I thought all flea drops were the same, just that larger amounts were in the dog remedies. since I have 7 dogs and 3 cats, I bought the dog remedy flea drops to use. I assumed that it was packaged according to dosing and that if I used a smaller amount on my cats that it would have been safe~

I assumed that since it was safe to use in small amounts on puppies that using a smaller amount would also work on my cats.

Even though it said not to use on cats, I thought that was merely a selling method they used to get more sales individually for both species, since they were killing the same fleas~

my assumption has nearly cost my cat her life and she is still in the hospital now, on intravenous medications combined to antidote her poisoning, prevent dehydration, alleviate the damage to her central nervous system, giving her musdle relaxants and sedation as well as pain remedy as this is an excruciatingly  painful condition caused by the poisons used in manufacturing the flea drops.

Warning should be more specific instead of just saying :”do not use on cats” the warning should include ‘why’ ~ such as :

‘DEADLY to CATS- DO NOT USE -’

HAD IT SAID ‘DEADLY’ I never would have used it assuming it to only kill fleas!

“I NOW SEE THAT MANY PEOPLE MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE~ SO THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO MAKE THESE FLEA DROP COMPANIES PRINT A LARGER STRONGER WARNING ON THEIR PRODUCTS.Complying by using microscopic letter that most people can not even read, they need instead to make plainer, stronger warnings or not be allowed to sell such deadly products publicly~”…Ave Hurley,  July 1,2009

Read more about this topic at : http://avehurley.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/common-flea-drops-will-quickly-kill-your-cat/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124329165300152331.html

I hope our experience can help someone else.

Within a day or so, I noticed that Asia was not drinking or eating.  They sleep in the garage in their puffy beds, and she was not leaving hers.  I thought maybe it was the heat, even thought the garage is pretty mild.  I took her some iced water and a special dish of food, but she was not interested.  I left it there in case she was just suffering from the heat.  It has been around 100 degrees all week in Kansas. 

The next day, I noticed that Asia’s neck area looked funny.  It looked clumpy and oily, and I could see through to some very white skin in patches.  I got online right away to look at lethargy, no interest in grooming, etc.  I also decided to look up the Hartz products since I did not think it was a coincidence.  I found that they are VERY bad. 

After bathing Asia, giving her a spot on the couch, and giving her extra love and attention as well as hand feeding and syringes of water, she seems to be a little better.  She is still off balance, tired, weak, and all-around under the weather. I hope that keeping her inside and hand feeding her will help improve her even more.

I am appalled that Hartz is still selling these products.  This is terrible.

Recently, my cat Darla developed a flea infestation, so i bought some Hartz drops and a collar for her at the store.  Tonight, i noticed that as she was cleaning herself, her tongue was hitting the collar, so i removed it and googled “hartz flea collars” to see if it was toxic to ingest…which, obviously, it is.  Darla is fine right now, and i cleaned the nape of her neck off as best i could.

This website was the first link to come up in google, and i am so thankful because i was able to remove these products within hours of application, instead of finding my beloved kitty twitching and dead beneath my bed tomorrow morning.

I pray that no damage is done, and again from the bottom of my heart i thank every one of you and will have all of your animals in my thoughts and prayers.

www.neargodproductions.com/toppage3.htm

I was 12, maybe 13, and my first cat had fleas.  He was a sweet, affectionate cat, whom I loved dearly.  My mother bought a Hartz flea collar, in some cute purple color, and we put it on my cat.  Unlike many of the more recent stories, the effect wasn’t immediate.  It took him about three to four days, over which time he grew increasingly lethargic.  By the fourth or fifth day, he could barely walk straight.  Now, just being a child, I didn’t make the connection.  I don’t think anyone in the house really did, because my family had always used generic flea collars with no issue.  What happened was at the end of the week, I was cradling my cat, whom I was sure was dying, in my arms.  He had this vacant stare, and he was drooling, and had rapidly degenerated to this state over the course of a six to seven days.  I remembered that he had been trying to pry the flea collar off of himself a few times (which I had attributed to his dislike of collars) and said to him, through my tears, “You’re going to die anyway, it won’t matter if we take this off.  I know you hate it.”  It was then that I took the collar off of him.

Within 24 hours, he could walk again, and within 48 hours he was drinking and eating normally.  It was only my compassion that saved him.  His sudden turn-around after the removal of the collar inspired me to look up Hartz online, and I found this or a similar website, even way back then.  I’m not sure why I never submitted this story; perhaps just childhood shyness.  I am 27 years old now.  Hartz has been diseasing and killing our pets for at least a decade, and I’m still appalled every time I think about it.  Just thought I’d drop my story in the bucket.

PS- That same cat only died last year; he lived to be 18 years old.  There is hope for a long healthy life for your pet, it just may take some recovery.