HartzVictims.org » Anonymous

another victim

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:53:38 +0000

A couple nights ago, our beloved cat Iggy (whom I’ve had for 13 years) SUFFERED a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE death. She has always been a thin, young acting cat who never seemed to age. She’s an indoor cat, but recently developed a flea problem that spread throughout our house. Due to our economic situation, instead of going to the vet and getting Advantage like we usually do, I bought Hartz Ultra Guard flea & tick drops at Walmart. We had put the drops on her a couple days prior. We noticed she was leaving clumps of hair around the house, that her water intake increased, she wasn’t eating and she had vomited clear mucus. Since she has had a sensitive stomach her whole life, is persnickety, and is often picky about eating, we didn’t think a lot of it right away. My husband just thought she’s getting old, and I figured she was mad at us for putting the medicine on her and was refusing to clean herself. Two days later, she was fine in the morning, rubbing up against my husband for affection. He went to bed that night while I was in the office working, and he heard her gasping for air from under the bed. He found her laying on her side, struggling to breath. When he pulled her from under the bed, she was gasping for air, vomiting dark green bile, defacating, and jerking around. The stuff coming out of her was GREEN!!! IT WAS HORRIBLE. It happened so fast, that all he could do was stroke her and comfort her while she died in his arms and tell her it was ok to go, because he knew she was in excruciating pain. He buried her under a tree the next morning while I watched from the kitchen window, crying.

He was sure that her liver failed due to old age. I wasn’t convinced, and thought it seemed like she was poisoned and asked my husband if he thought the Hartz flea drops did it. He assured me it was just old age, but I was thinking he was just telling me that to keep me from feeling I poisoned my cat to death. I haven’t been able to let it go the past 2 days, playing everything over and over in my mind. So, I just started researching liver & kidney failure in cats. Didn’t seem like she fit the traditional. Then I did a Google search on “Hartz” and immediately found your website.

Needless to say I am ENRAGED to find out that Hartz is what probably killed Iggy!!!!!!! I just called my husband, and he is shocked as well. How can that company be ALLOWED TO STAY IN BUSINESS WITH SOOOOOOOOOO MANY PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????? It’s like living in an episode of the Twilight Zone! It completely DOESN’T MAKE SENSE that they have been allowed to continue in business!!!! Furthermore, I’ve been a pet owner most of my like. WHY HAVEN’T I EVER HEARD ANY OF THESE REPORTS????? WHY AREN’T THERE HUGE NEON SIGNS POSTED IN VETS’ OFFICES if they are all saying “I hope you didn’t put Hartz on your pet!”?????

THIS IS INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Something has GOT TO BE DONE to put them out of business

Thank you for providing a means for allowing me to vent, so my healing can begin. Thank you also for creating this website as a way to help stop this horrific cruelty, torture, and murder of innocent animals and our beloved family members (our pets).

Prince William’s Story

Anonymous — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:42:52 +0000

This story was sent to me via email today:

After noticing fleas on my one-year old Shih-Tzu, Prince William, I bought Hartz Ultra Guard Flea and tick drops. I parted the hair and applied it down his back. That was on Saturday May 17th. By Sunday, William was acting different, but I thought it was because we had a visitor, and he doesn’t like to share his attention. My son gave him a bath and after the bath, Prince William collapsed on the floor and began to loose control of his bowels. I rushed him to the vet and he was severely dehydrated, he had blood in his stool and urine. The doctor ran tests and told me that she suspected toxins in his system, but at the time I couldn’t think of anything that would have caused that. She asked me about the bath he took and decided that maybe he drank some of his bathwater and there-in laid the problem. He was released the next day, but was unexplainably irritated. He would not allow any touches on his back or sides. I had to lift him from his stomach. The next couple of days I noticed bleeding from his neck and took him back to the hospital. They shaved his hair in order to clean the sore and noticed that his back had third degree burns from his neck down his back. At that time they asked me what I had poured on Prince William as if I had mistreated him. I told them the only thing we put on him besides Hartz shampoo, was the Ultra Guard flea and tick drops. He is currently being treated for his burns, and it’s getting very costly, but more importantly, he has been in pain. He has not been my playful Willie in almost two weeks. The hair on his back will possibly never grow back. The worst is that the vet says he has a long, uphill battle ahead of him, and it all started with Hartz UltraGuard flea and tick drops.

