More warnings required on flea, tick products
Amid an increasing number of reports of deaths and seizures, the Environmental Protection Agency is requiring beefed up labeling for flea and tick products used on dogs and cats.
The EPA wants companies to make instructions on the products’ labels more clear so people don’t give their pets too much of the pesticides, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The announcement affects most flea and tick products that are applied directly to a pets’ skin.
The products include those made by Merck & Co., Bayer AG and Pfizer Inc. under the names Frontline Top Spot for Dogs, Promeris Canine Flea Control and Enforcer Flea Drops for Cats.
The EPA said the number of reports of pets suffering from these products continues to rise. In 2008, the EPA received 44,000 reports of adverse events from these products, a 53% increase from the year before.
Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, said the labels are to blame, not consumers. “I don’t know how you would blame the victim in this case when the label isn’t clear,” he said.
Owens said in some instances, people don’t realize they need to regulate the dose based on their pet’s weight. He said the EPA will require more precise dosing on the product labels.
Companies that don’t voluntarily update the labels will be forced to, Owens said.
Posted by jwoestendiek March 19th, 2010 under Muttsblog.
Tags: alert, animals, bayer AG, cats, consumer, control, deaths, dogs, enforcer, environmental protection agency, epa, flea, fleast, frontline, labels, merck & co., merial, news, overdoses, pesticides, pets, pfizer Inc., products, promeris, seizures, tick, ticks, topical, treatment, warning
Comments
Comment from Anne’n'Spencer
Time March 19, 2010 at 9:51 am
Goodness, I had no idea. We’ve never had a mishap because the vet gives us the proper dosage per weight, and we only have one dog–so no danger of one pet licking the medicine off another pet. I had been thinking it was an improvement over the over-the-counter collars and flea powders.
Comment from Juliette Morgan
Time August 6, 2010 at 1:07 pm
This is horrendous I never knew this. I used to have our vet do the flea treatment but recently have bought Frontline products and done it myself – my little westie has been fine so far but I’m glad I have read this, thanks.
Comment from laura
Time March 19, 2010 at 8:33 am
It is too easy to make a mistake with these spot-on treatments. You have to get the dosage correct, you have to place it exactly between the shoulder blades, you have to make sure it doesn’t pool on the fur, and you have to keep all your pets separated to make sure the treatment doesn’t get licked by another pet.
Make one mistake and your pet will suffer illness or death. That’s not how products should work. Manufacturers need to allow for some user error, some factor of safety when they release a product for public use.