Update 10/13/03: Hamish has not had any seizures since we stopped using
Bio Spot 15 months ago, and appears to have made a full recovery. We are thankful for each day that he is with us.
Farnam reimbursed us for Hamish's medical expenses, provided that we
accept it as "FULL AND FINAL SETTLEMENT FOR THE ALLEGED ADVERSE REACTION TO BIOSPOT."
Here are some of the e-mail messages that I have received from others whose dogs and cats experienced adverse reactions after using flea control products.
I have no way of knowing if the information in these messages is factual, or if
the products they used were the actual cause of the adverse reactions.
CAUTION: This information is provided for educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace professional veterinary advice. Please consult with your veterinarian before giving any treatment to your animals.
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Bio Spot may be the culprit in my toy poodle's seizures also. I got Cookie from Pet Rescue in September last year and she has been a happy healthy little girl until April. Tonight I was in the process of ordering the cat Bio Spot for Mom's kitty as well as some more for my Cookie. I promise you I felt impressed to check other web sites and when I put in Bio spot saw your warning!! I was horrified at what I read. You sure are a blessing whether or not you know it..Thank you Lord and thank you for the web site.
Thank God you took time to create this web site. Several months ago I purchased Bio Spot from the Revival Animal Pet Supplier...Again I say a big "thank You Lord" for letting me see this article. A few months ago when it was time for flea control I too chose the product due to all it said it could do for a good price. I applied it the first time in March and in April Cookie had a seizure..not severe but very scary. Then she had another 2 in May...Her little head extends backward and her little feet draw up to her body. she is completely limp and cannot stand up at all...it scared me to death and then when we were ready to walk out the door to go the vet it was all over... I was not sure if the seizures were food related and when I told my groomer she had a seizure, Becky recommended a holistic food, Solid Gold -so I changed her food. Becky had 2 clients who were successful in eliminating meds for seizures in one case and cutting back in the other.
After reading your article and knowing that was the only thing I had changed with her, I feel sure that may have been the problem..I am looking at natural products..Cookie does not play outside -she is pooch pad trained and being a condo there is no yard for her to play in..I have seen no indication of fleas since the 2nd month I got her..will let you know how I do with the holistic..the rest of them are out for me too with the list of ingredients I see. Thanks so much again for caring.
Jerry 7/19/03
Thank you for your reply. The first time I used it no apparent problem. The problem occurred right after the 2nd time. In no way did I equate the two until I read your article. I had changed nothing else since I had rescued her in September. That was the only thing different.
We too have gone to holistic food and treats. Much of the foods used for animals and some in human food -contain propylene glycol (the same ingredient used in industrial antifreeze) and I will not even use cleansers or foods for myself with that cancer causing agent, so needless to say she gets none of that. You will be appalled if you check the labels on the treats. (I happen to be a Neways distributor and fan of the natural products and received my information several years ago from them.) I also stopped feeding her any table food and she has accepted that very well. We do tend to spoil them to a fault and my concern was that some of the preservatives would not be good for her.
I am fortunate enough that she is a real little girl, 7.5 pounds, toy poodle, so she does not get outside. I really have not even seen a sign of fleas since the 2nd month she was with me. (if she had them they would be biting me too -been there). So I have opted not to use anything except her diet and good grooming also. I am looking at some of the natural things to use and researching them.
Thanks again James for caring enough to get the word out. It may NOT be the problem but then again it MAY and I will take no chances. I even emailed Drs Foster and Smith and Revival Pet Supplies since I purchase from them.
Jerry 7/20/03
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I purchased BioSpot at the end of last summer, and applied it following the package instructions to our Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Finley. We had just adopted him, and he was 10 months old, and weighed only 17 pounds. He seemed a little bothered by it, but I thought it was possibly just the strong smell, with maybe a little irritation. So I removed some of the application using paper towels, and he seemed to be a little better after that.
Last night I applied BioSpot for the second time to Finley, as I had recently pulled a few ticks off of him. As soon as I applied it, he started acting very agitated, trying franticly to rub it off of his back, burrowing his head under pillows and floor mats, and anything else. I tried to remove some of it using the same method I had before, by just wiping at the area with paper towels. He also seemed to feel the need to be near me at all times (in between his spells of frantically trying to get it off), even jumping up on our bed (which he is not allowed on per order of our cat) to be near us. As I tried again to remove some of the BioSpot with paper towels, I noticed that he seemed to have a swollen area where I had applied it. I immediately gave him a bath with dog shampoo. Even that didn't seem to help, and he was still in a lot of distress. I then gave him a second, much more thorough bath. He still didn't seem fully happy, but he had settled down quite a bit, and I laid on the floor with him for awhile before going to bed.
