Maiden Voyage

All who read this forum are welcome to call me, Dr. Tenzer, at South Beach Animal Hospital to discuss any info presented in my blog. 305-534-8404


This is a forum created from the need to get my proverbial panties unwadded after reading an email sent to a coworker espousing the dangers of commonly prescribed veterinary flea control preparations. I don't have the email in front of me but I know the type well. A few years ago it was about the toxicity of Febreze to pets. This was a gem. The author had suffered through the horrible illness of a beloved pet all caused by exposure to Febreze. The illness, the visits to the vet, expenses , heartbreak and tragic loss ensued. There was a strange statement in the email that was circulating amongst pet owners saying that febreze's composition was "one molecule away from antifreeze" Antifreeze is a well known kidney toxic household chemical. The veterinary community is really good at mobilizing thoughtfully and as I investigated my veterinary community website for real time responses from experts someone pointed out that the affected dog didn't suffer from renal (kidney) toxicity, but had liver failure. Why would a kidney toxin analogue not cause kidney failure? There were many inconsistencies in the story and eventually it was debunked as either a hoax or misguided accusation. The ASPCA eventually chimed in deeming the product safe.
This brings me to my original point which was a recent email about the veterinary distributed flea products. Some of the products named were advantage, capstar, and frontline. The email made the statement; I'm paraphrasing, "My vet said that using these products is like feeding your pet a teaspoon of Raid pesticide" This got me in the gut. This could hardly be further from the truth. The products listed have a very high margin of safety and are relatively non-toxic. They work on chemical and metabolic processes that, although deadly to insects, are completely absent in mammalian systems. If your pet had to form a chitinous exoskeleton, it would then be highly toxic.
I gave the explanation to my co-worker and will pass it on to my client.
My hope is that this forum will be a safe haven of medically correct information directly responding to pet myths that my clients and the pet loving public everywhere may access, and hopefully participate in. I'd love it if readers would share the stories they've read, or supply any new emails to us here before passing them on to "infect " other's if there is no basis in fact. Of course it's important to advise folks of the actual dangers such as the recent pet food recalls. We can point folks in the direction of valuable information and reduce casualties from real risks just as effectively as debunking myths and rumors.
Thanks for listening. My panties are sufficiently unwadded!
Dr Mike Tenzer, Pet Myth Buster