Bob Martin Flea Products

Who's up for a little controversy? Yes please!

I read a blog recently that really ticked me off. It made me hopping mad. The writer was a right blood sucker. Insert other parasite related pun here. The author (claiming to be a qualified vet nurse) was publically bashing the entire range of Bob Martin flea products. Now this means one of two things: 1) This particular vet nurse is horribly mis-informed about the contents of the products she is talking about or 2) She is absolutely offensively ignorant and needs to have her RQP status revoked.

Now throughout this little (slightly ranty) post please bear in mind that I do actually hold an AMTRA certified SQP qualification. For those out there who don't know what this means: I have sat through several exams and a few months of study in order to be able to supply (and in some cases prescribe although this is very unusual) animal medicines that are categorised as NFA-VPS or POM-VPS. In terms of human life, you can buy certain types of medication off the shelf in Boots, but for other kinds, you need a pharmacist to dish them out after he asks a few questions. Believe it or not, this system also is in place for animals! I would never claim to have passed the same level of training as a pharmacist, but it's just a relatable example for you. Now the reason I mention this is that I have a vested interest in the contents of animal medication. On a daily basis I have to talk to people and make the judgement whether people are using the correct product or if they are going to be able to use it properly.

But let's get back to Bob Martin. Our previously mentioned blogger wrote a post claiming that ALL Bob Martin flea products were horribly dangerous and should never be sold again. The author claimed that ALL Bob Martin products killed cats and it is terrible that nothing has been done about this. Shall we poke a few holes? Yes, I think we shall.

Type Bob Martin into google. Go on. Yes, you will certainly find a lot of reviews claiming that Bob Martin products have caused terrible reactions in cats leading to fits, death etc. But what we need to do is bear in mind what is actually being talked about. The product in question is Bob Martin's "Spot On" (not to be confused with spot on as a term for all treatments that are a pipette applied to the back of the neck). The product used to contain a flea killing chemical called Permethrin, and yes it is toxic to cats. In fact the product no longer contains this. At this point you probably think I'm not really making the case I think I am, but please bear with!

Ok so yes, Bob Martin had a product which was labelled for use with cats and contained low levels of Permethrin. But is it accurate to label Bob Martin as the only brand with this? NO! Of course not! In fact many other suppliers also use Permethrin. Next time you are out and about, have a look at all flea sprays / powders / spot ons and see exactly how many of them contain this ingredient. I think you'll be surprised.

Now in the last year or so, Bob Martin released a new flea spot on called "Flea Clear". Now this is COMPLETELY different to their "Spot On" product. It contains a flea killing ingredient called Fipronil. Heard of it before? Yes, I'm sure you have; it's in Frontline.

Before your jaw hits the floor, this isn't a lie. In the last few years Fipronil based flea products have been on the rise, and now the classification on them has been downgraded to AVM-GSL (which means that ANYONE can sell them, not just qualified persons!). Having said this, Frontline remains one of those products that you have to be qualified to supply so please don't think you can just go get it off the shelf!

You  may have already gathered then, but Bob Martin's Flea Clear and Frontline is essentially the same product. NOW your jaw can hit the floor. I would refer back to our blogging vet nurse - so if ALL Bob Martin products kill cats, does Frontline too? *cough* I win. To be serious, my point is that it is the responsibility of those in the animal care profession to fully understand and communicate the true facts about our suppliers and their products before making sweeping statements.

For my part I am using Bob Martin's Flea Clear on my Luna and have done so on my cats too. None of them are currently dead, though I can't say the same for any parasites that have tried to latch on! For this reason, I give Bob Martin's Flea Clear a 9/10! Good job guys, good job.

Pet Corrector

So my new dog is a bit barking. No pun intended, she literally barks. At most things. As she was an abandoned puppy who we took in I can hardly blame her, but I have become one of those people who finds themselves having to apologise to everyone on the street who owns a dog - every time she meets a new 'friend' she gets over excited and tends to get a bit woofy! It's not a violent thing, dogs naturally bark to express many things, and our little Luna just gets a bit over-excited and can't hold it in. Not without a little bit of help anyway.

