Dangerous flea product? Promeris...

Received this from a friend of mine who has Westies...

This sounds pretty scary and just arrived via our Westie Club president. Hard to believe anything this potentially dangerous can be on the market!



Please read the following warning. With flea and tick season arriving,
this is important information.

> Dr. Linda (comments at the bottom) is a veterinarian who owns Beardies and
> is very helpful to the Beardie community.
>
> Lori Fournier
> Surfsong Bearded Collies
> Oceanside, California
> Since 1983
"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our
> happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstance." - Martha Washington

> This is Jo and this is a very important message to my family & friends who
> have dogs-cats--and to alert you to the hazard of using a new Flea & Tick
> Preventative called ProMeris http://www.promeris... .com/consumer/ .
> This is a new product designed to be a more effective product than other
> flea/tick treatments that was just released this year. It is available
> thru a vet and not currently on-line. I got ProMeris this week for my 7 dogs (6
> Huskies & 1 Golden-Airedale) , and the results were debilitating for
> nearly all of them-including me. Since my incident this week, my vet has pulled
> it from distribution and alerted the manufacturer, Fort Dodge.

Here are my results: Within less than 2 hours after applying, 4 of my dogs
> had vomited from 2-4 times, 3 were disoriented and stumbling, 1 was
> dragging his back leg, 1 was salivating. I had very similar symptoms like an
> allergic reaction-my lips were swollen, eyes very red, mucous membranes such as
> eyes, nose, and mouth were stinging. I was very disoriented-dizzy equilibrium
> and not able to drive. To make this a short story-all 7 of my dogs were
> admitted to the hospital for veterinarian care, and 3 of them remained for care, IV
> fluids and observation for 24 hours. I was in the emergency room. I'm home
> now and so are the dogs. We're all feeling much better. Vet bills were
> over $2,500 and Fort Dodge is paying for these. Not only can the product cause
> this reaction, it has a highly noxious odor that permeated the house and
> is just starting to dissipate after 3 days.

> Your dogs/cats might not have the same reaction, but given my experience-I
> wanted to help you all become well-educated about the product.
>
> From Dr. Linda:
Thanks, Mari.
> Fort Dodge has been pushing Promeris hard. I always caution against
> using our dogs as guinea pigs for new products. The canine product has two
> major ingredients metaflumizone (also in the cat version) which is a new product
> for use on fleas. Ataxia, liver hypertrophy and failure to gain weight seem
> the major problems associated with this product as well as reproductive
> problems - fetal loss, bone abnormalities. For ticks the active
> ingredient is Amitraz which is highly toxic to cats. While sedation is the most
> commonly reported problem, amitraz can also produce ataxia, reduced heart
> rate, vomiting, diarrhea, hypothermia and transient hyperglycemia.
> Topically it can produce edema, red skin and itching. The odor from
> Promeris is eucalyptus. I would suggest that you post this to the beardie
> lists, and you can attach my comments if you think they would be useful.
> I have not yet seen a warning to vets on the product, but we are not always
> the first to find out.

> Linda