I had no idea until yesterday that Hartz UltraGuard Plus Drops for Cats killed our beautiful 16 yr old kitty Greta. I am so sorry that we did know that Hartz products were so dangerous to our precious pets, and wish I had thought to google it before we gave this product to our 2 cats. Poor Greta really suffered, and I am heartbroken that I did not even connect the flea drops to her sudden illness. She seemed okay for about one week after we applied the drops, but then she was so sick, I had to take her to the vet to have her put to sleep. The first day she was ill, she had diarrhea, then she vomited for hours, our baby was in such pain, she cried everytime she had to throw up. She did not eat or drink anything. The next day, she seemed very thirsty, but everytime she drank water, she would urinate as she was drinking the water. Sadly, she was sick on a weekend, and by Sunday evening, she was just wiped out, lethargic and just tired of feeling so sick. I took her to the vet on Monday. He thought it was either diabetes or renal failure. She was so dehydrated that he couldn’t even find a vein large enough to give her the needle to put her to sleep. Her bladder was very full, this means her little kidneys were not working. I read many of the posts from pet lovers like us who have experienced what we have just been through. I am grateful for this website, and I will do what I can to spread the word to hopefully one day get these products off the market.
My heart is broken to realize that we may have been able to save our cat if we knew how lethal Hartz drops were. I’m so sorry Gretie, we put you to sleep too soon. We love you and will try to help other cats in your memory.
10 Comments Received
May 31st, 2011 @7:29 pm
First of all, I have been a veterinarian for over 20 years and although Frontline and products such as this give vets incentive to push pet owners to buy their products, I do not. Hartz is just as good as these more expensive medicines and as with ALL medications, there are side effects and certain animals are more sensitive to them. Besides the fact that your cat was 16 years old and ready to die, if Hartz was this bad, then it would have made both of your cats sick, not just one. Furthermore, a full bladder only means that your cat needs to urinate, not that his kindeys are not working. If he had renal failure, then his kidneys would NOT be filtering at all and he would have an empty bladder. Finially, just as with humans, diabetes and renal failure does not develope over a few days, it takes years of poor health to cause it. Thus, if your cat did have these diseases, then it was your fault because you didn’t properly care for you animals and you are COMPLETELY responisble for putting you cat asleep and blaminging it on a product you obviously have no idea about. You are an uninformed cat owner, not a veterinarian so don’t try and pretend you known what your talking about.
June 1st, 2011 @5:03 pm
Jesus Christ Dr. Angela Allen, do you even have a heart? They just lost their 16 year old cat and here’s you point the finger at them yelling “BAD PARENTING” I might as well just point the finger at you at yell “BAD HUMAN”. What does it take to get a bit of sympathy around here?
Sorry about your cat
June 1st, 2011 @8:35 pm
damn maybe the vet he took the cat too had a better idea on how to diagnose it then some stuck up bitch who thinks she can do a better job after reading a story. Way to go after the guy and just so you know I put the same drops on my cat and she’s starting to have some side effects after two hours. My dog showed none from frontline drops. Shitty vets everywhere I guess
June 1st, 2011 @9:01 pm
Fuck you you piece of shit looser. you have no clue what the fuck you are talking about. you are stupid enough to believe in jesus and everything else you read or see on tv… rot with your dilusions
June 2nd, 2011 @2:12 am
wow! DR. Allen being that your vet Iam totally surprised by your reaction to Gretas Death. Maybe your right? but clearly you didnt take a look at the other 2,000 reviews on this product. I assume you went to school to help animals, but maybe you should go back and take look at youself! Have some compasstion.
yours truely,
another victom of HARTZ products!
June 2nd, 2011 @6:49 am
My neighbor just called me to tell me that her young cat had seizures all night because she applied Hartz flea stuff for cats on her lastnight. I told her she needs to take her cat to the vet asap because they need to get that junk off her cat. I hope the kitty will be ok. Fingers crossed. All Hartz flea and tick killer need to be removed from public hands. It’s a product that is deadly to our pets especially cats. BAD HARTZ!!
