Another Freaky Reaction From A Flea Product

[Guest muttrus]

Some months ago I decided to use ADVANTAGE on my cats .The 16 year old was fine the kitten was fine the old cat was fine but the 2 year old started frothing at the mouth and convulsing I call the vet and was advised to wash him in straight washing liquid .

He was alittle shaken but ok AND NEVER HAD ANOTHER FLEA SINCE .

After using another product I found it didn"t work so I went back to advantage knowing it worked on the other cats and that it wasn"t needed on the cat who had the reaction.

I did it by the book put it on in the same spot and watched them to make sure they couldn"t get to it. Well they all ran off in different directions Then the 1 year old cat came creeping out of the hallway frothing at the mouth eyes watery and looking distressed I washed him and he gave me a fithy look before being dried and he ran off .

I called the company because I thought this was so weird the lady took my story then proceeded to tell me how it was my fault the product is safe MMMM I didn"t call to blame them I just thought Id tell them in case there was a batch issue .Anyway I told the lady he couldn"t reach the area to lick it she went on to say that my cat must have rubbed himself on a toy then picked up the toy in his mouth and thats why he got sick!!

While I understand things happen but she went through some rather strange in detail but what sounded rather rehearsed events that would have led to my cats reaction .

For the record I told her the cats weren"t together after treatment .Im a foster carer and the dogs and cats interact with each other so I don"t use dog spot on treatments (only tablet form) I explained to the lady that I had read the product information sheet and I wasn't a total idiot .Anyway her last comment was ""I assure you the product is completely safe you clearly didn"t adminster it correctly and thats why your cat got sick"" ""may I suggest next time you do it right"" and thankyou for calling .

Im hoping now that comfortis hurry up and make a cat flea tablet

[Guest muttrus]

ohhh so sorry I posted in the wrong section .After all this time I still haven"t got the hang of everything :D

[OSoSwift]

I would call back, go higher up and complain about her a d her crap information.

Of course animals can have reactions. People react to "safe" things every day. Stupid woman!!

[Rappie]

The type of reaction you describe is one that I have only seen with cats that have ingested topical flea products (usually due to the base liquid), or indeed any other type of product that tastes nasty including accidentally chewing a worm tablet and some other oral liquid medications. It looks quite dramatic but is not harmful. Advantage is not absorbed systemically so aside from local reactions like burning or itching it should be very unlikely to cause a systemic reaction from being applied topically. The active ingredient also has no effect on mammals. It doesn't mean it is impossible that reactions can occur some other way but I have only really seen that reaction from either grooming another cat, or from scratching where the product is applied then licking the foot. It can take several hours for the area of application to dry completely.

[Everythings Shiny]

The type of reaction you describe is one that I have only seen with cats that have ingested topical flea products (usually due to the base liquid), or indeed any other type of product that tastes nasty including accidentally chewing a worm tablet and some other oral liquid medications. It looks quite dramatic but is not harmful. Advantage is not absorbed systemically so aside from local reactions like burning or itching it should be very unlikely to cause a systemic reaction from being applied topically. The active ingredient also has no effect on mammals. It doesn't mean it is impossible that reactions can occur some other way but I have only really seen that reaction from either grooming another cat, or from scratching where the product is applied then licking the foot. It can take several hours for the area of application to dry completely.

Yup, thats what I thought reading the first post. Definitely sounds like ingestion of the product.

[Pawfect]

They may have licked it off one of the other cats perhaps?

[persephone]

Also reads to me as if the cats did get some in their mouth somehow ..and that reaction with the froth etc is a pretty attention grabbing one !

Oh, and Rappie may help out here, but the convulsing I always thought was caused by all that frothy saliva blocking the airways ......scary .

Edited December 15, 2012 by persephone

[sheree_e4]

Why not get all the cats a program injection? This last 6mths but only affects adult fleas once they bite making them sterile so stops the cycle by not allowing adults to produce eggs. I personally use frontline spray on all my pets (dogs and cats).

[Alyosha]

Did you report it?

http://www.apvma.gov.au/forms/docs/KP81_G01.pdf