[YorkieChick1]

Misty,
I found this next story here on Yorkie Talk , about a little dog dying from using Advantix. When I went to see my vet, Dr. Derenzi at Adobe Animal Hospital and asked her about these claims. She said that Advantix has 2 toxins in it and one of them is an older medicine that enters the animals blood stream. She prefers to use Frontline (flea & Ticks) or Advantage (just fleas). She said to only use them when you have a problem with fleas or if you go hiking or camping in areas with ticks. If you are just going to dog parks and you have small dogs you do not need to be giving them flea control monthly. Anyway here is just one person's story about their chi/pom, Jazmine.


Sorry for the lengthy story...but it is important to pass on to anyone
who has a dog or cat. This is absolutely a true story. It is my very
own, sad, story.

As most of you know, Paul and I have always had dogs as part of our
family. Two years ago, a good friend gave us two beautiful
pomeranian/chihuahua mix puppies to care for and love. But something
went terribly wrong this week. We lost our beautiful, playful, loving,
4.45 lb, Jaz. She died so unexpectedly, and so tragically. We are
really struggling with this more than any other animal we have ever
lost.. We are still in shock! HOW did she die? Well, this is what you
have to pass on to everyone you know who has a dog, particularly if it
is under 25 lbs.

Since Jaz was 1 yr old I started giving her K9 Advantix, from mid
spring to early fall, to protect her from fleas, mosquitos and ticks. I was
sure to watch the label to give her the appropriate dosage, and apply
it in the manner suggested. The package I bought was for, and I quote,
"puppies over 7 weeks old and older dogs under 10 lbs." Little did I
know I wasn't protecting her, but slowly killing her. (Revolution does
have doses for dogs under 5 lbs...but it had never been prescribed for
Jaz.) In fact, I was so sure of this product, I was trying to coerce my
sister into using a similar product on her cats.

Products that we are all familiar with, such as the one I used, and
including Advantage, Frontline, Capstar and Revolucion are all
pesticides.. Do you know what Permithrin or Selamectin is used for?
Killing ants and other insects. It is very toxic. The vet said, it
would be the same as giving your dog a teaspoon of Raid every day.
(Revolution seems to have a lower percentage of active ingredients...so it might be safer to use...or just might take longer before signs are recognized). K9 Advantix has TWO toxic active ingredients!

If you were to call the manufacturers of these products they will tell
you it does not enter the blood stream. And, if the dog/cat show signs
of stress, just simply give them a bath to wash it away. Revolutions
label states it enters the blood stream and cannot be washed away. All
will insist their product does no harm to your pet. However, the Vet
says something quite different. Jaz was taken care of by two Vets over
the past three days. Each from a different facility and not related to
each other. Each told me the same thing!

Here is what happens: Once the poison is given to your dog via a liquid
applied to the skin. It enters their system...and never fully leaves
it. Some of the toxins remain. The following month you give another dose
and more toxins remain in the body...until finally the toxicity is so great
it begins to break down the organs, gets into the blood stream, and
then all havoc breaks loose. The Vets said, because Jaz was so small, after
the first six doses, I probably would never have had to give her
anymore for the next THREE YEARS. That's how long it could have stayed active in her body. Larger dogs & cats tolerate it better, but in time, the
same thing happens. By the time a larger dog starts having problems,
their owners and vets think it is a sign of aging...and rarely ever
look into toxic poisoning. They said they are seeing more and more evidence of this happening to our pets. Advantage and Advantix have only been out since aprx. 2002. Over the past two years we are hearing more about the actual affects of these products.

There are symptoms to watch for. The unfortunate thing is, you don't
recognize the symptoms, until too late. Why is this? Because one
doesn't usually acquaint the symptoms with a product you have been giving your pet for some time. Early symptoms could simply be, skin rashes, and a little more shedding than usual. In larger dogs, they might become more aggressive. By the way, there are no signs to watch for on the
label...only instructions for humans if they touch or swallow this
poison. (Revolution dose have a few warnings) Jaz had a small skin
problem on her lower back. I was told it was just a normal dog thing
and to change shampoo, and given an ointment. Well it turns out, it was a
"burn" from the toxins.

Later symptoms are, seizures, (most people think seizures are due to
breed and aging dogs, brain malfunctions, etc.). Throwing up two to
three times a day (many will think it do to food or something they ate
outside). Increased urinating and a need for a lot of water. Listless.
Runny eyes. Eventually bleeding.
The only symptom Jaz had that we could have caught was the small skin
rash or "burn." Notice how things quickly progressed. After giving her
the last dose, a week ago Monday, within two days she seemed to become listless. Then she perked up again, like her old self, so we thought she was over whatever ailed her...a 48 hour flu. Then we noticed on
Friday, she was always going to the bathroom. She chose not to sleep in
her bed with her sister, and using her stuffed bunny as a pillow, but
she wanted to be away from everyone, choosing to sleep on a cold floor
on the side of the sofa, where she could not be seen. For three days,
we filled her water dish every couple of hours, and within minutes she was
eliminating it. However, she was eating well. But, by Sunday, she could
barely walk, now preferring to lay on the cool tile floor but near her
water dish. When we returned home from church, we noticed her
shivering. So I sat with her, covered in a blanket. On Sunday she also stopped eating. No Vet or animal hospital was open. Even the animal emergency center had closed for some reason. We had to wait until Monday to get her to a vet. First thing Monday I took her to the vet, who immediately recommended hospitalization. He said it was either kidney failure or diabetes. At the hospital they gave her xrays and blood tests, took stool samples, urinalysis. They ruled out everything. All her vital
organs seemed OK. She had slight fever so they put her on an antibiotic
drip. As the hours went by, nothing worked. Then she had a seizure. As
more time went by they realized it was Toxic poisoning. The doctors
drilled me on things she ate. Things and plants to look for in our
yard. Then they asked what type of flea control I was using. That did it.
However, because these reactions are just now making themselves known, most vets do not know what antidote to give. They put her on various drips of stronger antibiotics and other things to try to flush the
poison out, but nothing worked. That began their mad search to find out
more. One vet had three people on-line to find out as much as they
could. I pulled out my lap-top and tried to help. At 2Am we were still
trying to find a way to help her. Another tried to get info from the
Bayer Co. who manufactures K9 Ad. They were more concerned about a l lawsuit, insisting their product couldn't be at fault. Two vets kept
making calls to Poison Control Center...but no one would return calls. We knew she wasn't going to survive, but thought we would give docs until 10AM the next morning. If nothing changed, we would approve of putting her down. However, I was called into the hospital at 7Am, she had three
seizures that night, after I left at 2:30AM. When she saw me, her eyes
seem to say I'm glad your here to be with me. Doctor said she was not
in pain, just in panic from being in a strange place with strange people.
We decided not to "put her to sleep" unless she started having
problems. She went into a peaceful sleep and died two hours later. Then, we got the call from the Poison Control Center. They didn't know what to give a dog.