calliecritturs
Posted : 4/12/2008 9:58:47 PM
Oh lovely -- let's take a proven carcnogen that's literally outlawed in MANY states and make it a staple in a new flea med!!
Promeris has two drugs in it -- metaflumizone and amitraz.
metaflumizone is a 'new' drug -- and I haven't read enough about it yet to know how absorbed it is or anything. But I can tell you a TON about amitraz!
Amitraz is what's in Mitaban and Tacktic (they use that on farm animals to kill parasites)
The problem with Amitraz is that it messes with the insulin levels of the body.
you can't touch amitraz if you have diabetes or if you take MAO-inhibitors -- nor can you give it to a diabetic animal.
You shouldn't touch amitraz period ... not at all, not ever. I wouldn't want to PET a dog with amitraz on it. It's a known carcinogen. Big time.
My english cocker Muffin -- the one who died of renal failure -- my vet figures his mast cell cancer was *caused* by the frequent mitaban use Muffin went thru because of the demodex he had. The primary mast cell tumor was in his foot -- where he would have absorbed the amitraz from standing in the dip.
There are a lot of states that won't allow amitraz to be SOLD to owners. If you want your dog to be treated with amitraz for demodex the vet has to do it -- very few states actually allow amitraz to be dispensed to an owner. How Ft. Dodge is getting around this I don't know.
From the website it looks like this stuff has a special "applicator".
I don't know what's in metaflumizone but no way would I use this stuff on a dog. NO WAY.
Not just because of the potential problem for the DOG in an adverse reaction -- but no way would I want to be exposed to the amitraz just in petting the dog!!
I'm sure it's got a horrid scent -- I've handled tons of the stuff -- I always wore huge thick rubber gloves past my elbows -- open windows. etc. and *I* always felt sick after I had to dip Muffin.
I've seen it kill. It's nasty nasty stuff. It has it's uses -- but man, can they react badly to it. So can the humans.
I'm not kidding and I want to make a HUGE point of it -- DON'T HANDLE THIS STUFF if you are diabetic yourself, or if you are taking MAO Inhibitors (like Prozac or the like).
I know how hidden these warnings tend to be in the Amitraz/Mitaban literature -- but man, the first vet that sold me Amitraz all those years ago MADE ME READ IT.
And btw -- yes, this stuff goes into the bloodstream -- I've seen dogs be Unbelievably lethargic after getting dipped. I've honestly seen dogs die. It zooms right in to the bloodstream.
I will see what I can find out about metaflumizone but just from the standpoint that Promeris has amitraz in it, boy -- I wouldn't use it on a bet!