Category: Victims’ Stories

My sweet Chili needs prayers: Sergeants Silver Toxicity

DO NOT USE SERGEANTS SILVER OR GOLD FLEA DROPS FOR CATS OR DOGS! That is, not unless you want to leave it to chance whether your furbaby will survive or not…I put Sergeants Silver on all of my cats and NONE of them showed any signs of trouble, except my sweet and quite petite (tho she does weigh at least the recommended weight of 5 lbs.) precious kitty girl Chili. I put the top spot drops on her and approximately 3 hours later, she began violently vomiting. I realized it was the flea treatment, as I am a vet tech and was very aware of the trouble people had with the Sergeants Silver and Gold. Like I said, I had no problems with any of my other cats and had used it once before on all of them, except Chili. She was nursing at the time, and I definitely knew I wasn’t putting it on her then. Anyway, not having any reason from experience to not use it on her now that the nursing was done, I did put it on her today and not only did she begin the projectile vomiting, but even after I washed it off of her with Dawn, she began having violent tremors and horrible muscle spasms. Since then, I have administered Robaxin which the vet I work for gave me to calm her tremors and help her rest. I also noticed that her symptoms, before dosing of Robaxin, also included being “off balance” easily frightened and she is not that way normally. As well, she was unable to get comfortable no matter what I did for her. Her heart was racing and her breathing was very fast and irregular. Now, after the dosing, she is able to stop trembling as violently, and she has been eating and drinking and not vomiting anymore. However, she IS still shaking. Her heart rate and breathing are slowly returning to normal. I have her isolated and quiet, have provided her with a heating blanket, and fresh food and water. I think she may pull through, and so does the vet at this point. I am very lucky if she does and I need prayers for her please. Obviously, this is very disturbing to me and I know that many folks have lost pets from this product. Not to mention a very traumatic experience for my sweet Chili.. I will no longer continue to use this product and think that it should be recalled and or banned! If folks would be willing to sign, I would love to start a new petition on change.org to call for Hartz to pull this product and any others that may possibly have the same effects on animals. Seemingly, there is no possible way to tell what cat or dog will have an adverse reaction to this, so WHY is it still available???

 

Hartz ultraguard flea & tick shampoo will kill

 

 

RIP Kia, On Sept 10, 2014 my loving Persian “show” cat. I inadvertently killed Kia because I gave him a bath with a well known product sold by a well respected company. Hartz ultra guard rid flea and tick shampoo.

 

Kia won prizes but more importantly, he won my heart and the heart of my family.  Kia died within 24 hrs. of having a Hartz ultra Guard flea and tick shampoo treatment.

 

Kia was bathed late in the evening and he responded with foaming at the mouth, convulsions and seizures. Kia died the next afternoon with no one to comfort him or take him to an emergency room. Everyone went to work never imagining or expecting to find Kia dead in the day. There was clear evidence he suffered and died within a short 12 hour time frame.

 

The vet verified that my beautiful young, (7 yrs old) healthy cat was deceased and had in fact suffered a possible seizure. My vet and I discussed the problems they have seen with the above mentioned shampoo. Some animals were saved when rushed for medical assistance and others could not be saved. Why was I not warned? I killed my cat with a bottle of shampoo that cost $5.99.

 

This product is still readily available on the shelves of literally thousands of stores. The active chemical ingredient intended to kill flea and ticks is “Pyrethrin.” It’s a pesticide.

 

I did as much research as I could on reported deaths or problems with this shampoo. One website reported over 2,000 deaths. My vet verified he personally has treated ill animals after they had received a shampoo with this product.

 

I would like this product changed or off the shelves. I don’t want another family distraught over the death of another cat.

 

In Loving Memory 5-24-2007- 9-11-2014

 

Marae Tesi

Retta Got Lucky

On August 9, 2014 I purchased Hartz® UltraGuard Plus® Flea & Tick Drops for Cats in the 3 month supply from Target.  After reading the box for any serious warnings, I followed the instructions provided carefully and administered the treatment to my cat, Retta, as directed. Unfortunately, she had an extremely dangerous reaction.

I gave the medication to Retta around 10:00PM and by 11:15 we were in the Emergency Room at Nashville Veterinary Specialists.  Approximately 15 minutes after applying the medication to Retta she began to show strange, and frightening symptoms.  At first, was struggling while trying to walk and was unable to lift her head up.  Then the symptoms began to worsen and she began convulsing as well as making abnormal gurgling and choking noises.  I washed away the medication as quickly as possible but she was showing no signs of improvement, and by this time I was extremely concerned.  I called the local pet hospital and was advised to bring her in as soon as possible.  I left my house as soon as hanging up the phone and when I arrived with Retta they immediately took her back for treatment, where she remained for over 5 hours.

I am extremely dissatisfied and angered by my experience with Hartz. The only relevant warning provided on the label read “Sensitivities may occur after using any pesticide product for pets.”  This is a drastic understatement and grossly misleading.  My cat could have died because of this product. I called Hartz to voice my opinion and concern for other animals and was given a file number to reference in order to be reimbursed for my ER expenses.  I will definitely be submitting to be reimbursed by I’m extremely frustrated that they will not ackwnoledge the serious danger they’re putting so many animals in.  A representative took my statement but for the most part my concerns were dismissed and there were no sufficient answers as to why the products were still being sold or why warning labels were misleading.  Please, please, please do not use this product on your pets!

 

Justice For Ziva

Below is our story. I will not stop until something gets done. I have sent many emails and notified many businesses, people, government officials about this product. We need to stick together to get this product off the shelves.

