This story came in via email from Marina:
“I didn’t know where to write, but I would like to share a story of my own. I have two cats at home and needed a flea protection for them. So I went to the store and bought over the counter flea medication “Sergeant’s Gold” for my cats. I applied it on both cats following the instructions. The same day they were acting strange: shaking heads, salivating and foaming out of the mouth and became very lethargic. I kept a close eye on them. The next morning my one cat could not even get up on his paws, so I went online to see information on adverse reactions. Sergeant’s web site recommended washing pet with dish detergent to wash off the medication which I did right away. My one cat got significantly better after a bath. The other one got very sick and started seizuring and throwing up everywhere, so I took one cat to emergency clinic, where he received fluids and was monitored for the next couple hours. Doctor said to give him rest and keep an eye on him for the next 24 hours, which I did. After that we had a follow up visit to the vet on Thursday and they did the same thing. My cat never got better. That bath didn’t help him at all. Other than the bath the company couldn’t offer better help. On Sunday morning we ended up taking him to the emergency clinic again. They put him on IV fluids and did a blood work that showed up that his kidneys were shutting down. We kept him in the hospital throughout the day where he passed away in my arms on Sunday night from renal failure. He was just over one year old, perfectly healthy cat. I am writing this to warn all other pet owners that “Flea medication can harm or kill your pet” (the box does not state that). I did some research about this product online and found out that this was not an isolated incident. Consumers Report website stated hundreds of cases like that. I am very surprised that this product is still on the shelves of our markets and it is EPA approved!!! If this is not an animal cruelty, then what is it? The most upsetting part of it is we as consumers by buying this product keeping it on the shelves and poisoning our pets at the same time.
I hope you would review this letter and post some sort of warning on your web site or make a news line, something. It is very hard to tragically lose your loved ones either it is a family member or a pet. If necessary I will testify against this product and company if needed. We need to take this stuff off the shelves before any other innocent animal dies. “
9 Comments Received
June 12th, 2010 @9:54 am
My Cat did the same thing . but she is here today . I put the sergeant’s Gold squeeze-on and my cat was acting funny, so I look and on the floor she look like she haveing a heart attack, her eye where dialet and like she was on drugs. I when to pick her up to I took dawn soap and wash her back. and started to give her milk . still did not help so I pick her up to put her in the carrier she attack my . ok so I had to go to work . got home she was in the bathroom piss and shit all over herself so I got two towels and warp her up put her in the carrier and waited to see what would happen by moring . she was alive but very weak ,so I give her more milk . feed her soft foods and it too two days to get her back. I am so sorry about you cat but I know what you feel.
Linda
June 12th, 2010 @10:21 am
my Cat color have fleas. so I got Sergeant’s Gold Squeeze-on did what it said on the back of the box, one hour later she came to me acting funny . I did not know that she was sick . I turn around on the floor like she was having a heart attack . I pick her up to take to the Doctors, She attack me so .ok . I wrap her up in a towel . wash her off with Dawn Dish soap. Still did not help. So I got milk and give it to her . still not doing any thing was afrad to pick her up . I like she was a bad case of drugs. I had to go to work . So I left her in my bed room . I got home she was in the bath room on the floor like she piss and shit just a little. but lot of sweat from her. So I got two towel wrap her and but her in the carrier and got her blanket and wrap that around her.give her more milk and waited to see what will happen . when to sleep buy her. next moring she was a real weak but look little better, so I got her out of carrier,got her more milk . and made sure she lay still. keep and eye on her and watch her . When she walk like she had a strok until able to use her right side of her body . So I brought so Whiskas food for her and give more milk.keep her warm . next to the heater. and keep giving her milk. and water . This happen on tuesday she still weak alittle but doing fine I just keep giveing her milk. but she is walking better today , It took her three days to get better , I think it was the milk and keep her still and warm help her but a lot of carry I was off for two days and that help her. the company that make this should be horse whip . When I have two more thank To God I did not get this to my other two. BAD on COMPANY WHO MAKE THIS SERGEANT.S GOLD . AND MAKE ARE CATS. VERY SICK we trust these company to help us with flea . ON THE SERGEANT,S GOLD IT SAY IT KILLS. FLEAS ,DEER TICKS . FLEA EGGS , FLEA LARVAE , AND REPELS MOSQUITOES, BUT IT FORGOT TO SAY IT KILL YOU CAT TOO… WOW …………………….
June 14th, 2010 @7:27 pm
It happened last year this time when I put a single dose , split in 3rds on my cat & my sons, as they had flea collars but got flea anyway. I had 1 tube so split it 3 ways. My cat is an inside cat, the other 2 were strays we picked up but tried to keep indoors, yet they go out on occastion and in came the fleas.
I had picked up the Sargents on sale in the Dollar General with the labeling in another language, Spanish or French, but I think it was Spanish. I saw the picture application showing to put it on the back of the neck, so I figured that it might work better than the flea collars.
I hadnt a clue they could be lethal!
I thought worse case scenario that it wouldnt get rid of the fleas.
2 hours later my cat was screaming, convulsing, foaming at the mouth, bugged eyed and panicky, claws fully drawn, tail fluffed out, running randomly hitting the walls~
My son helped me catch and cage her for her own safety. She looked like she either had rabies or ingested rat poison.
My son began calling the vets, but ours was away on vacation so we needed to find an alternate Vet, as it was night time and we needed one ASAP. I got online to look up more vet phone numbers but then thought, ‘what if it was the flea drops?’ so I posed a q’ into the search engine looking for possible side effects of flea drops.The symptoms matche ones that were for cats having dog flea medicine so I immediately got a soapy rag and tried to wash off her neck but she collapsed and was panting heavily, obviously in pain.
I grabbed my sons cats although they seemed okay, I washed off their necks immediately as my son got through to an emergency service that said the Vet Tech would be in at 10pm to check animals and that I could bring her there and leave her to be treated.It was about 9pm so we got over there in about 15 minutes and waited for the Vet Tech to arrive.
I wasnt sure my cat would live as she became listless and still foaming at the mouth.
I couldnt believe that just 2 drops of that stuff, not even a full recommended dose could do so much damage~!! I felt horrible for her and so guilty, thinking I must have put the dog drops on by mistake. I brought the white tube with me and gave it to the Vet Tech in case they had any certain poison control remedies.
Since she was in agony my first thought was whether or not she could survive this and what kind of permanent damage would it do and whether or not it would be better to euthanize her to stop her agony or if they had a treatment that could save her.
The Vet Tech first cut off her collar and said she was going to give her a bath in Dawn Detergent and start an IV to prevent dehydration and to have it ready in case the Vet needed to medicate her.
I asked her how much she would think it might cost, as I am also retired on disability and dont have the funds I used to have. The Vet said $120 on the phone and she confirmed the treatment would be $120 unless there were other complications. She said having gotten the cat there within the first few hours of the poisoning increased her chances for survival considerably.
She said often pet owners dont even associate the flea drops with the symptoms until it is too late. Waiting causes permanent organ damage, particularly the kidneys~!
While $120 was alot for me, I was responsible for putting them on her so I told her to treat her. I went home feeling so horrible I wrote here and told everyone that I put dog drops on the cats by mistake. I didnt think there was a difference other than amount and would have assumed the dog flea drops to just be a larger amount due to their sizes so that using less could possibly be used for several animals at once.
I thought that since the fleas were the same, that the drops were only toxic to the fleas, having no clue that they were also toxic to the pets~! I was astounded that lethal stuff like this could be sold in stores and assumed safe for use. Many meds for people as well as animals come with warnings that seem like they have to disclose that maybe 1 in a million would have a reaction but I soon found that 1,000′s of pets die horrid deaths annually from flea drops and other pet flea products.
I read that the cartons on these drops say “do not use on cats” if it is the dog version. Since my packet was on clearance at Dollar General and in another language, had I seen the warning I wouldnt have known, but I didnt have the carton as we have a small drawer in our kitchen where I keep pet meds and tags etc., so when I put that into the drawer a few weeks earlier, I took the carton off and threw it in the trash.
Next day I picked up my cat and it took several months for her to recover. She had alot of fur fall out and got skinny and lathargic. Today she is about 5 lbs heavier and full of live back to normal .She is about to celebrate her 3rd birthday on the 4th of July.
