Hartz To Relabel And Cancel Flea And Tick Drops For Cats And Kittens

Not sure if anyone shared this press release already or not:

HARTZ TO RELABEL AND CANCEL FLEA AND TICK DROPS FOR CATS AND KITTENS (PRESS RELEASE 6/3/05)

At EPA's insistence, Hartz Mountain Corp. has agreed to cancel uses of
several flea and tick products that may be associated with a range of
adverse reactions, including hair loss, salivation, tremors and numerous
deaths in cats and kittens. The common pet product brand names which
are involved in this action include: Hartz Advanced Care 4 in 1 Flea &
Tick Drops Plus+ for Cats and Kittens; Hartz Advanced Care Brand Flea
and Tick Drops Plus+ for Cats and Kittens; Hartz Advanced Care 3 in 1 Flea &

Tick Drops for Cats and Kittens; and Hartz Advanced Care Once-A-Month
Flea and Tick Drops for Cats and Kittens.

In the short term, the agreement calls for immediate relabeling of the
products. The new labeling will state that the products of concern are
not to be used on the most vulnerable animals, including cats and
kittens that weigh less than 6 pounds, cats older than 13 years, or kittens less than 5 months old. Hartz will stop all new production of the cat and
kitten products by September 30, 2005, and not sell or distribute any
affected product after December 31, 2005. The measures announced to
day will help ensure pets are protected. Pet owners should pay close
attention to new labels and exercise good judgment when choosing pet
products.

"EPA is taking this action because there are safety concerns with these
products,'' said Susan B. Hazen, principal deputy assistant
administrator at EPA. "Pet owners should be alerted to these concerns, and may choose to transition to alternative products. We take seriously our obligation to ensure that pesticide products, when used as labeled, are safe."

The company agreed to a prohibition on any remaining retail sales by
March 31, 2006. This orderly transition allows consumers and distributors to
move to alternatives flea and tick products and will be strictly monitored.
Hartz will also be notifying their distributors and retailers of the changes
in order to ensure a workable phaseout.

As with any pesticide product, all label directions and precautions
should be carefully followed to ensure the product is used correctly. It is
prudent to follow the new restrictions for all products, including existing stocks.

After a public 30-day comment period, EPA intends to issue a
cancellation order and an amended registration, which will be effective by October 31, 2005. For further information, please visit:
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsh...tick-drops.htm

Very good news!

I'll move this to Health & Nutrition.

Years ago they had the same problem with the Hatz Blockade (another flea and tick product). I stopped using any Hartz products long ago.

I stopped using Hartz, too! Just not worth the risk. My kittens are getting their first flea treatment this weekend, and I can tell you, it will most definitely not be a Hartz product!

Thank god I live in an area where fleas are not an issue.

Scary! I used the advanced care Flea & Tick drops Plus+ on Sadie and ... gulp.... She is under 5 pounds....
I hope I didn't hurt my baby. Never again will I use any Hartz products. Thank you for letting us know the dangers of this irresponsible company. Sadie and I send hugs for this.

Hi. I'm new here. I have 3 cats and I love them so much. I'm worried though because before I new there was a problem with the flea drops, I put some on my girls. How long before I can stop worrying? It's been 9 days so far and they have not had a bad reaction. Please, any advice, input, or reassurance would be appreciated.

Thank you,
3 girls

Originally Posted by 3girls

Hi. I'm new here. I have 3 cats and I love them so much. I'm worried though because before I new there was a problem with the flea drops, I put some on my girls. How long before I can stop worrying? It's been 9 days so far and they have not had a bad reaction. Please, any advice, input, or reassurance would be appreciated.

Thank you,
3 girls

Click to expand...

I used the Hartz Advanced Care on Dori about 2 years ago. I called her vet after I used it because she had managed to lick it. They had me wash it off her with Dawn dishwashing detergent and said I needed to keep my eye on her for 48 hours. So going by what my vet said I think your babies are safe.

Thank you..... I have been worrying this whole time. I can't believe they keep that stuff on the shelves still. That is so wrong.


3 girls

I agree! I recently found a flea or 2 in the house so I went to my vet and picked her up some Frontline. I will not use anything on her unless it comes from my vet.
Just so you know, the symptoms my vet told me to watch for in those 48 hours were twitches, convulsions (seizures), and drooling. She said it affects their nervous system.

My sister had me run her and her cat to the emergency vet a couple years back because he was drooling and twitching. Turns out it was the Hartz drops she had given him two days before. He very nearly died because of it. We went and told the grocery store she bought it from and the DM pulled all the boxes off the shelf.

Hartz is baaaad. If you have to use a chemical flea control, Advantage or Frontline are the best choices.

Originally Posted by squirtle

Just so you know, the symptoms my vet told me to watch for in those 48 hours were twitches, convulsions (seizures), and drooling. She said it affects their nervous system.

Click to expand...

I can believe a brand such as Hartz could be so irresponsible! I mean, I know a brand that is only sold in supermarkets & drug stores couldn't be the best thing to use on your pet, but Hartz is everywhere on the shelves at these stores. You'd think such a popular company would test their products properly & obviously MUCH more efficiently.

This just angers me a lot!! Think of how many unknowing pet owners (myself included) treated their cats with these products, & suffered serious & debilitating side affects. ...Not to mention fatalities possibly.

Someone should sue their butts and get 'em for every "stolen" dollar their worth. Then give it to the S.P.C.A.. Give it to the people who deserve the money, people who haven't lied & cheated their customers.

@#@$#@$#!%#!!!!!!!!