He seemed OK this morning before I left for work, though after reading some of these postings, I am extremely concerned that he is home alone possibly having more reactions. This morning when I got into work, one of the first things I did was look online for more information on BioSpot, and that's what led me to this website. I only wish I had done research before applying it. The manufacturer has clearly decided to withhold important information from the potential consumer, as the packaging only vaguely mentions possible "sensitivity" to the product. Also, though they do advise you to NOT apply the product to cats, you would think it would be worth adding that if you do, the cat could likely die. I am appalled that there aren't already laws that would compel the manufacturer to mention these very real risks. It doesn't matter that possibly the majority of dogs have no reaction to the product, if significant risk is there, they should be required to disclose it. I intend to submit complaints to both the manufacturer, and also to Petco, where I purchased the product. Thank you for making this information available.
Debbie 7/23/2003
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After being directed to your site.......I felt I had to write. I am one of the lucky ones I guess. My dogs did not suffer any long term effects of Bio Spot. My husband purchased Bio Spot because it was so much cheaper than Advantage. I have 10 Yorkies......from 2 lbs to 7 lbs. Because of their size I never use a whole tube on any of them. I only used 3 or 4 drops per dog. I used this product once last year on my Yorkies. I had only gotten to the 5th dog with the application. Within minutes the first 4 began to whine and cry......and try to scratch the stuff off their skin. They acted like it was burning/hurting them. Remember I only applied 4 drops to the neck area. I quickly grabbed them one by one and washed the stuff off with dish soap. They were uncomfortable the rest of the day and night.......but did not suffer any serious effects. I threw the Bio Spot away. This product is dangerous.....and I will never purchased it again.
Darinda 7/28/03
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My son has 4 cats. He bought this product for the first time. Sergeants PreTect
Squeeze-On flea control for cats. He used it on three of his cats. Two seemed to be Ok. The third one, an 8 year old seemed alright at first. Later in the day we noticed he was very listless then just seemed to lie down and started shallow breathing. We washed him immediately tried to give him some water, his eyes were glazed and he was making terrible groaning noises. We could not get a Vet as we do not have a 24 hr. vet service here and it was a Sat. We did the best we could and he must have gone out the cat door. He is gone and we cannot find him. We are sure he is dead. I did send the company an e-mail but I started looking for more info. and found you web site. I was horrified when I read so many letters of these experiences with flea control products.
Diane 7/30/03
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I too have a Dalmatian - She's 12 years old and in good shape (still runs 5 miles a day!). Well I had to take her to the vet a couple of weeks ago for a small cyst removal and she came home with fleas. I didn't realize it until last night because she hasn't had them in the last 7 years! So I bathed her in Adam's and today went out to pick up bio-spot and other Adam's for the yard. For some reason I felt the need to look up biospot on the internet and up came your website. Thank you for having enough foresight and putting out this information on the WWW. I have not given her the biospot and now intend to take it back to the store where I got it from along with a copy of your postings and talk to the manager of the store. If they still intend to sell this product then they should at least have some type of warning near this product. I want to keep my little girl happy and healthy for as long as possible!
Leslie 8/1/03
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On August 3, 2003 I adminstered the Biospot Flea and Tick formula on my 3 year old
dog for the first time. Within 24 hours he was experiencing ear spasms and violent head thrashing. I took him to the vet who looked in his ears and said all was clear. When I advised the vet about the Biospot treatment he indicated that he saw a dog last week with the exact reaction to the Biospot. The vet has advised me that it should run its course, but he can not guarantee it. I notice that the packaging for Biospot does not
contain such adverse effects as I have seen on the website and as my vet reports are quite common for this pesticide. I am angry, upset, and scared that my dog will not recover. Any information you can provide me with would be very helpful. Thank you.