BIO-SPOT MADE MY CAT VERY ILL

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:27:26 +0000

DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT. IT MADE MY CAT VERY ILL. we gave it to him 9 days ago and he is still sick. This product has synthetic pyrethrins in it which are very toxic to cats. Not all cats will get sick from it but too many have!! I have been watching my normally very active and happy 3 year old cat be extremely lethargic now for 9 days, he can barely walk. It started the night we gave him the Bio-Spot. He had a very high fever by the next day and was tremoring. Has has been to the vet twice and spent a night in the ER. He is still very lethargic and still having trouble walking. Thank god he is improving and it looks like he will be okay. But no one should go through this. So many people have lost their pets already to this product and others like it. The EPA needs to be alerted by everyone who has had a pet get sick from this stuff so it gets taken off of the market.

Hartz One Spot for Cats and Kittens

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:21:49 +0000

5-14-2008: Today, as my daughter was brushing our long-haired Siamese cat (named Romeow), she found fleas with bite sores on his head and neck. She came to me pleading I do something for him to stop his agony.

Every year, I purchase flea collars for our family pets (consisting of 2 dogs and 1 cat). This year, I had purchased all natural and organic collars from Mountainroseherbs.com, but was still in the process of waiting for the shipments arrival when I made a HUGE mistake.

I had my daughter run to Target and buy some Neosporin and some kind of flea treatment for our cat. She came home with Hartz OneSpot Flea Egg and Larvae Treatment for Cats and Kittens.

Romeow had bloody sore spots above his eyes and in and behind his ears, so the first thing we did was put a dab of Neosporin on each of those sores. We then applied the contents of one full tube of the Hartz treatment between Romeow ‘s shoulder blades.

He seemed content at first, but within an hour, he began howling a horrific cry (if you ‘ve ever owned a Siamese, you know what I mean). As I went to check on him, I found him hunched over in a corner of my daughters bedroom. There were piles of vomit surrounding him.

Romeow is a very large cat. He weighs 22 lbs., has asthma (treated by our vet with Prednisone), and has never been fed anything but Iams dry cat food (the most recent being Iams Healthy Naturals). Knowing Siamese can have allergic reactions or sensitivities to certain foods, we ‘ve always been consistant about his diet.

So, all this vomiting he was doing surprised us. It was obvious to me he was very stressed. His ears were back, he had a glare in his eyes, his howls were deep growls, and he did not want to be approached. Totally out of character for him!

I did a quick Google search to see if vomiting was a symptom of this Hartz treatment, when I came across this website. I could not believe the horror stories I read about this particular product!

I bathed Romeow with an unscented castile liquid soap, then picked up the phone and immediately dialed my veternarians office. I was told by my vet that they would never recommend this product to anyone for use on their pets.

When I was asked if he was eating or drinking since all this vomiting occured, I replied, "no, he hasn ‘t, but that I was kind of force feeding him water by cupping my hands and placing the water to his mouth, making him swallow some."

Their major concern for him right now is dehydration.

I told my vet that since I bathed him, the vomiting had subsided for the past 20 minutes, and that he was wrapped in a warm blanket sleeping right now.

Their advice was for me to offer him some tuna, tuna water, chicken, chicken broth, or even baby food (such as liver meat). If he did not eat or drink, would vomit further, or show anymore signs of distress, I was to call back so he could be seen by the vet immediately.

Right now, as I write in this blog, I ‘m praying these poison toxins were all washed off in time, and our beloved Romeow will come out of this okay!

I am angry! Not only at myself for having applied this to our family friend, but at Hartz, for manufacturing a product that can be lethally toxic!

Please, Please, don ‘t EVER use this product! For the safety of your pets, use an all natural organic remedy instead! If only I had waited for the arrival of my shipment, which consisted of a 100% Herbal Rechargeable Flea Collar that is safe for cats and dogs, and manufactured by: Natural Animal Health Products, Inc.

