It takes a good 20 minutes to pass, and you can’t even touch her for the first 5 to 10 minutes.
Vet visits just offered a pain killer/anti-inflamitory suggesting a pulled muscle in her neck or chest that may be causing intense pain; hence her reaction. They even talked about putting her out, and injecting a dye into her spine under X-Ray to see if there is some kind of a pinched nerve somewhere.
Then I overheard one of the girls at the front desk telling a customer NEVER to use the HARTZ flea drops, and that they’ve been known to cause seizures in dogs. So I asked her more about what she knew, and she just said that Hartz was aware of the problem, and that I should call Hartz.
So I first went to get a good shampoo with all natural ingredients, and put Bonnie in the shower and just wahed and rinsed 3 long rounds. I sprayed on a good skin and coat conditioner, and applied an all natural flea repellant.
It just took a day for her to start getting back to her old playfull self. She hasn’t had a seizure in over two weeks now, and all is fine.
I called the 800# 275-1414 to Hartz to inquire about the problem, and spoke to OZZIE on 6/16. Ozzie was unaware of any problems with their product, and informed me that people just assume that their product is the cause of a problem since it’s the last thing that was used. She claimed to be totally unaware of any issues with the HARTZ product. I called her on it, and told her I didn’t believe her, and I was sure she had read all about it on the web sites, along with taking all of the Customer service calls. She just referred to information on the WEB as bogus, and unsubstantiated.
Has anyone ever gotten any restitution from Hartz at all? I / Bonnie was lucky that a long good bath got her back to normal after all of the stress and heartache watching her seizure caused me, and I would have done about anything to help her if I would have known. I felt so bad. And there’s not even a warning on the labels of their products. (Although, Ozzie did say I could go to the WEB and look up the EPA Regulations on the ingredients of any of their products.)
To which I replied, “oh, you mean…one of those Bogus and unsubstantiated WEB sites?”…
9 Comments Received
June 17th, 2009 @8:14 pm
Hartz Mountain Corporation has a deplorable safety record over the years. They aren’t the only manufacturer with an unacceptable safety record, but since your problem resulted from Hartz’s products you should know that their appalling history goes back to the late ’80′s and ’90′s when their product, Blockade, was pulled from the market because of a terribly high number of pet injuries and deaths. It was later reintroduced and again had problems. Hartz was cited and fined for not accurately and promptly forwarding consumer reports to the EPA as all manufacturers (and registrants) are required to do. In the early 2000′s they were required to make numberous package labeling and directions revisions on both their cat and dog insecticide ingredient products. In 2005 the EPA, probably the most lax oversight agency in the federal government, forced Hartz to terminate their cat and kitten products, issuing a Cancellation Order against Hartz’s products containing pesticide ingredients. The number of cat and kitten injuries and deaths was stunning and even the EPA could no longer ignore it. Please also report this incident to the National Pesticide Information Center, at 1-800-858-7378. They maintain a database of pesticide-related illnesses for the EPA. The EPA uses this database to determine if dangerous pesticide products require specific action in terms of safety requirements, including up to removal from the market. Don’t let Hartz, Sergeant’s, BioSpot or any other manufacturer get away with the devastation they are causing any longer. These manufacturers count on victims’ owners taking no action or simply complaining for a week or two and then going away. Please take the time to report this terrible tragedy. I’m very sorry this has happened to you and Bonnie. I hope for a quick and complete recovery.
June 18th, 2009 @8:49 pm
I also had a problem with Hartz products. My puppy had liver failure from the product. When i called Hartz to complain they said they never had any complaints about thier products. When i told them about this website they responded with it’s probably a bogus website…………just a cover up to save thier butts. I only use Frontline now.
June 19th, 2009 @9:21 am
Isn’t ot ironic that the ssame Customer Service # continues to tell victims that “they’ve never heard of this”, or “they’ve bever had any complaints.
Definitely our best action is reporting to the EPA. If “thousands” of pets get sick or die from the use of their products, it makes you wonder how many thousands more have to die before the EPA acts.
This all is quite distressing.
June 23rd, 2009 @1:17 pm
I used the “natural” flea drops on my cat. It said to use the full bottle…for some reason I only used half…I am so glad i did. My cat lost all of her hair where i applied the flea medicine (along her back..i mean BALD). I took her to the vet and the vet said dont ever use any flea drops that are over the counter!!!
July 23rd, 2009 @6:51 pm
So soory about your cat. I have a 1 year old poodle. I applied Hartz In Control flea and tick drops down her back. She had been taken to the groomer to get her summer short cut, so her hair was short. About a month later her hair has grown in black and straight. She is a light brown and has curly poodle hair otherwise. I called Hartz and they said no one had ever reported any problems with this product. Something needs to be done about this company
October 7th, 2009 @4:49 pm
My dog lost all her hair where I applied the Hartz flea shampoo the shampoo dint kill the flea.
June 29th, 2010 @5:05 pm
My cat Tiger got fleas. I applied Hartz flea drops and Tiger became hysterical and started running around. After becoming withdrawn over the next few days (and no relief from the fleas) I gave Tiger a warm bath. Upon drying him, I noticed a chemical burn on Tiger’s skin (where I applied the drops). Hartz Flea drops chemically burned my cat’s neck and didn’t even kill the fleas. NEVER AGAIN!
October 17th, 2010 @1:49 pm
My 5 year lab has been having seizures for 3 years. I took him to several vets and they didn’t find anything, telling me that some dogs just have epilepsy. It was painful to watch, but the vet said there was nothing I could do. After 3 years of it, one night, my german shepherd had a seizure. I realized there was no way that both my dogs have epilepsy. I have lived all over the country so I knew it wasn’t my current home. It was either the dog food, dog treats (which were both Purina) or the flea medicine or shampoo (which were both Hartz). I looked online and read the horrible things from pet owners using Hartz so I cut that one out first. Since I quit using it and bathed them well, the shepherd has not had a seizure and the labs are becoming less frquent. The oil from the flea medicine is still in their bodies and you can even see it on my all white dog from 5 months ago. Once all the toxic are out from it, I am confident all the seizures will stop. I feel terrible I was the one causing my lab to have seizures for over 3 years.
March 2nd, 2013 @9:40 pm
My two bullies almost died this week.Hartz please fix your product, my big male will be ok. My wifes little bulldog Angelina, she is in bad shape. 400 dollars in vet bills so far. And my son and wife had to watch her get very sick,
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