We used Hartz Ultraguard spray on our baby, Samba, Wednesday. My husband recently was laid off, we just do not have a lot of money and this is the first time she has ever had fleas. We did not know how bad it was. I think we were lucky and we found this site before it had been on her for very long and after a few baths in Dawn we got it all off of her. She is just not the same cat, and we are so scared. She crashes into everything and her kitty grace is just gone. She has become distant and she just stares into space. Every now and then we can get her to play but not for a long period of time. We love her so much, we can’t have babies so she is our baby and the changes we can accept, we are just so terrified that it is the start of something so much worse and that she is going to get really sick or die. We talked to a vet and she said to keep an eye on her for a few days, but has no answers as to whether these changes are permanent or the onset of something terrible. I called Hartz and they are sending me a refund, and the lady on the phone sounded like she was totally bothered. I asked her if she uses it on her pets and she would not answer me.
10 Comments Received
July 30th, 2012 @4:17 am
People need to be careful on what they put on there pets. Ive use thses product on my dog asher (15lb shih tuz mix) for the past 5 years and never once had a problem. When you go out and get a pet you should do your homework. Alway take your pet to the vet and have them checked out and find out about allerys. Your vet will tell you if you should use a product and when to use it on your pet. If they dont or wont then it time to get a new vet. You should never put fla and tick meds of any pet under 6 months of age and when you do you should watch the closely for 24hr. Also going to the vet will show you the best way to apply the drops. If you have more the one pet and they and playful or is close to each other then you should looking in to getting shots or the pills. Never use the colliers or the drops. As for the company doing any thing about it, they dont have to. They put the info on the package and its also on their website its your responsabilly to read and learn. Pets are like people. I know mine is my baby and I do everything thing I can to keep him healthy.
July 30th, 2012 @8:34 am
One of my 3 dogs had a seizure about 3 years ago and I haven’t used that stuff since! I now use AVON Skin So Soft mixed with water and it takes care of fleas and ticks with NO chemicals. AND it is not tested on animals! I have many customers that swear by it!! I now keep it on hand!
July 30th, 2012 @2:01 pm
Are you honestly BLAMING me for this? I did not use the drops, I used the spray and I followed the directions to a T. There is NO info on the packaging that says this stuff is poison and makes pets sick. We took her to the vet this morning and she said our cat will be fine but that Hartz needs to be put out of business, and they see at least 30 cats a month for this exact issue. The only info on their website is that this product is safe. It is NOT safe, and yay for you that you have been luckier with your dog than a lot of people here have been. That is still no reason to come off as mean and condescending. My cat is my baby and I would never ever hurt her. We only used this because we are terribly short on money and tried to do the best for her with what we had.
July 30th, 2012 @2:53 pm
Jackie, Thanks for your post, we have been looking for a safe chemical free way to treat Samba. I will have to order some! I know it works wonders on people to keep the bugs away, I never thought to use it on my cat. Our vet gave us Advantix this morning, and while she said it was safe we are terrified that it will hurt her too.
July 30th, 2012 @6:35 pm
Please make a Facebook page to share the experiences with this product…Like we have for the ones that have lost our pets to Waggin Train and other pet treats.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/342467355771185/
July 30th, 2012 @11:52 pm
Jorden,
My Uncle, Dr. Les Ellington, was a Veterinarian for approximately 35-40 years (I can’t remember when he started due to some childhood drama ~ losing my father was the main thing), and Les retired at the end of last year, suddenly (which I HATE ‘coz that’s the only Vet that any of my dogs had ever known!), but when Frontline and Advantix both came out, first he said to go with Frontline, which we did and never had any problems. In July 2010 when we got our third Pom, he said to go with Advantix. I told him that Frontline is what we had been using (he wasn’t looking at the charts ~ we have three (3) Poms. We went with the Frontline and it was just not nearly as effective as it has been. He explained that animals are the same as humans ~ their bodies become immune to meds, just as ours do. So we went with the Advantix. I did notice that when using Frontline, if I used an entire tube on each dog (the heaviest Pom weighs about 15lbs), sometimes it made them a little queasy. I would give them a baby aspirin about 20 minutes before giving them the Frontline. When we switched to Advantix, I wanted to see how their little bodies reacted without the aspirin and they’ve not had ANY problems ~ at ALL ~ with Advantix. With the Frontline, all of my babies seemed to be “lazy” for the rest of that day and the day after, sometimes not even eating but about 1/4th of what they normally eat. With the Advantix, I have noticed NO problems whatsoever! In fact, I have come to like Advantix better. It seems to work better and doesn’t cause my babies to be lazy or act as if they feel queasy. I don’t know what kind of dog you have nor the weight of your dog but when using the Frontline (for up to 25lbs.), I would actually split one tube between my two older Poms. One weighs 12lbs and the other 13lbs so in order to save money, I would split it in half. But I will say that I DO PREFER the Advantix over the Frontline ~ and I get a check back about six (6) weeks. I don’t know if this is of any help to you or not, but just thought I’d give my two cents. Best of luck to your and yours. As always, if you have ANY questions or concerns, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ask your Vet!!!!!
July 31st, 2012 @11:28 am
Thanks, that eased our mind quite a bit. We are going to wait a few more days to put it on her, the vet said to try to let some of her oils come back (she would have lost them in the 5 baths she has had this week) but it is good to know that other people have had success with it.
August 3rd, 2012 @9:08 am
First, I would like to say to Jordan I am so,so,sorry for your loss,and anyone else who has lost a beloved pet or had a horrible experience. it is NOT you fault!! Especialy in this economy. You and people like you should be commended for caring for your pets..too many people dump them because money is tight…again, it is NOT your fault..don’t listen topeoplewho say otherwise.
I live out in the country and fleas and ticks are a HUGE problem, especialy since we are in a drought. Ihave found thatusing garlic (you can get brewrs yeast/garlic tabletsat Petsmart and other pet outlet stores) helps incredibly! We only have touse frontline or advantage one one of my cats. I also agreewith the comment about Dawn..it is wonderful,and a pecentage of they procedes goes towards helping animals such as the ones in the BP oil spill.
August 4th, 2012 @5:17 pm
Phoenix, thanks for your comment. I can’t imagine dumping her off. There have been times since my husband got laid off (before we went back, thank God, to work) that I would go without things so she could have the food that she liked and good kitty litter. If we would have known about Hartz before we never would have put it on her. She is my baby. We put the medicine that the vet gave us on her and it worked great. She is flea free. We live out in the country as well and they must be bad this year, she did not get them at all last year. It is really great to have the support from people who have gone through the same things with their pets.
August 8th, 2012 @1:09 am
“AVON Skin So Soft mixed with water and it takes care of fleas and ticks with NO chemicals”
AVON’s webpage says otherwise. In fact, it contains Methylisothiazolinone: “Some studies have shown MIT to be allergenic and cytotoxic, and this has led to some concern over its use.[11][12] In 2002, there was an in vitro study of the neurotoxicity of MIT in the department of Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh.[13] In that study, it was shown that a short exposure (10 min) to concentrations of MIT of 30-100 micromolar (or 4-12 parts per million) were lethal to mature neurons in tissue culture, but not to other brain cells, such as astrocytes (support cells).”
It also has Methylchloroisothiazolinone, which is an irritant and generally discouraged from use in products that have prolonged contact with skin…
And that’s just the possibly harmful chemicals, there are plenty of detergents that are chemical in nature as well…
On topic, yeah, the symptoms described are similar to what Tetrachlorvinphos, the active ingredient can cause.
Hartz products are major bad news for cats… even the cat-specific drops formulation is moderately toxic to cats…
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