Flea and tick treatments can be a cheaper way to rid Spot and Fluffy of insects, but dog and cat owners should beware of self-medicating their pets.
Owners should contact their veterinarian before giving any drugs to their pets, and they should read any packaging thoroughly. Just as a parent would not give medicine to a child without reading the label, pet owners should seek the correct advice for treating their animals.It’s important to get the right guidance. You can certainly get things cheaper.

Last fall, at the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s insistence, Hartz Mountain Corp. agreed to cancel uses of several flea and tick products that may be associated with a range of adverse reactions, including hair loss, salivation, tremors, and numerous deaths in cats and kittens, according to the EPA’s Web site.
For the past eight years, Geisert said she has relied on Front Line brand products, which should be applied with a doctor’s supervision. “The cats metabolic system is quite different from dogs,” said Geisert. “People don’t have that knowledge base.”
As with humans, any drugs should be given to animals only with medical guidance, said Amy Shroff, chief of staff and emergency and critical care department head at Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center of New England in Waltham.
“Anybody can buy any medicine and put it on any animal,” said Schroff. “Cats and dogs metabolize drugs differently.”
Ashland cats Oreo and Jaguar fell ill this week after their owner Amy Lenar applied Bio Spot brand medication to them to treat fleas. Lenar’s third cat Kiwi, which also received the medicine, was shot and killed by an Ashland Police officer after the town’s animal control officer feared it was infected with rabies.