Causes of poisoning - cats?
Discussion
One of our two cats has suffered suspected poisoning, and is unlikely to recover. I am trying to think what could've caused it so I can ry and ensure our other cat doesn't suffer the same fate.
The symptoms when I found the cat early this morning were:
Sprawled out on his side
Struggling to breathe (shallow breaths, lungs appeared totally deflated)
clearly he'd been sick many times and had some blood-streaked diarrhoea
a large amount of clear, thick saliva coming from his mouth
basically it looked like his body had expelled every bit of liquid it could!
He was also quite cold (I thought he was probably only a few minutes from dying)
We got him to the vets very quickly. They did the following:
blood tests
cathetered (sp?) him
put him on a drip to give him glucose (he had none in his system)
put him on a heated pad as his temperature was extremely low
At present it's 14hrs later and he's still hanging in there at the vets. It's not looking good though, apparently he can't generate any heat and his glucose level drops to zero whenever they stop the glucose drip, but my other half is inconsolable and she wants the vets to do what they can for him. They're going to leave him on a drip and on the heated pad over night, and to be honest I'm not expecting he'll make it through the night.
My main concern at the moment is that we have another cat and I don't want him to suffer the same fate, but try as I might I can't find anything in the house or the garden that he could have eaten to make him so ill (our cats don't roam very far, and very rarely venture beyond the garden).
Can anyone suggest anything that might have caused it?
Any sugestions gratefully received
thanks,
Steve
The symptoms when I found the cat early this morning were:
Sprawled out on his side
Struggling to breathe (shallow breaths, lungs appeared totally deflated)
clearly he'd been sick many times and had some blood-streaked diarrhoea
a large amount of clear, thick saliva coming from his mouth
basically it looked like his body had expelled every bit of liquid it could!
He was also quite cold (I thought he was probably only a few minutes from dying)
We got him to the vets very quickly. They did the following:
blood tests
cathetered (sp?) him
put him on a drip to give him glucose (he had none in his system)
put him on a heated pad as his temperature was extremely low
At present it's 14hrs later and he's still hanging in there at the vets. It's not looking good though, apparently he can't generate any heat and his glucose level drops to zero whenever they stop the glucose drip, but my other half is inconsolable and she wants the vets to do what they can for him. They're going to leave him on a drip and on the heated pad over night, and to be honest I'm not expecting he'll make it through the night.
My main concern at the moment is that we have another cat and I don't want him to suffer the same fate, but try as I might I can't find anything in the house or the garden that he could have eaten to make him so ill (our cats don't roam very far, and very rarely venture beyond the garden).
Can anyone suggest anything that might have caused it?
Any sugestions gratefully received
thanks,
Steve
it helps)Check with neighbours to see if they have put out slug pellets. There are scum who also deliberately try to poison cats.
Forgot to say also things like rat poison - containing stuff like warfarin and other chemicals - if a cat catches a mouse/rat who has eaten it...
Forgot to say also things like rat poison - containing stuff like warfarin and other chemicals - if a cat catches a mouse/rat who has eaten it...
Edited by Jasandjules on Tuesday 19th June 21:51
Thanks for the kind words; my mrs has her sister around this evening trying to cheer her up a bit.
The cat is called Louie by the way, we think he's roughly 7-8 yrs old. We have had him and his younger brother Jack for 3 years. They came as a pair from the local cat shelter. Louie is very outgoing and cocky, but Jack is the epitome of a "scaredy cat".
With regards to the source of the illness, the vets seemed to rule out slug pellets as apparently it causes frothing around the mouth, which would be coloured as per the pellets. Also, they said that rat poison would have caused severe haemorraging.
I had also thought it might possibly be the blue tablets you put in the toilet cistern, as the cats are forever trying to get into the toilet, however we always leave the toilet lid closed since we discovered paw prints all over the bath, sink, and toilet some time ago!
Our neighbours with cats have both said that cats in the area have been poisoned deliberately in the past with anti-freeze, but this hasn't been an issue (a police issue) for the last 3 years.
We should hear an update in the morning from the vets. I hope there's some improvement by then. I don't think it could've been an RTA as there didn't appear to be any head injuries, nor any external signs of injury. The vets are fairly convinced its something which has been ingested. On another bed note, the other cat (Jack) seems to be behaving oddly this evening and coughing a bit, although I guess we're a bit paranoid as well.
Here's a picture of the two of them in their more usual and happy repose. Napping!
The cat is called Louie by the way, we think he's roughly 7-8 yrs old. We have had him and his younger brother Jack for 3 years. They came as a pair from the local cat shelter. Louie is very outgoing and cocky, but Jack is the epitome of a "scaredy cat".
