It is gold standard for pets to be on monthly prevention year round.

The prevention should be vet-grade, and supplied from your veterinarian directly or from an authorized seller such as Chewy.

OTC options for prevention are the ones more notoriously known for adverse reactions, which are still low as long as applied properly. And I hope that this is what your vet was trying to convey.

I'm sorry for your loss. Your vet is correct in that it was an accident. You meant no harm. Be gentle with yourself.

I’m sorry you made a mistake that caused this, but please don’t beat yourself up. Mistakes do happen.

A vet with this mindset is problematic, as flea and tick/heartworm meds are lifesaving and absolutely safe in the correct dosages. Your husband sounds like a jerk who is WAY overreacting and should be comforting you and being there for you in a difficult time.

Don’t hold guilt over it. You were trying your best to provide comfort for them and you had best intentions. It’s a terrible loss and I agree they shouldn’t have things on the market which can be dangerous for a pet. It’s not your fault though.

Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has accidents. Please find space to forgive yourself, your dear Ghost would want that. I am so sorry for your loss.

I'm sorry for the loss of your 2 pets, but you couldn't have known the flea prevention was going to kill them. I've been giving my dogs flea prevention for many years and it's never killed them or made them sick.

I'm not sure what country you live in, but in the USA specifically IMHO, your vet having that attitude (...The vet told me that she wished they were outlawed...) is questionable. Your husband kicking you out is a very severe reaction to something you were doing to prevent a bigger problem for your pets. Both of them sound like they need to be replaced with better, more compassionate human beings.

Again, I'm really sorry for your losses, but your vet and husband sound insufferable with those attitudes.

For a life-and-death situation like that, I don't think I would trust a dog to be able to tell the difference between medications based on smell. Even if you could teach him to tell the difference, he could make a mistake and that is a huge risk to take.
My dogs have been trained not to touch medicine bottles. The medication I need them to retrieve for me is in a case they can easily pick up and bring to me, but does not put them in any danger.

A really solid “leave it” and “drop it” is key, along with being very careful not to drop meds. I have a lot of paranoia about this as well. My dogs “leave it” is solid as a rock.

It would probably be easier (and safer) to teach the dog never to eat meds/medicine bottles. If you need medication retrieval for other meds you can train your dog to get a particular pouch or holder that the meds are in, rather than directly grabbing the bottle.

To that end, you can find decoy pills (think placebo pills) and use those to train your dog not to go for dropped pills. Beyond a “leave it” with these, you could also teach going to a cot or picking up a specific toy when the pills are dropped, which has the added bonus of being an incompatible behavior and getting the dog out of the danger zone.

Because eating those meds would be a life or death situation I wouldn’t want my dog to be in a situation where he could make a mistake, like if I were training with scent or training him to ignore those specific pills. 

Hope that helps!

I think it would be easier to teach your dog not to eat ANYTHING unless it's in their bowl or comes directly from you. That's what I teach my SD's and it helps prevent potential mishaps in public, especially when little kids are around or it's a target-rich environment, like the fairgrounds or a movie theatre.

I put feeding and snack times on a command and then only command it when appropriate. This reinforces basic obedience and self-control and prevents my dogs from ingesting something that could be harmful to them.

Call your vet and ask about keeping activated charcoal on hand, honestly. Most clinics will allow you to put a message in for medical staff if you're an existing client with an existing patient. It's most effective if given immediately, so on the off chance something were to go horribly wrong, it would be better if you had some with you and already knew how to administer.

As far as training not to touch certain things, I'm not super sure on that one past a basic "leave it" cue. If I need my dog to leave something alone when I'm not present, I get there with environmental modification. Is there any way you can keep the medication out of reach of family, too? If they need access to it, I might try a combo of raising hell with the family + bitters spray for the bottles, to ward off your dog in the unfortunate event they get their mouth up to the bottle at any point.

I am glad Minnow is recovering. Most herding breed dogs have the MDR1 gene and are very sensitive to certain drugs. Always consult your cause what might work well with a lab might be dangerous for a collie or Aussie.

Update:

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read, comment, or message me after my post. Your kindness has meant a lot!

Three of the six cats are now home. I wish I could say I’m relieved, but truthfully, I’m still worried. They’re not acting like themselves yet low energy, deep sleep, and just off. I’m staying in close contact with the vet to keep monitoring everything.

The other three are still hospitalized, hooked up to IVs. Their condition is being monitored closely and remains critical. I’m hoping for the best, but it’s terrifying not knowing how things will turn out.

