Flea And Tick Product Safety

Glad to see that you have included this summary on flea and tick products.

Green Paws and the NRDC were helpful in my efforts to complete a flea control book which will be released shortly.

It goes into many of the dangers of both natural and the chemical flea control products and teaches the triangle of successful flea control so that pet owners can get rid of fleas and them keep their homes and pets flea free.

If you are interested, you can follow my updates on Twitter (FleaControlBook).

I had used an OTC product called Sargents Gold that I purchased at a CVS store. Thank God I realized my Labradoodle was not acting right within a 1/2 hour of applying the product. At first I thought he was bloating. We had been at the inlet and he had been swimming for the first time. He was very excited and over heated. I had put on the product after I had bathed him because I was told that there were a lot of ticks at the beach area of the inlet. Bailey started foaming at the mouth and was twitching. I rushed him to the nearest Vet and immediately he knew it was the product. He was washed in dish detergent several times to rid him of the application. After a bit I was able to take him home but he was still agitated and was twitching. We finally called the number on the back of the box. We described what was going on and we were told he was having a reaction. That the medication was turning on him and attacking his nervous system instead of the fleas or ticks. We were told the reason he was foaming was because he must have licked the product off the other dog. We were told to get chicken broth and let him have this, it would cut down on the bitter taste that was making him foam. The twitching was due to a pins and needle feeling Bailey was having and this would pass in a few days. It was 4 days before he was back to normal and I was a mess. All I could think was that I had put him in danger by purchasing this product which I thought would be fine. I did go back to the CVS and explain what happened and they removed the product from their shelves. Several weeks later it was back there. I called CVS and told them of my story and said they needed to search on the internet for the 100's of stories that were out there and some of them lead to death. That they should not be selling this at all. My biggest concern was that the Sargents product was half the price of the applications you get at the Vet. So in this economy, I could easily see people purchasing the cheaper brand. There needs to be something done about this product. The stories on the internet are plentiful and I can not believe it is still on the market.

Flea and tick products can be dangerous if used improperly, but they can also be dangerous if used according to the label instructions. Most spot-on type flea and tick products contain high concentrations of pesticides. There is no way to make these products safe for pets or people.

There have been numerous reports of severe adverse reactions in pets following the use of Sergeants Gold Squeeze-On for Dogs (which is also sold under the brand name Sentry Pro XFC and TriForce Canine Squeeze-On).

In fact, according to an analysis of the EPA's adverse incident data, Sergeant's cyphenothrin-based flea and tick products (including Sergeants Gold) accounted for 43% of the total adverse incidents that were reported to the EPA in the last two years. Here is information on that analysis, which was paid for and published by Hartz:

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The EPA had concerns about the safety of Sergeant's cyphenothrin-based flea and tick products even before it allowed these products to be sold. Here is an internal EPA memorandum regarding it from 1995:

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As indicated in the memo, the EPA approved Sergeant's cyphenothrin-based flea and tick products on the condition that Sergeants revise their application instructions. Instead of instructing pet owners to apply it as a stripe from the back of the neck to the base of the tail, the EPA required it to be applied from the base of the neck to a point MIDWAY between the neck and tail (in an effort to prevent dog's from ingesting it). NO OTHER FLEA AND TICK PRODUCT ON THE MARKET INSTRUCTS PET OWNERS TO APPLY IT FROM THE BASE OF THE NECK TO A POINT MIDWAY BETWEEN THE NECK AND TAIL.

Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, no safety tests were ever required or performed to determine if the revised application instructions were any safer.

Correction: The EPA memorandum regarding Sergeant's cyphenothrin-based flea and tick products was written in 2005 (not 1995).

I am glad you posted those websites for the people reporting issues with some of the specific brands.

You can find an incident report form here: More ...

My bichon has been getting over a skin irritation so we have been very aware of anything than might make the skin flare again. I found one flea and my husband thought it would be a good idea to give a treatment with Segeants Gold to head off further flea infestation.

We applied this about 2pm, I massaged the dog along the nape of the neck to just play. By 4pm I had started to notice that my lips and tongue were prickly and that I had a strange metallic taste on the tip of my tongue and nothing tasted normal. The sensation moved down the left side of my throat. I started noticing my dog trying to jump out of his skin and bury under something then sporadic burst of jumpiness. At this point I decided I better wash my dog as both he and I were experiencing a reaction.

My vet told me the next morning that bathing is the prescribed thing to do and recommended that I bathe him once again in Dawn dish detergent to strip this pesticide from the dog. Since some of his symptoms were beginning to subside, he did not require an antedote.

This product is a pesticide poison and should be noted as such on the box - it is regulated as a pesticide but not as a drug by FDA..... buyer BEWARE.

We purchased SentryPro XFC Saturday afternoon. I applied the liquid on the back of my dogs neck and back. After 30 minutes he was running around like a mad dog. Whinning, scratching and just looking disoriented. I quickly went online and found hundreds and hundreds of complaints! I gave him a bath right away. That didn't seem to help much so I gave him a second bath. He was still not doing well so I called the vet and she suggested bathing him again using "Dawn", I did this. After 4 hours of still suffering and panting very hard and refusing water. I called the vet again. They suggested that I bring him in. The gave him benadryl shot and some steriods. They did not seem to help. I ended up having to leave him for the night. The bill is going to be over $400! I am hoping he will be able to come home at noon today.

We need to have this product removed. I would like to sue this company. Its not for the money its for the animals! One site alone has 600 complaints! Its just not fair to the pets or their owners. Is there anything we can do????

Thank you ~ Lisa

I had a similar experience with my mini daschund. I gave him the Sergeant's Gold at about 8:00 Friday night. Within haf and hour the symptoms began. Severe head shaking, licking his paws, crying in his sleep and trying to cover himself with blankets. I went onthe internet to see if there were any side effects with this product, as there are none listed on the box. What I found was appauling. 100's of letter about other dog's, some of which almost died form this product! I immediatly bathed my dog in Dawn and he seems to be feeling better. Please please please do a story on this! I have contacted my local news station and I am also contacting my vet, the local ASPCA and PETA. Sergeant's Gold MUST be removed from the shelf!!!

Here I sit at 11:36 on a Tuesday night looking up sensitivities to Sentry Pro XFC on the internet. OMG! I put the med (according to directions) on my cocker spaniel and he is having a fit! He's running around, not settling down, panting, scratching and shaking his head. I've already given him one bath and my daughter is going to give him another bath in Dawn...thanks to reading these posts. I will definitely be writing Sergeants and letting them know what I think of this product. I should have stuck with instinct and got Frontline from the vet...but I was at Petsmart and picked this up. Big mistake on my part. Thank you all for posting your experiences - it has helped!