Flea and Tick Products and Adverse Reactions to Watch For
Did you know that most flea & tick products are insecticides? Most pesticide chemicals in commercial flea repellents
are fat-soluble and are stored in the fatty tissues of the body,
primarily in the liver and in the nervous system. As these chemicals
accumulate over time, they negatively affect nerves, hormones, and
immunity. Symptoms of product poisoning to watch for:
Pyrethrum, a nontoxic insecticide made from chrysanthemum flowers, is found in many flea repellant products and is considered safe in its natural state. However, combine pyrethrum with chemical additives and
you have a potentially dangerous environment for your dog. Chemical additives to look out for include diethyl toluamide (DEET), propoxur, diazinon, carbaryl, dichlorvos, and DDVP. Be forewarned: Constant inhalation of DDVP, found in flea collars, can cause permanent damage to your dog's internal organs. Be aware that some flea dips contain very strong chemicals and are much too strong for certain breeds or small dogs. Remember, you are applying an insectide when you use a flea dip or allow your animal to wear a flea collar. If you note any of the symptoms above, wash your dog thoroughly with a mild shampoo and rinse thoroughly to remove any product that may still be on it's fur or skin. Quote about ProMeris flea and tick treatment: “As a practicing vet I can tell you that it's not a product that I'll be selling or recommending any time soon. Amitraz is a really potent drug that originally is used to treat demodectic mange. I rarely use it as the side effects can be really severe. Neurological signs, vomiting and other side effects have been seen. When I saw that Amitraz was in ProMeris, I was concerned. Not all animals will be affected but you don't know which ones will have a bad reaction till you use the stuff. Frankly, I still recommend Frontline to all my clients and use it on my own dogs. Advantix/Advantage is a good alternative too, though not as waterproof.” http://www.casitaclub.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Experience taken from: http://au.answers.yahoo.com This is Jo Bell and this is a very important message to my family & friends who have dogs-cats--and to alert you to the hazard of using a new Flea & Tick Preventative called ProMeris. This is a new product designed to be a more effective product than other flea/tick treatments that was just released this year. It is available thru a vet and not currently on-line. I got ProMeris this week for my 7 dogs (6 Huskies & 1 Golden-Airedale), and the results were debilitating for nearly all of them-including me. Since my incident this week, my vet has pulled it from distribution and alerted the manufacturer, Fort Dodge. Here are my results: Within less than 2 hours after applying, 4 of my dogs had vomited from 2-4 times, 3 were disoriented and stumbling, one was dragging his back leg, one was salivating. I had very similar symptoms like an allergic reaction-my lips were swollen, eyes very red, mucous membranes such as eyes, nose, and mouth were stinging. I was very disoriented-dizzy equilibrium and not able to drive. To make this a short story-all 7 of my dogs were admitted to the hospital for veterinarian care, and 3 of them remained for care, IV fluids and observation for 24 hours. I was in the emergency room. I'm home now and so are the dogs. We're all feeling much better. Vet bills were over $2,500 and Fort Dodge is paying for these. Not only can the product cause this reaction, it has a highly noxious odor that permeated the house and is just starting to dissipate after 3 days. Your dogs/cats might not have the same reaction, but given my experience, I wanted to help you all become well-educated about the product. ProMeris has a cute commercial http://www.promeris.com/consumer/ and the Quick Facts http://www.promeris.com/dogs.html state "Gentle enough for dogs and puppies 8 weeks and older." But then there's this: http://www.emea.europa.eu/vetdocs/PDFs/EPAR/promerisduo/V-108-PI-en.pdf And this: http://esa.confex.com/esa/2005/techprogram/paper_20906.htm Comments and Corrections showed three questions about Metaflumizone (one of the main ingredients) which have gone unanswered since 2005! This information does not seem pro pet but rather anti-flea only. It's great to rid your animal of fleas and ticks as long as your pet does not die along with them. Draw your own conclusion from the material presented but read before you administer. It is clear that we have to be the watchdogs for our own animal’s health. ~Mel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ProMeris is brought to you by the same company that made ProHeart 6, an injectible heartworm preventative with the distinction of becoming the first ever pharmaceutical for pets to be recalled by the United States Food and Drug Administration after it became clear animals were dying as a direct result of this drug. http://www.proheart6.com/Pdfs/VMACNewsRelease.pdf http://wgnradio.com/shows/pet/proheart6.htm What to Use Instead of Harsh Chemicals Can you say Diatomaceous Earth? That's right, food grade DE can be used on animals for fleas and ticks and even used as a wormer. Read more about this natural product. Not just any DE though, only FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth! NEVER use pool filter grade DE around animals. It can poison or kill them. Chemical Wormers & Parvo vs. Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/diatomaceous_earth.html As for traditional wormers....more and more, we are getting breeders who start worming as early as 2 and 4 weeks of age. They worm every 2 weeks and rotate their wormers using Safeguard, Ivomec, Pyrantel, Panacur, Nemex...and many puppies then come down with parvo. Many of these puppies wormed at 2, 4, 6, & 8 weeks of age who are now 8 or 9 weeks old and now have parvo, STILL have worm infestations. We believe this is because the worms are developing immunity to the chemical wormers, just as bacteria are becoming resistant to traditional antibiotics. And again, most of these breeders aren't even using the same wormer each time they worm, but using different ones to help prevent the worms from developing immunity. Realize, that with our parvo puppy cases and the breeders who are adamant that their puppies have no worms...when based on the sick puppies symptoms, I tell them the puppy has worms, it is impossible to talk the breeder into using food grade diatomaceous earth as they KNOW they wormed their puppies with the chemical wormers and believe the puppies have NO worms. Worms can prevent recovery from parvo. It is not until the breeder actually sees a worm(s) in feces or vomit (some worms