Alyson 8/6/03
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR WEBSITE. IT IS LATE BUT MY CONCERN FOR MY DOG LED ME TO THE INTERNET. LIKE YOU, I PICKED UP AN APPLICATION OF BIO SPOT THINKING I WOULD SAVE SOME MONEY AND MY DOG, A MIXED BREED, IS NOT ACTING LIKE HIMSELF. I APPLIED IT AND IMMEDIATELY HE BEGAN TO SNEEZE AND RUB HIS HEAD ON THE GROUND. HE RUBS HIMSELF AGAINST EVERYTHING. THIS STUFF MUST BURN AND\OR ITCH TERRIBLY. WHEN HE IS STILL, HE WON'T COME WHEN CALLED AND STARES AT ME UNLESS IM SITTING ON THE FLOOR AND THEN HE JUMPS IN MY LAP AND IS VERY CLINGLY. HES NOT AT ALL PLAYFULL AND ACTS DISORIENTED (HE'S ONLY 9 MONTHS OLD). I BATHED HIM AND RINSED HIM THE BEST I COULD. HE ALSO HAS NOT ATE OR DRANK SINCE THE APPLICATION 12 HOURS AGO. SO NOW I WILL WAIT THROUGH THE NIGHT AND HOPE THIS STUFF WEARS OFF AND HE'LL BE OK.
WAS THERE ANY TREATMENT YOU GAVE YOUR DOG OR DOES IT JUST EVENTUALLY LEAVE THE DOGS SYSTEM? WHAT DO YOU USE FOR FLEA AND TICK CONTROL NOW, IF ANY? I AM SO UPSEST I THINK I WOULD RATHER DEAL WITH THE BUGS RIGHT NOW THAN WORRY ABOUT MY DOG.
SUZANNE 8/7/03
I just wanted to follow up on the e-mail I sent a few days ago about my dog's adverse reaction to Bio Spot. He is back to normal thank goodness. I called my vet immediately the next morning and he knew about this product and said it should not be on the market at all. The percentage of poision is too high for most animals to endure. He commended me on washing the product off as soon as I did and recommended another thorough washing with dish soap and to rinse well. I did this as soon as I got off the phone with him, and by evening he was eating and drinking again. I have sent an e-mail to the EPA address listed on your website and to Farnam. I plan on telling everyone I know with a dog about this experience and absolutely will not use any Farnam product in the future.
If I can be of assistance in the future to help get this product off the shelf let me know.
Suzanne 8/9/03
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My two year old Boarder Collie had fleas so we went looking for a product that was safe, so we purchased Zodiac FleaTrol, "Powerspot". Bronson was receiving his last treatment and about two hours after using it , he became very still and just laid around the house. This took place on August 7, 2003 at 1pm.
Here we are at 9am on August 8, 2003 and he is still not the same active Boarder Collie we know, I notice that he has lost or limits his great tail wagging and looks towards his back end. One more observation, we throw the ball and he will get up to make the chase, but after two or three lengths of himself , he looks back and sits on his bum. We washed his back end and neck area to get what we could off.
I also noticed that after the other two treatment in the kit were done, he slowed down and I accepted that as a common reaction, but this third treatment has taken a more aggressive direction. Never again, I will live with fleas , before I put any chemicals on my dog again.
Wayne 8/8/03
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I wish I had gone online before I used bio spot on my yorkie. I was on frontline, like many other people and one day while having the dog groomed I bought bio spot because I was out of frontline. My dog started walking funny like a drunk. I took him to the vet. He is on antibiotics, and had an anti inflammatory shot. I also bathed him three times in one day to get that crap off of him. He still is having some problems with standing and walking.
I have an appointment at the Florida Veterinarian services in Tampa to see a specialist.
I pray there are not long term effects. I fear the perrithin has entered his nervous system and he may never walk right again. Keep the word going out...this stuff is dangerous.
banchee's mom 8/10/03
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I just received a 12 week old kitten named "Calie," and she had flees really bad so I decided to go to my local pet store, (Petco) and pick up some flea medicine. I picked up the kitten brand of BioSpot and it said for kittens 12 weeks and older. After reading the directions several times, I put this BioSpot on the back of my kitten's neck, and she was sick within hours. I didn't know what was wrong. I did what the box said and I washed her extremely with a light soap, but that didn't work. She was not eating and she was vomiting every couple of hours. The next day she was getting worse, not wanting to eat anything and crying all the time. I took her to the vet and he drew blood and put an IV in her, he told me she should get better. I remember her just laying on the floor in my house and not moving for anything. About five hours later she was worse. Crying all the time and vomiting, and shaking. I immediately took her to the emergency care and the vet took her into the emergency room and her heart started to flutter and she said that her heart beat was going in and out. Then she said that the product was starting to attack her brain and they could do CPR, but the best thing to do is stop the pain and put her down. All I can remember is watching this innocent little baby kitten dying and crying as loud as she could for someone to save her. Please if you read this do not use BioSpot it killed my little innocent kitten and I do not want anyone to go through the pain that I went through. I still can't believe that Farnam would sell an over the counter product that would kill animals.
