EPA calls for label changes for flea products

As a follow-up to my post, regarding flea prevention, the EPA has decided to meet with spot-on manufacturers to discuss ways to better inform pet parents about safety probably with bigger and better labeling.

The concern is not efficacy, or whether its working, it's human nature. Because of the relative ease in securing these products, many without veterinary input, adverse reactions have skyrocketed.

The most common reactions were the result of cats exposed to dog products, using products on pets weighing less than the weight range allowed and using spot-on products on pets younger than the age permitted on the label. According to the EPA report published in DVM Magazine, May 2010, "most of the reactions occurred on dogs younger than 3 years of age and smaller breeds."

This report speaks volumes about our inherent nature.

Cats are not small Dogs!

Somewhere around 9 pm after a hard days work, the kids exclaim that the cat is scratching. Worried that "something" on the cat could harm the children and/or infect (or is it infest?) the bedroom and the house, we rationalize that if it's good for dogs, it should work well on cats.

Logic flies out the window.

What does Dr Johnny know? He was simply trying to sell us on two separate products for the dog and cat. And didn't he say that the cat flea is the same flea that infests (infects?) the dog? Any right-minded individual with more common sense than money will tell you buying two products when one will do is a waste.

And so, the cat gets the dog dose of flea prevention which unlike the cat dose contains a unique additive to kill ticks. Your cat goes into convulsions, starts to vomit, and you, looking for someone to blame, file a report with the EPA.

The EPA initiated a study, in April 2009, after adverse reactions jumped from 28,000 in 2007 to 44,000, including 600 deaths, in 2008.

They surmised, "while 270 million doses were sold that year, the uptick in reports may have been caused by increasing popularity of these products leading to greater chances of adverse events or mishandling."

Or simply . . . laziness.

Your Online Pharmacy or retail choices for combating fleas.

Since so many people call, write, even snuggle up to me to inquire about online purchases of flea/tick products, I felt compelled to write a few words on the subject.

Let's start with a few truisms. One. Since our pets are in our homes, especially the children's bedroom, we want our pets protected. Right? Right. We also want something easy that we can apply or give once-a-month. So far so good.

What's available to solve these concerns? Topical solution: Vectra. Pill: Comfortis

Both products are only sold by veterinarians. Why? Because the industry has been hijacked by malfeasance. Online pharmacies unwittingly are selling products which have become tainted or have shipping hiccups (left on a shipping dock in the sun) in order to save money for consumers.

The chemical agent in name brands: Frontline and Advantage no longer work for the whole month. Fleas have developed a resistance, so applying it two times a month defeats the purpose.

As a result, chemists developed products that the insects can't resist. Hence, new products, new marketing campaigns, new educational seminars for practitioners, and of course, higher pricing initially.

Grin and bear it. Think taxes. Exposing yourself and your family to fleas and the intestinal parasites they carry isn't worth the meager savings.

This is what the intestine looks like when your pet swallows a fishing line.  This is called: plication of the small bowel. This small intestine has an accordion-like appearance. As you can imagine  -- you simply can't retrieve the fishing line by pulling it out through the mouth. Doing so would lacerate the small bowel, stomach, esophagus and set up a severe peritonitis, possibly leading to death.

Sooo..

With that in mind, when your pet decides to swallow a string-foreign body, please call your veterinarian and follow his/her instructions.  If your veterinarian is closed, call an emergency hospital in your area. More than likely, they will ask you to bring your pet in for immediate enterotomy (abdominal surgery).  Be prepared, this surgery can be expensive. 

Stung Out (2)

Well, when we got to the hospital,  everyone was stunned to see this pet, appearing normal with little to no discomfort this long string dangling from it's mouth.  "Is this the true definition of a  "cat fish?" one of my nurses said with humor. Maybe she swallowed a fish first?" someone else chimed in.

Foreign bodies are difficult to treat medically, sometimes they pass with the stool.  Many times they do not. It is real important to watch your pet like you would a child, especially in the young puppy and kitten ages. 

Strung Out!!!

5/15/2008

Oh oh... Dr. Johnny came home with a cat on his mind. Earlier this afternoon, he received a phone call from a worried "pet parent."  Somehow, the cat swallowed a fishing line -- she wondered, "Should I pull it out!!"

"No," Dr. Johnny replied, soothingly, "Scoop him up and meet me at the hospital, we're going to surgery."