The pesky flea and tick season is here and pet owners nationwide continue to express concerns about the topical treatments on the market. ConsumerAffairs.com regularly hears from pet owners who say their dogs and cats have experienced neurological problems, burns, vomiting, and other adverse reactions to the spot-on products.
Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently unveiled several measures designed to increase the products’ safety -- including clearer labeling requirements -- many pet owners remain wary of the treatments.
And consumers across the country wonder what they can do to safely protect their dogs and cats from annoying fleas and ticks.
A leading veterinarian and a doctor of pharmacy and clinical toxicology told ConsumerAffairs.com she understands pet owners’ trepidations, but says serious reactions to these flea and tick treatments are rare. She also said the best ways to prevent most adverse reactions is to follow the directions carefully and apply the products based on the animal’s exact weight.
“One of the overwhelming issues we see with dogs is that pet owners don’t have their (animal’s) accurate weight,” said Dr. Lynn Hovda, director of veterinary services and toxicologist for the Pet Poison Helpline and SafetyCall International. “They may think their Chihuahua weighs 15 pounds, but when they go to the vet they learn it weighs 4 to 5 pounds. So now we’ve got a weight issue.”
Throughout our interview, Dr. Hovda repeatedly emphasized the importance of knowing a pet’s exact weight when using these products that are applied by squeezing the contents of a vial or tube to the skin between an animal’s shoulder blades or along its back.
“You have to know your pet’s accurate weight so you know the accurate dose to use,” she said. “This is especially true with smaller dogs. Knowing the exact size and weight of your pet and not assuming a product can be used for all types of animals is essential for using the correct medication and appropriate dose on your pet,” she said.
The EPA in March announced that manufacturers of these products must immediately make their packages easier for pet owners to read and understand.
The EPA, for example, wants more precise instructions on the products’ labels to ensure pet owners apply the correct doses based on the animals’ weight. The agency also wants clearer markings on the labels so pet owners can tell the difference between products for dogs and cats.
Drs. Hovda and Kingston laud these requirements.
“Time and time again we see pet owners who are very well-intentioned but are not paying attention to what is on the label or are confused by what is on the label,” Dr. Kingston told us. “That leads to product misapplication or pet owners not using the products as effectively as they could.
“Anything that can be done to help increase the clarity of use of these products is important.”
Dr. Hovda agrees. “I’m all in favor of anything that can be done to make (the labeling) clearer, easier to understand, and user-friendly,” she said. “The key to ensuring pets’ safety when using flea and tick products is to be vigilant about following the instructions on the package.”
The EPA, which is not banning or pulling any topical flea and tick products off the market at this time, also said it will: • Prohibit similar brand names for dog and cat flea and tick products. This has lead to product misuse, the EPA said; • Require labels to clearly state that pet owners should not allow dogs and cat to interact after the products are applied; • Grant conditional, time-limited registrations when new products are registered with the EPA; • Restrict the use of certain inert ingredients that may contribute to adverse reactions. • Require more standardized post-market surveillance reporting on adverse effects linked to the products; • Continue to monitor reports of bad reactions associated with the products.
The EPA’s action plan came in response to its nearly year-long “intensive evaluation” of topical flea and tick products.
The agency launched that probe after noticing an uptick in reports about adverse reactions -- including burns, neurological problems, and even deaths -- linked to these over-the-counter and prescription treatments. During an interview with ConsumerAffairs.com last summer, the agency confirmed it had received more than 44,000 reports of harmful reactions associated with the products.
Dr. Kingston and his colleagues at the Minnesota-based Pet Poison Helpline analyzed much of the data provided to the EPA about these products and the reactions associated with them. They concur with the EPA that the number of severe or fatal reactions to the products -- when used correctly -- are “extremely low” compared to the number of applications that pet owners use each year.
“The likelihood of an animal having a more severe reaction is 1 in every 200,000 applications,” Dr. Kingston told us. “Owners may think that serious adverse effects are common and expected, but fortunately, the data does not show that animals are being seriously injured when flea and tick products are being applied properly.
“The majority of reported incidents represent minor or non life-threatening events,” he said.
When serious reactions do occur, they are commonly caused by misuse of the products, Dr. Kingston and his colleagues said. Pet owners, for example, may apply a dog product on a cat or miscalculate the dose for their animal.
“In looking at the EPA’s findings, one of the things they recognized was that smaller breeds are disproportionately more affected (by adverse reactions),” Dr. Kingston said. “That may be because the pet owners don’t know the animal’s weight.”
Some “normal” reactions to topical flea and tick treatments may also be misunderstood by pet owners, the doctors said.
“Often times a product is doing what it’s supposed to do, which is rapidly kill fleas,” Dr. Hovda said. “But when you have fleas on a pet and then they’re covered with a product, the fleas start leaping on and off an animal. This is called the dead flea dance. It’s irritating to pets and they start biting. Sometimes, that’s what occurring.”
Some pets may also foam at the mouth if they lick the products. “The active ingredients can cause animals to have an intense stinging sensation on their tongue and they will start to foam at the mouth,” Dr. Kingston said. “But this problem is usually mild and limiting.”
A “small proportion” of pets can also experience a side effect called paresthesia, which is a tingling sensation at the application site. This reaction, which accounts for a “large number” of the reported incidents, generally affects smaller breed dogs, doesn’t last too long, and is usually mild, the doctors said.
