Client Tries to Save a Few Bucks on Flea Control and Ends up Blowing a Grand
In these extraordinarily difficult financial times every effort to save money is understandable. But if these efforts aren’t well thought out they can backfire.
A man with two Dachshunds (one brown, one black) recently ended up in my office. He had purchased Sergeant’s Gold flea and tick drops at the pet store, believing that the safety and efficacy of the product were similar to Advantage or Frontline.
Advantage and Frontline aren’t perfect, to be sure. But I have never seen either product cause problems like those that occurred in the two Dachshunds.
Shortly after the Sergeant’s was applied to the brown Doxie, the black dog licked the site of application. Soon after that, the black dog began to suffer seizures.
The black dog arrived at my office with a temperature of 108. That is not compatible with life. The staff began intensive treatment to save the dog.
As everyone was working on the black dog, the brown dog sat with the owner in the waiting room. And then the brown dog, too, developed symptoms of toxicity. He produced projectile vomit and profuse diarrhea. In less than a minute he was a dehydrated wreck whose life was in danger. He was rushed from the waiting room to the treatment area.
The following morning both dogs were shaken but alive, well, and out of danger. Their symptoms were reduced to memories.
However, their poor owner will be reminded of the memory when he receives his next bank statement. The massive medical interventions that saved his dogs did not come cheap.
You have questions. 
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve been reading more and more accounts of problems with various spot-on products like this. What I first thought was a fantastic, easy solution turns out (once again) to have serious side effects in many cases. I’m now leaning more towards natural methods, the more I learn about the chemical methods.
I actually just finished an ebook (Flea Control Secrets) on safer flea control based on similar issues and the EPA advisory (http://budurl.comEPASpotOn) if you want to catch other updates you can find them on Twitter under my user name FleaControlBook.
Anything you want to pass on via the blog or Twitter would be greatly appreciated by other pet owners.
I’ve listed some resource pages at the blog. Just click my name to access it.
Some of those essential oils you claimed were safer than pennyroyal for example, aren’t necessarily safe. NO essential oil should be considered safe for pets, since they have potential for oral, respiratory, dermal exposure and increased risk when applied frequently. Add the fact there is no evidence they work to kill fleas and ticks, especially the larvae.
The manufacturers of these over-the-counter flea drops insist that these kinds of problems only arise when one animal licks the drug off of another. I’m glad you posted a story demonstrating how the drops can be quite toxic to the animal they’re applied to, also.
I wish these chemicals were removed from store shelves. People buying them are only trying to do what’s best for their pet, and certainly don’t think Seargent’s or Hartz would knowingly sell a lethal product, and surely the pet store wouldn’t carry such a product. They are being misled, and the companies are making muoney off of their suffering.
The reason these potentially deadly products are still offered for over-the-counter sale is because they are regulated by the EPA, not the FDA. All too often, I see cases exactly like the above. I haven’t lost one yet, but it is expensive treatment and a horrible thing for the pet to have to endure….as the above case illustrates. Ones who receive no treatment often die. That’s why when people call my office and ask if one of those products will work to get rid of their pets’ fleas, we answer, “Yes, it certainly will….because fleas don’t live on dead pets”
“Unofficial” word from one company about why they continued to sell such a dangerous product was that it was cheaper for them to pay out an occasional monetary claim for a pet’s death than to pull the product from the market. They make more than enough profit to offset the losses.
That’s the difference between them and your veterinarian. We CARE whether your pet lives or dies or has adverse side effects. We want them to live as long a life possible. We achieve tremendous personal satisfaction from caring for a client and pet from the first puppy/kitten visit all the way until natural death from old age. We want as many of those as possible.
Stick with products your veterinarian carries. He/she knows what is safe and what isn’t. He/she knows your pet’s health history/status and can determine if even certain prescription products should be avoided. He/she understands the flea life cycle and can teach you what is necessary to break it, based upon your pet’s home environment and lifestyle.
It’s a fact that the active ingredient in pretty much all flea products on the shelves these days is Pyrethrin–a wicked toxin. The idea is to give your animal enough to kill the fleas/ticks/etc. but not to kill it via absorption. This is why it is so important to pay attention to weight ranges vis-a-vis dosing/oncentration. Also, it is a good reason not to skimp on a cheaper product, or to attempt to ’split’ a higher dose package amongst multiple animals who are smaller than called for on the package.
Pyrethrin toxicity is a horrible, horrible, nasty way to die, and animals who don’t die still suffer for hours with the symptoms mentioned in the article. I saw it far too often while working as a vet tech assistant in an emergency animal hospital/clinic.
Just as most sensible people would not give their baby an adult’s dose of any drug, one should not use a product on their animal which is not intended for them without the strict supervision/instruction of a qualified veterinarian.
So given that the “safe” products (Revolution, Advantage, Frontline, etc.) all cost about 10 bucks a pop, is it any wonder that people seek out cheaper alternatives? If you have one dog or cat, that is one thing, but if you have a larger number, as many of us do, what is the safest, economical approach?
Actually Cynthia, pyrethrins are generally quite safe for dogs and cats. That insecticide can even safely be used on nursing puppies and kittens if done properly.
I think you meant to say permethrin, rather than pyrethrin. That’s the one that is so dangerous in these products.
Justin, I feel certain that you want to provide the proper care for your animals. There is a cost associated with that care. If you opt for the “cheap” way out, you can expect one of 2 things: it will either have poor effectiveness, or be potentially harmful/toxic. If you want safety and effectiveness, it costs more money, unfortunately. It is therefore important to determine how many animals you can afford to provide proper medical care for, and make up your mind to not go above that number…..for if you do, they will ALL suffer inadequate care. That’s why even veterinarians (for whom the medical costs are less as we don’t usually charge ourselves for our expertise, LOL….and we can buy medications and products at distributors’ cost) don’t keep animals above a certain number that we feel we can properly care for without diminishing the quality of that care for any of them. As veterinarians, we see the unfairness of that too often.
The “good” flea and tick products ARE economical, considering what they provide for the cost. as well as your confidence that they won’t cause you to spend a thousand bucks to save them if they have an adverse event. It’s a cost that is (should be) built into pet ownership, just as is food. Feed cheap food, get poor overall health, shorter lifespan, and huge medical bills. Feed good-quality food (which costs more due to more research behind it and better-quality ingredients which cost more), and the pet will have substantially better health, giving lower medical bills over its lifetime. The decision is based upon what’s more important to you. If you want to properly care for your animals, it’s simple: don’t keep more than you can financially afford in that manner. If you accidentally find yourself with more than you can handle, there are many organizations out there who can help you.
Kind of the same thing with my mom’s dog a week or so ago. Step-father got flea treatment at the grocery. Within a few hours, Taz was shaking his head and he couldn’t decide where to scratch. One lovely vet bill later, he’s got several injections in his system and is on Benadryl. Cheaper to have gotten a flea treatment at the vet. A lesson was learned though.