Flea gel scare

I feel idiotic posting this cause I feel like I should have known better. But, in my defense I went by the directions on the box.

I don't treat Reese monthly for fleas/ticks cause he is strictly an inside cat. In the almost 2 yrs that I have had him now, I have seen 3 fleas on him (few and far between). So, when I have, I do the treatment at that time.

Well, I treated him the other day and I put it tween his shoulder blades like the directions say but, do y'all know cats can reach it there?? It was news to me. And he would NOT leave it alone and you could tell it tasted bad but he still kept licking it. Then he started drooling reallyyyyy badly. Then a few mins later he threw up.

So, I called the vet and she told me to get it off of him immediately. She said that on dogs you put it tween shoulder blades but on cats you put it at the base of their head, like where the head and neck meets. I did not know this and it clearly says on directions tween shoulder blades....makes me soooo mad at that company for not giving the proper directions!!

I'm probably the only person here that didn't know the proper way to do it....but....just in case I'm not...I thought I would let people know where it goes on our kitties.

Reese was kind of puny for a few hours after that but, he is doing just fine now.

Sapphire75 said:

 
Reese was kind of puny for a few hours after that but, he is doing just fine now.

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Thanks for sharing and educating.  When using a spot-on flea preventative in the future, make sure you use one of the three safest: Advantage, Revolution or Frontline.  Each works in different ways and some help with other issues as well, but i would only use one of those three.

Oh ok. Thanks Stephan. The kind I got was Hartz. I will look for those brands in future.

You certainly aren't the only one here who didn't know where to put the meds! I did the same thing at first with Frontline because that is where it went on my dogs- between the shoulder blades. Fortunately, there were no complications in our case, but it is an easy mistake to make. I'm so glad your kitty is okay!

It is irresponsible and just plain wrong of Hartz to not put proper directions on the package. :stomp: Sadly, it is just another example of how dangerous their products are and further proof they only care about profit, not our beloved pets. If you want to be scared out of your mind, look up consumer reports and complaints about Hartz and Sargeants products. Their flea stuff should have been pulled off the market years ago.

Hopefully, your story will help others avoid making the same mistake. Thank you for sharing!