A scary first experience with Frontline Plus

The bad news is, my first post is somewhat negative. The good news is, I've always thought about checking out a "cat lovers" type forum, and wanting to discuss this experience has motivated me to do so.

Before I get started I should say that yes, I do bear Merial Corporation some ill will, but I'm not a company "plant". I gather that many of the larger corporations unfortunately employ "guerrilla marketers" as they are called, who among other things post negative topics about competitors (and likewise, positive comments about their employer's products) in forums like this. Sad times we live in, but I assure you I'm not one of these folks. Anyone can PM me for my case number with Merial if they are interested.

My indoor-only, spayed female domestic tabby has been 100% flea-free since I took her home from the shelter. Recently we moved to a new home, and shortly thereafter she started scratching. Either the place came with fleas, or she picked them up during transport. I remembered the unpleasant and extensive flea-purging rituals of my youth and decided to try one of the "new" (to me) skin-based products like Frontline Plus. I did a bit of research and chose Frontline Plus for Cats, thinking it would be superior to vastly less-expensive products I saw at the supermarket.

Thank God for my mom, who bought me a cat health book when I brought her home. I read that book cover to cover, so when the bad reaction began I knew what I was seeing. Since this happened I've seen tons of posts around the 'nets saying that drooling, foaming and hyperactive behavior are all normal when taking this product. Well, according to what I've read those are all potential signs of poisoning. When I began to see these signs shorly after administering Frontline Plus I became very watchful, and once the open-mouthed breathing (panting) began, I was out the door, kitty in my girlfriend's arms. My girlfriend had that eerie calm of a life-or-death situation, which is good because I was on the verge of breakdown. We drove the 20 miles to the closest Veterinarian emergency, where the vet confirmed my diagnosis of a bad reaction to the Frontline Plus. They were able to save her, keeping her overnight.

The emergency vet cost me a bundle, and we are quite poor. She suggested I call Merial, the maker of Frontline. According to her, in cases such as this the company sometimes reimburses a customer for veterinary expenses. I figured it was worth a shot.

Those of you who have tried to get money out of a large corporation probably have some idea of what was involved. Many phone calls, tons of bureaucracy, many forms, copies of vet bills, returning of the product and so forth. It went on for quite a while, but I was encouraged since the Merial rep, "Caroline", confirmed that indeed there are cases where Merial will reimburse.

A few weeks went by, and I heard no more from Merial. When I called the rep back, I had the most surreal experience. When I finally tracked her down, I asked her if they had made a decision on the reimbursement issue. She replied that they would reimburse me for the cost of the product. Ok, great, I said. That $60 will definitely help. How about the $600 vet bill?

Answer: "You will need to contact your veterinarian". Hrrrm. Maybe we are mis-communicating. I rephrased the question. Again: "You will need to contact your veterinarian". I felt I was entering one of those bizarre, scripted time-warps you sometimes get into with customer service reps. I said that I would be happy to contact my vet if they liked, but could she give me a determination on my reimbursement? Again, robot-like, she repeated that same phrase. It was so surreal! At one point I asked her, politely, if she was constrained by company policy from discussing it with me, and STILL she could not give me even a yes or no. "Sir, you will need to contact your veterinarian". But...I've already paid my vet. She isn't the one I'm asking or reimbursement from. Well, you get the idea. This rep was always pleasant, or at least professional, up till this point. And having had some previous experience with customer service, I just assumed that she was indeed bound by some arcane corporate policy that forbade her from doing anything beyond reciting this strange mantra to me. I didn't take it out on her, but I was somewhat irritated and even more baffled. She repeated the same phrase, verbatim, at least a half dozen times. She wouldn't say anything else.

