I have a 7 week old kitten named Missy. I live with my uncle and he has a dog who goes outside but my kitten doesn’t I prefer to have her inside so she doesn’t run off and get into stuff that will harm her. Anyway because my uncle’s dog goes outside he sometimes gets fleas and sadly, my little Missy got them bad and she would constantly be crying and scratching and following me around hoping I could get rid of the fleas. I felt bad so I asked my uncle’s vet if there was anything I could use on her that wouldn’t harm her but kill the fleas. All she did was tell me to go to any grocery store and anything would work. I started to have a bad feeling when she said that because not everything is perfect. I then saw Hartz products and I called and asked her about the ingredients and she told me to use the spray. She also told me not to use a lot because it said to not use for kittens under 12 weeks old. I bought the product and sprayed a little on her, she tried to lick herself and I noticed immediately that we was pretty much eating the spray. I quickly got online and saw this website. I started to cry and freak out because I don’t want anything happening to her so I went to the kitchen sink and filled up the plastic tub with dawn soap and warm water, I washed her down and dried her off. So far she seems normal and she drank some cold water I gave her to hopefully get the chemicals out of her mouth. If it wasn’t for this site my baby could be slowly getting sick right now and I am so happy that she is climbing up my back and sitting behind my neck again purring and being herself. Tomorrow I will be returning the Hartz spray and never using it again! My animals do not need to be treated as an object from a company who uses harmful chemicals!!!
5 Comments Received
December 18th, 2012 @9:24 am
I published your story on my website. I lost a beautiful Siamese blue eyed male cat. Because of the Hartz Flea & Tick drops. He was a rescue from a shelter, that I brought home and basically poisoned. My grieving process is to spread the word about Hartz Products and basically any pet product that is over the counter. The FDA doesn’t regulate them.
December 20th, 2012 @9:45 pm
I’m so very sorry for all you people who lost pets! It’s hard to get over the loss, and especially if it was something that didn’t have to happen, like Hartz. Hartz SHOULDN’T have to happen. I don’t know how we can get their products off the market – I know other people have tried. So, we communicate. I’ve told three vets and asked my shelter to spread the word.
I was lucky enough that three kittens, using Hartz KMR, were in a coma and barely breathing, but they all came through. I was slowly dying myself, watching and holding them and hoping for the best – but mine survived. What about all those who didn’t?
Hartz makes me very angry. So nowadays, whenever I talk to animal friends of any kind, I spread the word. With chemicals, people believe you right away. But with kitten milk replacer? It has happened, I’m not the only one to report this. But it’s hard to believe. Milk? You can see the skepticism. But OMG, it happened three times. And they were tiny things, having seizures, going into a coma where their pupils were not light-reactive – so scary!
I use a different brand now, and they like it better anyway. I foster baby kittens for a shelter, and I was so very sorry that it happened under my watch. The only thing we can do right now is COMMUNICATE to everyone we can think of not to use Hartz products. As far as I know, NONE OF THEM is safe.
So that’s what we do in memory of the ones who passed away. We communicate.
With love,
Alice J
December 22nd, 2012 @5:23 pm
First of all I would like to ask what kind of idiotic vet are you going to?! “Just go to the grocery store, anything will work” WTF?!! Secondly, why are you applying dog flea and tick medicine to a kitten?! You people are the ones who should be taken off the market. Unbelievably stupid. There’s a new thing called the internet. Think for yourselves, do some studying. Take Hartz off the market. Fuckin stupid.
January 17th, 2013 @11:30 pm
@Tired, why all the anger? Do you work for Hartz? Apparently she used a Hartz product that said not to use on kittens under 12 weeks old. It didn’t say NOT to use it on cats at all. Do you do internet research for every product you plan on using? For somethings, maybe. For everything, I doubt it. No-one does.
The vet she called basically told her it was ok so why the name calling?
January 24th, 2013 @10:03 pm
I cannot believe that was recommended by a veterinary professional! Time to switch vets IMO! Toxicities easily happen with OTC flea/tick products and its not pretty. I would NEVER use an OTC topical, dip or spray for flea/ticks. Ever. There are simply too many risks. I would rather spend a little more money up front on a SAFE product from my veterinarian then pay unnecessary veterinary fees or even the loss of my pets because I decided to use an unsafe over the counter and un-regulated flea medication.
I’m sorry for everyones losses and bad experiences.
Veterinary staff need to be educating their clients about the harm these products do, shame on this veterinarian for promoting this crap, pardon my language.
Hartz and other products sold OTC DO NEED TO BE BANNED, for the sake of our animals. They can’t speak up for themselves, so we need to speak for them. Toss that useless Hartz product in the trash and give your veterinarian a call about a safe product.
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