When my son saw I was writing online about what happened, he told me that I hadnt used the dog flea drops and showed me that those tubes are brown and all were accounted for. He said I did use the cat flea drops. I would have corrected the inital page of this thread but it has no edit~ i did however correct it in within the thread, but some people wrote me based on the first thread so chided me for using dog drops on a cat.
As it turns out, IF you have both dogs and cats, that are friendly with one another, a cat can lick the dog and still have the same toxic reaction! Its that potent and deadly.
Dogs too, one last year on this site, had a flea bath and died about a week later~Its happening every day still~
Writing your warning and story is helping to get the word out and these warnings do help other pet owners and helps to save lives.
I wrote by email to my Congressman explaining that stronger legislation is needed in regards to approving pet products. I spoke with Sargents and they said that they needed to know the vat number as they outsource the manufacture of these products and sometimes doses can be stronger than they should be which they say they have no control over but when notified of an incident, will then pull the ones left from the same vat. They told me to send them copies of the Vet bill even though I didnt have the carton or the tube since the Vet Tech discarded the tube and I had already discarded the wrapper.They told me to go to the store where I bought it and see if I can get a vat number from them, so I did.They seemed very concerned and helpful but that was a deception as they were only checking their own liability under current law.
Since I had no proof [ carton/tube] they offered their apologies but then told me that I wasnt eligible for the Vet costs. I could have pushed it but my concern was more towards eliminating the threat, getting that vat recalled.
They sell alot of these products and claim only a small % of pets are affected so that is why they are still ‘legal’ in stores. They said they now have 3 warnings on the cartons warning not to use dog flea meds on cats and vice versa. They said for those who do administer the doses correctly and their pet has a reaction that it is rare and considered an allergic reaction to some of the ingredients. Rather than correct their formula, with laws as they currently stand, they will instead pay off the small % of pet losses while still selling these toxins to millions of unsuspecting pet owners. The law needs to be changed~!!!
One problem is often the dosing slowly degenerates the animal without the owner realizing it. Even flea collars are bad~!!!
My cat had worn a collar since she was about 6 wks old and was always thin and her hair had some sparce parts but not around the collar, so I never suspected it. She lost fur near the base of her back where her tail began. She also had thinner hair on her forehead.She stayed small even though she was 2 years old she weighed only 6 lbs, looking like a kitten.
Once I stopped using the flea collars and drops, she began to slowly recover. The Vet put another brand of drops on her before she left his office Advantix or Advantage I forget which but it is the one for cats.She had an allergic reaction to that but it wasnt lethal and the vet said it would ware off in about 6 wks.
Once that wore off and I didnt go back to using flea collars, she began to grow back her fur , thicker than ever and she began to gain weight. Now a year later she is about 10-11 lbs, nearly double her weight of a year ago~!! She is my constant companion and follows me all over the house.
I will never use flea drops or collars again. I have contacted my Congressman and filed a complaint. More people need to do this so when they have enough formal complaints they will have to do something about it.
The law needs to be changed to eliminate the toxins from the remedies. There are companies that already do this and can be found online.Simple safe remedies also exist, such as boiled lemons in water that you put into a spray bottle. The citronella in it repels the fleas without harming the cat[or dog]
I am very sorry that one of your cats died but glad your other one survived. My sons 2 cats received 2 drops each from that same single dose tube but I did wash their heads off before we left to the Vet. The larger cat did have a mild reaction anyway as she vomited on and off for about 5 days. The white cat lost some fur, more than usual but showed no ill effects.
The sneaky thing about this stuff is that on most animals the effects are subtle and yet the toxins have a cumulative effect on the pets kidneys and other organs.Having had the flea collars on my cat for 2 years seemed to have stumped her growth, but I hadnt a clue until I now see a year later without flea collars that she has grown alot and is healthier now.
While it isnt legislated [YET] these products are or should be considered criminal~ They are often created using inferior and lethal ingredients for corporate greed.
People buy their products assuming them to be safe. Pets are being slowly poisoned by their use and only a small % have the severe reactions that owners are able to attribute to the flea products and then an even smaller % get to hold the maufacturers accountable and get their Vet bills paid. But who cares so much about the Vet bills when your beloved pet dies from the flea products that should be banned.
