Article in tomorrows Sequoyah County Times: Pet owner warns of dangers of national product By Dianna F. Dandridge-Rystrom Staff Writer Pet owners beware! Just because a nationally known product is sold locally does not mean the product is without risk. Pet owner Tiffany Schubert of Akins recently experienced the horrors of what she thought was a safe product, only to her beloved German shepherd, Ziva, die after using what she thought would be safe. “On Aug. 26 I applied the Hartz Ultra Guard Flea and Tick preventative to Ziva and Boh. About 45 minutes later I noticed Boh was having issues walking. He didnt have any control of his back legs. Then I noticed Ziva was doing the same thing only worse,” Schubert said. Schubert said the five-year-old German shepherd tried to walk through the house but would hit her head on common objects. “She couldnt hold her head up. Then she started vomiting,” Schubert said. “I got her to the vets first thing the next morning. He gave her pain meds and something for the nausea.” The next morning, Schuberts fears were realized when Gary Cox, DVM, told her Ziva didnt make it. “What happened to Ziva is the equivalent to a severe allergic reaction,” Cox said. “The pet owner, in this case, did everything right. Her dog had not been exposed to other pesticides, so she wasnt over exposed. As soon as she realized something was wrong, she got the dog in the tub and washed the chemical off.” “The poison just took over her system,” Schubert said. “Ziva was a frisky, happy go lucky, curl up in bed with mom to watch TV, shepherd of two little girls who grew up with her; mom to 6-week-old puppies, family pet of a great background. This should not have happened to her or any other pet.” “A lot of circumstances can lead up to a toxicity,” Cox said. “Sadly, in too many of these cases, there is no real antidote. All we can offer is supportive care.” “This was a classic poisoning caused by one of the components of the product,” Cox said. “The bad thing is you never know if your dog is going to have a reaction until after you use the product.” Cox went on to say that the Hartz line has been on the market for years and has passed safety measures required by law. “Overall, they are probably safe. Unfortunately when you have a reaction they are usually bad. Weve seen a lot of bad toxicity poisonings from lots of over the counter products,” Cox said. “I made a call to the Hartz care line and let them know what happened. The Hartz company has yet to return my call in regards to what happened to Ziva,” Schubert said, Wednesday morning. Cox said that is imperative to monitor pets closely after applying any type of insecticide or chemical, even ones that have been used safely in the past, for at least the first few hours. “If you see any signs of abnormal behavior, get the dog in the tub. Use something like Dawn dishwashing soap and get as much as possible off them. Then call the vet,” he said. Since the incident, Schuberts second dog, Boh has recovered. “Boh is good. He was in rough shape at first, but now is depressed from losing his mate,” she said. “I just wanted to get the word out about a popular product that is being sold at many retail stores. It effects are quite disturbing. From what I understand Ziva is not the only one that has passed away after using this product.” Schubert and a long list of other grieving pet owners have posted comments on hartzvictims.org after losing pets from use of Hartz products. As of press time Thursday, the Hartz Company had not return phone calls to Your TIMES. According to a Facebook page calling for a complete boycott of all Hartz pet products, Hartz Mountain says their products are “safe” and still on the market because they are approved by the EPA and will continue to sell their product regardless of side effects. Hartz will not tell you the number of reports they get about pets suffering from toxicity or die with the use of their products. What Hartz wont tell you is that since 2000 there have been over 33,000 complaints made by consumers across the nation about Hartz flea products. Twenty-four different TV news stations have done reports about the effects of Hartz flea products. There has been one class action filed against Hartz, which was settled out of court. An internet search at Google, Problems associated with Hartz flea products will bring 60,000 results. Known Adverse Reactions - Excessive drooling, depression, vomiting, dizziness or symptoms related to balance, convulsions or seizures, tremors of the extremities, twitching, hypo- or hyperthermia, disorientation, difficulties breathing, paralysis and in extreme cases, death may result from prolonged seizure activity or respiratory failure.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:20:30 +0000
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