Pray for my Kitty (Lexus)!

[Spider-man 2]

So, I had one of the worst nights of my life last night. My siamese kitty, Lexus, had a seisure last night. The reason was that the vet asssistant at where we usually take our animals said it would be fine for my dad to use store bought flea medicine (crap, it's called Sargeant's) on our cat. Well, he ended up having a reaction to the meds and my little brother who is 12 went out to the garage (where he was) to discover him shaking rapidly. There is a toxic ingredient in it that causes this reaction. Why the hell is their toxins in an animal's meds, wtf? This devestated my little brother to the point where he was crying hysterically and saying he was gonna die. My parents ended up rushing him to the emergency room, time was key, otherwise he would die. It was immediately given a bath and sedated. He is still having minor seisures.

He is now heavily sedated and pumped full of drugs. Depending on how much of the flea medication got into his system and how he handles it will determine if he lives of dies. My poor little guy.

I just got home from transferring him to another vet hospital. Just looking at him, hurt me tremdously. I wasn't even able to touch him because it could trigger another seisure.

I am really pissed off at the vet tech for not asking more questions when my dad called. I know for a fact she knows about this crappy flea medicine and did nothing to prevent it. She is also extremely rude to men, like just now she was very mouthy with my older brother. I just wanted to tell her off sooooooooooo bad. When called there and told her what happened she tried to act like she was guilty, BS. She can croak for all I care. Looks like Lexus has used two of his lives, only 7 left. The first one is gone because he developed some sist in her chin and had to be surgerically removed.

Here's a pic of my Mr. Man (my nickname for him):

Here is a link to all the pics I have of him: Click Here!

I am totally not in the mood to do my homework (Drawing in my sketchbook). Screw it!

 

[Immortal_sin]

oh, poor Lexus kitty...I hope he's ok.
I don't know anything about Sargents, we don't even sell it at our office. We recommend Frontline or Advantage...
Was it a collar, or a liquid that you apply to the skin?
I'd be hesitant of using any flea treatment on him at this point, since the active ingredients are probably similiar in most flea treatments...
Keep us updated...

 

[Spider-man 2]

Well I am half pissed at my dad too, because he is too much of a cheap ass to pay $44 for advantage, so instead he decides paying a $618 vet bill is better (which is what we are up to so far). He did tell my mom he feels extremely bad for what he did. Hopefully he learned a lesson, especially because it his him in the wallet, which is a BIG DEAL!

Lexus is currently is the vet hospital where the sexiest vet tech said it was okay to use the crap meds. I told my mom I didn't wanna take him there, but I can't be mad at the vet, he's a great vet, I just dont' want the vet tech anywhere near my cat.

Oh btw, when I went in to drop him off the stupid sexist vet tech was there and she did the gesture of extending her hand like I was gonna give her my cat to take him in the back. I told her, " Ummm, I don't think so. You have helped Lexus enough already. I wanna give my cat directly to the vet." Guess what, the vet came out and took him. HAH!

 

[pitbulllady]

If there were no toxins in the stuff, it wouldn't kill fleas! ANY substance that designed to kill an organism is in an of itself, a toxin. The problem is that over-the-counter flea killers don't always just work on their intended targets, fleas. Cats, and Siamese cats in particular, are especially sensitive to such products. Flea killer, whether it's the spray-on type or drops placed on the skin of a host animal, is still poison, otherwise it wouldn't kill fleas. It isn't medicine; it's insecticide. Prescription products intended for flea eradication, which are available at a vet's office, such as Advantage(which I use on my own cats)or Frontline, are more expensive, but are also much safer and MUCH more effective at killing fleas and ticks than any of the products brought at supermarkets or department stores.
Another fact to keep in mind is that by far the majority of animals these store-bought products are used on DO NOT experience severe reactions, otherwise the FDA would have banned them. While cats are most sensitive than dogs to substances, ANY animal, including humans, can have sudden, severe anaplylactic reactions of any drug, medication or products, if they happen to be sensitive to that product. I've actually been declared clinically dead myself from an anaphylactic reaction to a prescription nasal spray, FloNase, and was "brought back" by a defibbrilator along with massive doses of atropine, yet millions of people safely use this same drug, with no complications, and it's still on the market and widely advertised. I've had puppies go into shock after being sprayed with Adam's flea spray, which DID come from the vet's, and after being vaccinated against contagious diseases. It just happens. I always carefully watch an animal that's just been treated with insecticide or given any medications for the first time, to see how, and if, it will react, because the chance is always there.
I hope your kitty makes a complete recovery, but you can't blame the vet tech. At the worst, she most likely figured that you'd be wasting money on a product which in my own experience, simply does not work. It was just one of those things that was going to happen, since this particular cat happened to be highly sensitive to at least one ingredient in this product. Knowing that, you'll have to be very careful from now on with what you put on/in him. I'd recommend taking him to a vet to have topical flea medication, such as Advantage(which I've yet to see an animal react to, but not saying it can't happen, and no, it doesn't contain the same ingredients as Sargeant's), applied, so that they can monitor him closely for some time afterwards for signs of trouble.

pitbulllady

 

[Spider-man 2]

If my cat dies, I will blame the vet tech, my dad, and Sargeant's. Simple as that.