Katie 8/11/03
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I made a dreadful mistake of applying bio spot drops to my little 7 yr old pekinese. He
is suffering many of the symptoms described in the website you have. I am desperately trying to find out what to do. I've had him to two different vets and they don't seem to think that could be the problem. But, I'm sure it is after reading about all the different cases. Would give anything if I had researched this miserable product. Please let me know if you have any ideas about treatment. I thank you for the service you are providing and I hope to hear from you soon.
8/12/03
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HI, THIS IS TO KATIE WHO WROTE IN ABOUT LOSING HER KITTEN..8-11-03. YES KATIE, I DO KNOW HOW YOU FEEL.. MY CAT MAGGIE DIED FROM A SIMILAR PET PRODUCT. THE PAIN SHE WENT THROUGH WAS SO HORRIBLE THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET IT..I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE HEARTHACHE THAT IT WAS ME THAT PUT IT ON HER..I REALIZE I WAS TRYING TO HELP HER,BUT THE PAIN REMAINS, AND WILL FOR A LONG TIME YET... SO REMEMBER..WE CAN HELP EACH OTHER AND OTHERS OUT THERE WHO HAVE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE BY CONTACTING THE EPA AND TRYING TO STOP THE COMPANIES FROM GETTING RICH FROM THESE TERRIBLE PRODUCTS. THE COMPANY HAD AGREED TO PAY MY VET BILLS, BUT I WOULD FAR RATHER HAVE MY BEAUTIFUL CAT BACK..I MISS HER TERRIBLY...
VICKI 8/15/03
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I have just come from your website & I wish I had found it sooner. My husband & I came home from vacation to find our cats loaded w/fleas. I went to PetSmart & purchased BioSpot for Cats as they only had that & Hartz. The PetSmart employee even told me that BioSpot worked very well. I applied 1 tube to each of the cats Sunday afternoon & used 1 of the wipes last night on the bigger cat. My husband fortunately had a migraine this morning & didn't go to work & he called me to say that our older cat (& the bigger one) was foaming at the mouth. He had been acting strangely yesterday by hiding behind the washer & dryer when he has never done that in all 10 years of his life. My husband called the vet who informed us that BioSpot is no good & he can't believe they're still selling it. He advised us to bathe both cats in a mild shampoo & they should be fine.
The little one hasn't shown any symptoms of a reaction to it but after reading your site I am taking no chances. I'm now worried that even bathing them won't help enough. I have used Frontline on them before with no problems but I couldn't get any this time. I have an exterminator coming Thursday to rid us of fleas but I can only hope it helps the cats too. Otherwise, what else can we do? They have both been flea dippped at the beginning of June but that didn't help them either - the vet said fleas are bad this season - I can't keep them off the cats & they never go outside!! I can' t believe this product could have such terrible reactions & I don't even know how to contact them as their email address doesn't work & I have no phone number. I just want a refund of the price as there haven't been any vet visists yet. Thank you for your site, I only wish I had found it sooner.
