The vet recommended me "Sergeant's Green Natural Flea & Tick Squeeze-On Dog"!

@inu1711 (5285)
Romania
August 25, 2011 4:34pm CST
I went to the vet today to buy a shampoo for my dog. Nothing complicate, I could have bought a shampoo from the pet store or from a supermarket but I wanted to find out the vet's opinion about dog shampoos. I also wanted to ask him about some anti flea products (of course he hasn't heard about diatomaceous earth but this is a different story). Speaking about anti flea products, he recommended me Sergeant's Green Natural Flea & Tick Squeeze-On Dog. He said he sold dozens of pipettes this summer and he had only satisfied customers. Being a product with "only natural active ingredients", it stirred my interest and I bought a pipette for my dog. Come on, the vet recommended it to me! When I returned home, I googled for some reviews on this product. And surprise! I couldn't find one positive review on it! All the reviews' authors speak about how much harm did the Sergeant's product do to their pets. Here are only a few complains about this product: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/sergeants.html I want to know if any of you used this product for your pet and if you did, what were the results? Of course I haven't applied the pipette on my dog. What do you think I should do? Should I refund the product to the vet? Should I tell him what I found out about his "all natural" product? Or I should forget about it and go buy a "safe" anti flea product?
2 people like this
5 responses
@saphrina (31551)
• South Africa
26 Aug 11
Hi sweetie. Don't you dare use that on your dogs. Sounds like they have skipped some stones when producing that crap. We use frontline here. It's the best there is and no harm come to your pets. If i were you, i would go shove that Sergeatn green where that vet don't want it.
2 people like this
• United States
26 Aug 11
Is the front line still working? Because that is what I was using and I am now battling fleas like crazy until tomorrow when I go and see the vet..
1 person likes this
@saphrina (31551)
• South Africa
26 Aug 11
It's still working with my dogs sweetie.
1 person likes this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
29 Aug 11
I am glad to know Frontline is still working on your dogs. I used only Advantix this year and though I can't see any flea on Binne's coat, she is still scratching herself a lot. I checked her coat last night and I saw she has a lot of red bumps on her belly. We are going to see our vet this afternoon. (not the vet from this post, I wouldn't trust him after the "green" stuff) (I agree with your idea to go shove that Green where he doesn't want it. But it will be a problem as he is quite a big guy. Do you have any idea how to "convince" him? )
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
25 Aug 11
Wow, my daughter called when I read this and I asked her about it, she hasn't heard of it, but I did some research myself and found a site with mixed reviews: http://reviews.smartpakequine.com/7493/7630/sergeants-green-natural-flea-tick-squeeze-on-for-dogs-reviews/reviews.htm I would be very cautious if you use this on Binne..Like make sure you are able to drag her to the vet if she has any reaction at all.. Or, you could take it back and tell your vet that you found too many bad reports on this and you are not comfortable using it... As for the diatomaceous earth, maybe this was used primarily in America on farms and that is why he hasn't heard of it.. Here's is the update on my battle..Tuesday after giving Penny and Ciara a flea bath, (which by the way, my son got them ready for soaping up by putting them in the chlorinated pool, which should have really messed up those pests) and then I did a vinegar rinse followed by eucalyptus oil..I also sprayed the house with Zodiac and washed all pillows,sheets, and blankets and we were doing great...Until today when my son found a flea on Ciara.. I grabbed the eucalyptus oil and rubbed more onto their fur, but another mylotter, (who you need to friend, she is also a dog lover and her name is Angelee, you can find her in my dog post) suggested that I get a bottle and fill it with vinegar and water and use it on the dogs once a month..I told her I am going to start using it once a day and if they lick it off, it'll be that much better..
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
26 Aug 11
I read the reviews from the link you gave me. I think it is the only place where the reviews are neutral (neither positive nor against the product). But I saw too many reviews that the product made the pets suffering that I don't want to try it on my dog. I don't want to take any risk. I wonder if I should trust this vet any more. He probably wanted to sell his products but why isn't he informed about the possible side effects? He must have warned me about them. What if I hadn't read anything on the Internet and I had applied the pipette on Saturday evening (as I planned to do)? Imagine Binne had an bad allergic reaction on Saturday night. What would I have done? No, vinegar solution I haven't tried yet. They say dogs don't like the smell and many people recommend using vinegar for keeping dogs at distance. But I've noticed Binne doesn't mind the smell, so I could try this.
