I put advocate spot on (flea and worm treatment) on my small dog yesterday and it has reacted with the plastic on his collar clip causing it to melt to his fur.
Luckily the kids noticed it had stuck and we managed cut it off, it was tight and caused a blister like sore area, but it it was stuck so hard it could have caused serious skin damage.
I have written to Bayer to complain, it seems the solvent in the product can react with plastic but there are no warnings.
37 Comments
sorted byFlea collars don't work, waste of money.
Over the counter flea treatment should be banned tbh, Non works, The fleas are also becoming immune to frontline too.
thats basic science and common knowledge outwith the scientific world.
op - did you let the stuff dry properly? do you have a scan/photo of the leaflet
edit: saying that: http://www.vetgb.com/vetgb_pdfs/droncits_355b_vetgb.pdf
if thats the leaflet- i cant see anything about contact with materials which is shocking if thats same as supplied in box
(edited)
My dog has a safety collar and the clip is plastic, as is the case on many other collars. You apply the product onto the neck so it is highly likely to come into contact with the collar. This also applies to cats.
Hope your dog isn't too sore.
It was used as a preventative measure under recommendation from the vet. He's only a puppy
Further to your recent email communication regarding Advocate Spot-on Solution, it is recognised that the solvent in Advocate may interact with certain materials including leather, fabrics, plastics and finished surfaces. This information is included on a product leaflet (please see relevant statement below) which can be found inside each packet of Advocate spot-on pipettes which not only refers to this but also advises that the application site should be allowed to dry before permitting contact with such materials as listed above.
“The solvent in this product may damage certain materials including leather, fabrics, plastics and finished surfaces. Allow the application site to dry before permitting contact with such materials.”
As we are sure you will appreciate there are many factors involved with drying time, eg. environmental temperature and humidity, animals skin and varying hair types which may alter the length of time for which it is necessary to prevent your pet coming into contact with the materials mentioned on the package insert. If your pet has a tendency to shake following product application it would be advisable to consider applying the product outdoors either on a walk or in the garden.
Advocate Spot-on is a licensed veterinary medicinal product, and as such all information on the packet and product leaflet is regarded as being of equal importance.
Further to the above, it is worth noting that the information contained on the packet and the package leaflet for Advocate is regulated by the European Medicines Agency, which is responsible for the licensing and monitoring of the so-called ‘centrally licensed’ veterinary medicinal products within the European Union. It is the EMA and not Bayer Animal Health, which ultimately decides what information, must be provided on the packet and package leaflet.
The ingredients of this Spot-on preparation are intended to spread over or through an organic surface (in this case your pet’s skin). Organic solvents have been known to interact with treated surfaces or materials such as plastics and leather. If we take for example acetone (found in nail varnish remover) which is another organic compound – It is quite “safe” to use the product on fingernails and does not damage skin, however, if the nail varnish remover is spilt on a polished wood surface, it will damage or alter the appearance of the wood.
We would certainly advise that treated animals should always be kept away from such materials whether in the home or car, until the application site is dry, in order to minimise occurrences such as you have stated in your email. As a matter of policy, all of Bayer Animal Health’s spot-on products carry such a warning on the product leaflet, in recognition of the importance of this matter.
In order that we might investigate this matter further, we ask you to take your dog to your vet to get the skin reaction seen and treated if necessary. We would then be most grateful if you could possibly furnish us with the name and address of your veterinary surgeon; not only will this hopefully enable us to have a better idea of what happened but also facilitate the reporting of the case to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). The VMD is the independent government agency responsible for the licensing and monitoring of veterinary medicinal products, and all suspected adverse reactions involving the use of licensed medicines must be reported to them.
Kind Regards
Technical Services Team
Animal Health Division
I really do not think they have made it clear in the packaging not to apply it to pets with collars and when I contacted the vets they also said they didn't know this was possible and hadn't been advising people not to apply it to a pet with a collar on.
Yes I do, I have all of the packaging and a photo of the collar too.
Yes, now I know that the product contains a solvent that could melt plastic I would obviously not make the same mistake again, however it does not say specifically not to apply it to an animal wearing a collar, it just says keep out of contact with other surfaces and the vets also did not know so I am not the only one.
This is an expensive prescription only product given under the advice of a vet and users should be made aware of this danger.
Free flea comb - Hope this helps anyone
hotukdeals.com/fre…304
then you are buying sh1t ones or your not replacing them after 3 month
coz they work with our 3 cats
Some flea collars from vets are supposedly effective for preventing flea's, In combination with flea treatment from the vets, The collars are no good for eliminating fleas if they already have them.
Your supposed to treat them every 3 months anyway, So yes a collar might help prevent them but what's the point when you have to treat them every 3 months anyway?.
Yes I did read them - that is the point. The instructions do not say anywhere to remove collar or that the product can melt plastic. It just says avoid contact with other surfaces as it may stain them.
My vets admitted they didn't know it could happen either and have said they have now changed the practice policy as a result of my complaint and will now advise owners to remove collars.
Ignore the troll (_;)
The humane way to remove fleas is to vacuum them off
m.youtube.com/watch?v=gjc7izWREAY
(edited)
Leather collar with metal clip ftw. (_;)
but did you remove the collar and let it dry for at least an hour?
a collar is a surface. if its not dog.. its surface.
your vets knowledge is surely questionable though?
not sure how many vets wont have at least some level of chemistry in its pure form and then surely something on pharmacology etc
even the generic science class at school taught me that when i tried to clean safety specs with acetone and was left with designers crazy paving shades.
i would say this is 1 of those cases when a man really should read them when it involves toxic chemicals
companioncare.co.uk/old…841
It melts plastic and other materials, the manufacturer, Bayer, know this and should make it more clear on their packaging.
(That's the weirdest sentence I've ever used)
Information sheets and safety data sheets are found with almost all products these days (not just treatments and medicines), and should always be read. Most people never bother, but it covers the manufacturer's and supplier's responsibilities and obligations though. It's up to the end user whether they can be bothered reading through the information provided.
Advocate is by far the best product I've ever found for dealing with fleas. My cat was a monster (8.5Kg) and nothing else worked. Even prescription Frontline proved useless and after contacting the manufacturer of Frontline they said it would only work for cats of a normal mass - up to 4.5Kg. Advocate proved miles ahead in comparison.
However when my cat did get fleas (before using advoate) we used diatomaceous earth to get rid of them... after trying and failing on most sprays bought from pet stores i was told about this powder.. rubbed into the cat and spread around the house then hoovered up after 24 hours.. kills everything!!