Jennifer 8/19/03
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I just stumbled upon your website trying to find more information on the company that makes Bio Spot. Two years ago my fiance and I bought Bio Spot for our dogs to relieve them of flea bites since they love to play out doors. Within 12 hours of applying the Bio Spot as directed to our Basset Hound Elvis we noticed he was having a very difficult time walking, loose of appetite and he started chewing at areas of his back. Within 24 hours he was throwing up and extremely fatigued. We rushed him to the vet and they couldn't tell us what was wrong with him. We told them we had applied Bio Spot to him and they
informed us of the extremely dangerous Pesticide that is used by Bio Spot and that they think he may have been poisoned. After several weeks of them x-raying him, running blood test after blood test, hooking him up to IV's, and leaving him over night they finally ran a test that showed he was in Addisonian Crisis. Elvis was a very healthy 5 year old, full of energy and charisma. But, due to the Pesticide used by Bio Spot his adrenal gland was no longer functioning normally and he was going to have to live on medications for the rest of his life. Addison's Disease is very hard to detect and can actually kill. Elvis has been on Florinef and Prednisone for the past 2 years and has not been himself. He can no longer get up on the couch or in bed with us. It is very strenuous for him to climb stairs, and if his medication is not just right he can go into an Adisonian Crisis. Unfortunalty this happened just a week ago and we almost lost Elvis. He was in a hospital for 5 days and he still isn't the same.
When all this originally occurred we contacted the makers of Bio Spot and they were willing to cover all of Elvis's medical costs as well as his $250 monthly medication bill. They sent us a check for the wrong amount, and said send it back for the correct amount. Once they received the check back they said they washed their hands of it because by sending the check back we are saying they were not at fault. It has cost us almost $10,000 to keep Elvis healthy for the past 2 years. Unfortunalty we cannot get a thing
from Bio Spot. I hope that people read this and join in our efforts to close them down
or at least keep people from using their product.
Tara 8/25/03
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I am sick with worry . My two year old Basset Hound is so sick. I applied Frontline Plus on saturday, August 16th and on tuesday the 19th he began to vomit. He has been to the ER and to the regulat vet. They have taken x-rays and put him on three stomach meds. He has nausea, retching, tries to eat grass , vomits and licks the floors and is lethargic. He was so happy and lively before I put this product on my dog. Please tell me how I can get the Frontline off of him. Can any dishwashing liquid be used? My vet doesn't seem to be ready to conclude that the culprit is Frontline.
Linda 8/27/03
Thank you for your life-saving website. This is an update on our Basset Hound. Our regular vet felt that since our dog would be unable to lick the site of application, that it was doubtful that Frontline was the cause of his illness. However, I noticed with horror, that our dog was able to scratch the area with his rear paw. Then, he licked his paw!! This is how he was ingesting the product. Although the Frontline is absorbed into the skin, a certain amount remains on the surrounding hair.Thanks to your website, I read that the product could be scrubbed off of the hair with dishwashing lotion. I immediately gave him a thorough bath. He is improving but still isn't 100%. I hope that he will soon be back to normal. I did call the company that manufactures the product and requested any help in removing the product from his coat. The representative was not helpful at all and said that there had not been any other complaints on the product.
I hope that my discovery of my dog's ability to scratch the area of application and then lick his paw will save someone else from the terrible time that we have been/ are going through. Thanks again.
Linda 9/3/03
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I wanted to touch base with you regarding my dog Vladimir. I applied Bio-Spot to him several months ago (refer to my email from May 2003). Sorry to say we had to put him to sleep last week. He never recovered from his Bio-Spot application. I hope this reaches anyone who is considering using this awful product (which my vet refers to as poison).
I am amazed that this lethal product is on the market.
Jennifer 8/29/03
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I used Bio Spot on my cat this weekend. NEVER again will I subject my baby to that horrible stuff. I read the letters on your web site & thank god my cat Mookie didn't have the horrible reactions that some animals faced but non the less she is suffering some pyrethine toxicity. I was able to put it all together when I noticed her acting strangely shortly after I applied the medication. I looked up the product & found your site. I went & quickly washed it off & repeated the washing 3 times. This may have saved her life. She starting hiding in my closet which she never does and woke me and my husband up during the night crying (howling I should call it). It's been 3 days since the Bio Spot was applied and she still is experiencing some ear twitching but is getting back to herself. My vet said to watch her carefully and to encourage drinking which I've been doing anyway. I'm a nurse so putting a medication on her that cause her so much discomfort really up set
me. I bought this stuff from Dr. Foster & Smith. I trusted their products. I am staying with Front Line only for my dog and cat. Thanks so much for you site it helped me alot.
