Six months ago, my family adopted
a one and a half year old Dalmatian,
named Hamish. He had been in a
high kill shelter in Connecticut, and
was rescued just one day before he
was scheduled to be destroyed.
To protect him from fleas and ticks,
we chose Frontline - a liquid that is
applied to the dog's back. It gave
us peace of mind knowing that he
had this protection, but it had to be
purchased from a veterinarian and
was quite expensive.
One day while shopping, I came
across an over-the-counter product,
called Bio Spot Flea & Tick Control
(by Farnam Pet Products). It looked
similar to the Frontline product, but it was much cheaper, so I decided to try it. The Bio Spot seemed to work just as well as Frontline, so I used it again six weeks later.
An hour after applying the Bio Spot, I found Hamish thrashing about on the ground. His body was completely stiff. His head was raised in the air, and his jaws were opened wide. A thick foamy saliva was spewing from his mouth. Horrified, I tried to determine if something was stuck in his throat. His windpipe was clear, but he was not breathing. His eyes began to roll back in his head. He was dying and I did not know what to do to save him! We made a desperate call to our veterinarian.
IF YOU SUSPECT AN ADVERSE REACTION TO A FLEA CONTROL PRODUCT...
1. BATHE YOUR PET WITH A MILD DISH DETERGENT (SUCH AS DAWN), AND RINSE
WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF WATER. DO NOT USE FLEA AND TICK SHAMPOO
BECAUSE IT CONTAINS PESTICIDE.
2. IF SIGNS CONTINUE (LETHARGY, LOSS OF APPETITE, DROOLING, INCOORDINATION,
LABORED BREATHING, INCREASED EXCITABILITY, ELEVATED BODY TEMPERATURE,
VOMITING, DIARRHEA, OR SEIZURES), CONSULT A VETERINARIAN IMMEDIATELY.
3. REPORT IT TO THE MANUFACTURER OF THE PRODUCT AND THE U.S. EPA.
After a few minutes, Hamish slowly began to recover. We had just witnessed something we had never seen before - a grand mal (severe) seizure. Our veterinarian said that a blood test might help to find the cause, and mentioned the possibility of epilepsy. By the afternoon, Hamish looked much better, but that night he endured three more grand mal seizures.
Why would a healthy dog have four grand mal seizures within twenty hours? I searched the Internet for information on epilepsy, and read that if seizures begin to occur frequently, the animal may have to be euthanized! We would not know the results of the blood test for a week, but we had a feeling it was
not epilepsy, and wondered if the seizures were caused by the Bio Spot.
It seemed unlikely that Bio Spot could have caused the seizures because we had used it (same batch) just six weeks earlier with no adverse effects. Also, the packaging did not list seizures as a possible adverse reaction (it listed only lethargy, itchiness, redness, rash, hair discoloration, or hair loss).
Just in case the seizures were caused by the Bio Spot, we thoroughly washed Hamish to remove as much of it as possible, and took him to our veterinarian for a physical exam and blood test. The exam showed that everything was normal, and the blood test revealed no internal problems. Our veterinarian
could not rule out Bio Spot as the cause of the seizures.
Hamish has not had any seizures since the Bio Spot was thoroughly washed off three weeks ago, and appears to be in good health. However, we worry about irrepairable damage that may have been done to his neurological system, and wonder if short-term exposure to the chemicals in BioSpot will cause any long-term health problems.
While never claiming their Bio Spot product is safe for dogs, the Farnam website states, "Nearly all dogs tolerate Bio Spot well." However, that does not mean it is safe for ANY dog. The word "tolerate" means
to bear, endure, or suffer. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council:
"Many and perhaps most Americans believe that commercially available pesticides, such as those found in pet products, are tightly regulated by the government. In fact, they are not. Not until the passage of a 1996 law focused on pesticides in food did the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) begin examining the risks from pesticides in pet products in earnest. To this day, the EPA allows the manufacture and sale of pet products containing hazardous insecticides with little or no demonstration that a child's exposure to these ingredients would be safe. Just because these products are on store shelves does
not mean they have been tested or can be presumed safe."
"Of course, as bad as these products may be for pet owners and caregivers, they often are worse for
the pets themselves. Based on the very limited data available, it appears that hundreds and probably thousands of pets have been injured or killed through exposure to pet products containing pesticides.
As with small children, pets cannot report when they're being poisoned at low doses."
Natural Resources Defense Council
November, 2000
What is known about Bio Spot's main active ingredient, permethrin? A few drops of it can be deadly
to a cat. Toxicological studies have linked this pesticide to serious acute and chronic health effects. The EPA has classified it as a possible human carcinogen because it increases the frequency of lung and liver tumors in laboratory animals. It suppresses the immune system. Permethrin is also suspected to have played an important role in the development of illnesses known as the Gulf War Syndrome.
In a recently published journal entitled, Experimental Neurology, researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that frequent and prolonged use of permethrin on adult rats lead to cell death in their brains. In another recent study, researchers at Virginia Tech found that low-level exposure to permethrin caused changes in the brain that could lead to Parkinson's Disease.
The inert ingredients in Bio Spot, which are not disclosed, may pose an even greater risk because they receive much less scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency. The cumulative and synergistic
effects of these chemicals are not required to be tested for safety.
Is it true that nearly all dogs tolerate Bio Spot well? Perhaps, but the risk of short-term exposure includes severe adverse reactions, and the risk of long-term exposure is unknown.