So after a little while trawling the forums on line and assuring myself that I am not the only new dog owner who has this problem (crossing several strange suggestions on how to control the problem - I mean really? Pretending the sky is falling down?) I decided to try a Pet Corrector spray (made by The Company of Animals) - this is a small spray can of compressed gas that makes a loud hissing sound which is designed to be used as a distraction based training aid. The theory is that aggressive hissing is a natural deterrent to dogs in most situations as it stimulates the instinct to retreat from a predator. The trick, or so they say, is to make sure that you combine the spray with a command word (as eventually you need to be able to not use the spray else you'll end up spending out ALL the time on replacements!) and also to ensure that you use the spray at the exact right moment. If you don't, you run the risk that you will be causing the dog to associate the noise with the wrong thing, for instance: the dog has stopped barking, they are now just stood staring at the neighbour's dog. If you spray the can then, your little pooch might think that he should not be stood there.

Looking at the reviews of Pet Correctors online, it's quite clear that a lot of people have made this mistake. The problem with this sort of product is that it relies a lot on the consumer actually being able to use it correctly. I wonder exactly how many people have used it twice and thrown it away claiming that it doesn't work?! What people tend to forget is that dogs, as with children, need consistency when training so you need to repeat instructions and deterrents in order to get a result. Still, with all this in mind I was still sceptical; there were a lot of people saying "bin the pet corrector - it doesn't work". There were naturally a few animal welfare fanatics (and when I say fanatic I don't really mean it in a good way...) who were certainly in the camp of 'no negative reinforcement of behaviour please thank you very much sir". Possibly they took the same hippy attitude with their children who are now teenage parents and drug abusers. *cough*. Kidding aside, I do understand their point of view - Pet Correctors do essentially distract by creating an unpleasant environment. Should we as pet owners really be trying to dictate what could be argued as natural canine behaviours?

Well, my answer is yes. At the end of the day, by domesticating and breeding dogs we have placed the responsibility on ourselves to teach them correct and desirable behaviours. If we are going to integrate any species into our daily lives, we have a responsibility to teach them how to correctly interact with the world. Would you allow your child to grow up screaming at other children because they want to play in the sandpit first? (if the answer is yes please go sit with the hippy parents over there...)

So I drove over to Just for Pets to purchase a Pet Corrector. Being a pet store, there was of course other dogs around which gave me my first opportunity to test out the corrector. Timing the first blast with the moment of Luna's barking, I pressed the nozzle and surprised even myself! Boy is that a loud hiss! (Yes....remember it's compressed gas....what did I expect???) Hey presto - Luna turned around in surprise, completely distracted by the noise! She didn't even try to resume the behaviour right away, she became quite easy to handle and command so I guided her away calm as can be.

Having now used the spray a couple of times I have found that each time I use it, Luna becomes less vocal and more willing to greet other dogs nicely. Her last interaction this evening was a simple sniffing of the nose and bum (pardon me mother) and I even managed to have a conversation with the owners without saying sorry! Impressed much? I was!

A lot of owners online have expressed a fear that their dogs are now afraid of them and have become a wimpier version of their former selves. Well, rubbish. Luna is still the happy, slightly needy girl she's always been. In fact she's sat on my right now trying to lick my face off.

One small warning for those of you out there looking to purchase one of these FANTASTIC items - other dog owners who have never seen a Pet Corrector in use may be a little....startled. A couple of people have thought I was spraying something mean at my dog and I've had a few titters or sighs. Personally, this does not bother me - I know I'm using the product correctly and responsibly, just be aware that you might feel uncomfortable using it if you care about public perception. You should also bear in mind that any other dog in the immediate area will also react to the corrector. Most of the time this is OK - close quarters barking usually sets of the other dog anyway so they do both need to be stopped, but owners may feel differently! Always make sure that you are prepared to explain exactly how the Pet Corrector works in case another dog walker asks.

So with things going in the right direction for Luna, I'm confident that this product works.

Let's give it a score - 8/10!