2 people like this
• United States
26 Aug 11
Well so far, they still have the fleas, but not as many and I am applying it every day..Also, if they lick it off, it doesn't matter, since I heard if one can get a dog or cat to drink water with vinegar, it will repel the fleas..So in the morning, a vinegar spray and at night, the eucalyptus oil..I also sprayed my sons bed last night and though at first only Ciara jumped up, I noticed later Penny did too.. Oh, and good news, Penny has an appointment with the vet tomorrow at 2...
1 person likes this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
29 Aug 11
I took your advice and sprayed Binne with vinegar on Friday, right before we left home. I can't tell you how bad she smelled during the carride! I think I put too much vinegar on her. Luckily, after an hour of driving we took a short walk and she didn't smell so bed after that. It seems the vinegar odor vanishes quite fast. The other night before her bath, I spent almost 20 minutes checking her coat. I haven't seen any flea, nor a piece of flea dirt in her coat. And it is easy to check her skin now that she has left only a little hair (remember I plucked her hair two weeks ago). But, instead of fleas, she has many red bumps on her belly, on her chest and a few on her neck, under the chin. They are so itchy! Poor Binne! We are going to see our vet this evening. It is a must. It seems the chemicals I use on Binne still work that I couldn't see any trace of fleas. I hope the vet will have the solution for our problem.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
26 Aug 11
I think I'd be tempted to leave it on the shelf and go buy something else. If you'd be comfortable using it, go ahead, but it doesn't sound like you are.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
29 Aug 11
How about printing off some of the comments you found on the net and just passing them to your vet next time you see him. Don't make a great deal of it, but it's quite possible that he's never researched the product himself.
1 person likes this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
29 Aug 11
I am sure he doesn't know anything about the side effects of this product. He must have been mad to recommend it warmly if he had knew this. I think I could do this but I wonder if he will read the reviews. I did this once with another vet (of course, the subject was different) and that vet never read what I printed off for him. It was something about my previous dog's urinary incontinence. That vet simply didn't want to believe that it could have been a hormone imbalance that caused the incontinence. He kept my dog on antibiotics for a week with no result but he didn't want (at least!) to read what I had found on the Internet on that subject.
1 person likes this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
29 Aug 11
You read me correctly, GreenMoo. I don't feel confortable using it and I won't use it. I still have some doubts, not knowing if I should tell the vet what I have found about this product or not. Maybe if I tell him he won't be so confident about this product and he will recommend it with care. It would be a pitty to know that some poor dogs had to suffer because this "Green" pipette.
1 person likes this
@Octav1 (1419)
• Romania
26 Aug 11
I haven't use this product, as I don't have a dog right now. I think you shouldn't trust this vet any more. He had to tell you that there might appear some adverse reactions to the product. And he should also know more about the products he sells.
1 person likes this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
29 Aug 11
You are right, I won't trust this vet any more. He is not our vet, he is just a vet from a small vet clinic in our neighborhood. I went there to buy a shampoo and speaking about fleas he recommended me this "Green" pipette. I think I should tell him what I read on the Internet about this product, maybe he will be more carefull when he recommends it to other dog owners.
1 person likes this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
1 Sep 11
I wouldn't call this "ignorance". If the doctor recommends you a medicine, will you verify his judgement? The same here. If the vet recommends a product, we should use it without any doubt. But I am a little grumpy and I always want to know more about what I use (not only for my dog but also for me). I'll try to print some reviews and I'll give them to that vet.
1 person likes this
@Octav1 (1419)
• Romania
1 Sep 11
Yes, you should do this. Maybe other dog will benefit from your gesture and they won't suffer from their owners ignorance.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
26 Aug 11
hi inu, I saw in the market here Sergeant's product it's quite expensive so I never use it my pets use coat and tail product regarding about the flea i bought them a flea collar that lasted for 12o days I can say it is effective one. Then they have a medicated bath for parasite every two months happy mylotting
1 person likes this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
29 Aug 11
Hello Bhabycatch, I think flea collars works fine for shorthaired dogs and for small dogs. Binne is a medium to large dog and she has a lot of fur. I remember I tried to use a flea collar with no results for the previous dog I had before Binne (she was the same size and breed). The "Green" pipette the vet recommended me wasn't so expensive. On the contrary! Of course, I paid for it more than I would have paid if I had bought it on-line, but still it was less expensive than Frontline, Advantix or Advantage. But this was not the reason that convinced me to buy it. I was only glad I found a "natural" product to fight the fleas. I would have bought it even if it had twice the price of Frontline, just to know it is something more healthy for my dog.