BEWARE Of Advantage/Advantix!!

kittkatt

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An FYI....

A few weeks ago, I stopped by my vet's office to pick up some flea protection for my cats. The receptionist (who I had never seen previously b/c she was new) gave me a tube of Advantix. I asked her, "Are you sure you can use this on cats? I've always gotten Advantage...not Advantix."
She assurred me that yes, it was for both dogs & cats. I couldn't ask my vet for reassurance, b/c he wasn't available. I assumed that the receptionist must know what she's talking about if she worked there. But I was skeptical....

Before I applied it to my cats, I decided to do a little research online. I found what I was looking for, and sure enough, Advantix was NOT to be used on cats. There is an ingredient in it that is fatal to cats (it starts w/ a "P", but I don't recall what it is). After I found what I was looking for, I got the tube of Advantix, and it specifically states on the tube, "DO NOT use on cats!" Needless to say, not only was I upset, I was also pretty furious.
If I would have listened to the receptionist, all my babies would have died. Thankfully, I listened to my "gut instinct" and not her.



I took the Advantix back to the vet the next day, and told him what had happened. He verified what I had found out, and asked me who it was that had sold it to me. I told him I didn't know her name, but that she was new and described to him what she looked like. I found out later in the week that the vet fired her. I certainly didn't want for her to get into any trouble or get fired, but then again, if she didn't know what she was doing, she shouldn't be working where she was. God only knows if whether or not she had sold the Advantix to someone else who DID end up applying it to their cats. I sure hope not...


I'm sure that most of y'all here know not to apply Advantix to YOUR cats, but just in case there's someone who doesn't know, I wanted to take the time to warn y'all. I know how I would have felt, if I inadvertantly would have harmed my babies...especially ALL of them. It hurts enough when you lose just one.
I sure hope that this experience NEVER happens to anyone else.

Regards,
KittKatt
 

renovia

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i'm glad they fired her. she could have killed a lot of loved pets.
 

cinder

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permethrin?

When I was working at the clinic our vet didn't even want to carry Advantix for that reason. Many people use dog Advantage on cats because the ingredients are identical, but that's definitely not the case with Advantix. Good thing you checked.
 

goldenkitty45

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Sad that she lost her job, but think of all the felines that probably were saved by your quick response and informing the vet's office what happened!
 

javern

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scary and I wonder if she had given that stuff to any other cat owners
 

zissou'smom

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Be glad she was fired, don't feel bad!

It's not that she doesn't know what she's doing, it's that she claimed to and didn't. How she should have handled it was to a) read the label with you, easy enough or b) go ask somebody!

Who knows what else she'd have done that with, and what could have gone wrong as a result!

Thanks for the reminder! It is odd that they'd name the two so similarly.
 

misty8723

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I'm glad the vet did the responsible thing and fired her. Being new in a job isn't an excuse for giving assurances on something she obviously knew nothing about.


And that's why its a good thing to be informed about everything we put on or give to our babies (and ourselves). Don't ever trust anyone else to know what's best for you (and I mean anyone).
 

catsrnmom

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I am glad that you searched for the answer that you had guessed was true..It is sad for her to lose her job, but all she had to do was to read the tube/label to verify what you had asked her...
 

kuntrykitty

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It is sad that she lost her job, but it's terriffic; who knows how many kitties' lives you saved, and how many peoples hearts! Way to listen to your gut instinct, and thanks for telling.

Advantage / Advantix: very similar names, very confusing. I will definitely try and remember that, thanks for the heads up!
 

alleygirl

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I'm glad you checked before putting it on your kitties!

She definitely deserved to lose her job. She could have killed your cats! I just hope she didn't give it to any others
 

white cat lover

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I do not use Advantix on my dogs because of its toxicity to cats....despite the fact that it worked the best on them.
 
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kittkatt

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Yes, Permethrin is the name of the ingredient, I believe. Thanks, Cinder!



And yes, it is sad that she lost her job: as I mentioned, I didn't want for her to get into trouble or fired, but she obviously shouldn't have been there if she gave false information. I shudder to think that she might have misinformed others, and inadvertantly killed anyone else's babies. I understand that people sometimes make mistakes, but that's a mistake that shouldn't have occurred.

I don't know if she was fired b/c of that incident, or b/c of something else, but I think the vet made the right decision. He could be sued big-time if she ended up killing anyone else's cats...even if it wasn't his fault. After all, it's his practice, and he would have been held responsible for the mishap. And I hate to see that happen, b/c he is a good vet and the only one I trust in this area.


