Flea Product Safety

My grown daughters probably are not happy with me exposing all of the humiliating details of their childhood via my blog. However, I feel it is my parental duty to ensure they remain humble....

Today I want to discuss parasite prevention in pets. There's a lot of talk about the safety of these products today. I've had several customers come into the store looking to purchase flea shampoo because their house is over-run by these evil mutants from....well..."you know where".

It is my "modus operandi" to ask if they have tried Frontline, Advantage, or any of the other "spot on" products available as it is my belief they are the most reliable. Often times the pet owner is hesitant to try the product for fear that it will cause harm to their pet. This hesitency has been exaggerated lately because of bad press around spot on products in the news.

It's true that the FDA and Canada are looking at the "safe use" of these products. Because pets and children go hand-in-hand...and children love to hug and slobber all over Fido...it is important that there's no danger to our children. It's important that the products are safe for Fido, as well.

If you read the detailed FDA report however...you will notice the problem does not lie so much in the product. The problem lies in the fact that people are just plain simple minded sometimes...(sorry, but it's true).

The danger lies in the fact that the products can be sold online and distributed without counsel to the end user. If you buy the product from your veterinarian or a trustworthy source, they will provide you the necessary instructions. When administered appropriately, the products have shown great value and are safe for most healthy pets. Key factors are:

- Do not bathe the animal 72 hours before application or up to 72 hours following the application. The product is distributed through oils in the pet's skin. If the dog is too clean, the product will just rub off and be ineffective.

- Properly administer according to the weight of the pet. This is a common problem. The owner has three dogs (a chihuahua, a corgi, and a labrador retriever). They don't want to buy three different Frontline boxes so they buy the one for dogs 50 to 85 lbs and figure they'll just give the "other dogs a little less". GOOD WAY TO MAKE YOUR DOG SICK.

- Give products made for dogs--to DOGS. Give products made for cats---to CATS. Now you'd think that was logical...but I've seen it happen and it isn't pretty.

- Do not administer to weak, aged, sick, medicated, pregnant, or nursing animals

- Do not administer on kittens or puppies unless the label clearly specifies it's use in these conditions

- Monitor your pet for adverse reactions up to 48 hours following administration. If you see any adverse behavior, including excessive drooling or loss of appetite bathe the animal with mild soapy water and contact your veterinarian immediately.

- Do not combine the use of these products with flea shampoos, dusts, sprays, or flea collars as toxicity could result

I realize you don't want the fleas in your house anymore, but piling multiple flea prevention products on your dog or cat to rid your house of fleas will only end badly. You are creating a pet that can only be approached wearing full hazardous waste disposal gear.

Now for the humbling, embarassing childhood story...when my girls were little we had all kinds of pets. We lived on a farm and they were tom boys. I learned to not be surprised by anything that happened. One morning my daughter came to breakfast and announced that she had something "crawling" out of her "nether regions"...(hope none of you are eating...sorry). Turns out she had worms. She slept with the family dog and cats in her bed at night. The reason I'm telling you this horror story is because some parasites can be transferred between the pet and the human host.

So...although you may watch Dateline NBC and think "I'm going to stop using flea prevention on my pet"...or perhaps you don't want to purchase it because of the cost factor...the stuff isn't cheap....

Just ask yourself..."Do you want things crawling out of your...."

I'll end here for now....

Bye bye

Debby