Jacqueline 9/1/03
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This past Saturday, being rushed for time, I decided to stop at a pet store closer to our home than the Pet Supplies Plus where I purchase Frontline for our dog and cats. I asked the clerk if they carried Frontline or Advantage and he replied that they had something better and cheaper. I thought that was great, but thought it strange that they were breaking up the boxed sets of three and selling each tube separately. There was no product name on the tube, nor any instructions. The clerk told me to apply at the base of the neck and the base of the tail, where the tail and back meet. Now, before I was able to purchase
Frontline at the pet supply store, I had always taken either the cat or the dog in to the vet to update their shots in order to purchase the Frontline, and would split a tube among one small dog and two cats. I could buy three tubes at a time then, and one boxed set would last me all summer (three months in Michigan!), if I split the tubes three ways. There were never any adverse reactions to any of those applications. But, my small Porkinese (Poodle, Yorkie, Pekingese mutt) was suffering especially bad this year with fleas, so I bought two tubes and applied one entire tube to the dog, Bugsy, and split a tube between my two beautiful female cats, Jasmine and Nala. I cannot blame the pet store for this nightmare, as I did not tell the clerk that I intended to use the treatment on my cats, also. I am, however, going to return there and tell them this story, so that they will warn anyone purchasing BioSpot for their dog that it is POISON for cats, as the customers may be used to cross treating as I was. Immediately after applying the BioSpot to my older cat, she started slinking around the yard like she does when a thunder storm is coming. I just kinda laughed at her reaction, as the dog and the other cat showed no immediate
effects. The last time I saw her, she was slinking off into the bushes, and I assumed that she was just mad at me, and would come out in a little while to eat. In the meantime, my dog started jumping around like a little Mexican jumping bean, which alarmed me. I got out the flea comb and went over every inch of him, thinking he was being bitten. He continued to jump around all night, even waking me, which is nearly impossible to do. I was quite concerned, then, when my older cat did not appear for breakfast, nor for lunch, and my husband and I set out to look for her. I cannot tell you how I felt when we found her lying in the yard behind us, unable to walk, barely able to lift her head, unable to see, no recognition of us - I thought surely she was just minutes from death. And God only knows how long the poor creature had been lying there, waiting for her Mommy to come find her.....I wept in shame. She was twitching uncontrollably, but we gave her a bath anyway and I wrapped her in a towel and rocked her, waiting for her to pass. After a half hour, she was still alive, still twitching everywhere, but alive. I instinctively started giving her diluted milk (which she loves!) from an eye dropper, and continued to do so every fifteen minutes or so, even though she growled and hissed at me and clawed wildly at the air. I thought the milk would coat her stomach as well as flush out her system. I thought briefly of
taking her to the vet, but I was so sure that she was going to die, and I was not going to let her die alone, locked in a cage. If I had killed my precious Jasmine, she was going to be allowed the dignity of dying at home, with her loved ones. I have raised three children, with more than their share of breaks, bumps, and bruises, but nothing had prepared me for the pain of watching my innocent little lady suffer for my stupidity! I found somewhere on the Internet that day that vegetable oil rubbed on the spot where the treatment was applied would help neutralize it. My husband bathed the dog, (I would not put down the cat), and we rubbed him and both of the cats down with vegetable oil. I cannot tell you where I read this as I was basically a wreck and looking desparately for any information. After ten hours of twitching, hissing, growling, stumbling, clawing at the air, having milk forced into her, I decided to try to give Jasmine some soft food. As soon as she smelled it, she miracously got up, walked to the bowl, and ate the entire thing! And she did not vomit and the twitching stopped. In about a half hour, I offered her more food, and, once again, she ate the whole bowl! It is now Tuesday, and Jasmine seems to have almost fully recovered. She will not drink milk (no big deal), is still only eating her soft food, but other than that, seems to be none the worse for wear. She has used her litter box numerous times and everything appears to be normal. I will keep a close eye on her, though, and will check back with you in a month or so. My little dog, however, continues to scratch his ears as if he has fleas. There are no fleas on him. I am going to bathe him again and rub more oil on the spot where the BioSpot was applied. I am grateful and saddened by your website....I ache for all that lost their precious friends and am SO grateful that my kitty seems to be okay. I will NEVER use anything but Frontline again, and will NEVER cross treat cats with dog drops, or vice versa again!
Debbie 9/2/03
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I just used Biospot for the third time on all four of my dogs. I have two pugs, a terrier-poodle mix, and a german shepard. The terrier-poodle began acting strange almost immediately. He was found hiding in our office (most unusual) and wouldn't come out. He is very lethargic and not himself at all. I immediately looked up BioSpot on the web and saw your website. I bathed all dogs right away and Jingles seems to be feeling somewhat better since then. I just bathed him again in dishsoap and hopefully he will be fine. Interestingly enough, this is the third time using the product on all four dogs and the last time the terrier-poodle was somewhat not himself for two days after the treatment.
