today [14 hrs later] they went to the vet got a steroid shot and antibiotics for a infection from itching/scratching, still no improvement 24 hr later. i also call the EPA # listed above Matt gave. the dogs are a part of the family and I’m very angry over the lack of information on the package. i hope my dogs get better. in closing thanks for all the stories and too every body that reads theses post please be careful if you use theses products there very dangerous and i advise to stay as far away from them as you can.

Then look at the ingredients in THIS product:
http://www.petco.com/product/109060/Natural-Chemistry-Natural-Cat-Flea-Spray.aspx

Wow! Safe for ALL CATS and ALL KITTENS…
OH! And Sold at PETCO!
But ingredients?
Sodium lauryl sulfate 1.20%, cedar wood oil 0.25%, cinnamon oil 0.10%, clove oil 0.10%. Other Ingredients: Water, vanillin (benzaldehyde, 4-hydroxy-3methoxy-) 98.35%. Total 100%.

Just an FYI… Clove oil is even toxic to HUMANS!… Yet with this you are spraying your entire cat with it. Oh! But wait! It’s natural! hah… And it’s not regulated at all since it has no active ingredients.

The expensive brands like Advantix, Frontline and Revolution are all prescribed by vets, and recommended by vets, and have been used successfully for very long times. THIS on the other hand… how many vets have recommended this? If they did, then don’t go back there.

The key is not to “go natural”. The key is to use a TRUSTED brand!

Sorry for the rant… but my cat was a victim of said “natural” flea treatment. My cat got fleas and I was desperate and bought this. Sprayed it all over my cat… Then read online how dangerous and potentially lethal it is. I spent the next 2 hours bathing my cat, that is deathly afraid of water. I actually have scars from scratch marks now that have remained on my back after a year and a half.

All because I was ignorant and also TRUSTED that a PETCO would actually sell a safe product… man was I wrong. Stick with vets. They know what they are doing. These companies that take all this random stuff, and mix it up… then say, oh! This can kill fleas! Are only clever at marketing, and REALLY good at finding loopholes in regulation.

There needs to be a NEW establishment established that is STRICTLY for regulation of PET products… The fact that we are using organizations who’s resources are used to help regulate for humans(And sorry… human regulation will ALWAYS be priority over pets when you use the same organization) is despicable. I’m sure 1 person and a monkey is PLENTY the resources required to do testing/research on the products on the market. Just too bad no one will do anything about that.

I must point out however, that I am shocked that people would still use flee treatments on their animals after going through something like that. Even the expensive treatments you can get at the vet contain nasty chemicals. Please don’t take this as laying any blame. I would just like to urge people not to use these products. There must be some sort of natural/organic alternative. Perhaps I don’t fully understand the need for flee treatments because my cat is only indoors and has never had a flee problem, but I will never put chemicals like that on him.

Thank you all for sharing your stories and helping to raise awareness! My pets and those of all of my friends will safe from this fate because of this website and all of your stories.

I’m sorry for your loss. I had a similar experience.
I just buried my little kitten a few minutes ago.
He was a sweet little kitten…he would come running to me when I got home from work.
He was outside where there are a few semi-feral cats with fleas so he had fleas. I had been giving him regular baths with palmolive. I thought he was old enough to use flea/tick shampoo. (Skip-flea from Sergeants)
I was happy because I was ridding him of his annoying fleas. I bathed him and dried him (though he never liked that part). Then I put him back outside in the utility room so he could stay warm and finish drying up. (He had made it obvious he did not want to stay inside) An hour later, I went out to see him. I could not find him and thought he’d just left. I did not find him until late this morning. Just as you had described, he was rigid with his eyes open and only breathing once in what seemed forever. It was too late for him. He had already had the poison in his system for too long.
I wish I had come across this website beforehand. None of my previous pets had had a reaction to any of the shampoos.

I am glad that this website exists. I will always feel horribly sad about this, but seeing we are not alone relieves me some.

Don’t use flea/tick shampoos from Hartz or Sergeants!

My comments were not directed towards you and I should have been clear about that–I think I have been in my previous posts regarding your story, but obviously I could have done a better job in my last post.