But pet owners who’ve contacted ConsumerAffairs.com say the reactions their dogs and cats experienced to these products are anything but mild.
"Horrific," "frightening" and "scary" are terms they often use.
And those who’ve seen their dogs and cats endure pain and suffering -- or even die -- after using the products are convinced the “poisons” should be pulled off the market.
They’re pet owners like James R. of St. Peters, Florida, who blames a Hartz product for the recent death of his cat.
“I purchased Hartz UltraGuard OneSpot Treatment for Cats and Kittens and upon applying this product to my 6-year-old male bobtail cat, Smokey, within 48 hours, my cat was dead,” he told us. “This cat was in perfect health prior to applying the product to him.
“All I was looking to do was kill off the fleas on my cat, not kill off my cat.”
A Missouri pet owner told us her two healthy dogs experienced frightening reactions to Sergeant’s Gold Flea and Tick Squeeze-On treatment.
“I followed the instructions perfectly, and within a half hour, they started shaking, wobbling, crying, spinning uncontrollably, twitching, running into furniture, trees, and the like - all in an effort to stop whatever sensation they were feeling,” said Lori W. of Raytown, Missouri.
Lori said she bathed her dogs seven times in cold water and dish detergent to alleviate their agony. “But they’re still suffering 36 hours after I applied this product,” she said, adding she used the treatment labeled for the weight of her large dogs. “The only thing that soothes them for a moment is the icy water of the hose.”
Lori’s veterinarian also prescribed a medication for the dogs.
“Now that I've been a victim of this, I've learned how many tens of thousands of people have inadvertently harmed or even killed their pets,” she said. “According to what I read, they (the EPA) feel that 44,000 adverse reactions, including deaths in 2009, is an acceptable number because so many people have used the product. It isn't. These products should be taken off the market shelves immediately.”
The EPA confirmed that some pets have died or experienced severe reactions to topical flea and tick treatments.
Dr. Kingston acknowledged that finding and said the animal health industry is trying to find out why those cases happened.
“We do have circumstances of pets having severe reactions,” Dr. Kingston said. And we’re trying to get a better handle on some of those unexpected reactions and figure out why this animal had this type of reaction.
“(But) there are circumstances in which we don’t have any good answers,” he added. “It’s like drugs in humans when someone reacts violently to a regular dose of medication.”
Despite these concerns, Drs. Kingston and Hovda said topical flea and tick products should not be yanked off the market. They say the treatments -- when used correctly -- protect animals and humans from bloodsucking insects and prevent the spread of Lyme disease and other infectious illnesses.
“There are benefits to these products,” Dr. Kingston said. “And we do not want to see animals not have access to them. These products also serve a public health benefit in addition to helping animals.”
Pet owners who are still leery of using these products can take several steps to reduce the adverse reactions often linked to them, the doctors said. Those steps include: • Read and follow the product’s directions carefully. Misapplication of a product can cause skin irritation or redness, vomiting, diarrhea, trembling, and seizures; • Know the exact size and weight of your pet and use the correct dose amount. Don’t guess. “And do not try to split the products,” Dr. Hovda said. “We’ve seen people who have three dogs and have tried to put 1/3 of the product on each dogs. But it’s very difficult with spot-on treatments to get any accuracy when doing that. You have to get the specific product -- and the right dose -- for each specific animal;” • Never use a product for a dog on a cat. Always use a product on the animal in which it was intended; • Check the products’ ingredients. Some animals can’t tolerate certain chemicals. “Permethrins and cats don’t mix,” Dr. Hovda said; • Separate pets from each other after using the products. “Every now and then we see problems with cats licking products off dogs,” Dr. Kingston said. “Sometime dogs lick products off each other, too;” • Keep children away from pets that have been treated with the products. Children who touch a pet after they’ve been treated can get the chemicals on their hands – and then put their hands in their mouths; • Talk to your veterinarian before using the products on small breed dogs or weak, aged, young, sick, and pregnant or nursing pets. “Don’t rely on the advice of a 16-year-old who is working at a pet food store,” Dr. Hovda said. “The person directing what chemicals to put on your pet should be your vet;” • Don’t over-treat your pets. “When some people see fleas and ticks, they scrub their pets with flea and tick shampoo, bomb their homes (with flea products), and use topical flea and tick products,” Dr. Hovda said. “That’s overwhelming to pets;” • Monitor pets for signs of adverse reactions. “If you’re using a product for the first time, you should watch your pets closely for the first 24 hours,” Dr. Kingston said. “If you see any unusual symptoms, contact your vet;” • Consider other types of flea and tick products. “There are a wide variety of different types of products out there,” Dr. Kingston said. “And they each have different characteristics. If a pet owner has doubts, it’s always important to touch base with their vet and discuss what they are trying to accomplish and what product will meet those needs;”
What about natural flea and tick products?
“I think you have to be careful with natural products,” Dr. Hovda said. “Some of the essential oils don’t get along with cats. Cats, for example, can’t metabolize lavender. Some other natural products use garlic and onions, but those are harmful to cats because of their red blood cells and circulatory systems.
“And some natural products are not effective on dogs or cats.”
Pet owners should report any adverse reactions to the manufacturer, the EPA said. Pesticide manufacturers are required by law to notify federal regulators about any incidents regarding topical flea and tick products.
Pet owners should also notify the EPA about any adverse reactions.
Veterinarians are encouraged to report adverse reactions to the products to the National Pesticide Information Center, the EPA said.
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