Kiki (cat) was poisoned with bio spot last night - now having tremors...

Hello. I have a concern/situation I'd like to get some more information & opinions on... I am going to tell the whole story. It's sorta long.... SORRY!

Very early yesterday morning (saturday) around midnight or 1am, we ACCIDENTALLY applied Bio Spot (for fleas/ticks) for DOGS to our 9month-1yr old cat, Kiki. We immediately realized we had used the wrong one, and promptly bathed her with warm water and dawn dish soap - within 5 minutes of it being on her. We were up until about 4am before finally getting some rest, and she seemed to be doing okay although I wasn't watching her constantly because I assumed tha she'd be fine since we washed it all off of her...

Yesterday afternoon around 12pm, we found Kiki lying between our couch and end table, having what seemed like a seizure... we left right away for the animal emergency hospital. She continued to tremor the whole way there, as I held her in a towel.

When we arrived the doctor knew right away what had happened and made it seem like it was no big deal.. Said they would have to give her injections of muscle relaxers. They took her in and kept her all day. We got to bring her home around 9pm, and the hospital sent us home with three (3) 500mg tablets of Methocarbamol. Instructed us to give her a half a tablet by mouth at the first sign of any tremors.

She stayed contently wrapped in a towel our whole way home. When we arrived home, she immediately wanted to be let loose, so I let her go. She acted semi-normal but still slow, and lethargic. She ate a small amount of food that we provided for her, and went to the litterbox (pee & poop). Then she layed down and slept for a few hours.

Only a few hours later, around midnight, we noticed her shaking & twitching some.. Her ears, head, and tail. And her trying to itch at her mouth... I took that as a sign of a tremor so I gave her a half a tablet. She ate a bit more, finally drank water (seemingly wouldn't stop!) and used the litterbox again. She slept with us in our bed until around 5am... Around 5:10 this morning she was having more tremors so I gave her another half of a tablet..... She drank a lottttttttttt more water, and used the litterbox once more (I am guessing because of the IV they had her on at the hospital maybe?)

I did not get any sleep lastnight. I am making myself sick with guilt and worry that she will have long term nervous system effects... or liver problems... or something even worse. I have been reading about the poisonous effects of cat and dog flea drops, and how many pets have died, become paralyzed, and sick because of the pesticides in this stuff.... It makes me truly sick!!!

Now on to my questions:

1. Are any of you aware of any long term effects this may have on Kiki? Will she always continue to have tremors? Is it just until its out of her blood stream?

2. Is there anything I can do to make her more comfortable or happy? Any special food or supplements? Anything I can do???? I feel so horrible!!!!!

3. Is this Methocarbamol the correct & best medication I can have for her to help her with her tremors? I am uder the assumption its a muscle relaxer...

And lastly.... 4. Apparently only Advantage and Frontline don't contain the pesticide that makes cats and dogs sick, is this true?

Thanks for your help.

-Danielle
Kiki's Concerned Mom

Poor Kiki! Here are lots of healing vibes for her.

I can't answer your questions on long term affects of permethrins (the active ingredient in Bio Spot) on cats. However, a quick google of methocarbamol shows that it is used to treat muscle spasms. It is also used to treat the pain from the spasms. If she quits twitching after giving her the medication and is able to eat, drink and use the litter box I would keep using it. I'm not a vet but it seems logical to use in this case. Your vet could probably answer the question on long term affects. Hopefully, shell recover fully and you'll just have a bad scare.

Another google search on permethrin poisoning in cats showed that it can take up to two days for the chemical to work out of their system.

You did the right thing in bathing her immediently when you realized your mistake and getting her to the vet. Please, don't beat yourself up.

Take a deep breath... What you did was an accident. You didn't try to harm your kitty on purpose. I doubt she will pass away from this since the vet already sent her home and she isn't have seizures constantly. Most cats who pass away from flea product poisoning, start having seizures and dont stop. Where talking one after another, even with proper treatment.

I have never seen any long term effects from biospot poisoning.(and I have seen MANY cats who have been poisoned from hartz or biospot) A cat who was surredered to the vets office I work at was flea aneimic and the previous owner attempted to solve that problem by putting 2 tubes of hartz flea product on him. He has since recovered and lives a wonderful life with me like any normal cat. A coworker of mine got a kitten the same way and he is normal now too.

There aren't any special food I know of that can help. Just make sure your baby does keep eatting since not eatting can cause its own problems...

Methocarbamol is a muscle relaxant. Now, I dont know which is better per say, but the vets I work for like to give diazepam. Diazepam is used for seizures but it does make them much more dopey then the methocarbamol.

Advantage, frontline, and revolution are all safe to use on cats. They do not contain the same ingrediants as biospot, hartz or other OTC flea products.

One last thing. If you have dogs, do not apply advantix to the dog if he will come in contact with the cat. Advantix is also toxic to cats. (Thankfully the bayer company actually labels the advantix box with big notices saying so)

Good luck with your baby!!! Hopefully she'll be back to herself in no time

I know a few people who have treated their cats with permethrins or horse dewormers thinking they'd save money on a vet trip. So long as the cats survive the initial poisoning with the worst symptoms they seem to recover after a day or 2 and never show any sign that anything happened. The ones that aren't going to be alright usually die in the first 12hours.

