If you are a cat owner PLEASE read....

I just found out about something that is really sad relating to cats. The company Hartz is selling a deadly product that has killed and is killing thousands of cats and they haven't been able to stop them from continuing to sell these deadly products containing a lethal ingredient. I'll just C&P the rest.....

Hartz Mountain Corp manufactures a product known as "Flea & Tick Drops Plus," an anti-flea remedy which is applied to the animal's back, like Frontline or Advantage. The difference is that Frontline and Advantage use a much newer chemical, which DOES NOT HURT the animal. Hartz uses phenothrin which --- according to my vet --- has been around for 50 years, is not nearly as effective, and can be toxic. Cats apparently are much more likely to be sensitive than dogs.

After using this product cats may show the following symptoms; go into convulsions, become dizzy, uncoordinated and having trouble walking and loose weight if used over a prolonged time...

This is far from isolated. 1000's of cat owners purchase this over the counter product without knowing the risks. Many others find out to late...

Personally I have two cats. I had to put one to sleep after using the Harts Flea & Tic dip. (I didn't know not to use the product at the time) He became so ill from the toxic poison in the product, which I applied to my cat for fleas as per the instructions on the label... little I knew 3 weeks later I would be cremating my best friend of 14 years..

What is shameful is the way Hartz covered up the problem, and rather than fixing it, or making the public aware that this toxic may be harmful to your cat... they were more interested in hiding it from the public.. registering domain names that could out them, or allow individuals to post the truth online.. e.g. www.HartzKills.com or www.HartzSucks.com
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I feel so heartbroken that this company has not been stopped yet. I checked out this website specifically dealing with this issue www.hartzvictims.org just looking at the pictures of what this product does to cats made me cry. The are innocent victims. There are countless websites cat owners have dedicated to cats that they have lost from being killed by these flea products. Here's a link where you can sign a petition to stop Hartz...
http://www.petitiononline.com/hartz/petition.html
and also here is the link to the forum where I found out about this...
http://tinyurl.com/9u7qk (this is just a thread from www.catforum.com)
I really just want to spread the word! I can't stand to think about a dog or cat dieing over something that we have the chance to change. Being that all of my animals are indoors we've never had a problem with fleas and if we did we'd use something from the vet specially for this reason I don't trust companies that aren't veterinarian recommended. Please pass the word around about this product to all your friends who have cats!

Amber :0)

Hertz put out a similar product for dogs several years ago---I want to say it was in a spray form. It killed several dogs before it was pulled off the shelves.

ARR

Amber thanks for sharing! I have 8 dogs and 6 cats.
Ann Phelps

Great info~and just in time! I am going after work to buy some flea stuff for my FIVE cats and was probably going to buy Hartz!! Why is it still on the shelves? How sad

I used to work as a vet assistant and 7 years ago it was well known to us that the Hartz product was a potential killer. It's very hard to tell clients that a product priced at 6.99 may harm your pet so please buy the 50.00 product that says it does the same thing. People just dont want to hear that. Hartz is killing animals. Advantage is the best way to go. Some websites sell it much cheaper then going to your vet, but please do not use it on animals under 6 weeks old or ones that are sick with out talking to a veterinarian.

My heart goes out to all of you that have lost a pet due to the blatent disregard of the hartz corporation.

Hartz has been known for years to create products that are toxic and lethal to animals. Im 28 years old and even when I was a kid there were public warnings not to use any of their products!!
I would never take the chance with my beloved furry ones. There are so many other brands to get these days...

That is so true! I'm also 28 and I remember my mother telling me (she must have heard it from the news or something) to stay away from their products and to buy any brand name besides theirs. I don't have any pets myself but grew up having a couple of dogs and cats my entire childhood. My parents still have 2 dogs. They use frontline or advantage from the vet. That's horrible that they are still allowed to sell their products after all the years of negligence! My heart goes out to u Amber!

This product nearly killed my cat too. Luckily I came home from work for lunch and found her all slumped over, foaming at the mouth. If I had waited until after work to take her to the vet it would have been too late. The vet told me that the other expensive products can have the same problems though so it's important to put it in a place where they absolutely can't ingest it-- so for a cat, basically nowhere.

It's discusting to me that big businesses get away with this. I have zero tolerance for animal suffering and my heart truely goes out to you. NO ANIMAL SHOULD BE MADE TO SUFFER! It's even more sad to me that these cases specifically are comming from a company that you would think cared about the animals it's products are bought for. I have one cat and my mom has two, I will be sure to spread the word about this, so that fewer animals and animal lovers will be spared this suffering.

Nothing to do with Hartz, though that is completely horrible! But, on the subject of cats, does anyone know if a humidifier could pose any potential risks for cats? I have to keep three in my room and was thinking of putting in a humidifier, but I have to make sure with my "kiddies" first.

Just don't let them burn their noses on the steam! Or chew on the cords!! And don't use any menthol additives...

About Hartz:
I work in a veterinary clinic (for the past 4 years) and I used to manage a pet store (9 years ago!). Even then, my store wouldn't carry the Hartz brand because 1) It's ineffective, and 2) It's dangerous to all animals!!! I'd hate to describe the things it has done to birds, cats, dogs, and even rabbits and mice!
In the clinic we HIGHLY DISCOURAGE the use of Hartz, but like buck21 said, some people won't pay more money for something that actually safely works, when they can roll the dice with something off the shelf (cheap!) It's sad, but we see animals in all sorts of frothing, convulsing states. The good news is that once an owner sees that effect, they never buy Hartz again. It's just too bad it takes that extreme sight to convert them...
Incidentally, the Hartz flea collars have made animals lose the hair around their necks for decades (and NO flea collar works for flea prevention, they just cause the fleas to move to the rump) ! My cats when I was a little girl had this problem, but I was too little to know why...

My husband and I have a *****very*******highly*****allergic cat (she's our baby

We have a cool mist humidifier in the house-(that way she doesn't get burnt) and have never had a single problem with it harming our cat -- and we are pretty particular - with her being so sensitive to her environment. It almost seems to soothe her sensistive kitty skin too!

As a matter of fact- she actually sits and watches and bangs and taps at it for hours ( it has a clear removable water tank) and she thinks the bubbles that it chugs and glugs every once in a while are better than chasing bugs.

I've also heard that P&G (proctor and gamble) products test on dogs/cats.
which includes (since its a monopoly, they have a LOT of their products.) covergirl, eukanuba, iams, pringles... there was a whole bunch of stuff. but i can't remember. i'm pretty sure that if you look online theres stuff about it.
http://www.uncaged.co.uk/pgproducts.htm

they put like laundry stuff in rabbits eyes and ****... they tested on a great dane(s? i cant remember) and took out some muscles..something something..
er... cats were starved and then fed excessive amounts of food...etc etc.
http://www.iamskills.com/

http://www.xanga.com/PETAkills
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/petaKillsAnimals.cfm

those are some of the sitse you might want to visit if you care about animals.

oh yes. i've also used hartz whitening shampoo on my dog.
DON'T DO IT!!
my dog started to lose his beautiful white fur!!!
plus, it smells weird and the color is outrageous. (its like highlighter blue. wth is up with that?)
i don't trust hartz at allll.