June 4th, 2011 @12:18 am
I just read your post about your little kitty, Greta. I’m so sorry. I love my cats so much, as obviously, you do too. Some people don’t understand. “It’s just a cat!”. No it’s not. My cats make my life so much better, they are part of my family. And they’re my friends. Please don’t blame yourself about what happened to Greta, it’s not your fault. You loved her very much and you gave her a great life full of happiness. You did all you could for her. And this post you wrote about her may very well have saved two lives. My cats get their annual vaccines from the county where I live. I used to get flea control medicine from them but because of budget cuts, they can’t sell it anymore. You have to go to a pet pharmacy, have them call the county for a prescription and then you can get the good flea control, like Advantix or Revolution. It’s costs A LOT. I was in WalMart today and saw the Hart’s flea control. It was dirt cheap so I figured it probably doesn’t work well. I didn’t buy it but decided to rearch it and then I found this website. This stuff causes horrifying suffering and it KILLS. I’m shocked by these stories, I can’t stop my tears. How can they still sell this crap? I will look for a petition and if none is found I will start one to get this deadly poison off the market.
I’m so sorry you lost Greta. You gave her sixteen years of love. Remember that.
June 7th, 2011 @5:51 pm
Dawn, thank you for your kind words, it means alot to me and my family. I’m glad you found this website before you gave your cats this poison. I will take comfort in knowing that Greta’s story will hopefully save other cats and dogs. She was very loved, and she showed us everyday how much she loved us. We will never forget her. Look through the older posts, you’ll find information about where to write to the attorney general of your state, and let me know if petitions exist.
Although I would like to respond to each of the comments to my post about the loss of my cat Greta, I feel it is necessary to say “Thank you” to all of you who felt my outrage when I read the post by Dr. Allen. I was so shocked that anyone could be so heartless, uncompassionate and outright MEAN to a complete stranger who had just lost their beloved cat. Dr. Allen, that you are a veterinarian was even more shocking to me. Wow. Sure hope you don’t treat animals the way you treat people. I would like you to know that we have always taken very good care of our cats, and yes, Greta was 16 years old and probably not in perfect health, which is why I firmly believe the Hartz flea drops made her suddenly ill. You do not know me or my pets, so you have no right to tell me or anyone else that they are responsible for the death of their animal. I may not have understood soon enough the symptoms my cat suffered, but I’m glad this website exists to educate pet owners who are trying to find out if all products on the market are actually safe.
You could have offered your expert opinion to be helpful instead of being so snide, rude and hateful. I feel sorry for any animal that is sick or dying and brought to you. You certainly don’t seem very compassionate, and I am glad that our vet is not like you. May I suggest that you spend some time reading a dictionary instead of posting mean comments on a website for compassionate pet owners? Your spelling sucks, and your attitude really sucks.
June 10th, 2011 @4:09 pm
Dear Becky L.M.,
I cannot tell you how sorry I am that this has happened to you, Gretie and your family. It’s important that you know that this happens to thousands of pets and families every year and you are not the guilty party. It is Hartz and the other manufacturers of these over-the-counter topical pesticide spot-on’s that have created this reprehensible tragedy. Worse, it has been going on for decades. Unfortunately, the federal agency established to protect consumers and American citizens, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has been completely complicit–actually an enabler–of the devastation to animals and pet owners.
I sincerely hope you to take action and fight back against these products and the manufacturers. Please help other families and pets avoid the pain and sense of loss you and your family have experienced. Please call Hartz (1-800-275-1414) and also call your state Attorney General (I don’t know in what state you reside but you can find the name and contact number for your state attorney general in the phone book or Google) and the EPA (703-305-7090) and the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC). Believe me, Hartz will not be happy to hear from you and will NOT want you calling the EPA or your Attorney General or the NPIC. You should be sure to insist that Hartz reimburse you for your veterinary expenses–do not take no for an answer–and let your state Attorney General know the outcome of that demand. Additionally, please, take one other important step to help yourself and other pets and pet owners. Please take the time to report your incident to the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC). This organization works with the EPA to compile the database of incidents and statistics that will be analyzed and used as a basis for corrective action. The NPIC can be reached at 1-800-858-7378. They are very professional, courteous and efficient. This is a critical step in the public forcing the EPA–one of the most lax oversight agencies in the federal government–to do the right thing and get these neurotoxin pesticide ingredients out of the marketplace. I have spoken with people at the EPA who, “off the record”, completely agree that these products are extremely dangerous and should not be in the marketplace but feel they cannot do anything about it.
