PLEASE--do not use ANY Hartz Mtn products on ferrets or any other living creature. --Ronnie *** Recent action on a pesticide which is hazardous to cats. =================================================================== Pesticide Kills Cats (from December 5, 2002) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has linked flea and tick control pesticides with illness or death suffered by thousands of cats, according to Environmental News Service. The result is a recovery and relabeling of the products found to be at fault: Hartz Advanced Care Brand Once-a-Month Flea and Tick Drops for Cats and Kittens and Hartz Advanced Care Brand Flea and Tick Drops Plus for Cats and Kittens. The former contains active ingredient phenothrin, a synthetic pyrethroid. The latter contains both phenothrin and methoprene, an insect growth regulator. Stocks of these products with the old labels will be sold in stores until the middle of January. Reports started filtering into EPA from the public in May 2000. Owners of cats were complaining of adverse reactions by their pets, associating them with Hartz flea and tick control products. Complaints of skin irritation, hair loss, nervous system damage, tremors, convulsions and even death were reported. By March 2001, these complaints became too numerous to ignore. EPA began its investigation. They requested incident report documentation from Hartz. Veterinarians and affected pet owners were interviewed. To read more about EPA's agreement with Hartz Mountain Corporation, http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/citizens/hartzq_a.htm See Beyond Pesticides' fact sheets for more information about the toxicity of phenothrin and methoprene. http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/ Synthetic%20Pyrethroids.pdf Least-toxic alternatives to flea http://www.beyondpesticides.org/alternatives/factsheets/FLEA%20CONTROL.pdf and tick http://www.beyondpesticides.org/alternatives/factsheets/Tick%20Control.pdf control. [Posted in FML issue 3996]