Can cats be allergic to Seresto collars?
Individual sensitivities, while rare, may occur after using ANY pesticide product for pets. Rarely, mild application site reactions may occur, such as scratching, redness and hair loss, which usually recover within 1 to 2 weeks without the need for collar removal.
Our experience with the Seresto flea collar for cats after several years of using them exclusively
A few years back, our cat Dizzy, who normally had beautiful shiny black fur began losing it in odd patterns. Her backside would be bare and she knew there was more of a draft!
Not only that but she would have a hairless line down the middle of her body, extending to underneath on her belly. It was strange looking!
Is she allergic to something in our home or her food, we wondered?
After being late one month for applying her topical flea medication, it dawned on us; she’s not scratching as much and her hair is growing back in a little!
We realized any topical medication causes her to have this allergic reaction, which meant we had no idea how to protect her (and our home!) from a flea and tick takeover.
We tried all kinds of natural products. Some worked, but in our climate, it just wasn’t enough protection. That’s when we discovered Seresto for cats.
On a whim, we gave it a try, hoping it wouldn’t cause the same reaction as all the others. A week, two weeks, one month, six months went by — no reaction!
Not only that but she had no fleas, ticks, and even our blood-thirsty mosquitoes didn’t harass her so much!
She’s also pretty impressed by the diamonds! (we won’t spoil her fun by telling her those are actually reflectors so she’s safe in the dark!)
Needless to say, at the time of writing this post, Seresto is the only thing we’ve found that works for her.
We also now use this collar on our boy, Pips. Soon we will be getting collars for our growing little ones, Rascal and Muppet.
What Could Have Caused Issues with the Seresto Collar?
The collar does have pesticides to prevent fleas and ticks, while they have been deemed safe by the EPA for use on animals and in proximity to people, any chemical can cause an unexpected reaction. The pest-preventing chemical in the Seresto collar is designed to stay within the oils and oil glands of your pets skin, with no to minimal amount of absorption in to your pets body, which generally makes them very safe with few systemic reactions. If a pet has an underlying disorder or abnormality within their skin barrier that allows for more absorption of the chemical, this may lead to a systemic reaction. In regards to the reports of serious injury to people, most were in regards to injury sustained upon opening the packaging or placing the collar on their dog. For dogs, many of the incident reports were from pets actually ingesting the collar, where the eating of the plastic actually caused more problems than the chemicals. With this in mind, it is very important to dive deeper into claims about incident reports and issues with these products that are likely user error rather than product faultiness.
Seresto flea and tick collars potentially linked to thousands of incidents, nearly 1,700 pet deat…
On Tuesday morning, USA Today published an investigation with startling findings: The popular Seresto flea collar has been connected to the deaths of almost 1,700 pets and injuries to thousands more.
Documents from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed the link to the collars, which excrete pesticide to hopefully keep pets pest-free for up to eight months without harming them. However, some pet owners have pointed to the collars as the reason their dogs have suffered from lethargy, loss of motor functions, skin problems, and seizures.
“My takeaway is that it should be looked into,” says Elizabeth Trepp, DVM. “I want to recommend the best safe products for my patients, and therefore as a vet I rely on agencies like the [Food and Drug Administration] and EPA to do their due diligence.”
If your dog or cat is currently wearing one of these collars you understandably have questions. We talked with some veterinarians, like Trepp, about the Seresto flea and tick collars so you can make the best decision about your pets care.