Lily spent the night at the vet

Anonymous — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:20:47 +0000

After using Sergants flea and tick on her, she became really sick. I finally took her to the vet. After a couple of shots and a night there she got to come home today. The vet also showed me a cat that the owners had given the same stuff to last week. It had been there for a week. I only had a small bill but it could have been alot worse if I had not gotten her in there when I did. The vet called Sergants and told them about it. I also called them today and made an incident report. Everyone who has used this bad stuff needs to do also. It is really bad to have this on the market, and have lots more really sick dogs and cats out there. Please do not purchase this spend a little more an go to the vet for your flea and tick prevention.

Rocco SEVERELY HURT by Hartz Chew & Clean intenstinal blockage

Anonymous — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:12:28 +0000

I bought a Hartz Play ‘n Snack Triple Pack for my 8 month old French Bulldog puppy Rocco. This product included three items: 1. Chew n’ Clean Durable Nylon Bone 2. Snack Bursts – Beef & Bacon Flavored Treats3. Bacon Bone – Corn Starch Chew BoneHe is an active 8 month old puppy who likes to chew. I have had great luck with similar products, however the Hartz Chew n’ Clean “durable” nylon bone unfortunately was partially ingested by Rocco. He was perfectly fine and then Sunday morning after our am walk and breakfast he stopped playing and began to vomit. This continued all day and night Sunday. 1st thing Monday morning I called my vet and made an appointment. Rocco would not eat. He would drink water, but could not keep anything down.At the time I did not know what was causing the problem. The vet examined Rocco. He was not running a fever and she ruled out illness as a cause. She X-rayed Rocco but couldn’t see anything. However, she was very concerned that he had eaten a foreign object and there was an obstruction. To make a long and painful story short. Rocco had swallowed pieces of this “Durable” Nylon Bone which caused a very severe partial blockage. Basically the pieces were stuck in his stomach and being pulled into his small intestine to no avail because they were stuck. He had emergency surgery on Thursday which removed the pieces. Fortunately we caught it in time but it was very touch and go. He is still in the hospital and I HOPE to be alble to take him home Monday. I am posting this in hopes that other doggie parents will know that this product IS VERY VERY DANGEROUS it can severely injure your pet and even KILL! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THESE KINDS OF PRODUCTS TO YOUR PETS!!!