Knowing more pets are suffering and dying daily because of their corporate greed and unwillingness to make safer products, is reprehensible.
I hope your other cat fully recovers from all the hidden side effects and am truly sorry for the grief this is causing you over the loss of your other cat.
AveHurley
June 14th, 2010 @7:46 pm
Oh, BTW I forgot to mention that the actual Vet bill the next day was $485 total instead of the quoted $485 but have seen where some people have paid nearly a $1,000 for treatment of their pets to save them~! I had to pay it that day too, which meant using my rent money and getting my landlord mad at me but it had to be done and was. Some chided me about complaining about the cost, but that was more than 2/3s of my monthly income so it was staggering to me and ruined my summer last year BUT at least my cat is safe and healthy now and we may be able to have a better summer this year.
Also some chide about using over the counter remedies, but often how can you know how bad they are until a crisis like this occurs? I have had severe reactions to meds my doctor has given me~ that neither the doctor nor I knew I was allergic, so the same happens with pets meds and many people do look for the cheapest solutions as they can not afford the brands the Vets use, so corporate flea product companies like Hartz & Sargent & Bansect are fully aware and while making what we would assume to be a cheaper version of a good product, they sell us lethal crap. Its seems so diabolical when you stop to think about it!~
AveHurley
July 19th, 2010 @8:33 pm
I gave m cat some of that sh*t and now it’s shaking all over, salvating and fomaing. Washed her at the point it was appl;ied, not sure if she’ll make it. It must have different effects on different cats because I did it to a younger one at the same time and it is fine.
Needless to say, no more over the counter for me. Lesson learned.
November 25th, 2010 @12:49 am
i used seargents gold flea meds on my cat. it has now been 24 hours since she has been at the e.r . no improvement she is 1 yrs old. the estimate cost as of right now is 1000-1400. i did not know this could happen. i am expecting and its hard to pay for this bill. last night 11/24/10 around 1200am i put flea meds on my cat storm. she started puffing up at my dog and trying to attack her. i didnt know this was a sign. i went to sleep then around 1 heard the cat “screaming” i thought my rtwo cats were fighting. she was laying on the floor with foam coming out of her mouth. i picked her up and she started attacking my boyfriend. i immediately called 911 because i didnt have a 24 hour vet number so they gave me the number we rushed her in. during the two hours i was there so they could see what was wrong they gave her three doses of medication which thats usually all it takes. seeing as my cat was bottle fed after her mother died two weeks after her birth she has a weaker immune system. my cats still a baby. she is a loving cat. i feel so bad for her. altho the doctors say she is not in pain. that she is just twitching and having siesures and doesnt know why i still feel guilty. i cant sleep at the thought my cat could possibly die. the companys who make this product need to pay for the problems their product has caused. i work at walmart and will tell all of my customers about this horrible product if i see them buying it. i want to press charges but i know they wont do anything. just say its our fault. please put storm “aka stormie” in your prayers. we miss her and want her to be back home and safe in our arms!
July 9th, 2011 @10:16 am
my cat is gon the silver did her in not old a health loving cat this cat dropes killed her we all need help with this this is crap killing ower beloved pets i am soooo mad.
July 12th, 2011 @3:59 am
My husband used sergeant’s silver on our daughter’s cat. The first time she did fine. The second tube we used I think did her in. She was only a year old. Five hours after we put the second tube on her she started acting strange. Her eyes were blinking real fast and she didn’t seem to know where she was going. We called the vet and he said to give a bath to get the meds off and that she would be fine and to bring her in the next morning. Well my husband laid with her for four hours through all the shaking and foam coming out of her mouth. She only lasted 4 1/2 hours till she died. I would never recomend this product to anyone for anything!
February 24th, 2013 @3:32 pm
The reason the flea medications affects this cat in this manner is that they lick the medicine off of themselves and ingest it. You just have to be careful to not let it run off from between their shoulder blades. I have about a three month old cat who ingested her flea medicine. She had seizures and could not eat. The vet told me to give her .25 cc liquid benedryl and give it about 24 – 72 hours. My cat is now fine. The vets do recommend using only Frontline on cats as the formula is thicker and less likely to run.
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