I recently moved into my own apartment, taking my kitten with me. My mom’s house was really damp and we were never able to stop the fleas, so I asked my bf to pick up some flea drops on the way home so we wouldn’t have an infestation here too. As soon as I put the product on I could tell something was not right, she just seemed depressed. A few hours later I noticed the back leg twitchs that were so violent I was worried she was going to break her foot or something, along with shaking, not eating, and weird breathing. I didn’t know what to do, until I started reading other stories and these things can NOT be a coincidence. I bathed her as best as I could and once she started to dry she became more normal right away, rubbing against me and eating some wet food that was left out (not normal that she would have left that there in the first place). I hope she will not have long term side effects and I will be spreading the word about how dangerous this is, how is it even possible to have thousands of deaths and this not be a well known thing? I can not believe a product meant to help animals is knowingly hurting them and not taking steps to change whatever is in them. Oh, and by the way, i’m pretty sure not even one flea died in this process.
8 Comments Received
August 4th, 2012 @5:20 pm
I just went through the same thing with my cat, and I wish you the best. Your story is a lot like mine, we washed it off of her pretty fast and she is getting better by the day. She was really off and not herself for a few days but it is getting better. I will pray for her speedy recovery.
August 4th, 2012 @8:29 pm
Omg, I wish I would have found this site sooner. We recently used the HG Ultra Guard Pro on our 14 y/o to help with fleas, and I noticed that he didn’t seem right immediately. He was experiencing the same issues your baby was, but I didn’t realize it was coming from that. His symptoms suddenly escalated Thursday night (8/2/12) and he died from a sudden massive seizure before we could get him to a vet. I feel so awful. He was such a happy playful cat, and so loving too. I can’t help but feel now that it’s our fault he died…
August 7th, 2012 @8:18 am
My cat died 2 weeks after the initial treatment. You might want to try using activated charcoal (internally and as a poultice on the spot where you used the drops) …. this MAY help draw out some of the poison.
Check to see whether it was an organophosphate in the poison .. if so, tell your vet and they should try atropine.
The violent leg tremors were my cats first symptoms … she appeared to get better, before she started getting worse. After the initial symptoms subsided, she got lethargic, then could not use her back legs and finally could barely lift her head. It was as if a paralysis was advancing up her body from her hind legs. I think the poison finally affected her ability to breath.
I hope you cat will be okay.
It is terrible that these products remain on the store shelves without clear and obvious labeling indicating the danger of its use.
August 7th, 2012 @11:11 pm
“Hartz Ultra Guard Pro Is Poison” <— it's an insecticide… so, yeah… it is a poison. This is not news.
The two chemicals in the cat flea drops are: Methoprene, which is essentially non-toxic (it's a hormone analog), and Etofenprox which a synthetic chemical similar to compounds from Chrysanthemums… is also generally non-toxic to vertebrates, because they can discharge them quickly (invertebrates cannot)… and that holds true except for CATS?! Wait, cats are highly susceptible to Etofenprox, and it's in a cat flea formula?!
Ok, so, apparently, the most common toxicosis (illness due to poison) in cats is from using dog flea treatments on a cat, because it uses permethrin, which is highly toxic to cats, which can cause "Full-body tremors are the most common finding, although seizures may also occur.1 Other pyrethroids, including phenothrin and etofenprox, can cause a similar syndrome in cats when used at high concentration"
How old was your cat, and how much did she weigh? If she were under 1 year, and a little kitten, then it's easily understandable that you accidentally overdosed her with etofenprox… (this still doesn't explain or excuse why they use a pyrethroid for cat formulations, when its dangerous in high-doses…)
August 8th, 2012 @8:35 am
Please check out our website for an all natural flea product. wwww.ashleysgreenproducts.net
August 10th, 2012 @12:46 pm
Please read this before putting any chemical on your pets.
August 10th, 2012 @12:48 pm
Please read this article before putting any chemicals on your pets. Many vaccines also cause cancer and tumors, need only the ones required by law which is rabies. Do all in moderation.
Same as for humans and children.
September 23rd, 2012 @8:30 am
I used Hartz Ultraguard on our 16 yr.-old outide cat Prissy in early August. By the next day I discovered her to be lethargic, confused, and unable to eat. Her vocalizations had become raspy and throaty and she seemed to have skin itches which I thought might be angry fleas having a last meal!!! She seemed to have visual problems in her one good eye (cataract on the other) as she acted like she was afraid of things in the rooom.
I did not make the connection to the flea medicine when I took her to the vet that afternoon and forgot to mention it. The vet checked her repiratory/ throat sounds and thought there might be something such as tumors to deal with in her throat because she is so old, and that she exhibited no outward signs of runny nose, eyes, etc. that would accompany a lung or throat illness. She gave me an antibiotic just to try to deal with any type of respiratory infection that she might have missed, but she suggested it was probably the end of Prissy’s life we were dealing with. After several days of the antibiotic, and before I took her to the appointment to be euthanized (about a week after the flea treatment), she began to eat again. Now, she is perfectly fine.
Her vocalizations are still weak and more like a whisper now, but she never had a strong meow, so I think she is returned to her normal health for a 16 yr.-old. I realize now that she is too old to be using any kind of flea treatments in the future. It appears that her flea problem is minimal as I have not found any on her. Perhaps the treatment took care of that!
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