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Maine woman warns pet owners after mislabeled medication incident

Tiffany Seams says she purchased an over-the-counter flea treatment for her one-year-old kitten named Baby. Seams says she went to Walmart and asked an employee to help her get a box of small cat flea treatment from a locked case in the store. Seams purchased the treatment and gave it to her kitten that same evening. Seams says hours later, her kitten, Baby, began having seizures. She rushed her kitten to the emergency vet. Seams says, “They gave her an anti-epileptic and Valium and lots of IV fluids to flush it out of her system.” The emergency vet told Seams to contact the company that makes the flea treatment to report the side effects. Seams contacted the company, Elanco. After further investigation, Seams says, she realized the vial in the box of small cat flea treatment was dosed for a large dog. Reading the package out loud, Seams says, “It says K9 Advantage, large dog, do not use on cats, can be fatal.” Seams says Elanco has offered to refund the product and pay her pet Baby's vet bill of over $600. An Elanco spokesperson issued a statement saying, in part, “We are committed to working with the pet owner to better understand her situation and ensure we support her and her pet during this time.” He added, “We have requested photos of the product so we can obtain the lot number to conduct a quality investigation and ensure there are no issues with the product lot.” According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there have been no recent recalls for Elanco flea treatment products. After this experience, Seams has a warning for pet owners. Here's what Seams says when it comes to giving your pet an over-the-counter treatment: “You know, check and check again. I'm thankful today that Baby is alive. We don’t know what will happen to her in the future, but hopefully this will save an animal in the future.”

PARIS, Maine —

Tiffany Seams says she bought an over-the-counter flea medication for her one-year-old kitten named Baby.

Seams says she went to Walmart and asked an employee to help her get a package of a small flea treatment for cats from a locked display case in the store. Seams purchased the treatment and gave it to her kitten that same evening.

Seams says her kitten Baby started having seizures hours later. She rushed her kitten to the emergency vet. Seams says, “They gave her an anti-epileptic and Valium and lots of IV fluids to flush the stuff out of her system.”

The emergency vet told Seams to contact the company that makes the flea treatment to report the side effects. Seams contacted the company, Elanco. After further investigation, Seams found that the vial in the small cat flea treatment package was designed for a large dog. Seams reads the package out loud and says, “It says K9 Advantage, large dog, do not use on cats, can be fatal.”

According to Seams, Elanco has offered to refund the product price and cover her pet Baby's veterinary bill of over $600.

An Elanco spokesperson issued a statement saying, in part:

“We want to work with the pet owner to better understand her situation and ensure we support her and her pet during this time.”

Add,

“We have requested photos of the product so that we can obtain the batch number and conduct a quality investigation to ensure there are no issues with the batch of product.”

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there have been no recent recalls for Elanco flea treatment products.

After this experience, Seams has a warning for pet owners. Here's what Seams says about giving your pet an over-the-counter treatment: “You know you have to keep checking. I'm thankful today that the baby is alive. We don't know what's going to happen to her, but hopefully this saves an animal in the future.”

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