you can't even see with the naked eye), that they start to listen, but often this is after they've lost one, two, or more puppies. Worms can kill puppies and cause symptoms very similar to parvo or coccidia. Realize too, once a vet diagnoses parvo, they no longer test the puppy for anything else. If we were to assume that the fecal tests would show the worms, this would make it easier to deal with the worm loads by knowing it is an issue that needs addressing. Also, note, frequently, puppies with parvo that are wormed with chemical wormers die quickly after being given the chemical wormer. Again, this is why we recommend the food grade diatomaceous earth, as we have used it when dealing with wormy parvo puppies and our customers have done so with excellent success. The DE will not harm the inflamed intestinal mucosa of parvo puppies. Parvo puppies who have worm infestations and aren't having the normal parvo puppy 5 to 6 bowel movements/day (which 9 times out of 10, if they haven't had a bowel movement for 8 hours, they have worm infestations that can prevent their recovery), we syringe DE mixed with water down their throats, along with the same amount mixed with water via enema to eliminate parasites in the bowel. This helps eliminate the worms without poisoning the puppy (which traditional wormers can do) and helps loosen the worm blockage in the bowel allowing them to have a bowel movement within a few hours. Don't be surprised if you see a bunch of worms in the stool after doing this. The food grade diatomaceous earth works great and doesn't kill the animal and helps hasten their recovery. When recent traditional worming methods cause disease, chemical (aka poison) wormers must be detoxed from the system as the flood of dying parasites emit toxins, such as viruses, bacteria, ammonia, plus the poison in the wormer can harm and even kill animal, especially those with inflamed intestinal tracts such as parvo puppies. Puppies are born with roundworms and hookworms, regardless of how free of worms their mother may have been, eggs hatch in the puppies at birth. Tapeworms are contracted if the puppy comes in contact with fleas or rodents. But My Pet Tested Negative For Worms! I am not sure which is worse - chemical wormers that aren't effective or the fact that fecal tests that indicate whether or not people or animals have worms are only 20 to 25% accurate! As advanced as our medical profession appears to be or tries to tell us they are, WHY on earth can they not tell us with at least 80% accuracy whether or not someone has worms? Anyways, I gave up on traditional medicine over 10 years ago. I had picked up steamy fresh stools from 4 new rescues early one morning, drove them less than 10 minutes away to my mobile vet who immediately put the samples in her refrigerator. One of the stools belonged to a young wolf rescue who came here scooting her rear end across the ground and another one actually had worms I could see in the stool sample I brought her. The following day, she called me to advise ALL four fecals were negative for worms! I found it outrageous that I paid $100 for those samples and I KNEW two of the wolf rescues HAD worms, yet the test results came up negative. The vet made up 60cc's of a liquid concoction of stuff that I was supposed to get down the throats of new wolf rescues who didn't even know me yet?? HAHAHA! Best yet, I needed to do this without getting bit or killed. The vet guessed at what worms they had...anyways, the situation failed miserably, though I got at least 40 cc's of this stuff into the scooting wolf rescue, but she continued to scoot anyways. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind spending money, but when I spend it, I want "real" answers or results. That shouldn't be so hard, should it? Thus, my non-toxic natural solution has been to simply feed food grade diatomaceous earth, 365 days/year to myself and my 100 animal guardians here. I started that just over 9 years ago and Lady Nikko no longer scoots across her concrete floor! PLUS, I don't have to "stuff" it down her throat, I just put it in her food, like everyone else, and she eats it just fine. And it has always worked fabulously for incoming rescue kittens or puppies/dogs that have diarrhea, some with bloated bellies. Within 48 hours of daily DE consumption, stools are much firmer and pot bellies are eliminated. How We Feed Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth to Sick Pets Or Those With Worm Infestations Thankfully, natural DE is not a "poison", but a natural method of eliminating parasites by dehydrating them. Since parasites are a major cause of disease in everyone - human, plants, and animals, as well as the other great benefits of feeding natural DE, we immediately feed DE to all rescues or client animals (infested or not, as most often they have parasite issues and the DE will help strengthen their immune systems, get them healthier more quickly, detox heavy metals, provide 15 minerals, and eliminate any worms they may have). Our DE feeding protocol for worm infestations:
Kittens - 1 teaspoon twice daily in food For puppies and kittens who are eating on their own, it is really easy to feed them food grade diatomaceous earth by mixing the DE in a small amount of raw goats milk (or whatever milk you prefer), yogurt, or cottage cheese. Just remember, DE has to come in contact with the worm/parasite/bug to kill it within 24 to 72 hours. Once you start worming with DE, do NOT stop the daily DE for at least 3 weeks. IF you start one day and forget for 3 days, the infestation and dead dying worms which emit bacteria, toxins, ammonia, etc. can cause toxic overload, which can make animals or people sicker. Anyways, you can feed too little, but you can't feed too much DE. Of course, no one is going to feed a 50# bag to a canine, horse, or kitten in one day - okay, so there might be someone out there that would try it. The recommended feeding rates on my website are what the manufacturer recommends. Personally, if I KNOW I'm dealing with an infestation in a new rescue, I ALWAYS feed more than the recommended dose, because I don't want to have to deal with the dis-ease worm loads can cause, nor the diarrhea, etc. A study done by ACRES, USA, Inc. advised that after 12 months of storage, the food grade diatomaceous earth treated material had 15 insects, compared to 4884 for malathion and 16,994 for untreated grain. Our Cautions: Do NOT get DE in the eyes. DE is a drying agent and will dry out the eyes. · IF you have asthma or some other lung ailment, either wear a mask or be very careful when using food grade diatomaceous earth. Do NOT use heavily in carpet. Some advise too much DE causes vacuum problems. |
