Diagnose and Treat Pyrethrin Poisoning in Cats

Pyrethrin is a type of medication typically given to animals in order to treat infestation by fleas or ticks. Cats are especially sensitive to these drugs, and may experience serious ailments to their nervous system—up to and including death—if exposed to a strong dose of pyrethrin. You can diagnose and treat this serious condition by looking for signs of muscle twitching or vomiting in your cat, and treat poisoning by washing your cat with dish soap and rushing it to your veterinarian’s office.

Steps

Diagnosing Pyrethrin Poisoning

1. Watch for skin and ear twitching. If your cat has gotten too much of a pyrethrin-containing insecticide on its skin and is suffering from a relatively mild case of pyrethrin poisoning, it will exhibit signs of twitching or muscle contractions. Specifically, these will likely take the form of: cats flicking or twitching their ears, shaking or flicking their paws, or contracting the muscles along their abdomen.
   • Symptoms of pyrethrin poisoning typically begin to appear immediately after a cat has encountered the chemical. However, in some cases, symptoms can take up to 72 hours to emerge.
2. See if the cat is drooling excessively or vomiting. If the cat has ingested pyrethrin, it will not exhibit twitching symptoms, but you may notice the cat drooling heavily (this is known as hypersalivation). Depending on the amount of pyrethrin the cat has ingested, it may also vomit several times. Cats who have ingested pyrethrin can also have symptoms of diarrhea.
   • It’s not uncommon for cats to have insecticide applied to their body or neck and, in the process of grooming themselves, ingest the pyrethrin.
   • In these cases, cats may exhibit symptoms both of twitching and vomiting.
3. Watch for muscle tremors and seizures. In severe cases of pyrethrin poisoning, cats will exhibit uncontrollable bodily muscle tremors, which may turn into seizures. If left untreated or prolonged, these seizures can cause severe brain damage in your cat. If you cat experiences a seizure as a symptom of pyrethrin poisoning, rush it to an animal hospital immediately.
   • Cats with severe cases of pyrethrin poisoning can also have trouble breathing. Some may show signs of temporary blindness.
   • Severe pyrethrin poisoning in cats, if left untreated, can be fatal.

Treating Pyrethrin Poisoning

1. Rinse your cat with cool water. If your cat is suffering from pyrethrin poisoning, pick it up and carry it to a nearby sink or bathtub. Immediately begin running cool water into the basin, and place the cat under the stream so it gets thoroughly wet.
   • Although cats are notorious for their dislike of water, if a cat is going through pyrethrin poisoning, it will be too weak to struggle.
2. Wash your cat with grease-dissolving dish soap. Squirt some grease-dissolving dish soap onto your cat’s fur, and lather the cat with soap. Wash your cat’s fur and skin thoroughly, focusing most closely on the area where you applied the pyrethrin-containing insecticide. Bathing your cat will remove some of the pyrethrin from its body and reduce the risk of death. Then, rinse the soap and towel your cat dry.
   • A bath will only help your cat if it has had a dangerous amount of pyrethrin-containing insecticide applied to its skin. If your cat has ingested pyrethrin, and this is the cause of the pyrethrin poisoning, a bath will do no good.
3. Take your cat to the veterinarian immediately. Once you’ve washed some of the insecticide off of your cat, take it to your veterinarian. They will be able to assess the extent of the neurological damage done to the cat. The vet will need to diagnose your cat, and will likely question you regarding when and if your cat had access to pyrethrin-containing insecticides. The vet will then recommend a course of treatment following the diagnosis.
   • In some cases, your veterinarian may advise to take your cat straight to an animal hospital, rather than bring it to the vet first.
   • If your cat experiences pyrethrin poisoning after hours or on a weekend or holiday, you’ll need to take it directly to an animal hospital.
4. Bring the insecticide packaging with you. To better assist your veterinarian in making their assessment and diagnosis of your cat’s pyrethrin poisoning, bring the box or bottle of insecticide medication with you. Without access to the medication and its packaging, your vet will not know the exact percentages of pyrethrin in the insecticide.
   • Also tell your vet all pertinent information about how the cat became poisoned: if the cat ingested some of the medication, or if the cat had an excessive amount of the insecticide applied to its skin.

Preventing Pyrethrin Poisoning

1. Give your cat only cat-specific pyrethrin products. When looking for a pyrethrin-based insecticide to give your cat, make sure that you choose a medicine made for cats. This will have a lower level of pyrethrins than a medicine designed for dogs, due to cats’ higher sensitivity to the pyrethrin. These medications will have low enough levels of the chemical that your cat will not risk being poisoned.
   • Dogs have a naturally higher tolerance for pyrethrins, and so their insecticides tend to have much higher percentages of the chemical. Insecticides for dogs can contain from 45 to 60% pyrethrins, while products for cats contain less than 0.01%.
2. Ask your veterinarian if an insecticide is safe for cats. If you’re not sure whether or not a pyrethrin-based insecticide can safely be applied to your cat, ask your veterinarian. It would be wise to seek your vet’s recommendation for insecticides before you go shopping for them, to avoid potentially purchasing a pyrethrin-based product that is unsafe for your cat.
   • The sales staff at your local pet-supply store may be able to help you as well, as they should have a good knowledge of which insecticide products are meant for dogs and which for cats.
3. Keep cats away from household pesticides. Because pyrethrin is so effective at killing all varieties of insects, it’s used in many organic pesticides. Check the informational label on any household pesticides that you may have. If they contain pyrethrins, be sure to shut them in a cabinet or cupboard that cats cannot access. Also avoid spraying these pesticides on indoor plants that cats have access to.
   • If you’ve sprayed outdoor plants (e.g. part of your garden) with a pyrethrin-based insecticide, keep your cats from this area. Cats can lick the chemical off of plants and contract pyrethrin poisoning.
   • Pyrethrin can be found in many professional-grade insecticide sprays. If you’ve had a pest-control company spray your house to prevent insect infestation, contact the company and ask if their pesticide contains pyrethrins.

Tips

• Pyrethrins are derived from chrysanthemum plants and are a natural insecticide. A common synthetic alternative, called permethrins, are used in many insecticides instead of pyrethrins. Both can be equally dangerous to cats.
• In order to avoid pyrethrin poisoning altogether, opt to give your cat an insecticide medication that does not include pyrethrins. Pyrethrin-free medications include those made by Frontline, Advantage, and Revolution brands.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Stop Nosebleeds in Cats
• Handle Mothball Poisoning in Cats
• Treat a Cat with a Broken Claw
• Recognize Signs of Shock in a Cat
• Diagnose and Treat Zinc Poisoning in Cats
• Treat Fight Wounds on a Cat
• Give First Aid to a Cat After a Fall
• Know if Your Cat Is Sick
• Perform CPR on a Cat
• Treat a Bee Sting on a Cat

Read more ...