You did everything exactly as the Hartz product directions advised–you were not confused, but you were taken advantage of like many thousands of other pet owners. Once again, I’m so very sorry for this tragedy. It’s reprehensible that these products are in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, there is another recent story submitted on this site where the pet owner admitted she misapplied the product (i.e., used a dog product on a cat) and her cat suffered the consequences. Even more unfortunately, companies like Sergeant’s, Hartz, BioSpot, etc., combined with cover from the ASPCA and the EPA, jump on these examples and point towards the consumers as ignorant hillbillies.

Again, I’m very sorry about the terrible events you’ve had to endure. And I thank you so much for properly reporting the incident to the NPIC and to Hartz…and a big thank you for taking the time to tell your story. All the best.

A couple folks have commented about “putting dog medicine on cats”. I don’t know why that thought is being bantered about. My kittens were poisoned and died when I used Harts Ultraguard for cats and kittens. No animal should suffer and die that way. No one should have to witness it.

I did take the advice of one poster and have ordered affordable quality fleas treatment from http://www.FleaZapper.com I am grateful for the web address.

I hope others take heed and don’t risk the fate of my kittens. It’s not worth it. I would never ever use a Hartz product for any reason. They are uncaring.

Please, everyboy–don’t continue to give Hartz and the other manufacturers (and the ASPCA) the ammunition they need to continue to point the finger at us–the pet owners for not having the mental or cognitive skills to follow simple directions. There have been too many cases where a consumer has misused the product and that’s all Sergeant’s, BioSpot, Hartz, the ASPCA and the EPA talk about. The EPA, with the ASPCA’s support, uses these examples to delay or obfuscate regulatory action that the manufacturers deserve–namely, reformulaton and/or cancellation. Although the vast majority of injuries and deaths are caused by these reprehensible products and not by consumers misapplication, there are enough tragic examples of pet owner misapplication to divert the attention from where it belongs.

If you do have a legitimate problem–seizure, itching, injury of any kind–large or small–etc., or animal death–please take the time to call the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at 1-800-858-7378, and report the incident. They are very courteous and professional people and they truly want to know about these incidents. They will ensure the EPA gets the database of adverse incident statistics–critical in any potential action taken by the EPA against these cretins that continue to market pathetic pesticide products. Also, if the product was a Hartz product, please take the time to call them–1-800-275-1414. They won’t like it, but they have a federal obligation to take the information and also report it to the EPA. Hartz has been cited and fined in the past for not accurately and timely reporting this information–put the pressure on them by reporting to them what happened to your pet. Again, they won’t like it but that should make your call all that more enjoyable. The same holds true with BioSpot, Sergeant’s and others–please call the NPIC and the appropriate manufacturer (their telephone number is on the package).

Again, in the above example, Hartz can hardly be blamed if the owner used a dog product on a cat–that’s plainly stupid. However, the vast majority of incidents are not misapplication but the continued ability of Hartz and other manufacturers to manipulate the EPA into continuing to register deplorable, dangerous and reprehensible products into the marketplace.

I don’t know if Hartz is the cause of a recent problem with one of my cats, but it is possible. I was just about to use Harts flea and tick drops on my cats: one is 15, one is 5 and one is a kitten just three months old. Luckily before I did I remembered what a vet had told me about a month ago, just after I had applied it to my cats. She said she would never use Hartz products because of the damage it had caused to so many pets. Then I searched on line for side effects of Hartz products and found your site.

Anyway, about a month ago I used Hartz flea & tick drops on all my cats except the kitten, which I didn’t have then. All the cats were fine, or seemed fine. However my one female started having seizures. First it would start in her head and neck area for two or three episodes. Then her whole body would flail and convulse violently. It was a frightening and horrible thing to see. I took her to the vet who, after doing blood work, said my cat’s levels were off but she didn’t know if it was from poisoning or epilepsy. My cat has been on anti-seizure medication for one month. Thank God she has been fine. The real test now will be to see how she does without the medication. If she has seizures, then it’s probably epilepsy. If not, it very well could have been the medication. Unfortunately I didn’t really pay attention to when I gave the drops to her and its relation, if any, to the seizure.

Thanks for letting me share.