Hartz Mountain has one of the most deplorable safety records in the industry with these pesticide products. Their disgraceful safety record goes back to the late 1980′s with their product “Blockade” which caused immense damage to animals and also injured humans, prior to Hartz having to remove it from the marketplace. Since then they have been fined, forced to make labeling changes and had their cat and kitten product cancelled by the EPA in 2005. In spite of this late and lax action by the EPA, Hartz and other manufacturers continue to develop, distribute, market and sell pesticide neurotoxins that injure and kill pets by the tens of thousands each year. It’s reprehensible that Hartz, BioSpot (Farnam), Sergeant’s, Summit VetPharm (Vectra and Vectra D) and others continue to injure and kill thousands of pets–-it’s absolutely unacceptable. We should all do whatever we can to prevent this from happening to other animals and families. Communications to the proper regulatory agencies, manufacturers, NPIC, the media and politicians are critical steps. The media actually frightens the manufacturers more than any entity I’ve mentioned. Your Attorney General is another person Hartz does not want to hear from. All the best. Again, I’m very sorry this has happened to you and Greta. I understand the pain and sense of guilt. I’ve been through the same ordeal and it’s something that must stop. No animal should endure the pain and suffering that these pesticide products inflict. No family should endure the sense of loss and the feeling of guilt. As for “Dr. Angela Allen”–her comments are meaningless, insensitive and devoid of facts. There isn’t a veterinarian, ER specialist, veterinary technician or animal toxicologist that worth his or her salt that believes these products are safe and effective. I cannot tell you how many specialists I’ve communicated with that find these products deplorable. The only veterinarians who will endorse these deplorable products are those that realize a potential financial gain. Please disregard her callous and inaccurate comments. However, I hope you’ll translate your grief and anger into constructive action and do everything you can to ensure these products are taken off the market. Again, I’m very sorry. All the best
June 14th, 2011 @5:15 pm
First of all~ I would like to offer my sincere sympathy to you on the loss of your pet. I too suffered a loss from using Sergeants on my 2-1/2 year old male cat. He seized for hours before he passed away. The fea treatment KILLED him. It needs to be taken off our shelves at our stores. It is not full proof to be used on pets and it doesnt kill fleas. There are several similar stories like yours and mine on Sergeants and Hartz websites. We are not at fault here…and dont you dare listen to the dumb vet up there that was callus and rude to you. My vet does not recommend anything but Frontline and Advantage. Every vet I spoke too here and told my story say not to use these products because they are not full proof and its not to make a sale, but to save a pet. You did nothing wrong but trust that these products on our retail shelves were trustworthy..and they are NOT! I have sent letters to my state reps and the EPA trying to get something done about this myself too. I sent a letter to the editor in my local Newspaper warning other pet lovers of the harms of these products and it was published. I got so many calls, letters and cards regarding my letter. One lady worked at the Animal Shelter here and took my letter and posted it in the shelter for other pet lovers to see. I am still fighting for my beloved Smokey and will continue to warn others. To the vet up above of over 20 years. You really need to work on your spelling and you need to research Hartz and Sergeants flea products on the internet. There are thousands of stories just like ours of this poison killing our pets. We LOVED our pets and TRUSTED that these products were SAFE. They ARE NOT!! I would never take a pet of mine to you, because you are heartless and have no idea what you are talking about. You want to talk about someone being uninformed, maybe you need to look in your OWN mirror. Don’t belittle those of us who were not aware of the dangers of these products. They need to be more specific on their labels the dangers of these products. I guarantee if they told the real TRUTH.. no one would buy it! Becky you have my sincere sympathy on the loss of Greta! Fight hard for those other pets out there and pet owners who have no clue what these products can do to them.
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