CHALLENGES TO KEEPING YOUR PETS HEALTHY? CLICK HERE

NEW STRAIN OF ILLNESS DEVASTATES FLORIDA SHELTERS

The new strain of illness pervasive throughout Florida are causing a great deal of concern throughout the U.S. as they spread into the general population. While it's true that animals in shelters and pounds are often sick upon arrival, the lack of sterile and/or isolation units is conducive to the spread of sickness and disease - compromising the animal health throughout the general population.

Dr. Will Falconer, DVM and Homeopath, addresses this new illness:

"If the immune system is primed, it doesn't matter what one is exposed to in terms of infectious agents. They will be seen as foreigners. Best strategy is to prime the immune system beforehand though -- much less effect trying to treat ones already ill. Preventatively, Canine Complete at label dose is best.

To treat diarrhea, whether it's caused by Parvo, this so-called flu, e.coli, or whatever, the Animal Stress Pack shines. Dr. Markowitz MD, pediatrician was on the vet call last night, and told how it saved children with acute diarrhea who were very seriously ill. This is off label use, but illustrates the point: it's got excellent replacement electrolytes, beneficial probiotics, and the unbeatable immune stimulation of Transfer Factor Plus, all in one packet. Dose by label, not longer than 10 days or so. Can be followed with Canine Complete.

Anyone facing infectious diarrhea in any species should be armed with this! Can't be overemphasized -- this will save lives."

WF
* *

Dr. Will Falconer
Certified Veterinary Homeopath
Alternatives for Animal Health
Austin, TX
(512) 288-5400
www.Alt4Animals.com

PLEASE read the press release below. I have corresponded with jean extensively and my Natural Beardie group has discussed Rimadyl at length. It's NOT a miracle drug and I pray that people will not continue to be duped into believing this is the cure-all for their dogs' arthritis and hip dysplasia problems. PLEASE do not give Rimadyl to your dogs......

Another thing that ALL of us need to remember to doublecheck: vets OFTEN give Rimadyl as a post-operative anti-inflammatory, even for something as simple as a spay operation. ALWAYS ask what drugs your CATS AND DOGS will be administered when they have surgery and DO NOT ALLOW Rimadyl.

This of course is not any kind of MCR policy and I'm not speaking on behalf of MCR, but it is something that educated pet owners should know about.

Jennifer

While this report refers to Hartz products for cats, there have been similar warnings about their products for dogs. Please be safe, not sorry, and don't use Hartz products on your Pugs!

Hartz Flea, Tick Drops Generating Thousands Of Complaints

Product Causes Convulsions, Seizures In Some Cats

Jeff Burnside, NBC 6 Reporter

POSTED: 3:19 pm EDT July 14, 2004

UPDATED: 10:58 am EDT July 15, 2004

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A nationally sold pet product may be harming or even killing your pet. And now, an NBC 6 investigation has found that a warning label that the maker said could fix the problem is not working.

Flea and tick products are found in millions of homes in South Florida and across America. One of them is generating thousands of complaints and horror stories.

Consumers are reporting that their cats are going into convulsions, seizures, are unable to walk or control their muscles.

An Arkansas veterinarian videotaped several cases of severe reactions. When pet owners like Karen West, of West Palm Beach, saw the videotape, they said it's exactly what they witnessed with their cats.

West gives her cat named "Little Kitty" extra loving these days because it began convulsing, she says, after she applied Hartz flea and tick drops for cats.

"He actually had tremors. His head was going like this," West said, as she jerked her head to one side. "And his eyes were wildly dilated and I was petrified. … I was in total shock but I knew I had to act, because my cat would die if I didn't act."

When West rushed her cat to a nearby animal emergency clinic, clinic workers told her they had seen the product create a similar reaction many times before.

"I went from being shocked to being really mad," West said.

West is not the only cat owner who's really mad. Angry websites and postings dot the Internet, complaining about Hartz flea and tick drops.

There have been 7,100 complaints between 1998 and the beginning of this year, including dozens of deaths, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Some veterinarians say it's a well-known problem.

Dr. Sam Strauss of Pembroke Lakes says the risk of reaction from Hartz flea and tick drops, while rare, is too high and too severe.

"I would never give this product to my cat,” Strauss said. “I would not also take a gun with 100 empty chambers and one bullet and spin the chamber and put it to my head."

What is Hartz's response to the controversy? The company's top doctor, Albert Ahn, said, "When one looks at the actual incidents where there seems to be a strong link or a probable link between use of the product and an alleged adverse event, we find that, in fact, that the rate is very, very low."

Hartz says, in most cases, it's the pet owners’ fault for not following directions. Ahn says the chance a cat will react to its flea and tick drops is just 1 in 25,000.

But an EPA memo states, "There is significant evidence … that some cats develop neurological signs of toxicity after exposure" and that "pets not receiving aggressive care may die."

Hartz agreed to pull the product from shelves to repackage it with a warning label and better instructions because they maintain most of the problems are caused by customers' mistakes -- not the product itself.

But NBC 6 has learned that, since the new label went on, the number of complaints has not gone down, suggesting customers may not be primarily to blame.

The box West used had the new instructions. She is sure she used the product properly.

"I read all the instructions. I applied it exactly as it said," West said.

In an interview, when it was pointed out that no other similar product has generated such anger, Ahn said, "Contrary to your representation, Jeff, this is a very popular flea and tick treatment."

It is a popular product largely because it is much less expensive than other flea and tick medicine.

Strauss argues, "I don't know any veterinarians that routinely recommend its use, simply because there are safer and more effective products on the market."

West was upset because she bought the less expensive Hartz brand even though she normally buys the more expensive flea and tick medications.