With regards to the source of the illness, the vets seemed to rule out slug pellets as apparently it causes frothing around the mouth, which would be coloured as per the pellets. Also, they said that rat poison would have caused severe haemorraging.
I had also thought it might possibly be the blue tablets you put in the toilet cistern, as the cats are forever trying to get into the toilet, however we always leave the toilet lid closed since we discovered paw prints all over the bath, sink, and toilet some time ago!
Our neighbours with cats have both said that cats in the area have been poisoned deliberately in the past with anti-freeze, but this hasn't been an issue (a police issue) for the last 3 years.
We should hear an update in the morning from the vets. I hope there's some improvement by then. I don't think it could've been an RTA as there didn't appear to be any head injuries, nor any external signs of injury. The vets are fairly convinced its something which has been ingested. On another bed note, the other cat (Jack) seems to be behaving oddly this evening and coughing a bit, although I guess we're a bit paranoid as well.
Here's a picture of the two of them in their more usual and happy repose. Napping!
Right i've done some serious research and going by the glucose issue which is rather unique and i think the poison might be:
N-3-pyridylmethyl N'-p-nitrophenyl urea, commonly known as vacor or Pyrinuron
Here's a similar case in a human NCBI Case Report
N-3-pyridylmethyl N'-p-nitrophenyl urea, commonly known as vacor or Pyrinuron
Here's a similar case in a human NCBI Case Report
Silent1 said:
Right i've done some serious research and going by the glucose issue which is rather unique and i think the poison might be:
N-3-pyridylmethyl N'-p-nitrophenyl urea, commonly known as vacor or Pyrinuron
Here's a similar case in a human NCBI Case Report
I think the blood levels of glucose would be high in that case rather than very low.N-3-pyridylmethyl N'-p-nitrophenyl urea, commonly known as vacor or Pyrinuron
Here's a similar case in a human NCBI Case Report
I really appreciate the feedback from you all on this. It's very nice of you to find out all the information you have done. We will pass on your suggestions to the vet in the morning as they've closed for the night now and we don't have a contact number for the night nurse who checks up on the animals overnight.
It's now about 40 hours since he must've started becoming ill, and according to my better half, who has been at the vets again today, he's showing some signs of recovery - glucose level stabilised, body temperature recovering (slightly), and no longer passing blood as he was before. He's still in a bad way though, and although initial blood tests have not shown any signs of liver or kidney damage or failure,the vet says these are things which could show up later on.
Nevertheless, things are going reasonably well, and hopefully he'll continue to improve tomorrow.
On a good note, the other cat seems absolutely fine today, aside from being lonely and whining at us, I think we were quite paranoid about him yesterday, but he is OK.
Once again, thanks for all your kind words and your help.
Steve
It's now about 40 hours since he must've started becoming ill, and according to my better half, who has been at the vets again today, he's showing some signs of recovery - glucose level stabilised, body temperature recovering (slightly), and no longer passing blood as he was before. He's still in a bad way though, and although initial blood tests have not shown any signs of liver or kidney damage or failure,the vet says these are things which could show up later on.
Nevertheless, things are going reasonably well, and hopefully he'll continue to improve tomorrow.
On a good note, the other cat seems absolutely fine today, aside from being lonely and whining at us, I think we were quite paranoid about him yesterday, but he is OK.
Once again, thanks for all your kind words and your help.
Steve
As there have been very supportive and kind replies to my OP, I thought I should post an update. Unfortunately it's not particularly good. The vet says although glucose is no longer an issue, Louie now has problems with low calcium level, and potassium also. They've changed his drip to give him more calcium and see if that makes any difference. According to the vet, whatever has affected him has damaged his pancreas. The vet thinks the main problem may now be pancreatitis. He still says the cat doesn't seem to be in any pain, but is very lethargic and will not eat. He is keeping Louie on liquid drip and under observation for another 36-48hrs. By then the vet says he should be able to tell whether or not he will recover.
On a related note, I heard today that someone has put out some notices around the area saying that cats have been poisoned recently. To be honest it doesn't surprise me, it has happened before round here, and some people hate the local cats with a passion.
I will admit that there are loads of pet cats around here, and they can be a nuisance, but deliberately poisoning animals is pretty disgusting. I will report our case to the police, and hope they catch the person doing this.
Steve
On a related note, I heard today that someone has put out some notices around the area saying that cats have been poisoned recently. To be honest it doesn't surprise me, it has happened before round here, and some people hate the local cats with a passion.
I will admit that there are loads of pet cats around here, and they can be a nuisance, but deliberately poisoning animals is pretty disgusting. I will report our case to the police, and hope they catch the person doing this.
Steve
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff