Advantage® flea and tick control medication can melt plastic.
Advantage® flea and tick control medication is one of the most popular spot-on treatments used in dogs and cats both. However, Advantage® (and possibly other spot-on medications as well) can have a rather unusual side effect that most pet owners have never before considered.
Advantage® flea and tick control treatment side effect
Veterinary Information Network (VIN) News Service is reporting that at least one dog has become "glued" to the bottom of his plastic carrier after its owner applied a dosage of Advantage® spot-on flea and tick control medication prior to crating him.
Culprit is "inert ingredient" benzyl alcohol found in Advantage®, which melts plastic
According to Bayer Animal Health, the manufacturer of Advantage®, the product contains an ingredient known as benzyl alcohol, which has the ability to dissolve plastic.
Apparently, when the Advantage® was placed on the dog in question, the dog was crated before the medication had dried completely and the Advantage® flea and tick control medicine somehow came in contact with the bottom of the plastic carrier in which the dog was crated. This probably occurred as a result of the dog rolling onto its back in the carrier.
When the benzyl alcohol in the Advantage® contacted the plastic in the carrier, it proceeded to melt the plastic, which became entangled in the dog's fur, ultimately leading to the dog being "glued" to the bottom of the carrier overnight.
Dog removed from plastic carrier with scraper
When the owner awoke the next morning and found the dog in this predicament, he rushed the dog, who had not been able to eat, drink or relieve itself for the past 15 hours, to the veterinarian, complete with carrier, because he had been unable to free the dog from the melted plastic.
The dog was eventually freed from his carrier using a tool used to remove plaster from drywall. Fortunately, the dog is healthy and doing well and has sustained no injuries from the incident.
Bayer accepts responsibility, admits Advantage® likely to blame
Bayer Animal Health has admitted that their product, Advantage® flea and tick control treatment, was likely to blame for the incident. They have offered to reimburse the dog's owner for the vet visit, time taken from work and for the cost of the carrier.
EPA considers new rule requiring disclosure of inert ingredients on product label
Currently, manufacturers of spot-on products are not required to list inert ingredients on their product's labels. Therefore, it is impossible to determine which products contain the ingredient benzyl alcohol. However, it is likely that there are other spot-on products which do contain the same ingredient.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering implementing a rule which would require manufacturers to list the inert ingredients, as well as the active ingredients, on the product label.
In the meantime, pet owners using spot-on products for the prevention and control of fleas, ticks and/or heartworms are urged to avoid placing their pet's in plastic carriers or in areas where they are likely to contact other plastics until the products have dried completely.
Readers who enjoyed this article might also enjoy:
- Pet health 101: Most common flea control mistakes
- Flea Prevention and Flea Control in Dogs and Cats
- Flea and tick products for dogs and cats: How safe are they?
- Promeris flea and tick control for dogs
- Revolution for cats: Monthly flea and heartworm control
- Revolution for dogs: Monthly canine heartworm and flea control
- Frontline flea and tick control products—Are fleas becoming resistant?
- Best flea control and flea prevention medicines for dogs
- Natural flea control methods
The copyright of the article Advantage® flea and tick control treatment glues dog to plastic carrier is owned by Lorie Huston. Permission to republish Advantage® flea and tick control treatment glues dog to plastic carrier in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Photo Credit: Morguefile.com/taliesin
Comments
I knew Advantage could double as a nail polish remover, a lesson I learned after I painted my nails and then applied advantage to my dog later that day. I was so angry! I didn't know it could MELT plastic though. That's wild. None of my dogs have ever had any bad health reactions to it... but it does make you wonder about what you give your dogs to maintain their health. There are plenty of flea-carried diseases that could harm them, so spot-on treatments are the lesser of two evils I think... but stories like this still do give me pause.
cute............................
This article didn't state whether Bayer has explained how an ingredient that melts plastic can be safe to apply to dogs. Also, it refers repeatedly to "spot-on" flea treatments. I have only seen that expression used (mostly by the British) to refer to something being correct or exact. Is this expression used by the manufacturers, or have you made it up?
Carol:
No, I did not make up the term "spot-on". The term is widely used within the veterinary field to refer to the topical flea and tick medications which are available. This includes products such as Advantage, Advantage Multi, Frontline, Promeris, Advantix and many others. The term is used by manufacturers, veterinarians, researchers, distributors, even the EPA uses the term. But I'm sorry if I confused you with the terminology. I hope this makes it more clear.
As far as how this ingredient can melt plastic and still be safe to apply to skin, Bayer has not commented on that question. My understanding is that there is something within the plastic that the benzyl alcohol interacts with which is not present in skin. However, I'm not a chemist by profession, so I cannot explain the details to you. Perhaps someone from Bayer will step in with details?
Great article! I never considered warning clients of this or that this could even be an issue. I can only imagine how many clients will be requesting oral or injectable flea control after hearing this!
To me the big issue is people putting dogs into little plastic boxes. It's cruel.
why was in a carrier for 15 hrs? i work in a veterinary hospital and i know Advantage is an excellent product,would you rather have fleas in your house? i've seen some poor kittens with so many fleas they could barely live. I have seen cats die from that crap you can buy at Wal-mart, Top Spot or Heartz that stuff you need to stay away from! In my 9 years working at the Vet Hospital we have never had any problems with it.
15 hours is far to long to crate your dog and not check on him!
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