This makes for some sad reading. Outrageous is more like it!
Holy crap!!! I don’t use any of these products and now I know I won’t ever be tempted! My daughter bought an over the counter spot on flea treatment for her dog a couple of years ago. She doesn’t remember which one it was but she said all the dog’s hair at the application site fell out and left the skin at the site and surrounding area very inflamed and sore looking. She believes it may have been one of the Sentry products.
Even when I was an undergrad volunteering at a vet’s office (I graduated in 1993) vets knew this stuff was worse than garbage -it was dangerous garbage. The vets I worked for always discouraged their clients from using these flea and tick product, and even the bird seed products.
Paula
Yep, I fell for trying some of the spot flea treatment, and boy were my kitties sick 
Thankfully nothing but the tincture of time couldn’t handle, but gah, they just felt like CRAP
I am AMAZED this stuff is still on the shelves.
Working at ER Vet saw more than one kitten die but it was owner error: had applied doggie Hartz to kittens. Kittens would scream, writhe, seizure; kids would cry and scream watching. Awful :no:.
Don’t know if doggie Frontline would also kill kittens.
No, but doggie advantix will.
Paula
NEVER use dog products on cats. Dogs aren’t harmed by the chemical permethrin, which is apparently good at killing fleas, but it is toxic to cats. I tried - for about a month - to use over-the-counter flea control on my cats, and none of it worked (I’m horrified to hear that I could have killed them - thank god they were okay, and I chose the cheaper product at the store instead of Hartz!).
The vet gave me prescription frontline, I think, and boom! Fleas gone in two treatments, the third made sure they didn’t come back. More expensive at first, but way more effective than all the baths/vacuuming/flea drops/flea bombs I tried. I’m buying more next time they see the vet.
I remember hearing about Hartz flea dip and flea spray causing seizures and death in small dogs and cat about 20 years ago. I confirmed with my vet that he had a client that lost a pet.
Since that time I have never purchased any Hartz product. I will NOT support a company that continues to produce and market unsafe products.
The Frontline isn’t cat toxic -it’s the absolute same ingredients in the dog vs cat formula. You just have to know what dose to use on a cat. I first got the low down from a cat rescue and confirmed it with my vet.
Advantix is different and will straight up kill your cat.
Paula
There are chemical ingredients used to kill TICKS on dog “flea and tick” topical treatments that tend to be highly lethal to cats. Finding a tick repellent for cats is very difficult as cats are extremely sensitive. Even treatment being put on a dog and then the family cat rubbing on the freshly treated dogs neck can result in a sick/dying cat. I cant figure out why people think dogs and cats are the same animal…they are not related. HARTZ products are lethal to just about everything, that sh*# should be banned!
They are not the same animal, and not using dog stuff on a cat is a good policy. However, you can use frontline that way. Ask you vet. They both use 9.7% fipronil.
Cat Frontline Ingredients:Frontline: Fipronil (9.7%), Inert ingredients
Dog Frontline Ingredients Active Ingredients:
Fipronil 9.7%
Inert Ingredients 90.3%
Paula
They’ve been killing animals since I was a kid. Anyone remember Blockade I think it was? This company could care less about animals. They waited until the furor died down and brought the exact same product back to the market with a new name where it killed new pets. There are plenty of companies out there that don’t make poisonous products and peddle them to the inexperienced owner, just don’t buy anything from them, please!
Oh good Lord! I had no idea…
Thank you so much for starting this thread.
I just typed up an email about HARTZ and the dangers of their products. I sent it to all of my animal-loving, pet-owning family and friends, and encouraged them to pass it along to everyone they know who is an animal lover/pet owner…
If anybody wants the message text to put together their own email, let me know. I can PM it to you, or post it here.
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I’m just amazed that this company is still around. I knew how bad their products were when I was a kid and that was 30 years ago. How they are still in business is a mystery to me.
They’ve been killing pets forever.
I’ve used Seven Dust without a problem on cats and dogs. 10% is most effective, but they seem to have stopped sellling that. 5% works OK, but not as well. I’ve found flea powder they sell in stores is useless!!
[QUOTE=paulaedwina;6299705]
The Frontline isn’t cat toxic -it’s the absolute same ingredients in the dog vs cat formula. You just have to know what dose to use on a cat. I first got the low down from a cat rescue and confirmed it with my vet.
Advantix is different and will straight up kill your cat.
