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'Bob Martin' Flea Products for your cat

HelenHelen
edited August 2010 in Off-topic
I had an email from my niece today about flea products for cats by 'Bob Martin' - a lady at her work used it on her kitten and it had to be put down. I have googled the product and there are lots of reviews about it causing so much harm to cats. I want to warn people who have cats, so they do not use the product. I can't believe the product is still on the shelves.

Comments

  • LizLiz
    it doesn't work anyway.
  • kadokado
    I always use Frontline pipettes on my cat. He is nearly three years old, stays outside a lot, and has never had fleas.

    They aren't cheap, but my motto is, 'Pay cheap, pay twice', or in this case pay with a life! Sorry to hear about the kitten.
  • HelenHelen
    I use Frontline too for my cat. I did use 'Advantage' but they just get rid of fleas. Frontline does fleas and ticks. :-)
  • LizLiz
    I use nothing. My cat catches mice, stays out, and has never had fleas.

    Occasionally I spray her with a 'green' commercial preparation with tea tree oil in. Don't make your own, tea tree oil is poisonous to animals.

    But I haven't done for ages. A healthy cat should be able to rid itself of fleas by catching and eating them... vacuuming your house thoroughly each week right up to the edges and corners is the most effective thing you can do as that is where fleas breed.
  • HelenHelen
    Hi Liz, it's great that your cat has never had fleas. :-)
  • dorothyddorothyd
    my friend uses Frontline too for her dog. Here we use flea collars and they seem to work on the kittens.
  • JennyJenny
    What does the Bob Martin's company say about their product being potentially hazardous?
  • HelenHelen
    Hi Jenny, I have no idea. I just googled when I heard about it and read some of the reviews written in by people who have used the product. Only found out yesterday about it.
  • LizLiz
    The thing is, any of these products can cause ill effects, as they are poisons. Frontline is a neurotoxin. Would you put that in your hair? I don't think so, and yet you stroke a cat with it on its fur...

    Many of the flea and worming products affect some dogs. Some which lick the Frontline or whatever of their fur can end up frothing at the mouth, sick with breathing problems...

    You can treat them with a flea comb, just as you do with headlice for child, without chemicals, and vacuum your house.
  • NephNeph
    The problem we have is that one of our cats actually has an allergy to fleas so we have to treat her (trust me I have tried everything else). Otherwise we wouldn't use anything.
  • LizLiz
    Aww. Poor puss.
  • HelenHelen
    Just thought I would make people aware. It may only affect some cats/some dogs, and not all - but after reading what some pets have been through, I had to share it.
  • CarolCarol
    Always good to know that it may have given some animals problems.
    Just like humans animals can have bad reactions.
  • NephNeph
    We use advocat, and it works better than Frontline on ours. I think Bob Martins is over the counter stuff isn't it. I have to admit I wouldn't use anything that wasn't recommended by the vet. We are lucky we have a good vet.
  • HelenHelen
    I think you can get the Bob Martin products in the supermarket. :-(
  • NephNeph
    Yea and that is part of the reason I wouldn't use them, and a spray that covers the whole cat, they would of course lick, which seems to be the stuff most of the people who are complaining about it used.
  • TessadragonTessadragon
    My cat brings in a lot of fleas, to the point that i've had huge arguments with my parents because they won't help me with the stuff i need to do, like moving the furniture from the lounge in order to steam clean the carpet, and I need to treat it with anti-flea stuff, meaning that I'm facing having to do it alone once i get home. I've had to flea comb the cat every evening and still, whenever i sit in the lounge, i have to pick the freaking things off my legs, the same thing too in the dining room and even the bathroom and starting to get into my bedroom and my parents' bedroom which is just vile....
  • TessadragonTessadragon
    oh my, that was frightening to read the reviews of bob martin flea products...i'm glad now that i hadn't yet used the bob martin flea bomb... http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/pets-accessories/bob-martin-flea-products/reviews/ lots of people are describing their pets fitting violently, being sick and all sorts of horrible symptoms.
  • KJKJ
    Neither of my cats have ever had fleas - we vacuum everything regularly as well as washing long curtains which touch carpets.
    The feral cat does occasionally acquire a tick or two, but these are easily removed using an extractor tool that the vet supplied for us.
    We have no need for pills or potions.
  • cekaceka
    edited September 2010
    Friend of mine frontlined her dog - her cat loves her dog and helped him wash - and bloody nearly died of kidney failure as a result. If the packet says NOT FOR CATS, that's what it means! Trouble is, nobody told the cat this ...
  • febesfebes
    I never heard of it causing that problem! I think I used it a while back when we were broke, but it didn't work and ended up buying frontline as usual. I now know to stick to what I know.
  • LizLiz
    KJ is right, we have had no problem with fleas either, cat or dog, and in fact cats can kill and eat the fleas in their fur as long as they aren't over-run... they get over-run with them if you let them breed in your carpet, and the easy to stop them breeding in your carpet is to vacuum VERY thoroughly, but particularly the very edges of the rooms.

    I wouldn't use that powder Tessa, it kills fleas and eggs and it is a poison, and while it may not kill you, it is not going to do you any good either. It's a neurotoxin.

    Vacuum everything for 5 days in a row, now you are infested. Vacuum and wash all cat bedding.

    Once a week is enough normally.
  • febesfebes
    Liz, is that why my cat makes that funny noise? Like a grunting? Because she is eating them?

    I am going to use frontline again soon, as under the sideboard, which is heavy and requires 3 people when empty, probably still has fleas. So using that treats the areas too. The fleas got under there when the kittens were under there. Whether they have gone or not I don't know. But one more time won't hurt. I want to start bathing my cat in Tea Tree Shampoo. Apparently works a treat!
  • LizLiz
    Good God febes, I think I'd find a people eating sideboard in my house much more worrying than fleas...
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