I'm just pissed because I wasn't around for any of this and could do nothing to prevent it.

 

[Socrates]

Dwayne,

I'm so sorry to hear about your gorgeous cat. Listen, DO NOT take any crap from the vet. assisstant, she has NO right to talk to you or anybody else in your family in a stupid way. YOU are the customer (you know what I mean, I hope), YOU choose your pet's vet, therefore she better treat you with the utmost respect.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll recover in no time at all. (And I would not use ANY pesticides on him ever again just as a preventive measurement.)

---
Wendy
---

 

[Spider-man 2]

Thanks Wendy, that means a lot. I don't plan to use anything on him at all. Plus I have restricted my dad from medicating the animals.

 

[JeffG]

Sheesh...Yes alot of over the counter flea meds are severely toxic to cats and cause severe neuroligical damage. Revolution, Frontline, and Advantage are all fine, but seriously i would never ever apply anything from the food/petstore to my cat or dog. Its been a while since i came accross a case like this so i dont remember off the top of my head, but i believe pyrethrins are the culprit here. If anyone ever accidently applies it to their cat i would suggest bathing immediatly and calling your vet.

 

[SandBoa]

seizures are no fun

ive had three seizures in my life, and they are not pleasent. i know how your cat feels. sorry about it man, the cat has my wholehearted prayers. i have nine cats myself, and that would be devestating for them to have to go through that. well best wishes

 

[Washout]

Wow this really sucks Dwayne. Hope your cat does make it through.

 

[Immortal_sin]

PBL knows what she's talking about, so I defer to her!
I may work at a vet hospital, but I'm no vet tech, so I wasn't sure if Advantage, Revolution, Frontline etc, contained the same ingredients as Sargents. I've never used Sargents, or any other grocery store brand.
We had a dog in daycare the other day start vomiting uncontrollably. Turns out her owner had given her Frontline Plus the night before. Plain Frontline was ok, but she had a reaction to the Plus. you just never know.
At this point, I'd just be super careful about dosing him with ANYTHING.
keep updating!
We're pulling for Lexus...we have a vested interest...after all, we got to see him beat up by a ferret!

 

[JeffG]

allergic reactions are possible from any drug, but pyrethrins are a bad thing for kitties.

 

[Spider-man 2]

Well I just got home and kitty isn't here. I don't even know if he is dead or alive at this point. Hopefully he will come home tomorrow.

 

[MyNameHere]

Wow, Dwayne, I hope he's OK... I know I found this thread pretty late, but I still hope he's doing better.

Once my dad tried to make me give one of my cats away 'cuz he didn't like the way the cat entertained himself when I was gone (my dad doesn't really like cats anyway). I had such a hard time w/that I don't even KNOW what I'm going to do when one of my kitties dies.

I know this sounds like a severely obviously dumb question right off the bat, especially so long after the fact, but was the Sargent's by any chance labeled for use on dogs? I don't know what the ingredient is, but the grocery store flea treatments for dogs use an insecticide that can cause the reaction you describe if used on cats. They're usually labeled "DO NOT USE ON CATS", but you never know.

Anyway, I hope Lexus pulls thru, good as new.

 

[Melmoth]

So sorry to hear about Lexus.I really hope he makes a complete recovery.I never use anything but Frontline on my cats and dogs,these days having heard so many horror stories about bad reactions to over the counter treatments.There is always an element of risk with using any pesticide on an animal,simply because like humans,they all react differently to the medication. I have used Ivomec on snakes in the past to eradicate mites,with no ill effect to the snake.But I know of instances where the snake has reacted badly and died.They are all different.

He is a gorgeous cat, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you can post us some pics of him well again


George

 

[Socrates]

Dwayne,

How's Lexus?

I hope you can bring him home today.

---
Wendy
---

 

[Spider-man 2]

He's doing okay, he come home at about 2 pm. I just got home from work at 6:30 pm. I was soooo happy to see him.

He is kinda "drunk" from all the drugs. He can't walk straight and topples over a sometimes when walking. He is eating solid food and drinking so that's good.

Here is is passed out on my mom's lap. I think the drugs keep knocking him because he can't stay awake for long. I think he going to make a full recovery with no brain or nerve damage. Thanks for all your support guys!

 

[mouse]

poor baby went through a lot. but at least he is eating and drinking. give him a few days to rest and get his strength back and hopefully he will be back to his old self. keep us updated and let us know when he starts feeling better.
dianne

 

[JeffG]

Thats great, im very happy for you!

 

[ghost_tomb]

when i was nine one of my cats died due to flea drops

I hope he come's through, they say cats have nine lives for a reason

hows he doing now?