Whether you own a dog or a cat, chances are they enjoy being outside, which means there is the potential risk of them getting fleas and/or ticks. To help avoid this you may opt to use a flea or tick collar, or to use various treatments if they catch them. But whether you use a preventative or a treatment, this Gilbert pet sitter has learned some disturbing news recently.

One of our Gilbert pet sitters fosters pets and does rescue work. She recently invested in the Adams Flea collar for one of her new fosters. Within 24 hours of wearing the collar, the foster cat went in to crisis. Per my pet sitter this is what happened:

“I want to say he wore it for 24 hrs. His appetite decreased today, then a few hours ago I saw him stumbling and salivating, crying (I took it off and wiped down his neck at this point). Then a bit ago having seizures and urinating on himself. I rushed to bathe him completely and have given him fluids twice. He is barely responsive now, twitching.”

She tried treating him with Sub-Q fluids and honey for his blood sugar, but nothing she did helped, he went down hill very quickly and he did not make it.

She then shared with me a website regarding over the counter flea and tick collars http://www.hartzvictims.org/

Those from Hartz and Adams seem to be among the most harmful and deadly. Here are 2 pictures from the website showing the damage done to a cat by it’s Hartz flea collar:

The website above has many stories of pets being hurt and dying from using these over the counter products. If you opt  to use a flea/tick collar or treatment on your pets, you are strongly encouraged to discuss with your vet what is a safer alternative to these over the counter products. My feeling is even if you are not seeing any outward signs of damage to your pet, if some pets *do* show this type of damage, what is happening internally to those who are not?

I would never use  Hartz or Adams product on my pet after reading the horrific stories from the website above. Do you use a flea and tick product for your pets? What do you use?