Pets1

It really has nothing to do with believing Novartis (or any other manufacturer) It comes down to common sense, the law of physics and several other factors. You have a small chew, for arguments sake the size of a 5c piece The ingredients as per advertised dosage's are blended with a suspension mix. There is no way anybody can be sure of the dispensation of all ingredients once the chew is pressed into it's form. There is a good chance there may be an even percentage of all ingredients throughout the chew, however it could be 55% one side, 45% the other, maybe top heavy or bottom heavy. It is like making meatballs, you add an onion to the mince, mix it up, you are happy that it is mixed well, but no matter how hard you try you will find it impossible to have all the meatballs you make the same ratio (meat to onion) unless each ball was made individually by weight and volume, even then the composition within that ball will be different from half to half, or even quarters. I hope that makes sense… (the more onions the better IMO)

Bear in mind as well, for Sentinel Spectrum anyway, there are 3 Active ingredients The ratios vary tremendously between the dog sizes i.e. Green Pack (4-11kg) (per chew) * Milbemycin oxime 5.75 mg * Lufenuron 115 mg * Praziquantel 57 mg Blue Pack (22-45kg) (per chew) * Milbemycin oxime 23 mg * Lufenuron 460 mg * Praziquantel 228 mg So there is no way to be sure you if are getting 50%, 25% or 75% of the dosage… As per previous, I know the practice of cutting chews up happens, personally I would never recommend it, so long as you are aware that you may be under or over dosing.

I would be careful about what information is posted on a forum. Under APVMA guidelines, the Vet COULD be prosecuted for advising this. (Especially if advised during a consult, i.e. getting vaccinated) Now lets be realistic, we know the cutting up of various chews does happen, However, there are risks involved, i.e. the dosage is not uniformly distributed in the chew (it is dosed as a complete piece) The official line from Novartis (and all other chew type manufacturers) is the product should not be tampered with. My line is, if it works, great, just be wary there are risks involved...

There is some feedback in our thread in the Commercial Marketplace http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/209961-pets1comau/page__view__findpost__p__5578219 (plus follow up reviews on the following pages Initially I could not give them away (I think people thought they may not have worked or something) however we have probably sold close to 70 of them in the past 3-4 months

It must be pick on me day… I knew that spiders web I walked through this morning was really trying to tell me to go home, hide under the covers… Meanies… lol

Firstly, we pay for advertising, and the ability to post in the 'RELEVANT' topic area, i.e. Commercial marketplace. (bear in mind, that topic area get's NO exposure to search engines, or to members that do not qualify, so posting in a general topic area has massive advantages for getting the word out) I think in the past year you will be lucky to find more than 10-12 threads we have started as we prefer to do what is right and keep everything in a single thread. The exception to this is major specials, clearance items and to list items not really relevant with the main thread (i.e. recently Bird products which were given away FREE). Given this thread is more to do with an informational event, there are some grey areas, yes, it is promoting the product etc etc etc. But if it is to get exposure and attendees then personally I dont have an issue with it… (off my soap box now… have orders to pack)

Already in the process of being done However, as we did not have direct contact with the application , etc, the report is simply a matter of due process, and brief descriptions of what the complaints to us comprised of. As previously stated, I know a couple of the people are going to contact the APVMA, the others are more of the mindset, they have there money back, product in the bin, thats it. Unfortunately, whilst it would be great if everyone did follow through with complaints, this is something that cannot be forced upon them. Also, with the customers who do not wish to take things further, we are obliged under the Privacy act not to provide any of there details, other than location, and issue Sadly we are between a rock and a hard place with this, I know what the right thing to do is, but I must respect what others wish to do, or not do

Given that of 7 issues, there were 4 different problems, 2 had severe vomiting, 2 with irritated skin, one of these to the point where the skin almost appeared burnt and welts appearing, 2 had varying types of convulsions/fits in the 24-48hrs after treatment, and the last issue was to do with vision, the dog had no sense of location (after 3 years in the same place, and the first time they have ever encountered ticks). The dog kept losing balance, running into walls, doors, windows, furniture, after 24 hours everything seemed to be back to normal (3 of the 7 customers did take there dogs to the vet as well). Yes, there is a lot of mis-information out there on other websites, whether they attempted to be an armchair expert, who knows. On the flip side, my best friend and brother in law are both Vets, and after speaking to them they have not been presented with any animals with issues such as this recently from the product in question. Whether it is a batch related issue, or just co-incidence I don't know...

