Posted by Tracy
on August 17, 2008, 9:46 pm
From thepetwhisperer.com:
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Comfortis (spinosad) is the new chemical on the block and it is made to look like the second coming for flea control, according to the manufacturer. This product is given orally once per month and starts killing fleas 30 minutes after ingestion. That means it is absorbed into the blood of your pet rapidly and eaten by the flea, which dies almost instantly.
The main side effects are: vomiting, decreased appetite, lethargy, diarrhea, coughing, excessive water intake, vocalization, increased appetite, Erythema, hyperactivity and excessive salivation. You can read more about this in detail at http://www.comfortis4dogs.com/_layouts/downloads/comfortis-product-label.pdf .
This is an oral pesticide that was tested for 90 days on dogs and the good news is, no one died. Nowadays, as long as the poor animals in the studies do not die, the product is safe to release on the market. Sad commentary for the FDA's role in protecting our animal friends. The studies done on rats http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/67/1/144 over a longer period of time came up with some pretty scary results.
You must keep in mind, the doses they use in the rat studies are higher but they show the potential dangers of the chemical. This is information that is most important to you as the pet owner. If, for example, you use this product and start seeing effects similar to what has been reported, you would know to stop the drug and monitor the potential recovery from the exposure
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