SentryPro issues-Any Flea Product can kill

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:12:46 +0000

I have an 8 month old Chihuahua named Delilah. I noticed she was itching her knee area on her back leg and thought maybe she had recieved a flea from the backyard and since the weather has been getting warmer, it is the season to re-treat for fleas. I gave her SentryPro which is Sergent’s brand and not Hartz. The reason I want to post this here is because it is not just Hartz or Sergent’s brands that are lethal to some animals. After doing investigations on my own, it is all very bad and it can affect everyone, including your children. Within hours after giving my dog this treatment, her back leg began to jerk. It reminds me of a jack rabbit or a horse bucking someone off of them. The uncontrolled movements made me first think it was the flea bite irritating her or that the flea bit her again before dying. Unfortunately, I didn’t think much else of it until the symptoms got worse. My dog was laying with me, starting to jerk, and then the breathing issues came up. She started to have reverse sneezes. They were constant and I couldn’t stop them. I tried all the remedies on the internet that I could find at 3am and none of them worked. It took me about 30 minutes to figure out that this is not just reverse sneezing and fleas, it is an allergic reaction. I rushed my dog into the bathroom and began to scrub her down. Placing her in a towel, I held her close feeling the jerks and slight convulsions she had. Shaking of her head, kicking her feet, and the overwhelming need to gnaw on her feet and the soles of them. I rolled over on my bed to try and get us both more confortable and noticed that the bed was wet. Thinking at first she may have had an accident, I realized that it was on my pillow too where her face was laying prior to the bath. She was drooling! I could now see spit collected in her mouth that was dripping from both sides. I tried to give her water. The reverse sneezing stopped shortly after the bath but jerks and gnawing continued through the night. I was afraid to fall asleep wondering what I had done to her or if I caught it in time. I was angry because the back of the package only says that if SENSITIVITY OCCURS, WASH WITH MILD SOAP AND RINSE WITH LOTS OF WATER. Sensitivity? Isn’t sensitivity more like mild diarrhea? Maybe indigestion? Or a headache? I called the Consumer Affairs with the company today and they told me that they had a a caller just before mine that read things I had read on the internet and tried to discredit them by saying it was opinion. My problem was the box does not say, some side affects may include, seizures, vomiting, reverse sneezing (snorting), jerking, gnawing on limbs, and kidney failure..if this happens contact vet immediately. Product can be washed with DEGREASING Liquid Soap. If I had known these were the side affects, it would not have taken me so long to wash it off my dog. Instead they use sensitivity? I feel mis-informed. Betrayed. I bought this product at Petco. Where all the pets go. I thought that they would at least make sure they checked into the products that they sold before I bought them. I found forum after forum only to find that ALL dog over the counter products like this can be lethal. Hotspot, Hartz, SentryPro (sergent’s). The way these products work is two issues. One is, it is absorbed by the skin which then circulates it through the blood stream. It kills fleas by attacking the nervous system of the bugs. The pesticide cannot distinct between Dogs, bugs, kids, and adult’s nervous systems. Some are more SENSITIVE than others on absorbing this poison. Before you allow your child to wash the dog or do it yourself, consider these items and do your research. Dont take my word for it. What do I know? I found that some of these chemicals used may be linked to parkinsons disease. I found that the EPA doesn’t take into consideration how much dogs sleep with family members or share common items such as sleeping on bedding and cuddling. It is awful what happened to my baby, but I think she will recover. I do not think any of these products should be sold because even a child handles a dog with a flea collar and gives them a bath. It doesn’t have enough warnings NOR an information packet to tell us what to expect or do if something bad does happen. It should be our choice to purchase a product with knowledge of what we can expect. It is just like purchasing tylenol or a sleeping pills. Tell me what to look for so I know when to get scared at least! We always wonder what causes the increased defects and cancer rates other than a higher population and environment. Why dont we start considering poisons like this. They find medication and poisons in our water systems and it makes the news. Why hasn’t this? Just bothers me. I posted something on my myspace (yes I am retarded like that) and emailed people. But apparently some do not look into this kind of thing until it happens to them. I was one of them. Good luck to everyone. The EPA’s # is 800-858-7378 to report a poison issue that happened. I suggest EVERYONE take the time to file their report and issues. Thanks for letting me vent. Written from good ol’ Livermore, Ca. PS. I see that Frontline is the only one that is less likely to cause these problems. Even K9 advantix has similar pesticides that Hartz uses. I hear that Keri Lotion is also good at preventing flea bites and can be used on the humans to prevent bites while you find other ways of getting rid of your flea problems.

MY CAT CHINA

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:11:56 +0000

My baby was very lucky. She did not become ill but about 10 days after using Hartz, her fur started coming off, skin and all. It came off in patchs around the neck about the size of 50 cent pieces. She had been in my basement and I couldn’t think of anything she could have done to hurt herself but it looked like she had been cut with something sharp. I had no idea that it was from Hartz. I took her straight to the vet and that is when I found out what it was. I no longer use Hartz or any of the over the counter flea preventions. Like I said, we were very lucky that she didn’t get sick. I was shocked when my vet told me that they saw a lot of cats and they weren’t so lucky.

Hartz Flea & Tick Spray should be BANNED!

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:11:11 +0000

My husband & I found the most adorable 3-month old stray a few days ago and we took her inside & straight to the vet. My vet gave her Hartz flea medicine & told us to follow up with the Hartz flea spray afterward. Well, we did, & a few hours later, our precious tiny kitten could not stand up or walk & started having seizures. We rushed her to the all night emergency pet clinic, & we were told that the Hartz had literally POISONED her. They said she was in grave condition & she would have to have a blood transfusion, & right now she is being fed glucose sugar through an I.V. because she has not only been poisoned, but has developed anemia with seizures. I have to wait atleast 24 hours to see if I can ever bring my new little fur-baby home. It’s bad enough that Hartz is still on the market & has killed dozens of animals, but I found out the hard way that not all vets are even aware of this (or either they don’t care). PLEASE, if you love your animals, do not use any Hartz products. (Advantage works great, though)!

Can’t Believe it!

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:10:22 +0000

My cat died from using Hartz Flea and Tick drops 5 years ago! I posted my story on this site back then and I just can’t believe this is still happening! Why does this company continue to sell these products and why do people keep buying them?!!