Pets1, did you advise your buyers to do this? The number of reactions does indeed seem alarmingly high. I bought some Advantix from somewhere else a few weeks ago, and applied it last week to my 18kg dog. No major issues, except it stains her fur. They were all advised of this, plus a complaint in writing to Bayer Australia

You are 100% correct, hence why with a lot of testing placebo's are used (that narrows down such issues) Maybe some of the issues raised earlier in this thread could have been due to a heightened awareness of potential problems. As I do not know these people, I am not in a position to comment, other than I hope for the best for there dogs. The customers that I have dealt with do not know each other, live in different states, and to my knowledge do not use this forum (all found us by Google or Yahoo search)

All Bayer product is manufactured in Germany So what the U.S. get (under the same label) is the same as what we get here (they just have different labels with FDA approval)

For those that now me, I am far from a confrontational person, but the whole concept of a discussion such as this is to get the word out, maybe there are similar circumstances, breed similarities, etc etc. Try and find a solution, or least an understanding of what is going on Having read the thread for a couple of days I wanted to keep the commercial side of things out of the equation, but with several people making blanket comments such as these things happen, well, sorry, something had to be said, given the same thing is happening to others who may not be active on this website. Based on the premise that there has been no change to the product, it is very unusual that so many issues (that I know of) have happened so close to each other (and our 7 customers come from 4 different states, the only common factor is the product)

Not that we have been advised of, nor the APVMA advised of We withdrew Advantix from sale of the 21st of December and have been in contact with both our supplier (who is has other customers with the same issues) and Bayer, heck, we have sold large quantities of there product and they didnt want to hear anything about it. Simply saying it is a matter between them and the user… ummm, hello, who has to give these people there money back. Easiest way for us to show our displeasure of this whole situation is to stop selling the product. Whilst every medication has risks, in 16 months we have had 3 issues with reactions from customers, 2 with Frontline (1 Cats, 1 Dogs) and one from Comfortis… then to have 7 issues in 3 weeks from 1 product…. strange

Not wanting to sound rude, but that statement is uncalled for… For the record, and for those nay-sayers that are carrying on like there is not a problem, there IS a problem We, along with 2 other retailers I know of have withdrawn Advantix for sale, and WILL NOT re-stock it, period Having to refund 7 customers in less than 3 weeks due to adverse reactions, outside of what is normally expected says to me something is not right And to get the run around from Bayer, well easy fixed… We will not sell this product, and eventually remove all Bayer product from sale, and as per above. We are not the only ones doing this To have a manufacturer basically say, these things happen when customers are banging there heads on the wall getting the same response is not acceptable

Given how much more expensive they are here (at wholesale level) compared to the U.S. you will be hard pressed finding someone that carries the entire range, there are a few that do have a good range, but certainly not everything They float regardless of the hole Doggie-Durable, Buoyant, Minty & Bouncy… HTH

We are clearing out our entire Orbee and StarMark range http://pets1.com.au/Planet-Dog-Orbee-Ball-Small-Blue-Green.html The Orbee Balls and Bone are on our website All other items are in the Commercial Marketplace here on DOL

We stock the entire Cuz and iSqueak range http://pets1.com.au/cart.php?m=search_results&search=Cuz Shipping ranges from $6.95 to $9.95 depending in the size and weight of the order, that is pretty much the norm online You will find the same in shops, but have a price of anything up to 40-60% more (The Hol-ee Cuz is only quite new so pricing in stores can be quite high) HTH