I did end up calling my vet as instructed. All she could do was call Merial herself (awesome vet!), who then gave her my "No" answer. Why couldn't they just tell ME that? I really don't think Merial ever planned to give me a dime toward my vet expenses, and it would have saved me a ton of time and effort if they had just said so from the outset. These Machiavellian corporate maneuvers can be a huge pain the tuckus, to say the least. You might think it'd be worth a few hundred bucks to sooth a customer who went through what I did, but apparently you'd be wrong. The utterly surreal customer service experience at the end didn't help.

Also, they seemed very keen to get the remaining doses back from me. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but it does seem convenient that I no longer have the evidence, so to speak. It wouldn't surprise me to find that in these circumstances, the product refund is heartily endorsed by Merial's legal department, if you catch my drift. Contrast the eagerness of the representative for me to mail in my remaining doses with the eerie responses to my vet reimbursement requests.

In conclusion, I'll just say "Buyer beware". These types of products are toxins, designed to kill living things. Given that, I suppose it's not so surprising that cats get sick and sometimes die from administering them. But that thought never crossed my mind when I bought Frontline Plus for Cats. Had I known there was any chance of illness or death, I wouldn't even consider using it. My cat's life is one of the most precious things in my existence, and there is no way I'm risking it by applying a poison to their skin. Heck of a scary (and expensive) lesson though.

Hello all and thank you for your kind words and edification. Particularly interesting was the bit about having her liver and kidneys checked. Sounds worthwhile, just to be sure. We are tight on money to say the least, but she's worth it. She is approximately 9 years old, no way to be sure since she's an adopted shelter kittty.

She seems ok now. She was still having muscle tremors and hyperventilation when I picked her up the morning after the incident, but according to the vet they were not severe enough to be dangerous at that point. I was sent home with some muscle relaxers just in case the tremors increased, but didn't need to use them. All the bodily symptoms subsided about 24 hours after getting her home, and after that it was just emotional adjustment to the trauma. Now back to her normal self as far as I can tell.

Sorry for double post...since my last reply, I've been poking around the site, and I notice folks recommend only getting flea treatments from a vet. That made me recall that every time I called Merial Corp, the first thing they asked was "Did you purchase Frontline Plus for Cats from your Veterinarian?". So now I'm curious about A.) why knowledgeable members recommend doing so, and B.) why does Merial find this so significant? I bought mine at the local Petco (and it cost an arm and a leg, I might add).

Hi all. Wow, quite a bit of discussion here! As for "Sweetfeet", she appears to be doing fine. Back to her spoiled, sassy self. However, after reading various comments here I am not going to assume that appearances are enough. I'll be scheduling a Vet appointment for a liver panel and whatever additional tests the Vet recommends.

Now that I've heard the debate about OTC vs Vet, Merial's urgency in getting my remaining doses makes more sense. Perhaps they wanted to verify the product's authenticity. I assume it was authentic, since they didn't say otherwise, and were able to confirm the lot number on my product.

I did catch the suggestion to take it up with Petco. I'll have to think on this. Not because it isn't a good idea, but because dealing with these mega-corporations is a tiring battle indeed, and, unless you happen to have plenty of resources (time and money, mainly) usually a losing one. It took all I had to tussle with Merial; these types of interactions are extremely draining and depressing for me.

As for allergic vs chemical sensitivity and so forth, that I already knew. As an earlier poster said, it is a pesticide. A toxin. I'm sure some complicated science went into the delivery system for this particular poison, such that it is intended to take up residence in the cat's sebum glands and not enter the bloodstream of the cat. But poison is poison, and in retrospect I simply had too much faith in the scientists who developed Frontline Plus, and in the company that markets it. Caveat Emptor and all that...I have no doubt that FDA regulations are orders of magnitude more permissive when it comes to animals. In retrospect it seems obvious that there could be problems, but hindsight is 20/20.

It's a tough choice, whether to use a product containing toxins or go with something less toxic but potentially less effective (and more work). I knew about diatomaceous earth for cockroaches, been around for many years. I wasn't aware it was an option for fleas as well. I'll do a bit of research on that, thanks.