Hartz Flea/Tick Products….Legalized Pet Poison

We usually use Advantage Plus for our 3 dogs throughout the summer months to avoid fleas and ticks and we don’t need anything for our cats as they stay indoors and with the dogs treated our cats can’t get anything. We have never had a flea in the house. We have always been advised by the vet that once the colder weather arrives we no longer need to treat the dogs.

This year by mid September we were having frost at night, but we had a vey hot and humid summer that I didn’t take into consideration. I didn’t bother going to the Vet and getting another box of Advantage, once the frost hits fleas die outside so our flea season is over.

Monday night watching t.v with a cat on one side and a dog on another I felt a mosquito like bite on my ankle. I looked and it was a FLEA. I flipped out and went to the only place open at that time at night, 10:30pm to get something to address the issue. Well Wal-Mart it was.

I have never used over the counter flea or tick prevention before as I thought that it was not as effective as the Vet products. I have always seen Hartz products in the pet stores so thought I would give it a shot since if you can buy it, it must be safe as long as you use it correctly. We also have 6 cats that needed to be treated now and the cost of Advantage is high so
I picked up the flea and tick shampoo for cats and dogs and then the Ultra Plus flea and tick drops for both cats and dogs. I totally thought that I got a deal, so much cheaper then the Vet stuff and problem solved.
We got home bathed all the pets, when they dried off we applied the Ultra Plus Flea and Tick drops to all the cats and dogs. I thought that all was ok and went off to bed.

The next morning my boyfriend is screaming for me to come see the cats. I was horrified to see that 3 of our cats look like they are having a seizure. Poor things are curled up twitching and shaking uncontrollably. I put them all in the carriers and rushed to the vet. When I arrived and told the Vet Tec that we had used Hartz products on them, they rushed me in to see a Vet ASAP.
The Vet took one look at my 3 little ones and told me they were all suffering from TOXICICITY. I was stunned. He told me that Hartz products are terrible for pets and can cause DEATH. Cats are especially sensitive to these cheep products. I was in a state of shock.

I had to leave all three cats at the Vet for 3+ nights for them to do blood work and put them on IV fluids to get the toxins out of their system. That was $585 per cat. the Vet instructed me to go home right away and wash all the pets with anything but Hartz soap even if I didn’t see any troublesome signs.

As I was filling out the paper work, the Vet Tec told me that a woman was in the week before with 2 cats that had the same issue, she used the Hartz flea drops on her cats. Unfortunately she waited too long to bring them in and they died as they were trying to set the IV drips.

We have not had an issue with our dogs or other cats and our cats at the vet are ok NOW….Thank God!!! We do have a $1755 + tax bill that I have to pay tomorrow when I pick up may cats. Plus another $250.50 for Advantage Flea Prevention for all of the pets now.

It cost me just over $100 for all the Hartz POISON I bought and almost killed 3 of my pets by being legal to sell on shelves. If I had any I had any idea that this stuff was not safe I would have just waited until the morning and picked up the VET APPROVED medicine for the extra $150.

Tuesday night my boyfriend completely furious, found this site. After reading all the awful things that have happened to people’s beloved pets, I had to call Hartz and blast them. They claim that all their products are approved to be used on pets, and they must be to be sold on every pet store to grocery store. I mentioned this site to them and suggested they read what their products have done. They replied by telling me that they cannot take anything serious from the internet, as the internet is not regulated. They didn’t have a comment when I asked them about their web site on the internet. Funny though, they have a message voice to press #2 for a pet or Human Medical Emergency. Upon further investigation into WHY these products are still allowed to be sold seeing that Hartz had a big Law Suite already this year I made some calls.

I called the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association in regards to the matter as I thought they determined if products are safe for pet use. They make recommendation about products based on reported cases and submit them to Health Canada. They told me that they have informed Health Canada about Hartz products being unsafe, but yet they are still on the shelf.
I called Health Canada, well all I got there was an answering machine. I left my concern with my contact info as requested…that was Tuesday, I have not heard back from them. I will be calling diligently until I talk to someone at Health Canada.

In the meantime, I have decided to print off many of the victims posts and this web site and others and have been putting flyers up and dropping them off everywhere that sells Hartz products. I am also getting the Vet Association to send me their findings on Hartz products and I will be sending that to all retailers that sell Hartz products.

If you are in Canada, I encourage you to file a complaint with Health Canada with your pet medical emergency caused by the use of Hartz products and EVERYONE in Canada and the U.S to call Hartz and file a complaint with them.

I am very thankful that my pets survived the hell call Hartz, but many people have lost their pets. How many pets have to get ill or die to get this CRAP gone and take Hartz down to where they belong.

I feel like using their own Hartz products on them…..they are the pest/parasite that need to be eliminated.
Some JERKS are making millions from the Hartz company while our pets get sick, suffer or die.