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Flea & Tick Products Often Backfire

Pet owners horrified by adverse reactions; EPA counsels caution
Sergeant's, Sentry don't respond to questions

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com
Copyright 2009 © All Rights Reserved

August 10, 2009

The horror unfolded within minutes after Diane S. applied Sergeant's Gold Flea and Tick Squeeze-On For Dogs on her Shih Tzu-Maltese named Tipsy and her Shih Poo named Pebbles. The tiny dogs began to whine and jerk uncontrollably. The skin where Diane applied the flea and tick product turned scarlet. Then it started to blister.

“Their poor backs were red and it seemed to be eating at their hair,” she said, adding she carefully followed the directions on the package. “Both dogs had severe burns on their skin.”

Diane immediately dialed the number listed on the package and learned some shocking news from the person who answered her call: “I’m panicking and he told me this has happened before. He then said ‘this is what to do.’ He told me to wash the dogs in Dawn dish detergent several times, put ice packs on their backs -- I used frozen bags of peas -- and take them to the vet if they started to foam at the mouths.

“We didn’t foam, but we jerked and whined all night.”

At 7 a.m. the following morning, Diane’s dogs sat in their veterinarian’s examination room. “She looked at the ingredients on the box and said it was pure poison and it’s a wonder it didn’t kill them. She also told me they may not make it.”

Thanks to some medication and “lots of prayers and tears,” Diane’s dogs survived the ordeal. But the scars on their backs haven’t healed and Tipsy has a black mark on her back and is still a little shaky on her paws. The more than $200 vet bill also drained Diane’s bank account. She couldn’t pay her entire rent for July and feared she and her young daughter would be evicted from their home.

“I was told I had to be out by the end of the month,” Diane told us in late July. “That was scary. I’m a single mom with no other support. “But I just couldn’t plan for things like this. And my pets are very important to me and I wasn’t going to let them suffer.”

Diane’s landlord has since agreed to work with her on the late payment. “That’s good, but I’m still dealing with the stress caused by seeing my pets in so much pain and the guilt of knowing that I did that to them.”

"Horrific"

Diane’s pets aren’t the only ones who’ve experienced what many consumers call “horrific reactions” from the various spot on -- or topical -- flea and tick products on the market.

ConsumerAffairs.com has heard scores of similar stories from pet owners across the country who say their dogs and cats started to shake and tremble uncontrollably, drool excessively, vomit, have seizures, suffer burns and welts on their skin, whimper in agony, lose control of their legs and experience other neurological problems after using those products.

A few pet owners even suspect the products played a role in their pets’ deaths.

An analysis of records in our database reveals the majority of complaints we’ve received about topical flea and tick products are ones made by Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Inc. That Nebraska-based company makes flea and tick products under its name and the Sentry name.

Our analysis also uncovered another trend among pet owners: they’re clamoring for the immediate removal of these topical flea and tick products -- regardless of the brand -- saying they’re toxic and poisonous.

They echo the sentiments of New York pet owner Diane D., who told us her three dogs suffered burns on their backs and shoulder blades and screamed in agony after using Sentry’s Natural Defense Flea & Tick Squeeze-On product.

“It is extremely unfair to manufacture and distribute a product that can cause horrific conditions,” she says. “Bottom line: this product is dangerous and should be taken off the market.”

So why hasn’t The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- which regulates flea and tick products -- pulled these potentially dangerous pesticide-based treatments off store shelves?

After all, the agency has spent the past few months “intensifying” its scrutiny of topical flea and tick products because of the increased number of reported adverse reactions.

Next: EPA gets 44,000 reports

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