“Hello, I wanted to share our story with you.  Our puppy is a very lucky survivor of Hartz products.  Here is his story:

Our 12 week old min pin/toy poodle puppy is a VERY lucky survivor of Hartz. On May 7th I applied Hartz Ultra Guard drops on the advice of a family member who we got our puppy from (it is what she uses on her dogs, not anymore!). I followed the directions on the package, as he was over 4 pounds and 12 weeks old, and I only used HALF of a vial!

Exactly 24 hours after I applied the product, on May 8th, he started having seizures. An hour after they started he had no control over his body and was paralyzed in his back legs. His seizures were severe and violent, and while they waxed and waned in how spaced apart they are, most of the time they were 1-2 minutes apart (lasting about 30 seconds). He had them for 12 hours straight. He also lost control of his bladder, and was completely unresponsive the whole time minus a period in the middle for about an hour.

We thought he was going to die about 4 times because he wasn’t breathing well. Thankfully he was given enough drugs to break the seizures, and he had no liver or kidney damage. We still weren’t sure if he would have any lasting neurological effects because at this point he was still partially paralyzed. After sleeping for 8 hours, he woke up and sat up!!   He started out really unsteady and wobbly, but little by little he grew stronger and steadier. By last night on May 9th, he was playing again and getting back to his normal self.

When my husband tried calling Hartz to talk to them about it, he got a scripted response about our vet doing an autopsy on our dog and if they could PROVE their product is what killed him, then MAYBE they would reimburse us for our vet bills. When my husband then got upset (NOT rude or mean, simply upset as our puppy that we were already bonded to was suffering b/c of their product) THEY HUNG UP ON HIM! When he called back, they transferred him to a “vet” in their poison control line, and she was surprised our dog was still alive.

They were extremely rude, and proved that they know their products have this effect on pets, but they don’t care.We are so thankful that he survived, and so far has no lasting effect of his ordeal.  We are doing our best to spread the word about how bad Hartz products are.”

http://www.change.org/petitions/hartz-put-warnings-on-products#

“I am another person trying to save money and bought Hartz UltraGuard Plus! At a Pet Smart store,thinking this crap was safe……a couple hrs after giving my two little dogs 14lbs….they started acting strange(owners know) I then went online…..I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS CONTINUES!
Why is this allowed ? I am writing a letter to editor our newspaper ……this is just driving me crazy!when I went to get a refund on a second application ,the girl on cash said she can’t believe that Petsmart is still selling this crap….her cat started foaming at the mouth and vomiting,diarrhea  etc etc……after a couple hundred dollars in vet bills…….how does this affect my dogs in the future? Is Hartz or PetSmart going to pay for this…….I imagine!!”

“I purchased Hartz Ultra Guard Plus with aloe for cats on 04/03. I had 5 cats. I sprayed each cat with the Hartz Ultra Guard Plus. On Saturday, 04/07, I found Demon, the youngest and our largest cat, with his face down on his paw. I thought he was asleep, he had passed away. I gave the other 4 cats a bath in Dawn dishwashing liquid. I called Poison Control who stated Tetrachlorvinophos was the ingredient causing the symptoms. I called the vet on call and he stated “you’re not the first person this has happened to.” The second cat, Savannah became lethargic and literally fell over into my hand. On-call vet said we could try IVs but the prognosis was not good. Vet advised to keep Savannah warm and turn her from side-to-side to keep lungs clear. Savannah died 04/08 Sunday, Easter morning. The third cat, Meiko, fought me dearly Saturday as she did not want a bath but by Monday morning, 04/09, Meiko was lethargic and her heart rate was dropping, the fourth cat, Lenayah was not eating and the fifth cat had facial twitching. I took Meiko, Lenayah and Saffire to my vet that same Monday morning. By the time I arrived, Meiko’s heart rate had dropped so low, the vet rushed her back and started Atropine and IVs. Meiko never responded to treatment and died during Monday night. Lenayah and Saffire were admitted and given IVs to flush the Hartz product from their system. Lenayah died Wednesday afternoon, 04/11, at the vet’s office. Saffire is the only survivor. She is home, gaining strength but has lost a lot of hair due to adverse reaction to the Hartz product; enough that her body literally quivers. I have never had an issue with fleas until I moved into this house. These were all indoor cats only. I deeply, deeply regret using this product! Not a day has gone by that I have not shed tears. I am the one who applied this product to my cats. I can still see Savannah’s eyes when she fell over into my hand. I miss my extended family dearly. I want to avoid this happening to others. I have included pics of Saffire, my only survivor.”

