Flea-control product glues dog to inside of crate

By Gina SpadaforiOctober 8, 2009

From Edie Lau and the VIN News Service, this odd report:


A veterinarian presented with a peculiar case of a poodle stuck in its crate last week traced the problem to the pet’s spot-on flea treatment.

Residue from the product Advantage, which was applied between the poodle’s shoulders, somehow came in contact with the plastic base of the animal’s crate, dissolving the plastic and causing it to adhere to the dog’s belly.

When the dog wouldn’t come out of its crate the next morning, its concerned owner brought the dog, crate and all, to Dr. Tej Dhaliwal of North Town Veterinary Hospital in Ontario, Canada. Following two hours of sleuthing, Dhaliwal concluded that benzyl alcohol, an inactive ingredient in Advantage, was to blame.

Bayer Animal Health, maker of Advantage, acknowledged that the flea treatment was the likely culprit and offered to pay the owner’s veterinary bill, compensate him for loss of salary and replace the crate, Dhaliwal said.

Bob Walker, a spokesman for Bayer in the United States, confirmed that Advantage contains benzyl alcohol, which reacts with certain plastics. He said he consulted with colleagues in veterinary services and was told, “We know it can happen, but we’ve never seen it.”

Walker said a lead veterinarian in the department thought that most of the veterinary community was aware of the potential for the product to react with plastic. Walker said that he personally had not heard of such a thing before. He added, “My counsel would be, if you’re not aware, you need to be aware.”

Do NOT Buy Over The Counter Fleas Or Ticks Products

Hi,

Please watch this video and for more info, you can go to the site and read the comments too at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_uqBjvy7YI



So use products like Frontine or Advantage, or those recommended by your vet.

Take care!

David

What is the Best Way to Remove a Tick From my Pet?

Hi,

Dr. Eric Barchas, DVM, wrote the following on What is the Best Way to Remove a Tick From my Pet?

I found it interesting information so I extracted part of it as follows :

"One day in class Dr. Patricia Conrad, parasitologist and expert in the field, described the best way to remove a tick. I wish I had known it sooner. I find that it removes entire ticks about 90% of the time.

Here, according to Dr. Conrad, is the best way to remove a tick from your pet:

Grasp the tick firmly with hemostats (aka tweezers) as close to the skin as possible. Pull gently but firmly straight away from the skin until the tick comes out. Do not twist. Avoid grasping the tick’s abdomen. This can cause regurgitation of stomach contents into your pet, increasing the likelihood of Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and other scary tick-borne diseases.

Some other points: tick prevention is better than tick removal. In my experience, Frontline is the tick preventative with the best safety and efficacy profile. No tick preventative is 100% effective."

Hopefully, you do not have to experience removing any tick yourself and prevention should be the choice of the day instead.

Frontline is definitely a proven product so do give it a try.

David

Tick Twister

Hi,

I came across this gadget called Tick Twister and it seems quite a cool tool to remove the tick.

Have a look at the video below and the reviews at Amazon too.



If you can view the video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnD6x0svOJE

Customers feedback can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/djun3r

I would like to get one too if easily available here.

However, I would rather use Frontline regularly to prevent any fleas or ticks invasion on my dogs.

Read my earlier posting on how to get rid and prevent flea or ticks infestation using Frontline at http://removetickfromdogandtreatment.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-treat-tick-problem.html

Prevention is better than cure!

David