Frontline, frontline plus, and advantage (not advantix) contain the same ingredients for dogs or cats just in a different dose. 1 is not toxic to the other although a cat won't handle the dose for a dog but it's not really any different than having a small dog and a large dog. Just don't get the tube sizes mixed up. If you want tick as well as flea prevention I'd use frontline plus. The ingredient in advantix that isn't safe for cats is also questionable on most other animals. Many people won't even use it on miniature ponies because it's too easy to overdose them. Then for some reason they decide to put it in a dog medication that is dosed by weight range. I wouldn't touch the stuff. I believe revolution would be another safe option but with a slightly lower safety rating than frontline or plain advantage but it treats for heartworms and a wider variety of parasites than the others so many agree the benefits outweigh any risk.

Personally, I would take her back in to see the vet in a few days for a follow up to check and make sure there's no lasting damage. Mostly to the kidneys and liver.
It's your choice though.

I have one more dose of the muscle relaxer left. She seems to be MUCH better but still does have the shakes when the drug starts wearing off.

I called the vet yesterday (Sunday) and of course they were not open and I left them a message.

They called me back today... and the doctor reccomended Fluid Therapy all day tomorrow.... I'm not too familiar with it but she described it as her being on an IV all day to flush anything left in her system, out of her system! Is that something that may help?

I would do the IV fluids and let them watch her all day.

That is what we're doing! Hope it helps...

omg this must be awful for you and your baby...

for a full recovery (for kitty and yourself)

P.S. She is doing SO much better. No more twitching as of right now.

Yay! So glad to hear she's doing better. Took me a while to work up the courage to read this thread. My vet recommended against all the OTC flea meds, and after reading this post, (for the other's stories) - I see why.

Danielle - don't feel bad, it was indeed an accident,....and thankfully KiKi seems to be recovering....and you've taught me just how careful I need to be about "critter meds".

Couldn't tell by the time of the posts - looked like you were gonna take her in for the IV thing...but did you have to, in the end? Or did the bad stuff finally work it's way out of her system on it's own?

Shortly after I posted asking advice on if the fluid therapy was a good idea..... I called them back to schedule it for Tues Morning. And she immediately stopped shaking... I think she heard me call, and did NOT wanna get poked with any more needles

I gave her a bath late Sunday night, because her back still seemed a little oily where the drops were... And I scrubbed her down very good with Dawn dish soap.. And I have a theory that maybe some was still left in her hair/skin causing her to tremor a little? I don't know. But it seems like after the bath... Within 6 to 9 hours she completely stopped and we havent seen anymore tremors. Her eyes are no longer dialated and she is moving around 100% normal today. The doctor said to watch her and we'll only do the fluid therapy if she needs it. Which I dont think she will!


Kiki a few moments ago. Lighting isn't too good, I took the picture from my iPhone.

Thank you for all of your advice, support and good vibes!!!

-Danielle & Miss Kiki

I'm so relieved to hear she now seems to be A-okay.

Just another perfect example of why we should never use OTC meds for our fur-babies unless we are experienced or knowledgeable about the effects.

Quick thinking and action, on your part, probably saved your kitty's life.

I'm so glad your cat is doing better! I have been following this thread since you first posted. It's a good thing you thought to give her a bath.
What a pretty cat she is!

oh...

what a beautiful baby...

so glad kitty is doing better

You are a great kitty mom! And what an adorable girl! She's lovely and it looks like she has fully recovered!

just wanted to add that I too (did not know of this post) gave my cat bio spot for dogs.. as she is the same weight as my dogs and the vet had given her other flea med for my cat and said i could use on my dogs too so i thought it would be ok and nterchangeable.. I was so horribly wrong.  I will be using dawn dishwashing liquid in the future.. she now has these trmors you spoke of.. I wnated to clarify what your vet did for your kitty.  Just musclle relaxers? I did the bio spot yesterday and only just bathed her this morning as I did not see her all night to know if she had any twitching.  I just want to know really what your vet did or can do to counteract the "poisoning".. thanks.. anything here I can do ?  vet not open yet. thanks.Kim

winterskykim said:

just wanted to add that I too (did not know of this post) gave my cat bio spot for dogs.. as she is the same weight as my dogs and the vet had given her other flea med for my cat and said i could use on my dogs too so i thought it would be ok and nterchangeable.. I was so horribly wrong.  I will be using dawn dishwashing liquid in the future.. she now has these trmors you spoke of.. I wnated to clarify what your vet did for your kitty.  Just musclle relaxers? I did the bio spot yesterday and only just bathed her this morning as I did not see her all night to know if she had any twitching.  I just want to know really what your vet did or can do to counteract the "poisoning".. thanks.. anything here I can do ?  vet not open yet. thanks.Kim

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Please take your cat to the vet immediately. It is her best chance.

Thank you for all your info. I did this very thing to my cats and I am so scared that they will die! I go, I hope to the vet today and get them home, they gave them IVs and meds just like you said and I am just praying that they will be ok. 

Truelove said:

Thank you for all your info. I did this very thing to my cats and I am so scared that they will die! I go, I hope to the vet today and get them home, they gave them IVs and meds just like you said and I am just praying that they will be ok. 

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for them! Please keep us updated.