poisoned my cat with flea treatment - please help!

[PerpetualStudent]

I am in bits! On Monday night treated my elderly cat (16 years!) with a 'spot on' flea treatment from the supermarket (lets say the manufacturers were Pob Fartin, if using brand names gets me into trouble...)

She's had fleas for a while, have always treated her effectively with similar products in the past (she is my childhood pet, but been living with my mum until 2 years ago, this is the 1st summer she's spent any real time outside, so had been using up the flea products my mum gave me before buying this)

Immediately, it had a bad affect on her, she was twitching and struggling to use her back legs. This has continued, and although she eats and drinks if I put it in front of her, her pupils are smashed and all she wants to do is hide in dark corners of the garden. I know that's a bad sign.

I took her to the vet on Tues night, but they did little - a blood test showed she was anemic from the fleas. They just said to wash her to try get the flea treatment off (did this, didn't help) and try keep her hydrated. They have some flea stuff of their own for me to pick up.

Been googling and discovered how vicious this product I used is - how can they sell it so widely?! Is there anything I can do for her? She is so old, and was already underweight and frail. I feel so horribly guilty I've done this to my childhood pet...

Sorry about your cat.
I've just bought that BM stuff for the first time, not used it yet

I suppose all people can do is spread the word, Really. Unless I have a large lottery win.

Thank goodness you saw this thread Buttered. I guess you'll be binning it, or taking back for a refund? Pet meds sold in supermarkets aren't fit for purpose. They either don't work, or cause sad situations like OP's.

If you want a flea treatment that works, and don't want to pay vet prices, try Advantage. Make sure you know your cat's weight first though. Mine are about 4.5 kilo, and I use the 800 pipettes.

I generally buy my meds from the vet. They may make a modest profit on them but they've seen the animals, the med issue goes on file, and I feel more confident that I'm going to buy reputable, in-date meds from a trusted source - and meds which won't conflict with any other meds or conditions that the vets know about.

There are very many entirely reputable drugs companies on the net and I appreciate that many owners find it difficult to pay vet med prices and welcome any savings on them. However, there are some scammers in the animal pharmaceuticals field and I would want to do my homework most carefully before purchasing from a firm I didn't know thoroughly.

Thanks for the info Mantra I've been using Advantage for a few years now but passed by the pet isle and was suckered in by the price, so thought I'd give it a go. The old saying 'you get what you pay for' sounds certainly right in this case. Chucked the bastard receipt away though . If the recycling bin hadn't been collected today I'd have had my head in it searching for the receipt.

I get my Advantage from Ocado (Fetch department), I know they aren't everywhere. Large cat, 4 pack, £10.49. BM £5.

OP, that'll teach me to read the thread properly. I just read your update. I'm so sorry about your cat.