Paula[/QUOTE]
Yep. I use Frontline (or rather the generic/knockoff sold under the name PetArmor because it’s cheaper) because the other common anti-tick medicines are dangerous to cats. While I don’t treat my cats, I can’t keep them away from the dogs or rugs and beds the dogs touch and I’m not taking any chances.
I’ve used bird products from Hartz. I don’t know anyone who’s used the dog or cat products. That stuff always came from the vet.
[QUOTE=SonnysMom;6299443]
I remember hearing about Hartz flea dip and flea spray causing seizures and death in small dogs and cat about 20 years ago. I confirmed with my vet that he had a client that lost a pet.
Since that time I have never purchased any Hartz product. I will NOT support a company that continues to produce and market unsafe products.[/QUOTE]
Me too. I’ve been quietly boycotting Hartz products for years. The EPA had to step in to get Hartz to stop selling a series of products which were known to cause problems in cats. Even then, Hartz worked out an agreement to let the stuff stay in the retail pipeline for another six months.
Ask for a copy & use it!
ReeseTheBeast wrote a really wonderful letter about this horrid issue with Hartz to email to friends. Ya’ll should take her up on her offer to freely use it. Nicely done Reese, nicely done. :yes:
I hadn’t even realized that a lot of the formulas for dogs are toxic to cats. I just treated my dog with PetArmour, and I’m relieved to know that I can continue using it without trouble for my cats.
Off topic: If my dog is treated and my cats are strictly indoors only, should I be treating my cats with the cat appropriate dosage?
Thank you, TTSP! 
Since my PM box is almost full, I’ll just go ahead and post the email here, and people can copy/paste/edit as they wish… Hopefully it helps :yes:
Here goes:
"Hey everyone.
Just in case you were not aware, it is very important that you stay away from all HARTZ brand animal products. HARTZ manufactures flea, tick and other products for dogs and cats. (Apologies in advance if any of you are already aware of these issues, and this email is redundant.)
The following site lists owner documentation of the severe reactions (up to and including death) that these products caused to their pets (specifically, cats and small dogs)… these cases go back to 2002; and this list doesn’t include the cases that occured prior to this website’s stand-up. Google of course pulls up more websites related to HARTZ and the problems their products have caused to cats and small dogs.
http://www.hartzvictims.org/author/admin/
Some of the stories are very difficult to read (especially the one from the woman who lost 4 out of 5 of her cats within days of each other because of using a HARTZ flea treatment), but I thought it was very important to share all of this with you… please pass this along to all current/future/past pet owners you know. The word needs to be spread… most pet owners are not aware of the risks associated with these products, or the chemicals in them.
The primary active ingredients in HARTZ flea and tick products are Tetrachlorvinophos, Phenothrin, and S-Methoprene; which are all very strong pesticides. Incidentally, Phenothrin is KNOWN to be extremely toxic (and very often, lethal) to cats… so why is HARTZ using it in the products they manufacture for cats?? The cats who have been affected/killed by HARTZ products have suffered acute systemic phenothrin toxicity; which causes seizures, muscle tremors, skin rashes, lethargy, decreased heart rate, fluid build-up in the lungs, hair loss, blindess, and ataxia/neurologic symptoms, among other issues.
Tetrachlorvinophos (TCVP) is an organophosphate pesticide used to kill fleas and ticks. It classified as a “likely human carcinogen,” and is known to be toxic to the human nervous system… cats are notoriously sensitive animals (even moreso than humans); so again- why is this chemical being used in a product manufactured for cats?
Based on some of the posts on the above-listed site, it sounds like there are people who are banding together in order to file a class-action lawsuit against HARTZ. If you or someone you know (or someone they know) has ever lost a pet, or had a pet experience undue suffering due to the use of HARTZ products, you/they may want to join the suit. According to some of the other websites I’ve browsed, at least two class-action lawsuits have already been filed; with many more filed by individuals.
Of course winning a lawsuit against HARTZ won’t bring a beloved pet back or undo the sadness of their loss or suffering. But it will at least send a message to HARTZ and the FDA/EPA that allowing the production of these products, and then allowing them to be sold for use on pets in this country (respectively), is unacceptable.
Sorry for the long-windedness… when it comes to animals, I am very passionate (like I know all of you are, too). Thank you so much for passing this information on to every pet owner you know, and for encouraging them to pass it along to every pet owner they know… There is strength in numbers, and I know that if we all work together, we can make big changes!"
