Tag Archives: cat health

Pain reliever cream kills cats.

Don’t use pain reliever creams on your hand and then pet the cat…. can make them sick and even kill them! Read more…

“When the veterinarians performed necropsies on the three dead cats, they found physical damage in the cats’ intestines and kidneys, evidence of the toxic effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. NSAIDs include ibuprofen, like Advil and Motrin, and naproxen, which is in Aleve.

Ibuprofen is the most common drug that pets eat, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, perhaps since many of the pills are candy-coated. In pets, the drugs can cause stomach or intestinal ulcers and kidney failure.

But these cats died by flurbiprofen, another NSAID. In the case of its most recent victims, the cat owner applied a lotion or cream containing flurbiprofen to treat muscle or arthritis pain. And it’s highly unusual for a cat to show up at the vet’s office; usually it’s the dogs that get into trouble from exposure to NSAIDs.

“I can’t even remember the last cat I’ve seen that got into ibuprofen or an NSAID,” Erica Reineke, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, tells Shots. “We’ve seen more cats that get into antidepressants.”

Reineke says that she probably treats a pet for some sort of ingestion problem every day, but usually it’s chocolate or chewing gum, or the owner’s medication. As little as 50 milligrams of ibuprofen for every kilogram a cat weighs can cause problems; for dogs, it’s 100 milligrams for every kilogram. Reineke says she’s never seen flurbiprofen toxicity in her office and would have a hard time estimating how much would be toxic to a cat or dog.
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The FDA recommends that pet owners store all medications away from pets and to discard anything used to apply the medication. If any furniture or carpeting becomes contaminated, clean it immediately.”

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Keep your pet safe during the holidays.

img_0472We offered this in 2014 but in case you forgot, figured it was important to mention again.

Tips to keep your pet safe during the holidays. Those great holiday plants are a pretty accessory but don’t let them eat mistletoe or holly…poinsettias aren’t lethal but can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Don’t let them drink the water under the tree especially if you’ve added longevity chemicals to keep the tree green, and don’t let them eat pine needles.

Make sure you keep tinsel and ornaments away and make sure they can’t chew light wires. Also they my chomp down ribbons and paper so watch them. Snow globes are filled with antifreeze which could kill them so if one breaks clean it up and keep the pet out of the room while cleaning.

 Make sure you don’t leave chocolate, gravy, spicy foods, cooked bones, alcohol where your pet can ingest it. Candles should be extinguished while you are not in the room as the pet may knock it over and burn your house down. Also potpourri can make them sick as can those oil fragrance sticks (the oil can be lethal).

And last but not least, keep your pets away from party guests if they seem to be getting stressed due to all the commotion. Best to keep them in a safe space until the party is over.

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Cats and poisonous plants

tigdaisyWe know that lots of our readers have pets and many are kitties. We ourselves have many furry family members. We thought we’d share this information for cat owners who want to make sure their pets don’t get sick or die from eating houseplants or toxic yard plants. This is the list:

Lilies: both outdoor (tiger, daylilies,etc) and houseplants (Easter lilies, Peace lilies) when ingested can cause kidney failure  and death if not gotten to the vet immediately. Even a small bite can be toxic. If they start vomiting, get depressed and lose their appetite… look around. They may also drool and paw at the irritated areas. You may also get foaming and swelling. If you see part of the plant munched – get them to the vet.

Aloa vera: Many of us have these cactus in our homes and most cats will leave them alone, but if they should chomp on them they can get irritation of the mouth, tongue and esophagus. While not as critical as lily ingestion a visit to the vet will be prudent.

Other toxic plants are asparagus fern, amaryllis, daffodil and lily of the valley. Also watch out for dieffenbachia, rhododendron, azalea, oleander – all outdoor plants which normally cats avoid.

If you suspect the cat is acting differently, avoiding food or acting lethargic get them to the vet. If you can determine if they munched on a plant bring part of it with you. We all want our furry kids to be around a long time so you need to be diligent and not have those types of plants indoors. It’s more difficult outdoors but most cats know which ones not to munch on. Also please don’t spray your lawn with pesticides as cats and dogs not only eat the grass, but walk on it and then lick their feet. Pesticide poisoning may not show up immediately but can lead to neural damage and cancer.