I don't understand why the two names (Advantage/Advantix) are so closely related, either.
I would think that that's just too confusing to people...especially to those who are new to the pet world and don't know anything about cats & dogs. People should to be able to trust the "experts" w/o having to worry if whether or not they are misinformed. I almost messed up myself b/c of the experience. This is certainly one time that I'm glad I listened to my gut instinct. I sometimes don't, and when I ignore it, I end up getting myself into trouble. I probably would have a nervous breakdown if I would have lost all my precious babies. I worry enough about them as it is, especially ever since Winchester was diagnosed w/ FIP..


If posting this "warning" ends up helping anyone, I'm glad I did it.


~KK~
 

jen

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didn't the box that it came in have a big picture of a DOG on the cover of it?? DUH! (to the receptionist, not you!!) How stupid of the receptionist, i am glad she is fired. Sometimes I forget which one is which but i just think of the commercial with the little yellow lab puppy singing the Canine Advantix song!
 

batgirl2good

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Oh, how awful! You are so blessed to ahve listened to your gut.

That's really scary! I hope she didn't give that to others who really used it. She ought to have been fired!
 

bonnie1965

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It really is unfortunate that Bayer decided to go with a brand name that is so similar to the name Advantage. I imagine this won't be the only time something like this happens. Good job reading up on the medicine first!
 

tarasgirl06

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Originally Posted by KittKatt

An FYI....

A few weeks ago, I stopped by my vet's office to pick up some flea protection for my cats. The receptionist (who I had never seen previously b/c she was new) gave me a tube of Advantix. I asked her, "Are you sure you can use this on cats? I've always gotten Advantage...not Advantix."
She assurred me that yes, it was for both dogs & cats. I couldn't ask my vet for reassurance, b/c he wasn't available. I assumed that the receptionist must know what she's talking about if she worked there. But I was skeptical....

Before I applied it to my cats, I decided to do a little research online. I found what I was looking for, and sure enough, Advantix was NOT to be used on cats. There is an ingredient in it that is fatal to cats (it starts w/ a "P", but I don't recall what it is). After I found what I was looking for, I got the tube of Advantix, and it specifically states on the tube, "DO NOT use on cats!" Needless to say, not only was I upset, I was also pretty furious.
If I would have listened to the receptionist, all my babies would have died. Thankfully, I listened to my "gut instinct" and not her.



I took the Advantix back to the vet the next day, and told him what had happened. He verified what I had found out, and asked me who it was that had sold it to me. I told him I didn't know her name, but that she was new and described to him what she looked like. I found out later in the week that the vet fired her. I certainly didn't want for her to get into any trouble or get fired, but then again, if she didn't know what she was doing, she shouldn't be working where she was. God only knows if whether or not she had sold the Advantix to someone else who DID end up applying it to their cats. I sure hope not...


I'm sure that most of y'all here know not to apply Advantix to YOUR cats, but just in case there's someone who doesn't know, I wanted to take the time to warn y'all. I know how I would have felt, if I inadvertantly would have harmed my babies...especially ALL of them. It hurts enough when you lose just one.
I sure hope that this experience NEVER happens to anyone else.

Regards,
KittKatt
Thank God you were intuitive and smart and did the research FIRST; most people, sadly, might not. Yes, Advantix is a DOG product and I've even heard, correctly or not, I'm not sure, that cats exposed to dogs wearing Advantix have had toxic reactions. That's second-hand contact! Maybe Snopes.com has the scoop on that; all I do know for sure is that dog products should NEVER be used on cats, period; and the person who gave you the Advantix should definitely not be working in the field.
 

danimarie

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Oh my goodness, what a valuable piece of information.

I'm so glad you listened to your gut instinct...... It is sad that the receptionist was fired, but like you said, you don't know why.
 
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kittkatt

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Geez....this is an older thread of mine that I posted, but I'm glad that someone bumped it up again!
Because who knows - it might benefit someone else, and may possibly save another cat's life!


~KK~
 

tarasgirl06

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Originally Posted by KittKatt

Geez....this is an older thread of mine that I posted, but I'm glad that someone bumped it up again!
Because who knows - it might benefit someone else, and may possibly save another cat's life!


~KK~
Thank YOU for posting it and yes, hopefully it will save lives!
 
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kittkatt

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Originally Posted by Tarasgirl06

Thank YOU for posting it and yes, hopefully it will save lives!
You're very welcome!
I only hope it was posted in time to possibly save someone else's baby!


~KK~
 
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