Yet another HARTZ victim

My name is Stephanie and I have a cat named Champ. He is a 1 year and 10
month old orange tabby, weighs 4.15 kg. On May 5, 2011, at 8 pm on Friday
evening, my mom, Lori,  gave Champ a dosage of the Hartz product she had
purchased from a local walmart store, in Brantford, Ontario. The Hartz product
she had given him was called Ultra Guard – One Spot Treatment for Cats and
Kittens, which is a product to control flea and ticks. Immediately, Champ began
to jump around, drooling, excessive running around the house. All in around 10
minutes, Champ had ingested some of the product which was placed on the back of
his neck, between his shoulder blades, as shown on the package and was therefore
acting out of sorts. At this point Lori watched Champs behaviour closely
at which time she noticed his mouth was wide open, looking like he was gasping
for air and panting breaths. When Champ stopped jumping around, Lori noticed he
was trying to lick the spot which is when he probably ingested some of the
product as well as absorbing into the hair follicles. Lori then decided to bathe
Champ in warm water and mild soap. He seemed to calm down slightly, but
continued to have rapid breathing as well as an unclosed mouth. We were awaken
in the morning, on May 6, 2011, at 8:28 am, to the sound of Champ’s head banging
off the wooden bed frame. Champ appeared to be having some type of seizure
activity going on. He dug his claws into the carpet, had his head lowered and he
was thrusting forward. Champ was frothing at the mouth, his eyes were
flickering, his entire body was in a tremor; even his tail was twitching, which
lead us to believe he was having convulsions. My dad, Mike, picked Champ
up and moved him away from the bed, tried to calm him down by petting him and it
seemed to have brought him to for a brief moment. Mike then got a towel and got
it wet and wrapped it around Champ. My mom, Lori then held him tightly
wrapped in the towel for comfort and noted his mouth was wide open and was
gasping for air while continuing to tremor. We then telephoned our local
veterinarian clinic, Beattie Animal Hospital Professional Corporation. The
veterinarian tech that we spoke to, stated we needed to bring him in
immediately. She informed my dad that it was going to be a $75.00 emergency fee
charge to look at Champ along with a 24 hour hospital stay with medication. Once
we arrived at the vet, Champ was diagnosed with Pyrethrin Toxicity and needed IV
medication and other medical care. The Dr. stated this is caused from the hartz
treatment. She also stated that they have treated several other animals with the
same reaction to this product. She told my mom that if we had left Champ much
longer, the undesirable might happen; meaning death. They took Champ into their
care and told us they would keep us updated after he received sufficient
treatment. After the first IV treatment we received a phone call from the
attending physician stating that he was resting and they would continue to
update us. The second call from the clinic, a tech stated an hour and a half
later Champ went back into tremors so they had to repeat the IV treatment for a
second time and would give us an update later. Champ then spent 24 hours in the
ICU. We received a call at 8:30am from the physician stating that Champ could be
picked up at 10:30am and taken home. When we went to pick him up, the physician
came out and explained the medical treatment he received, gave discharge
instructions with a prescription. Since being discharged, Champ has began to
bounce back some-what. He still has a slight twitch. I wouldn’t say he is the
same cat as before the Hartz treatment. I now sit here, trying to explain as
much information as I have.  The reason I am writing you about this
matter is that I could possibly have a cat who could occur long term physical or
mental abnormalities because of this occurrence, only time will tell. It is now
May 9, 2011 at 8:38pm and I am saddened for the trauma Champ has gone through,
along with myself and family. As a result of using  your Hartz product, my cat, Champ, was hospitalized. I have read and re-read your packages application instructions, precautions, first aid and storage / disposal information. No where on your packaging does it state that a Kitten or Cat can be seriously harmed, or killed by the use of your product. After Champs seizures and trip to the vet, my family and I have done some research on the internet. It appears that this is not the first time that an animal has been
harmed by using your Hartz products.

Hartz products are unsafe for any animal as proven by all these terrible stories on your website.. I hope we can make a difference so nobody else has a sad story to tell.