He recovered uneventfully so I didn't really think of the correlation between the Biospot and his lethargy. I will never use this product again and hope that I have not done any longterm damage to my dogs. Thanks for providing us with this information.
Debra 9/13/03
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Bio-spot almost killed my three cats. It cost me over $1100 in vet bills to save the cats.
How can I register this incident? I am looking for a class-action lawsuit against the makers of this product. I've heard so my bad things about the product.
Harold 9/22/03
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I just put down my two healthy kittens this morning. They were just 5 months old, brothers. Yesterday, I used Bio Spot on the "boys", as my 9 year old called them. This morning both were unable to walk. Their noses were blue and they were having trouble breathing.
I took them to the vet, but it was too late. My daughter is devastated. Is the profit they make really worth the cost in lives? I feel guilty and really mad. Is there a safe product
on the market??
Colleen 9/27/03
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Thanks for your website. I've only had time to read your 2002 consumer alert. I'd like to read all the links as well. I found your site tonight after doing a search for "spot on tick cancer". We had our 11yr old lab mix put down 2 weeks ago. The vet could not positively identify her illness. He was able to rule out arthritis. We couldn't afford to run more tests. She had been going down hill for awhile with what appeared to be arthritis. This summer she no longer put weight on her right front leg and went down hill even faster. Sores developed on her leg from her dragging it. The only time she would get up to walk was to go to the bathroom. She appeared to be in a lot of pain. The vet assumed from the x-rays he took that it was cancer but there was no real conclusive evidence. We know she had nerve damage evidenced by the inability to use that leg. I would massage our dog hoping to comfort her. A couple of times I noticed that she had a strong knee-jerk reaction when going over her shoulders. The thought occured to me then "just where the bio-spot goes on". I have this gut feeling that our dog's pain and suffering was probably caused by the pesticides we placed on her to keep the ticks off. It's been going through my head every day since we put her down. Tonight I decided to do some internet research and came up with results way too fast. I hope your site is read by many. And I hope some answers can be found.
Debbie 10/2/03
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My dog, a 2 year old female black lab mix, has now had two seizures -- both of them within days of applying either Advantage (first time) or Advantix (second time). Advantix has the same ingredient as BioSpot. My vet told me that epilepsy is not uncommon in labs, but it seems to be to be way too much of a coincidence -- especially based on all of these other letters! I am going to take her off it to err on the side of caution. I've been told by several reputable dog owners that brewer's yeast given orally every morning keeps the fleas away totally. I will try this in the spring. My condolences to all those who have lost pets -- I know how horrified and helpless I felt during the seizures, and cannot imagine losing my baby.
Suzanne 10/3/03
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Hi, this is the second time I've been to your consumer alert website. I wanted to add the sad story of our beautiful Great-Dane/Mastiff mix,named Tasha--who was an absolute love and our second child. We were having a flea problem at the end of the summer which is pretty common that time of year. My husband went and bought some bio-spot at the local pet-store and rubbed it at the base of Tasha's neck, like you're supposed to. A little while later I noticed she wasn't eating and just laying down shivering--this was unusual even being an older dog--she always had a hearty appetite and was still pretty active. Later that night she seemed to progressively get worse and seemed to have a fever--she was burning up, still wouldn't eat or drink, and didn't even want to get up to go outside. I decided to get on the computer and go research this 'bio-death' and came up with this site. I started reading all the stories and was horrified that this stuff is even on the shelves. I immediately ran over to Tasha and furiously started scrubbing the back of her neck and back with soap and water,trying to get this crap off her--of course it was too late--it was already in her system and had attacked her nervous system (and God knows what other internal damage). A few days later she seemed to very slowly recooperate, but we still noticed the damaging effects-- she was awfully weak and not herself. This progressed over the last few months to a point where the poor dog could barely eat--I had to hand-feed her scrambled eggs and deli-ends, as she couldn't chew her dog food or bones--and was giving her shots of water with a syringe because she wouldn't drink and was getting dehydrated. She lost massive amounts of weight--we could count every rib,and she was having problems using her hind legs. This past week she lost the complete use of her legs and just layed there looking very pathetic.She was in alot of pain,and all we could do was give her children's advil and comfort her often. We came to the heartbreaking decision that she had to be put down--last saturday we had our beautiful baby euthanized--words cannot describe our loss and sorrow. I hope some other pet owner reads this and it saves them from the pain we and others have gone through. This' bio-death' and similar products should be TOTALLY BANNED by the U.S. government--and promptly removed from all store shelves!!!!