This whole experience has shaken me. It’s hard to accept how something so preventable, a common flea product has turned into a nightmare like this.

Thank you again for your support. I’ll keep updating if anything changes. ❤️

I lost my sweet tuxedo from a cat flea treatment a year ago this month. The flea treatments are just dangerous no matter how you look at it. Check out Dr. Jones on YTube "Veterinary Secrets."

I will keep your babies in my prayers!! You too!!! Hugs sent!

Still too much of a risk for me. I would be absolutely devastated if my cats were poisoned by something I knowingly applied

Thanks for the heads up, I was actually looking into buying permethrin to put on my camping gear/clothes but I have two cats and I don't want to risk it.

I read on reddit that Rogaine for treating baldness was poison to cats?

Is that true?

I've used it and my cats are fine. Though I applied it outside, then left it in a closed up bedroom to dry. It was in the bedroom for a week and a half and then I packed it and took it to the Amazon. When I came back it went right in the washer (it's good for multiple washings) and only then let my cats around the clothes, out of an abundance of caution (and having lost a cat to poison before).

Also, a warning that Cats belong inside....

I’m so sorry this happened to your babies! I saw your update and am glad to hear that some of them are home now. I hope they all make it through this safely!

We poisoned our cats accidentally with it in the 90's before the warning label was on them. Luckily they made it but it was so traumatic. I'm sorry that it happened to you!

Our beagle has a fairly involved supplement and med routine and I use one of those 7-day, AM/PM pill organizers. Especially right now as I'm recovering from surgery and husband is doing the AM feed/meds. He would never be able to differentiate between my stuff and her stuff first thing in the morning.

This is why my dogs medicines are pre-packed in snack sized baggies for morning and night (he takes a lot) ... I love my husband and obviously he's SUPER helpful and gives the medicine.... but I don't want our doggo getting the wrong amount or something like this!

Whew! It was good that you caught that! Hope that your girl has a swell recovery, and heals wonderfully!

Good catch, OP.

And xylitol is being relabeled as "birch sugar" so be VERY careful to read the ingredients.

I left a bottle of 5-htp, a "harmless" precursor to serotonin on the high kitchen counter. My dog got into it, ate half the bottle, and died at the veterinary hospital. And then, God bless her heart, she was revived and lived a happy life for almost 10 more years.

Agreed. That part 2 saved what would would otherwise have been a depressing afternoon for me.

Which medication?

Most chewable heartworm medications are safe if multiples are accidentally ingested. (Simparica Trio/Heartgard/Sentinel types).

I’ve worked for a vet for over 10 years ❤️

Yes, I’d call some sort of pet poison control too.

I was told explicitly by the emergency vet to not give hydrogen peroxide as it can burn their esophagus. It was literally $43 for the medication at the vet for them to induce vomiting under their supervision with an IV medication.

I had to give my pup hydrogen peroxide once. I felt so bad because she just trusted me and drank it up and then started throwing up. I know it was for her own good, but I just felt awful, like I'd betrayed her trust.

I honestly had no idea you could use h2o2 to vomit up a toy, though I know it induces vomiting that just hadn't occurred to me.

Your pup is gorgeous btw!

As a head's up, do not use hydrogen peroxide without the guidance of a veterinary professional. There are many situations that doing so can cause more problems than help.

I’m so glad your girl is okay. They truly are the light in our worlds.

Happy Holidays!

I think I read that avocados are bad for dogs too.

How is your dog currently doing after the vet visit?

Have you called to alert them that this is POSSIBLY an attempted poisoning?

Not a vet. Has animal control been called? Or even the cops? I would also involved the building/apartment management where you live as I’m sure they would not be ok with his spraying random chemicals on their property. That would be my first step. Get others to call too whose pets have been affected. He cannot just spray some random substance all over the place, in addition to literally trying to kill stray cats!! This guy can’t just poison and kill pets and think he’s within his right to do so. How insane. I hope your pet and all the others will be just fine after this! So sorry you’re all dealing with this.

Id make a legit report to the police. Get the dog to a vet for testing.

Is there any way for you to get a sample of the mystery chemicals? Either from the bottle or from something he sprayed? Could your neighbor get it on video or voice record when he talks about wanting to kill all the stray cats? I’d be very persistent about calling police, environmental people, animal control and so on. If you bother them enough about a serious issue they may just do something about it. I hope you get to the bottom of whatever is making your fur baby sick. It nauseates me and makes me sick that people can even do such things to animals. I’m so sorry for you and especially the animals if this neighbor is actually doing something like this.