“I recently used hartz flea and tic drops on my dog when he began to act funny and would not settle down. He started to itch his Back continuously and when I looked I was shocked to see under his fur was bright red. After the vet shaved him we were shocked to see what this poison had done. It’s so sad this cruel company puts these animals thru so much pain and discomfort(sometimes death) just to make a buck. How is this still legal to sell after all that I have read about it?”

Thank you for reading my little story. I hope everyone’s pets are okay.

My husband and I moved to a new home with a screened porch in February. In the past few weeks, I’ve started letting the cats out on the porch, and they love it. When I noticed two small, flat, shiny bugs under Sheik’s fur, I guessed that they might be fleas, and an Internet search confirmed my suspicions. On my next trip to the grocery store (because, as an indoor cat person, I’d never discussed fleas with my vet to even know that better products exist), I picked up Hartz UltraGuard Plus for cats weighing five pounds or more, as both of mine weigh about 12.

Last night, at about 11:30 p.m., I put one container of the drops onto the skin on the neck of each cat, per the directions. At work today, I decided to look up the product and see how long I could expect to wait before the fleas died. I found this site and, utterly devastated at what I’d done to my best friends, drove straight home.

Neither cat greeted me at the door, which was odd, and I soon found Midna walking around, looking dazed and shaking her back feet behind her like they were wet. Horrified, I grabbed her first and bathed her the best I could – these cats do NOT do baths, and are very strong and agile for one person to try to bathe.  I scrubbed as much of her as I could with Dawn and lukewarm water. I called the vet, who advised me to bathe them if I hadn’t already and bring them in if either one developed more serious symptoms. Both were eating and talking fairly normally.

Hours later, both cats are extremely lethargic.Midna is lying next to me with her inner eyelids half shut and the tip of her tongue sticking out between her teeth. Sheik doesn’t seem more ruffled than she would be on any other day she was given a bath and a pill (they got Capstar). Midna is scaring the daylights out of me, though. She ate treats about an hour ago, but at about a quarter her normal speed, and they kept falling out of her mouth. She licked her lips for about five minutes straight afterward.  I set her on the ground, and she meowed pitifully and then jumped even more pitifully back onto the couch before promptly going back to sleep. The tremors aren’t happening now – only when she walks, which she hasn’t done in several hours.

Of course now the vet is closed, and the nearest emergency vet is an hour and a half away. A car ride nearly kills Midna on a good day… I’m honestly not sure she could handle it right now.  Fortunately, cost is not really a problem, but I just want to do the right thing for her. What’s the tipping point where I put an extremely car averse cat who’s already unwell in the car for a long ride?  How long until we’re out of the woods as far as new symptoms appearing or current ones worsening?

I have a young laika dog aged 8 months. I recently bought in a shop a flea and tick protector from Hartz. I put the product as was mentioned in the product user’s guide. Now after 3 days I see that the fur of my dog seems fading from white to gray and at the place where I did put the product ( two tracks ) from the shoulders blade to the tail as the user’s guide  mentioned also there are now two dark lines . I cannot understand where this grey and dark color comes from. It looks like dust on the structure of the hair?

I have been looking for feedback about Hartz products and found this website. I must say I am horrified reading the stories so far and I can only pray that the effects on my dog will disappear.

The chemical product they use which is Phenotrin seems to act as a poison ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenothrin ) .The story of Hartz seems to be well-known in the USA but nobody in Europe have ever heard about it.

Could it be possible that Hartz products have such effects on animals? If so why is this company still allowed to sell the products ? It seems completly absurd and crazy. I especially bought the Hartz product since in my eye US products are better that Eu products!

If the fur is still looking gray I will go to see the vet but here in Ukraine they haven’t big means.However I will thouroughly wash my dog before.