Lee Ann 10/14/03
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My 8 month old Jack Russel, Panda, has always been a very hyper, healthy dog. She nearly bounces off the furniture! Last week I gave her a flea bath with Seargant's Flea Shampoo and put a Seargant's Flea Collar on her. Now for the past 3 days she has had the shakes, some vomiting and is extremely weak. All she does is curl up and sleep. She has not eaten and she is very depressed. I took her to the vet today and was told that she had pesticide poisoning from the Seargant's products. The vet seemed very angry and stated that these products should not be sold. I took her home, bathed her with a shampoo from the vet and have been giving her water (as much as she will tolerate) and keeping her warm and comfortable (as much as possible). The vet told me that she may have neurological damage! I cant believe this! Something has to be done about this!
Now, I see that a minor episode of the shakes that she had a couple of weeks ago also corresponded to a bath with the Seargant's flea shampoo. Not only has Seargant's cost me a $100.00 in vet bills (the vet wanted to do more but I could barely afford the hundred) but possibly my beloved dog's health and maybe even life.
Sandra 10/14/03
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I used Bio Spot Flea Control for cats on two of my three cats. I had bought it for the dogs and cats and was very careful NOT to use the dog Bio Spot on the cats because of all the warnings. My cats do not groom my dogs and do not even "socialize" with them so there couldn't have been any exposure from the dogs to the cats. About 7 hours or less after I
applied the repellant one of my cats that was treated, her name WAS Whispers, started having severe tremors and a very severe seizure. I quickly gave her a bath and rushed her to the emergency veterinary service. By the time I reached their office, Whispers had a second severe seizure. I called the emergency service before I left the house and they told me to call the animal poison control that had a 900 phone number and get a case number. The emergency service called poison control with the case number which gave them the antidote and with that they took her in and immediately started treatment. Since she was
going to be there for awhile, they told me to go home and come back by 8AM before they close for the day. If she wasn't any better by then, Whispers would have to be taken straight to my regular vet's office. When I arrived home I noticed the second cat that had been treated was having tremors. I quickly gave him a bath and rushed him to the ER.
The third cat had never been treated and was fine. I picked up both Whispers and Echo at 8 AM and rushed them straight to my vet's office. The ER had faxed them the information and they were ready and waiting to continue the treatments. By 5 PM, Echo was ready to come home. He is younger then Whispers and I guess could deal with the problem better.
By 5:30, Whispers was on a respirator. By 6 PM she had died. I felt horrible. I felt like I had killed my cat.
I called Foster & Smith and talked to one of the veterinary's they have on staff. She was very compassionate and understanding and told me to forward all the information I had from the ER and from my vet's clinic along with all costs. She forwarded it to Farnam Companies. They had the audacity to infer that I gave my cats the Bio Spot that was meant for dogs. I have known the words "cat, dog, only" since I was in the first and second grade. I know the difference. I was very careful not to give Whispers and Echo the stuff meant for my dogs. They are telling me that this is the first they have heard of any problems. WRONG, from reading this site, it is not the first time to happen. Farnam is
refusing to reimburse me the $770 I had to spend AND STILL LOST MY CAT.
Thank you for the chance to find out this information and I guess to vent my frustration.
Judith 10/14/03
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How do I report an adverse reaction to a flea control product?
Please contact the U.S. EPA by telephoning the National Pesticide Information Center
at 1-800-858-7378, seven days a week excluding holidays, from 6:30 AM to 4:30 PM Pacific Time - or fax them on (514) 737-0761 - or email them at npic@ace.orst.edu.
Also report the adverse reaction to the manufacturer of the product by calling the
phone number listed on their packaging.
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If your dog had a severe adverse reaction to Bio Spot Flea & Tick
Control (or any similar product), or if you have found a safer way to
control fleas & ticks, please let me know.
