Review on Seresto Small Dog Flea And Tick Collar - 8 Months Protection For Dogs Up To 18 Pounds (1 Pack) by Nick Andep

Please be cautious of using these collars, we had a terrible expirence.My mom and I both purchased sets of these collars, for dogs and for cats using the appropriate species specific sets, as flea prevention. Both households have dogs and cats. In total we spent close to $150 dollars each and subscribed to auto renew the purchases due to the really great reviews.The first 2 days they seemed to work really well! We found some dead fleas on the dogs after they came in from outside and no living fleas anywhere. Day 3 my moms Labrador began itching himself constantly- mostly around his neck and back. Hes older with some food allergies so we at first thought he got into something (as hes notorious for eating trash and sneaking cat food) and did not connect it to the collar. We kept an eye on him and over night he developed large weeping sores everywhere the collar touched as well dry itchy spots along his back and chest. Those spots later developed into sores and the poor guy was miserable. Knowing he's prone to allergies we removed his collar and bathed him/treated the sores but left the collars on Every one else as they didn't react similarly and chalked it up to being a fluke due to his pre existing allergy problems.That was, however, not the case. Over the next 3 weeks everyone we put a collar on began digging/scratching themselves raw (4 dogs, 7 cats total between both houses). My oldest cat developed large weeping sores everywhere the collar touched and she did not previously have a history of allergies. Ive used collars on her in the past and she never had a reaction. She lost the fur around her neck (as of now about 2ish months later its still not grown back) and had a decreased appetite as well as becoming very lethargic. 2 other cats developed bald spots and sores on their necks where their collars touched while the rest continued to develop bald spots/red and itchy skin.I have two daschunds and at the same time that we discovered the balding/sores on the cats, my male daschund very suddenly developed Hemoragic Gastroenteritis. He previously had a clean bill of health but very suddenly became extremely lethargic, refused food and water, was vomiting and had bloody, jelly like stool. Wednesday night he went to bed fine, ate dinner and was playful. Thursday morning he refused breakfast, and by that afternoon/early evening he wouldn't move, eat, drink and his stool was entirely bright red blood. We removed all collars and rushed him to the emergency vet clinic- closest one being almost 2 hours away from us. He was hospitalized over night and required 3 more back and forth trips and an extensive medication regimen before he was finally on the mend.Speaking to the emergency veterinarian she could not 100% say that the collar caused the condition, as the condition itself is still largely unknown and seems to have many triggers. However she said allergies and allergic reactions have caused or triggered gastroenteritis before. Other causes can be parasitic infections, food allergies/intolerance, infections, certain viruses and exposure to certain chemicals. So while they could not 100% confirm the collar contributed to his health emergency they could not 100% rule it out either. He did not have parasites, any food changes or viruses at the time of his admittance. After a steep 2k vet bill and money for gas back and forth my dog thankfully seemed to make a full recovery and is doing well.My other dog expirenced some thinning fur on her neck but no sores or other health conditions. My moms other dog, a terrier, expirenced very red, painful and inflamed skin. He itched himself relentlessly but thankfully did not develop sores. Although he did seem to have a brief rash along his stomach and legs. This rash resolved shortly after removing his collar and routinely applying dog safe rash cream.In addition to the multiple allergic reactions and possibly related health emergency, the collars did not seem to work after a week. The dogs would come in from a walk or playing outside and we'd find several live fleas on them a piece. We live in an area where fleas have been horrible this year but its like after an initial week of success the fleas were suddenly immune to these collars. If you already have a flea infestation these collars will do nothing for you, they barely worked for prevention purposes alone.Over all, I urge anyone looking into using these collars to either try a different product all together or keep an extremely close eye on your pets and observe for an allergic reaction. I know every pet is different and every pet may have an allergy to a different flea med/preventative because they are essentially bug poison. But for a product meant to be used on animals we had way too many allergic reactions occur one right after the other and something is not right with either the entire product or at least the batch we received. During the time we used the collars we had no other changes happening that could have caused reactions. There were no food changes, all our animals were previously very healthy, only one animal (the Labrador) had a history of allergies and sensitive skin, there were no environmental changes, no new treats, no new shampoos/changes in bathing or anything else we could think of that would contribute to these reactions.In addition, the timing of my dogs sudden health emergency was extremely suspect. I can't with 100% confidence solely blame the collar, but I find it strange that a year old puppy with no parasites or pre existing health concerns or exposure to toxic substances would suddenly, in a matter of days, decline to the point of requiring a hospitalization.My family and I have unsubscribed and will personally not be using this brand of flea control again. It was a miserable, and very expensive, expirence for us and our pets that in the end did absolutely nothing to prevent or kill fleas.Please be very careful if you choose to use this product and monitor your pet very carefully in case they too expirence an allergic reaction or other health condition.