It's been a very long time since I've used any Hartz flea products. My kitties experienced salivation and hiding under the bed immediately after useage. It's frightening to know these producst are being sold to pet owners who really have little or no idea of the potential danger. I used to believe in the notion that if it's on the store shelf then the overall quality must be suitable. I'm grateful that I wisened up before my cats suffered serious consequences.

Thanks for continuing to spread the word and let's not forget to keep up word of mouth to our friends and family who might not be as well informed.

I didn't read about the Hartz flea drops until AFTER I put them on my cat. We put them on Jezebel last night and she has had a reaction to them. She's not really doing any of the symptoms, though. She's not convulsing and she's not salivating. Her right leg twitches every so often, but she does that a lot anyway.

My mom did wash a lot of the stuff of her. We applied it yesterday. Mom washed some of it off last night. Early this morning (about 4) she got a sopping wet rag and some Dawn dish soap and washed her off. She got her again at about 6 in the morning.

What it has done is "buzzed" her up. She's not been herself since I put the stuff on her. She's normally a very animated, crazy cat. This morning, her pupil's weren't even reacting. She wanted to be in alone in a closed box all day, and she got dehydrated.

My mom and I used a syringe to get her to drink some water (didn't work out, I should add). I got her to eat some wet catfood, so I figure that will help with the dehydration. She's eating really well, too.

She's so much better now. She's actually out around us and letting us pet her. She's not as listless. She's even picking up her food with her paws and eating it.

I figure if she's not much better tomorrow, I'll call the vet.

I'm mad because I cannot believe how irresponsible Hartz is. How can they market a product that does more harm than help? What's infuriating is that nobody is doing anything about it. Aren't there regulations for this? I mean, yeah, they're pulling the product..after December of 2005?!? That's ridiculous.

I'm new here, and I joined specifically to find out about Jezebel's reaction. I'm glad to have found a place to find out information about my kitty cat.

I used hartz when i first got sakura (shes my first kitty). The first day she was fine, but the next day when i came home from work i found a pile of cat hair all over the living room floor. I found her hiding underneath my bed and pulling out her hair on her back she was completly bald at the neck and a little bit down her back! I immediatly gave her a bath in just plain water. She seemed much better after that even tho it took a month for her hair to grow back.

I never used hartz products since then.

(I hope you all don't mind, but I thought I'd post this here because I am trying to raise awareness about a horrible product. As it turns out, many people have had adverse experiences with Hartz flea drops, so much so that Hartz had agreed to re-label and eventually remove the product from shelves. Unfortunately, they will not remove the product until December 2005. Therefore, I am launching a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of this product. This is the letter that I penned. If you have any suggestions on how to further spread the word, please let me know. Thank you so much!)

To all concerned pet owners:

\tAccording to a June 3, 2005 press release, Hartz has recently agreed to re-label and eventually remove the Hartz Advanced Care 4 in 1 Flea & Tick Drops Plus+ for Cats and Kittens; Hartz Advanced Care Brand Flea and Tick Drops Plus+ for Cats and Kittens; Hartz Advanced Care 3 in 1 Flea & Tick Drops for Cats and Kittens; and Hartz Advanced Care Once-A-Month Flea and Tick Drops for Cats and Kittens products.
\tThe reason for this action is due to the EPAâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s insistence because of these productsâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] possible associations with adverse reactions such as tremors, hair loss, salivation, and numerous deaths in cats and kittens. The agreement calls for immediate re-labeling and removing the affected products by December 2005. The re-labeling consists of a warning that the products should not be used on cats younger than 5 months, older than 13 years, and cats weighing less than 6 pounds.
\tThough these products have known adverse affects, they will not be pulled from the shelves until December 2005. This is simply unacceptable. It leaves far too much time for more animals to be harmed. Inevitably, more cat owners will use this product and their animals may be damaged, and more animals may even die because of Hartz irresponsibility.
\tSpeaking from personal experience, I have seen how Hartz can affect an animal. We used the Hartz Advanced Care Flea & Tick Drops Plus. We used it safely and followed the directions on the box. My cat is over 5 months and under 13 years old and is over 6 pounds. Still, my cat was severely affected by this product. Unfortunately, my cat did not exhibit any of the symptoms listed on the package nor did she exhibit any of the symptoms listed in the press release. My cat was listless, preferred to be in closed places, and refused to drink or eat. She only exhibited slight tremors in her legs, but they were not severe. The refusal to not eat or drink is what damaged her the most. Due to their small stature, cats become dehydrated very quickly. When these animals become dehydrated, they freak out and all maladies are exacerbated. We had to force the cat to drink via a syringe. Thankfully, she finally ate some wet food and got some water into her system. She was affected adversely and severely for over 24 hours, even though we washed a good portion of the flea drops off of her. At almost 48 hours after the application, she was still not completely normal, but thankfully she is much better.
\tAfter reading the press release about this product and after having experience with adverse effects, I am extremely disturbed that this product is still on shelves. If it is known that these products can cause such adverse reactions, it should be immediately pulled from the shelves. These products are still available, however, and therefore more animals will be exposed to these toxic products with possible extreme adverse reactions. This is not just irresponsible; this is absolutely unacceptable.
\tThe only way to get these products off the shelves is to start a campaign alerting everyone about the dangers of these Hartz products. I am not sure how effective it would be to write to the Hartz corporation, because they already known the dangers of their product. Write to local newspapers, write in your blogs, send out e-mail forwards, just do anything to get the word out. If you can, alert stores that carry the product. It is our job as pet owners to alert other pet owners of the dangers of these products. Our actions may help bring awareness to this product and may prevent more animals from being harmed. Please do what you can. We are the only ones who can make a difference now. At the very least, please pass this information on.

Thank you,

Nikki