Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - telling EPA Bulletin-Flea Control Products

Well, here ya go folks. Your EPA is FINALLY showing some substance. Over 44,000 adverse spot-on flea reaction reports to the EPA reported in 2008 alone!!! And how about the folks who didn't report adverse reactions because they were told flea control products were 'safe'....couldn't be your dog has (fill in the blank) seizures, cancer, neuro problems, anemia, because of this product They are finaly admitting the stuff they allow Pharms to produce and THAT THEY HAVE APPROVED is potentially dangerous. HOORAY. Give them a medal. Where have they been for the past 10 years?? Take the stuff off the market...like now. http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/flea-tick-control.html

Jan PA

Just curious. I did not receive any responses/comments from this board after sharing this pretty significant bulletin just published by the EPA. Are folks who use these flea-control spot-on products concerned after reading? I have sent this report to several vets and requested they provide customers a copy of the bulletin to give to clients and allow them to make a choice after having being informed via gov't admittance on these products' potential health effects on pets. Jan

jan pa

I have used spot-on products in the past for my cats and dogs. This has been some time and I'm not sure what brand it was. I do know and can say with certainty that none of my dogs or cats will get anything of the sort without carefull research and consultation. I think the spot on products are even worse when you have more than one dog. I've seen my dogs in the past sniff the areas where these treatments were applied. I didn't think anything of it back then but now thinking back it was probably a bad thing for them. Johnny & Tessy

Johnny

I don't use them at all on any of my dogs as they don't work and certianly not worth the risk. Cheryl & Ginger

Cheryl & Ginger Pineville PA

Jan, I did not see this post earlier, must have missed it?? But I just printed it up and am faxing to my vet, I am sure he will not post it, but always good to give to them. You can bet your booty if it was something for humans they would certainly pull it off the market! Linda

Linda Sapphire

Jan -- We lost our sweet beagle, Wiley, to IMHA on 19 May 2005, and I had used Frontline on her at the vets' recommendation. I never applied it as regularly, but I do want to go back and check to see if I can determine when I used it last and how closely that date was to when she became ill. I had never used flea meds on Wiley, because her breeder told me to spray her with Avon Skin So Soft after bathing her, and she'd never have fleas -- and that was true. But we used to go bunny sniffing in the woods in Pennsylvania, and I worried about ticks and Lyme disease. I had her vaccinated against Lyme since she was a puppy in 1995 (Yes, I rue those decisions), but the vet seemed to think she needed Frontline, too, so I remember that I acquiesced and used it for a while. In the nearly four years since we lost Wiley to IMHA, I have learned so much about how I have to be more informed about petcare. I think Wiley had good vets who were concerned to provide her good healthcare, but I also know they always wanted us to be using the latest developments in medicine etc. That said, they were backing off on things like vaccines the last two years of Wiley's life, and actually opted to have her annual shots done in two installments because of fears of overstimulating her immune system, which was compromised by hypothyroidism and Addison's Disease.

Brenda VA

I appreciate your posting this information. Our 7 year old lab died last year. There is no doubt in my mind that she died from the frontline plus. We applied it on her and within days she started showing symptoms. Otherwise, she was perfectly healthy prior to the application. We told our vet at the time that we thought it was the frontline plus but she wouldn't comment. I have forwarded this bulletin to her and lots of others so maybe it will save someone's pet. We tried everything to save our lab...($10,000 vet bill) but it was too late. I still miss her. Thanks for posting this information.

Pam Texas

Pam, I am so sorry for your loss and I know firsthand how you feel when not receiving an acknowldgement of concern from the veterinary community. My vet bill was also $10,000 and I had to borrow the money to keep my boy alive with 4 transfusions and many, many years at this juncture of follow- up care. I too was hoping, (praying) my pet had an allergic reaction that was very unusual, until I began researching adverse reactions to these spot-on products. When I found out that the pesticide fipronil was the main ingredient and the chemical was new to the market and showed minimal clinical trial reports of its safety for pets, I was flabergasted and enraged. When I requested this information from Merial (twice), they refused. They informed me my pet became critically sick through some other means. The EPA as the regulatory agency has been sitting on its hands for years. They had this information a long time ago. Now they are forced to release these unbelieveble high numbers of reported reactions and publish some factual info. to the public. Wonder why it took them to get to the number 44,000? Where were they at 10,000 calls? The EPA, by publishing ther concerns no dobut are creating a big stir in the pharm. community. My guess is Merial (the pharm, company who produces Frontline) is furious. I am sure they are seeking to 'hide' this bulletin. It is only through consumers demanding attention that something tangible will be done. Please, let everyone you know who has pets that they are risking their loved-ones health and life by giving them these terriby dangerous pesticide-laden products. You couldn't give me a million bucks to use this product. When I see how much of the stuff is marketed as 'safe and gentle' (yeah, if the recepient is a tree, perhaps) on media sites I literally become sick. Jan

Jan PA

Jan, thank you for bringing this up and out for our attention. I am pretty sure that Kent's relapse with evan's disease was due to frontline plus application, but will never know. It may be that the frontline also interacted with his vaccinations when he first developed aiha. but again, i will never know. Pfizer's position (makers of his vaccine) was "you can not prove a cause and effect, and we dont believe our vaccine was responsible". There clearly needs to be better and more research done on not just these drugs individually, but how they interact together, something I doubt the EPA will ever have the funds to do. And i wouldnt trust the manufacturors. Maybe a university out there somewhere? We couldnt promise them a reward, but they might just win a Nobel Peace Prize or something for such research. I will be keeping my eyes out for a class action lawsuit on this, and I also will never ever use these products on any living creature again. Christine

christine fl

This thread was discussed between 17/04/2009 and 24/04/2009

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