Hartz???

Hartz is changing their flea shampoo and treatment formula. Harm comes in using the flea treatment without PEOPLE reading the label first. I swear by their KMR and hairball treatment, never have had a problem with them and many cats and kittens are alive in the world today thanks to Hartz KMR. Don't swallow all the hysteria that the net can produce. And there is plenty of it out there. Always avoid over-the-counter flea treatments unless recommended by your vet. That is the safest rule. Never use flea collars, if you think about it, the toxin has no where to go but to sit in one place on the skin. Many cats become allergic or ill to the toxin buildup- use flea treatment from your vet. Just be wise about your choices for your cat. Understand that over the counter wormers, flea shampoos etc, are meant to kill parasites, therefore they are toxic or poison no matter who makes them.

I don't buy thier stuff-due to I've heard many things over the years andalso I can get alternatives(that have had less problems) at about the same price as hartz products. I use advantage, buy cat mice on ebay(comes to about $15 for 60 mice...which I have about 100 scattered around the house-most shoved uner the couches/beds and in closets) Now your talking about thier milk replacer not KMR right? I used the real KMR with good results. RJ

Hmm, well I've used their oatmeal shampoo for a while with no problems.

Hartz pops out some decent products[shampoos etc], but I would stay away from their flea control.

I would stay away from any parasite control, but their other products are fine.

Yes when it comes to either external or internal parasites, I steer clear of their products and virtually any other brand that is OTC.

While I personally have never had an animal die from using one of their products, I remember while growing up we used their flea collars on our cats, and the fur always started to come off around their neck, and get flaky.

Originally Posted by hissy

Hartz is changing their flea shampoo and treatment formula. Harm comes in using the flea treatment without PEOPLE reading the label first. I swear by their KMR and hairball treatment, never have had a problem with them and many cats and kittens are alive in the world today thanks to Hartz KMR. Don't swallow all the hysteria that the net can produce. And there is plenty of it out there. Always avoid over-the-counter flea treatments unless recommended by your vet. That is the safest rule. Never use flea collars, if you think about it, the toxin has no where to go but to sit in one place on the skin. Many cats become allergic or ill to the toxin buildup- use flea treatment from your vet. Just be wise about your choices for your cat. Understand that over the counter wormers, flea shampoos etc, are meant to kill parasites, therefore they are toxic or poison no matter who makes them.

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Excellent advice!

Originally Posted by Apric0t

Hmm, well I've used their oatmeal shampoo for a while with no problems.

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Have you read the ingrediants??? sorry but I have learned to much to use chemical based shampoos on any creature( myself included)

I always recommend an Ovicollar as a wonderful alternative to those icky Hartz flea collars.

Flea Collars of any kind are archaic. Why use them when they don't work, they smell horrible, and there are so many better and safer flea protection alternatives?

Any kind of OTC flea or parasite control is considered in my book to be extremely dangerous to both my own health and even more importantly my cat's. I used a type of this stuff once, when I didn't know better, and it gave me heart problems. Then when Zissou went to the vet on Monday (we'd only had her two days) the vet said that (both this brand and others) has killed cats that he has personally tried to treat after they'd been poisoned and also has seen a whole lot of poisoning cases from non-prescription flea medicines.

I think they should be illegal if they can't regulate them better. So many people use them without knowing how dangerous they are, like I did, and sometimes bad things do happen. I consider myself lucky that nothing bad happened, although I still wonder if it'll cause some wierd cancer when she's older or something. I just... I remember the whole time coming home crying and thinking if it had given me such weird heartbeats and breathing problems why didn't I wash it off Zissou faster? I wasn't even the one who gave her the bath!

Anyway, there's no reason to use them since they don't really work as well and are dangerous. Just go to the vet! For one thing, cats with fleas might have worms that need treated as well.

Any kind of OTC flea or parasite control is considered in my book to be extremely dangerous to both my own health and even more importantly my cat's. I used a type of this stuff once, when I didn't know better, and it gave me heart problems. Then when Zissou went to the vet on Monday (we'd only had her two days) the vet said that (both this brand and others) has killed cats that he has personally tried to treat after they'd been poisoned and also has seen a whole lot of poisoning cases from non-prescription flea medicines.

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Yeah totally! We had a cat come in once that they had used the Zodiac brand flea control and the cat almost died. The owners ended up spending $500 on this cat... all over $4 flea control! What was really sad is we saw their dog they adopted from the humane society a few motnhs later with a flea collar on.

Originally Posted by Plebayo

Flea Collars of any kind are archaic. Why use them when they don't work, they smell horrible, and there are so many better and safer flea protection alternatives?

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Ovicollar isn't a traditional flea collar, they work by releasing an insect growth inhibitor which prevents immature fleas from maturing. You still have to spray your home, obviously, but they do work.

no this is not a hoax

I have to admit I don't like it now just cause of the flea product thing, but I've never had any problems except I don't like some of their toys because they break apart into little shards of sharp plastic. Then again, those toys cost like, a quarter each, so I shouldn't expect much I guess. I'm just uneasy about it. Like that contact solution for humans that may have caused a wierd eye thing from a couple months ago, I've just totally switched brands now. Maybe I'm just squeamish.

Is it really okay to use oil in a cat's ear? I have a minor recurring ear mite problem, and two different vets have tried to treat it to no avail (compared to what her ears looked like when she got here, she has none at all, but every now and then I'll see a waxy brown spot) so I would consider giving some oil a try. What exactly do you do?

Ovicollar isn't a traditional flea collar, they work by releasing an insect growth inhibitor which prevents immature fleas from maturing. You still have to spray your home, obviously, but they do work.

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I know exactly what it is, they use Precor to kill flea eggs and it is non-toxic. It's kind of like Program, and it works for 12 months in cats etc. etc. It's still archaic, and pointless when you can use a flea control that goes on once a month with usually no ill effect [some aniamls do have reactions, but it's not too common] and takes care of fleas if applied like it's supposed to. I would never put any kind of a flea collar on my pets... it's just an extra thing that gets in the way and again, there's much more convenient flea control.