Must not have looked at our prices…. ;) $39.88ea All sizes in stock Shipping based on a single Thundershirt $7.95 http://pets1.com.au/Dog-Anxiety-Wraps/

Sorry correction... The Pet Expo is the trade only event The Pet & Animal Expo is a consumer based event which like the trade event, alternates each year

The Pet Expo is a trade only event It alternates between QLD, NSW & VIC It was here in Sydney this year (in October) It is scheduled to be at the Gold Coast, QLD in 2012 (was there in 2009) And will be back in Melbourne in 2013 (was there last year, 2010)

To put some clarification on things from both a consumer and resellers point of view Firstly, there has been a lot of price rises recently, more than you would care to imagine. Not all of these are from the manufacturer either, the distributors for too long have had too lean a margin on most lines, to the point where some make no money at all (especially when you factor in overheads, taxes, etc etc)... So there might be a 5-7% rise from the manufacturer, then another 3-5% is being added at the next stop up the line. Naturally, that means at the retail end the costs have to be covered, and to be honest, I am a little over all the increases. Also, because here in Australia, our suppliers are still living in the dark ages... the internet is evil, and you must buy these things at a shop... Thats what they think anyway. So, what is happening is more conditions are being placed on online retailers, plus a few suppliers have increased minimum orders from say $300 to $1,000, plus other implementations that are designed to weed out the back yard operators. With everything that has been going on, I made the decision a few days ago to remove close to 75% of my 3 & 4pk range of medications, as they are just not a viable business option, I dont think it will be too long before you see others do this as well. Also, price matching, the conditions on competitors websites, including my own have now become a lot stricter. We will no longer match the prices of online stores who only sell medications, they need to be a full line retailer (i.e. Pet Toys, Treats/Foods, Apparel, plus items for other types of pets)... I think you will be seeing a few more price rises in the very near future, and those that may be seen to be really cheap today, may not be tomorrow, or be around for long based on what is happening from the level above us (the retailer). Also, as has been mentioned in this thread, does everything have to be so price driven? I know there are some good retailers out there, and we try our best to ensure orders are sent out as quickly as possible, and if there is an issue to fix them... I guess good service is not what it used to be... food for thought... <off my soap box now> *** These are my personal opinions, I have pets, all my friends have pets, I also work in the industry, hopefully my thoughts have not come across in a negative light at all

ATTN ALL DOL MEMBERS: As of noon today we (Pets Warehouse Australia Pty Ltd) have started to receive phone calls and emails from customers asking where there orders are. In all cases so far each order was actually placed with PetFood247 For some reason, suggestions have been made through "The grapevine" that PetsWarehouse.com.au is also PetFood247 I have asked the people in question where they heard this, and aside from "On a website" etc I have very little to go on. When I advised them to join here, or read the thread on the ScamWarners website, they get very sheepish and don't provide much more information (except for a few that have sent a copy of there invoice so I can ensure the supplier/manufacturer of whatever product was ordered be aware of what is happening). Aside from also being based in the South West of Sydney, we have nothing to do with them, and for obvious reasons would prefer they stop trading in such a manner. Listing products that are not in stock, not sending orders out etc etc in the long run damages the online retail industry, and we all know what retail store pricing is like. I would have preferred not to say anything, but when 10-20 orders missed getting sent out today by the time the courier and AusPost did there pickups due to being on the phone dealing with these people I have to get the word out there somehow, after all I am trying to do 3-4 peoples jobs on my own. I have stated to any of the affected customers, I am willing to provide the same products ordered, at MY cost price plus exact shipping cost to try and appease them, upon presentation of a tax invoice from the other business. (Note to Moderators: If this is out of line in any way, please remove) http://PetsWarehouse.com.au