Bayer’s Advantage® II flea treatment for cats contains unlisted inert ingredients that may cause permanent neurological damage to your cat or dog (vetinfo).
Advantage® II for cats contains an active ingredient which acts on the nervous system of the flea. It is called: midacloprid, an insecticide. It is interesting to me that it attacks the flea’s nervous system.
This chimes with at least two comments that I have noticed on this product. One is on this website and the other on Amazon. Here are the comments:
The first couple of days after applying this product to my cats it seemed to be working great. Especially for my cat who seems to be very sensitive to fleas. However today I watched one of them fall off a fairly tall piece of furniture twice (something he is on every day and has never fallen off of before) and strangely like he went limp or something. Then a little while later I watched as my other cat who was just standing on the floor fell with her back legs slamming together and her front paws trying to get a grip. Then I read on a few different websites that it has been found that in RARE occasions this product can have neurological effects….(Amazon).
My 4 year old cat cocoa is an indoor cat but she gets out sometimes i recently changed her liter to all natural liter and gave her a dose of small cat advantage 2 which was dose number two of three but instead of every month i give her every couple months never noticed her being allergic to it but after letting her inside one day the day after i noticed she was hiding out on top of a bin i lifted her up and she waslimp for the next couple of days she wouldnt eat or get up when she did it took a lot of energy i noticed a line of fur missing no wound and nowher belly near her nipples is reddish brown i have an appt in a couple days but it is killing me not knowning please help…(this website).
Each cat caretaker needs to check this out themselves but it appears that the insecticide can also attack the nervous system of the cat. The vetinfo.com website states in reference to its use on dogs:
It can enter his circulatory system and cause brain damage and nerve damage.
That statement supports the comments of the two users quoted on this page. Although, the website states it is one of the safest treatments for fleas on dogs.
Now, as far as I am concerned if a potential, albeit rare, side effect is this serious, it is unusable. It is about risk but it is also about the upside and downside of using drugs like these and insecticides are dangerous chemicals.
The vetinfo website adds an important extra bit of information about this drug. They say some of the inert ingredients in the product are not tested for safety because they don’t have to be under the law. Also, even if these inert ingredients are toxic they don’t have to list them. I’ll quote the site verbatim for the punch line:
Such undisclosed ingredients might be unsafe for use on your pet and the neurological damage caused by them may be permanent.
Has anyone more knowledge about this flea treatment? When I see “neurological damage” and “permanent” in one sentence as a possible side effect it puts me off buying it. Does it do the same thing to you?
Great comment. Thank you for visiting and sharing your experience. I am pleased you saved your dog. Must have been hell.
I, too, can empathize with all pet owners who’ve witnessed the devastating reactions that Bayer’s pet products can elicit. Five years ago, after applying Advantix, I watched in horror as my dog, raced around in a paranoidal state, eyes glazed over, jumping, running into walls, crying from pain, panting uncontrollably then dragging his hind legs as they were paralyzed. If I had not gotten him to the Pet Emergency Hospital in time, he would have died. Two days spent there, and thousands of dollars later, they saved him and the “temporary paralysis” resolved. Praise The Lord! Two points I’d like to make. Just because your pet does not have a negative reaction after the initial dose does NOT mean you’re safe. Second/third doses may cause a very nasty reaction. These drugs are filled with dangerous, poisonous pesticides. Calls to Bayer were a joke – they denied ever having had any complaints regarding reactions to their products. All you have to do is go on line and read for yourself what Bayer products have done to pets now, in the past, and will do in the future, including death, if someone does not get these “pesticides” off the shelves! My vet’s office refuses to use or suggest using any of Bayer’s products. Out of good conscience, they have treated enough pets in the past to understand how dangerous the reactions to these meds can be. They also can’t stand to see their beloved “clients” suffering in so much debilitating pain.
Elisa has said red apple cider vinegar (non-pasteurized) mixed with water and sprayed on a cat will discourage fleas without hurting the cat. Although, as Furbt put it, he ended up smelling like a bad salad. I’d try that before anything from the vet.
I don’t trust homeopathic physicians at all. After being poisoned by Cipro I contacted one mentioned in someone’s blog online. He couldn’t tell me why his method would work, but he said I would have to follow his directions precisely and if I did I would be cured. He said he had a 100% cure rate for FQ toxicity, if patients followed his directions. I went back to the blog and found he actually didn’t cure the author, he just said he could have had she followed all his instructions. That’s his out– if it doesn’t work you did something wrong. But many people spontaneously get better without doing anything, so he can claim those as cures. He said a “switch had been turned on” in my body and he could switch it off. He said I would have to discontinue taking all supplements and would have to stop doing ultrasound on my tendons. He said the supplements were just a band aid, but he had the cure. If I followed his instructions exactly.
Had I done so I probably would have had permanent peripheral neuropathy and an Achilles’ tendon rupture.
Hi, thankfully none of my cats had that stuff, but i do wander esp about Cassy as that’s why she died of Neurology, but i think she died more of old age plus bladder infection. I would definitly not take that stuff. I mostly use Revolution that attacks worm and fleas.
Also,even though Bayer isn’t manufacturing the original, I can still buy it sometimes on Ebay or Amazon. The last of it won’t expire until 2015-2016.
Like any other drug company, I’m sure Bayer reformulated it to avoid any generics from coming out.
The original Advantage was upgraded to what is called Advantage II now and is being sold everywhere. It contains a fraction of an added pesticide that stops the larvae from developing. Oh, boy! Another poison! But, I still find the research saying that it’s the safest.
Earmites, scabies, as well as some intestinal parasites can be eliminated with an application of Ivermectin applied just like flea drops.