Guidance

21 July 2025: Toxic chemicals found in counterfeit flea products

Published 28 November 2025

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

© Crown copyright 2025

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alerts-for-vets-small-animal-risks-and-threats-smart-comms-system/21-july-2025-toxic-chemicals-found-in-counterfeit-flea-products

Situation

Following a serious toxicity case in a cat, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and Veterinary Medicine Directorate (VMD) are urging pet owners to take caution when purchasing medicines such as flea treatments and wormers, particularly online.

Details

When the pet cat became seriously ill, further investigation and laboratory testing confirmed the presence of toxic traces of the insecticide Pirimiphos-methyl in the applied counterfeit flea treatment.

Counterfeit products deliberately copy the appearance, packaging and branding of genuine veterinary products. The VMD and IPO are urging pet owners to look for signs of counterfeit products including poor packaging, spelling mistakes, missing information and unusual smells.

Actions

Veterinary professionals play a vital role in protecting animal health by helping owners avoid counterfeit products.

All online sellers of prescription-only veterinary medicines must be registered with the VMD. These suppliers are all listed on the VMD’s register of online retailers.

VMD offer an accredited internet retailer scheme (AIRS). Accredited retailers can display the AIRS logo, indicating their site has been inspected and meets the scheme’s standards and the Veterinary Medicines Regulations.

Suspected poisoning cases can be reported through the VPIS Retrospective Case Report Survey to help identify concerning trends or clusters.

Additional information on reporting suspicious veterinary medicines or retailers can be found at the end of the press release on GOV.​UK.

Further information

Message sent from the Small Animal Expert Group SAEG@apha.gov.uk

Back to top