The Scratchin' Post

It started out innocently enough. After one of her regular walks on her halter around the neighborhood, my little cat came back with a couple fleas. Ok. No big deal. I went to Wal-mart and got her a Hartz flea collar.
Well that did absolutely nothing and now the fleas were mating. So I called my vet and the technician told me the best bet was a prescription for Revolution, a liquid you squirt on the back of your cat’s neck to get rid of fleas, ticks, heartworm, ear mites, intestinal worms and scabies. He also mentioned there was a similar brand called Frontline available at Wal-mart.
So off I went, back to Wally World. Only while I was in the isle I see what I thought was a similar product by Hartz, only much cheaper. It was a liquid you put on the back of your cat’s neck and it said it would kill fleas, ticks and ear mites for up to a month. Sounded exactly like what the vet tech had told me I needed, so I grabbed a box of Hartz UltraGuard Pro Flea & Tick Drops.
I went home and put it on my cat. About 15 minutes later she started walking in circles and shaking her back legs. I figured she was none too happy with the back of her neck being all wet where she couldn’t reach. That night she crawled under my bed and stayed put there. That was a first, but I assumed she was just mad at me.
In the morning she hadn’t touched her food. Mmmm. I went to work where I started researching for my next pet column. I decided to write about the mosquitoes because they’re ferocious lately and they are the sole cause of heartworm. But while looking up info on the web I stumbled across a website called HartzVictims.org. What I found was shocking and had me racing out of the office and straight for home hoping I hadn’t already killed my cat!
And that was just the first website. I also found http://against-hartz.110mb.com/, BioSpotVictims.org, HartzKills.org and numerous others. What all these websites and class action lawsuits were screaming was that Hartz, a well known, long standing pet company, was knowingly poisoning our pets and making money off it.
Here’s the deal. You know that can of Raid under your sink? The one you spray directly onto a roach to poison it and kill it? Well that’s the exact same substance that’s in their flea and tick drops. When you put that poison on your cat, it’s the same thing as injecting Raid into her blood stream. The substance is called Etofenprox and it’s mixed with Methoprene, also highly toxic to cats. Thousands of cats and dogs have been injured and even killed by these products.
So why are they still on the market? Why are they in every major store, including Wal-mart? Because the FDA doesn’t regulate these product, the EPA does and all that agency requires is that once Hartz gets enough complaints, they simply change the packaging and voila! The products are back on the shelves and apparently Wal-mart doesn’t care enough to simply not carry these items despite the thousands of deaths and law suits.
Ok, let’s be honest. I’m absolutely horrified that I just put this stuff on my cat without researching it. You certainly wouldn’t give your child some unknown medicine so why was I so thoughtless as to do that to my best friend who depends on me to keep her safe?
Well because the package was from Hartz. They’ve been around for years! I trusted them and besides, if there was something up with the product I would have heard about it, wouldn’t I? And Wal-mart would never sell me something they know is going to kill my cat! Right? WRONG!
Until I accidentally stumbled over the articles in my research, I had never heard these products were toxic. Even my vet tech didn’t mention it, but then again, I did tell him I was going to get Revolution, a safe flea and tick product. And yes, Wal-mart and Hartz have absolutely no qualms over selling you something that will kill your pet for a buck. None! Believe it!
Well my little cat is going to make it, although it was very touch and go there for a while. She got quite a bit worse before she got better. And you know from here on out I will NEVER give her anything again without fully researching it and the side effects.
With that in mind, please boycott all Hartz products. Even their flea collars have done horrific damage to innocent animals. And tell Wal-mart how you feel about them knowingly selling you products that will kill your pet. Write to the EPA. Tell them repackaging isn’t enough. We want these products gone for good!
So what can you use for your pet when they suffer from fleas and ticks? The number one, absolute rule is NOTHING over the counter. You simply must use a prescription from your vet and I highly recommend Revolution, especially if you have cats. Why? Because it kills fleas, ticks, ear mites, scabies, intestinal worms AND heartworms all in one monthly dose to the back of the neck and side effects are very, very rare.