As a result, she marched back to the store demanding Hartz be removed.

"I first asked the owner, the manager to do it," she said. "And I didn't see him going do it. And so I went back and did it myself and I handed it to him in a big armload. And I said, 'This just poisoned my cat. Don't sell it to anybody else.'"

All sides agree there's some risk in any medicine. As Hartz puts it, even peanut butter generates reaction in some people. But what is an acceptable level of risk?

The EPA tells us it is disappointed the new warning label has not reduced complaints, and that the issue is far from resolved.

Two leading animal welfare groups, PETA and the Humane Society of the United States, are calling on Hartz to fix the problem.

If your cat has had a reaction, call Hartz' hotline at (800) 275-1414.

Permission to Cross Post

Dear Friends:

I am asking your help in sending the following press release to media in your state/country - I have the Press Release in a .PDF format and if anyone is interested in obtaining it, please write me personally and I will be glad to send it to you. - I am starting today to send to the media in South Carolina, but we must try to reach media in all states and countries. Thank you in advance for assisting with this project.

Sincerely,

Jean
(Always for George - Always for the Rimadyl Dogs)
http://hometown.aol.com/luswinton/myhomepage/memorial.html

LAWSUIT OVER VETERINARY DRUG SETTLED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE “ Johns Island, South Carolina" - August 18, 2004

Jean Townsend of Johns Island, South Carolina announced today that a settlement has been reached with Pfizer, Inc. in what appears to be the first lawsuit of its kind in this country a lawsuit over injuries that led to the death of Ms. Townsend's chocolate lab, George. Ms. Townsend originally brought a class action lawsuit against Pfizer in October of 1999, two years after the tragic death of George. The lawsuit alleged that after initial approval by the FDA, the drug Rimadyl, which was the subject of an unprecedented multi-million dollar advertising campaign, was marketed without a complete understanding of the serious side-effects that could result from the drug. Ms. Townsend also alleged that neither she nor her vet were adequately warned of the potential side-effects. After administering the drug for only 14 days, George developed severe internal bleeding and ultimately liver failure. George was euthanized on October 13, 1997. In reaching the settlement, Pfizer has admitted no wrong-doing.

"It was truly horrible," said Townsend of the experience. "But the most troubling aspect of the ordeal was when I later learned that similar side-effects had been reported to Pfizer and the FDA months before I first gave the drug to my dog. Yet even after my pet became sick, I continued to give him the pills because they were supposed to make him feel better. I had no idea that he was suffering from the side-effects of Rimadyl. It is devastating to live with the realization that I gave my beloved pet medicine to help him when, in fact, it was killing him." After reporting George's death to Pfizer, Ms. Townsend was offered a $249.33 settlement, but the offer came with the condition that the settlement remain confidential. Ms. Townsend refused.

In the months following George's death, Ms. Townsend began researching this drug on the internet and soon discovered dozens of other pet owners who had similar experiences with Rimadyl. Fueled by the growing number of people whose dogs had become sick or died after taking the drug, Ms. Townsend, along with other concerned pet owners, started a campaign to raise awareness of the potential for serious side-effects with this and other veterinary medicines. As part of that campaign, Ms. Townsend and others met with FDA officials as well as Pfizer veterinarians, urging them to step-up efforts to more thoroughly inform pet owners of the potential for serious side-effects with veterinary medicines.

Unsatisfied with the response of the FDA and Pfizer, Ms. Townsend turned to the legal system and filed a class-action lawsuit. In her suit, Ms. Townsend sought reimbursement of the $734.00 in veterinary expenses she had incurred trying to save George, as well as establishing a class action on behalf of the hundreds of other dog owners whose pets had become ill or died.

In the meantime, reports of adverse reactions to Rimadyl® continued to rise, and in 1998, Rimadyl accounted for almost 39% of all Adverse Drug Experience Reports received by the FDA. The reports were so numerous that in December of 1999, the FDA took the extraordinary step of issuing a public statement on the drug.

Within months of Ms. Townsend's suit and the "Update on Rimadyl" issued by the FDA, Pfizer announced significant changes in packaging, and that it would begin dispensing a Client Information Sheet to be included with veterinary prescriptions of Rimadyl. The Client Information Sheet, modeled after similar drug information sheets included with many human drugs, was to provide pet owners with easily understandable information about the potential side-effects and what to do if side-effects occur.

Ms. Townsend reports that as part of the settlement, Pfizer made cash offers to over 300 other dog owners across the country to settle claims for death or injury to the dog, veterinary expenses, property damage, emotional distress and punitive damages. These individual offers averaged over $1,000.00 per animal and did not include a confidentiality provision.

Speaking about the lawsuit and the settlement, Ms. Townsend said, "I am pleased that through this suit, hundreds of other pet owners will be reimbursed for veterinary expenses and the loss of their pets. Of course, no amount of money would ever replace the loss of my friend George, and the loss of so many other beloved companions." But to Ms. Townsend, (who donated her settlement proceeds to a local veterinarian to perform surgery on a pet whose owners could not afford the surgery) the issue is far more than the money paid by Pfizer. It is the growing public awareness that the medications we give our pets can have serious side-effects. "We, as pet owners, have the right to know as much about the good and bad sides of veterinary medicines as we do the medicines we give ourselves."

For further information please contact:
Jean Townsend - Luswinton@aol.com
1769 Clark Hills Circle
Johns Island, SC 2955
843-559-2134

PLEASE CROSSPOST WIDELY!!

To: katie.walter@weneedahome.net

Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 10:12 PM

Subject: Fw: CANINE FLU..LIKE PARVO WIPING OUT KENNELS AND SPREADING

http://www.apaws.org/canineflu.html