I just wanted to get the word out about a popular product that is being sold at many retail stores. It effects are quite disturbing. Below is our story. I want the public to know, they deserve to know. Ziva is not the only one that has passed from this product. My vet in Sallisaw advised that they have seen these effects before in pets. Please help us get the story out.

On the night of August 26th 2014 I applied the Hartz Ultraguard Flea and Tick preventative to my fur daughter Ziva and my fur son Boh. About 45 minutes after applying the product Boh started having issues walking, lack of control of his back legs, and weaving. I kept a close eye on him when I saw my girl was doing the same thing only much much worse. She would walk through the house and hit her head on the chair, couldn’t hold her head up to drink, vomiting, unable to stand to urinate, falling, and rolling over herself. I got her to her Dr first thing the morning of the 27th. They gave her two injections, one of a medicine that would help and another that was pain meds and the other for nausea. I called and checked on her before the Dr’s office closed that day and promised I wouldn’t be an over anxious mom and call right when the doors opened the next morning. At 0927 on the 28th I called to check. I got transferred straight to the vet and got the news. Said that he did the best he could. Came back and checked on her twice over night the poison just over took her system. I made a call to the Hartz care line and let them know what happened. The Hartz company has yet to return my call in regards to what happened to Ziva. Ziva was a frisky, happy go lucky, curl up in bed with mom to watch TV, shepherd of two little girls who grew up with her, mom to 6 week old puppies, trained for personal protection family pet of a great backgroud. This should not have happend to her or any other pet.

I am wanting to take on the Hartz Mountian Corporation in hopes to raise awareness to what their products are doing to pets. Sadly I am not the only one that this has happend too. Awareness is key and getting the word out so more pets are saved is very important to my two young children, my husband and myself.

Not Sure About This Yet

My 3 year old cat Queen Jack started showing symptoms of CKD (chronic kidney disorder) after 2 weeks of using Hartz Hairball Remedy Plus. We’ve yet to take her to a vet to find out if she really does have CKD and what we must do to save Queen Jack.

Now I’m not sure if it’s the hairball remedy that contributed to her current condition, but I do know that she howled once (just once) in pain during a potty box visit during the time of using that Hartz crap. I stopped using the Hartz hairball stuff on Queen Jack and she’s starting to get better, but I am still taking her to the vet just to be sure what’s going on. I don’t want to lose her forever.

As for Hartz… I knew their flea stuff was bad. Trust me my other cat Peanut was hurt by the stuff you squeeze on a cat’s neck to combat fleas and I stopped using it immediately. These people need to be put out of business. They are evil and shameless–anything for money.

Smoosh dies from Hartz Ultra Guard Pro

Today 8/21/14 I lost my best friend, my partner in crime. Her name was Smoosh, she was only 4 years old. She was a British short hair and was healthy as can be.  I applied Hartz ultra guard pro flea and tick for cats 2 days ago. Hoping to get rid of the fleas. I hadn’t been able to find her till this morning where I found her removing and foaming of the mouth. I held her in my arms and tried everything. While I was on the phone with our vet just about to take her. She stopped breathing and passed away. It sickens me that these people are still a running company. I plan on taking legal action against them. They took away my best friend.

Did Hartz cause my dogs seizure?

My dogs name is Goliath, he is a 13 year old Boston terrier. About a month ago I purshased Hartz ultra guard topical. It was for 5-14lbs. My dog weighs 19lbs. So he is over that. I basically gave him less. Well he has been fine all month. Happy, eating, playing. Last night at 4am, out of nowhere he jumps up as if he was frightened, I went to grab him and he has slobber all over him. He got off the bed and seized up. His legs were falling from under him and he dropped and rolled on his side. He was jerking and foaming from the mouth. His heart was racing. After a minute he stopped. He was clueless, couldn’t walk, had to catch his breath, couldn’t even see! He was whimpering until he fell asleep. This morning he got up, went out to potty, and ate all of his food. He is hyper but tired. Could Hartz have caused this? He has went his entire 13 years without a seizure.

July 27th 2014 my dog Pepper died

My husband purchased Hartz Ultra Guard for 61-150lbs. Was trying to do like most of would do , to get rid of flees. I so wish I had looked on here before this happen. Pepper was 11 years old , would be 12 in December. She was a very outgoing dog, love to fish, swim, walk , run, etc. Her health was good. That day Friday the July 25, 2014, change our entire life. The next day came, she was puking , and not steady on her feet very well. I tried the hot line on the box, no answer on the weekend, try back during business hours. Tried my local vet, they were closed, it was Saturday. Did try there emergency numbers , no answers for help. I decided I needed to think quick. Put her in the bath tub , to get this crap off of her. Thought we were ok, not. Later that night, She was up looking to go outside like she does, but the back legs of my girl went out. My husband had to go get her and bring her in. She finally looked like she could rest at 3:00 in the morning on the 27th of July. Then she starting panting, heavy breathing, and she was done. So sad. Please pass this on, maybe can save someone from this product. It happens so quick, I My miss my Pepper so much. She did not have to die like this. Prayers to all that have had this experience.

My beloved Fred

Fred was my companion for the past 9 years. He was a big cat with a bigger heart. He knew no stranger. We began having a flea problem in our basement which worked its way upstairs, so I gave my cats what seemed like the best flea control for the money. I only wish I had known a few weeks ago what I know now. Fred passed away this morning of an anemic reaction as I did all I could to wash the horrid flea infestation from him, the exact thing I thought I was preventing with the Hartz product I purchased. Not only did it not work, it deteriorated his health from a vivacious large cat to the point of dying from a flea infestation. I pray people realize the dangers of Hartz products before they learn through the loss of a beloved pet, as I did. I will miss you, Fred, but I swear to you I will do all I can so that your death will not be in vain.