Poisoned Cat
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This picture breaks my heart. I weep inside for this cat. This is the reality for so many stray and feral cats. There are many beautiful pictures of beautiful cats on this website. These beautiful cats are at the tip of the iceberg in respect of lifestyle. For the many millions living in poorer countries life is short and brutal sometimes. Stray and feral cats are naturally cautious with humans and often hard to spot. They hide, they live their lives almost secretly, they die alone unloved.
This site cannot just deal with the beautiful as it is not real. I am a stickler for reality. Many people live their lives in an unreal world of denial protected from reality by money. Without it life gets real.
My mother had a Burmese cat that was poisoned. She loved her little Burmese. She was a coseted cat unlike the cat in the picture. One day she came in ill, lay down and died over a period of several hours. It hurt my mother badly. Many years later she became quite anxious about her cats and we decided on a cat pen and run to protect the cats from outside dangers of many kinds. This has worked well for my mother (less anxiety) and her cats (much safer) as she has enough room in her garden to have quite a good sized enclosure. Living with cats you care for deeply can make one quite anxious sometimes.
This is not a substitute for calling a vet, but knowledge is useful if used wisely. The book, “Veterinary Notes For Cat Owners” recommends the following:
It may be suitable to make your cat vomit. This may not though always be suitable if she has ingested a corrosive substance as it will cause more damage if sicked up.
However, you may have to take emergency action to help a poisoned cat. Although this will occur rarely it is worth knowing a bit about it.
If there are no signs of being hit or attacked (external injuries) and there are signs of poisoning (lethargy, possible vomiting, foaming at the mouth, something on the coat etc.) it may be possible to take early steps to help. Clearly, it is important to know what the poison is. There may be strong clues about the house or home as your cat may have been poisoned by something in your own home.
What can you do as first aid to help and perhaps save the life of your cat that you think has been poisoned?
Her coat may have a substance on it which she has licked off. This may have poisoned her. The fur should be cleaned quickly using a good washing up liquid. The mouth should be wiped. Wet cotton wool placed between the jaws will dilute the poison that remains in the mouth.
If she has been poisoned it is more likely to be a solid eaten or a liquid drunk rather than a gas inhaled. A poisoned cat should be kept warm and quiet and it may be suitable to wrap her in a towel to prevent self mutilation. Obviously get her to the vet asap.
If you think that making her sick can help (last resort measure) this can be achieved by pulling the head back as far as possible, which opens the mouth a bit and gently make her drink a strong salt solution.
