The World's Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!

Health Concerns

Feel free to post other known health issues, or product recalls/dangers as they pop up in the news, in this discussion.

This may be an old notice, but I'd rather get this information out late, than find that someone in the community might have prevented making their cat sick from using these products.

Certain over-the-counter flea and tick product induced salivating, twitching, seizures, and in some instances, death. The brands involved were Adams, Sargents, Hartz, and others and included the popular product "Biospot".

Evidently the culprit was pyrethrin or permethrin. In some cases, owners administered too much product or "split" a dog dose. This resulted in them overdosing their cat. Some cats had been given the proper dose, but were allergic to Biospot.

Tags: Biospot, health concerns, permethrin, pyrethrin

0 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on January 12, 2010 at 12:02pm

Thanks for posting this. A friend's kitten ate her child's daily ADD medication and had to be rushed to the vet. A very expensive vet bill later, the kitten is fine.

Permalink Reply by Catdoc on January 23, 2010 at 7:51pm

Addendum to this great list: acetaminophen is so toxic to cats that it would surprise me if a cat survived ingestion of a full tablet- they completely lack an enzyme necessary to metabolize it and it can destroy the liver.

In general, avoid all over the counter meds or prescriptions in your pets (especially cats) unless specifically cleared by your vet.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on February 28, 2010 at 12:14pm

What about Neosporin? Someone (possibly an emergency) just asked me, and I'd never heard of it. I just Googled, and people are saying don't use the version with added painkiller. The Cornell website says it should be in a cat first-aid kit, but used under the direction of a veterinarian.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on March 27, 2010 at 10:59am

Hairballs: How do you prevent them? What do you do when your cat has them? How can you tell if your cat may be in danger of intestinal blockage from hairballs?

Prevention: I hear brushing helps. I brush Tookie at least once a day, but she likes to be brushed. Madam only occasionally likes brushing, generaly when she's relaxed in the sunshine. Both have short hair, but Tookie's coat is plush.

Guess who seems to have a hairball problem? Tookie. She barfed up a hairball that was as long as my middle finger, and thicker. I'm wondering what people use (preferably not petroleum-based) that helps with hairballs, as I suspect she still has some.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on April 24, 2010 at 6:15am

Do fleas lay eggs on cats? I had to look, and indeed they do!

When you use a flea comb, do you dump the fleas in soapy water, and then flush them down the toilet? Hopefully someone else with definitive information can get back to you about natural flea control, as I don't have time just now.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on April 30, 2010 at 11:13am

I think relying on your vet's advice could be good. I asked my local vet about flea products, and she said that Revolution was better for our area. It might not be the best for yours. Next time we take our cats to the cats-only vet, I'll ask them. They seem to be a wee bit more on the ball than my local vet, even though I like our local vet.

I haven't seen any scientific studies on natural products, and I'd love to. We pretty much know that anything homeopathic is a rip-off. I used to know a woman who traumatized herself by accidentally killing a kitten with pennyroyal oil. I think she got a cloth collar and soaked it in the oil, then put it on the kitten. She didn't go into details.

Do you have any more flea info.?

Permalink Reply by Tonya Wynn on January 13, 2011 at 2:10pm

I split a dod dose of some flea product years ago and my 2 cats have twitching-like seizures for days. One had to be hospitalized. In the vet's office, she got ringworm and brought it home to my other 20 or so cats!

Permalink Reply by Tonya Wynn on February 23, 2011 at 11:16am

Cats with white ears are very prone to ringworm, sometmes causing the loss of ears or even death when the ears become infected so near t the brain. Wash your white cats in a solution of 30:1 water and bleach after she comes home from the vet. My two sold white cats contracted ringworm from the vet's office and it is nearly impossible to irradicate from them, but easy to get rid of from my tabbies and black or darker cats. My calico with white ear tips now had awful sores on the tips of her ears. The pharmacist recommended Clotri-something, about $6 at Walmart. Just got it.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on June 26, 2011 at 10:53am

How about human health concerns?

Permalink Reply by sk8eycat on August 25, 2011 at 7:19pm

Does anybody have any experience with CAT DRINKING FOUNTAINS? Mr Jerry only wants to drink out of a slow tap, and I want to try a fountain since he's 13 years old and needs a lot of water to keep his kidneys healthy. I lost one sweet kitty to kidney failure a few years ago; we kept her semi-healthy and happy for almost a year by giving her subcutaneous fluids every other day, but I don't ever want to have to do that again! It was very stressful for both of us, and I felt like a criminal when she finally had to be euthanized.

I've been researching customer reviews of products on Amazon, and there seem to be a lot of people who are delighted with various DRINKWELL fountains at first, but become disenchanted with them after a few weeks or months...they break down, or are difficult/impossible to keep clean, etc. And there are similar complaints about other brands.

I'm still researching, but if anybody here has any recommendations, complaints, any info at all, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks!

Felaine aka Sk8eycat

Permalink Reply by sk8eycat on August 27, 2011 at 6:37pm

Well, I got carried away and ordered a ceramic kitty fountain yesterday. It was 105 deg outside, and our A/C wasn't working. I had two flat cats lying in front of fans all day.

It isn't inexpensive, but ceramic fountains seem to be the least prone to growing fungus, and the one I bought is made in the USA, unconditionally guaranteed for 2 years, designed by a DVM, and the part where the water comes out has a flexible join, and can be adjusted to different angles. If it saves me a fortune in vet bills, and makes Mr. Jerry happy, it's worth it.

I'll keep ypu posted on the results.

PS: Jerry's name was originally "Jeremiah." There is NO way I'll have a kitteh named after the gloomiest, whiniest "prophet" in the buybull. (Didja know that the original lyric to the Three Dog Night song was NOT, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog"? It was, "Jeremiah was a prophet," but somebody objected to a prophet having "mighty fine wine," so they changed it before they recorded the song.)

PPS: I'd love to see a photo of Sebastian drinking from a faucet...do you have any? And have you seen the video on YouTube of a black&gray tabby drinking by sticking his whole head under the water coming out of the faucet and licking the drops off his nose? I'll try to find it...

AHAH! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMNZgNSPXdY&feature=fvsr

Permalink Reply by sk8eycat on August 29, 2011 at 1:18am

I should have posted the link to the ceramic fountain maker...I think you can only buy it directly from them, online or mail order. There is a LOT of health information on their web site: http://www.glacierpointforcats.com/

I'll certainly tell you what happens when it gets here, and I assemble it and turn it on... (I ordered the "ground fault circuit interrupter," too. This is an old house, and I don't want anything shorting out.)

I am a little concerned because both my cats are rescues, one was dragged around from one cattery to another (long, ugly story), and the other was in a "big room" cage-free cattery for 5 years; neither got a lot of personal attention and they're still "jumpy." The fountain's pump is supposed to be quiet, but they may be afraid of it at first, anyway. Think it's a UFO, or something.