had to take my dog Linden to the emergency vet on Saturday night – then to another vet (The Marina Animal Clinic) on Sunday. I put some sergeants GOLD flea and tick on him Saturday morning (I bought at Wal-mart) and apparently vets and consumers are trying to get it off the shelf. I didn’t know anything was wrong with him until about 8 hours after I applied it – had I paid attention I’d have noticed immediately that he was not well – it is like he couldn’t sit still and he kept barking and doing this low under the radar type of whine. I spent the entire day on my front porch and only took him out side for a walk once – where he kept eating grass (which I’ve never seen him do) – apparently animals do this sometimes when they are sick. Once I sat down with him – he kept laying his head on me and crying and then he would lay in his bed for 60 seconds – then get up and lay on me – then get up and lay on the floor. I immediately got online to see about the Sergeants and immediately came across hundreds of horror stories – some going on in real time – where animals were sick from this stuff. I quickly bathed him – used joy (dawn is recommended) - and he really started crying - the skin on his back was pink and somewhat burned – HE NEVER ONCE TRIED TO GET OUT of the bathtub if that tells you anything. I took him to the emergency vet – and they thought I had gotten most of it off and he would be okay – he wasn’t ticking or anything with him because he was scared and shivering from the bath. I took him home and the symptoms seem to get worse – I called the emergency vet again and they told me to get him benadryl – to help with symptoms and allow him to sleep. They said the usual dosage is 1 mg per pound – but to give him a double dose – he is 12 pounds – so he basically took one 24 mg tablet. The emergency Vet said to take him to the vet the next day. The benadryl made him sleepy – but he still couldn’t sleep - he kept twitching or ticking like something was wrong with his nerves. I was up the entire night on Saturday into Sunday morning with him b/c he couldn’t sleep – and would only lay still if I rubbed his neck or petted him. I gave him another bath at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning and then took him to the Marina Animal Clinic as soon as they opened. They usually hook them up to IV fluids – to flush out what is in their system – but that usually requires overnight stay and the alternative was a very strong muscle relaxer to get him to stop ticking and encourage him with liquids – children’s pedialite, chicken broth -we took the shot because I didn’t want to leave him and the vet said he would probably be okay. Linden finally fell asleep around 4 pm. Sunday and he slept until this morning.



The vet gave me a FORM FDA 1932a – it is a form that you can fill out for an adverse drug reaction involving an animal. The Marina told me that they see at least one animal a day as a result of Sergeants, Hartz and Bio-spot. Many of the cats and dogs don’t survive – there are more reactions for cats than dogs. I think the only reason Linden didn’t have as severe of a reaction is because I didn’t get the entire tube on him as I spilled out some of it when I cut the tube open. The vet said they have seen entire families – like with three dogs – where they all the dogs got sick from it. I didn’t apply it wrong or give him the wrong dose either. I usually use frontline but was trying to save a buck – big mistake. Most animals start foaming at the mouth, can’t walk and many end up dying. The vet said the smartest thing I did was the baths and he asked that I let everyone I know – with or without pets of what is going on as they are working on getting it off the shelf. Some local vets have even contacted wal-mart in an effort to get it off the shelf. If you know someone with or without an animal – please let them know what is going on



If you get online and type in Sergeants Flea and Tick Poison or Hartz Flea and Tick reaction – you will come across dozens of websites and blogs that documents daily the horrible reaction dogs and cats have to this every day.



One is www.hartzvictims.org