I bought benedryl and although it did reducing swelling, the bumps kept coming back and the itching was still there.  I gave him another bath with his usual shampoo, hoping to remove all residue from the Hartz shampoo, but the symptoms were still there.  Mild, but still there.  Today (Thursday) I’ll be taking him to the vet.  After reading how bad Hartz has been to many pets, I don’t want to risk finding a cure on my own.  I’d rather let the vet take care of the situation ASAP.

Both my dogs are experiencing problems, they both became itchy and scratched their ear hair off, and one of my dogs had a localized skin infection(moist patch)  that cleared up easily(this is the reason I stop using hartz).  But these past 2 months they both have had an eye irritation, they were on meds for an eye infection and it helped clear up the eye boogers completely but they still have clear bumps on the conjunctiva, watery eyes, and inflammation which causes entropion in the dog with deep set eyes. The vet wanted to rule it an allergy but she saw both dogs separately and it was my error that the connection was not made that they both have the same illness. The vet is on vacation till thurs, then I hope to have them seen again.

My question is, has hartz caused eye issues? have problems lasted 2 months after discontinuation of the product?

I’m putting another stack of these in my wallet and will place them on the Hartz products that I find sold at the stores at which I shop.

And if your thinking of using nothing.. remember  heartworm, lyme disease and internal parasites can cause just as many health issues as the use of these items.

and for the sake of the companies reading this….I want to state here. I READ AND FOLLOWED ALL THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY AS STATED.

After putting it on my cat, she went off her dinner and was acting strange, but some weird feeling moisture on the back of your cat’s neck is bound to make them uncomfortable so I didn’t think much of it. My friend reassured me that it was fine on her cat. Later that night my cat went off her dinner, which isn’t uncommon, but didn’t sleep on my bed that night, which was strange. I found her hiding in the morning, not waking me up to be fed, and she still wasn’t taking any food. Not realizing the seriousness of it I went out to run errands, and yesterday evening when I arrived home, 24 hours after applying the Sergeants Gold Flea treatment, she was acting really strange, depressed, lethargic, making strange twitching movements, seeming very unwell and still not eating. I immediately started googling the product, and to my dismay found out that I had poisoned my cat. There are no words to describe the horror I felt, as someone who gives my cat the very best raw food diet, and healthiest lifestyle…how could I have possibly been this ignorant to use a product that basically poisoned my cat….and now threatens her life….

I immediately gave her a bath, but already knew that it had been too long since the product was on her. Regardless, she did not move while I bathed her, and definitely perked up slightly after having it washed off. Before I could read anymore I was already on my way to the animal hospital. They diagnosed her with neuro-toxicosis from the Sergeant’s, with symptoms of a very high temperature and ear twitching and not eating. They recommended that she be admitted to be monitored and have iv fluids and meds, but I chose to take her home with the oral version of the  anti-seizure meds. I watched her like a hawk all night, scared out of my wits and helpless that there was nothing I could do now but wait and see what happens and hope that her system can process the poison. This morning, she peed on the bed, which is completely out of character…

Finally, after two more baths, and 42 hours after giving her this horrid stuff, she ate some sardines (the only thing she was interested in), the twitching seems to be gone, and she’s just acting a bit fragile and unwell.I’m horrified that something I purchased in a store, and gave to my cat, could have killed her. I’m sure that the extremely healthy diet I feed her contributed to her not having a more severe reaction. I have been beside myself with worry that I was about to watch her die.

Now hopefully the worst is over. I’ll be using only natural home-made remedies from here on in, and making as much of a stink about this as I possibly can. My heart goes out to all the families of pets who were worse off. This is just unimaginably awful.

We came home the bag of treats was all over the floor and empty. We also found vomit spots all over the floor, 3 days after we came home our cat started foaming at the mouth and wouldn’t drink. He is up to date in shots, so we knew it could be rabbies. Took him to the vet and the first thing he ask was what kind of treats we had given our cat.

I told the vet, they gave him a shot and said to keep an eye on him, as it was probably a slow allergic reaction and he was happy we brought him in.

Cat seems okay now, sleepy and cuddly (which our cat is not a cuddly cat, he hates being held). So hoping he gets back to himself in the next 24 hours or back to the vet.

I will never buy a Hartz product again!