The house is too quiet. Ian and I are here, with Cameron keeping watch in the backyard. But the house feels a bit empty.

Loa the kitty is at the vet. I took her to the vet last week after she started drooling, but they sent us home and said to watch her for a few days. I found some fleas on her, so I decided to give her a flea bath and — a day later — put some topical flea medicine on her.

That was a big mistake.

I just grabbed some flea treatment from Kroger. I figured it wouldn’t be as effective as the stuff from the vet, but since she’s an indoor kitty I decided to risk it.

Now she’s not eating, and the area where I put the flea medicine is an irritated neon pink.

I know I am at fault here. I should not have treated an already sick kitty with flea medicine (even though I thought I was doing what was best for her), and I should have waited more than a day between the bath and the topical treatment.

However, my Loa kitty is not the only animal to experience problems. Other people have had very experiences, and you can read their stories at HartzVictims.org. Apparently these over-the-counter flea meds are not necessarily ineffective, but they are dangerous. So why are they still on the shelves?

I guess I’m writing this post half as a warning to other pet owners, and half as an outlet for my own sadness over Loa’s predicament. I’m hoping to get a good report from the pet this afternoon.

UPDATE: Loa is okay! Just a little dehydrated. Her skin is still irritated, but the vet says she’ll be fine.