possible permethrin poisoning

Hello, this is my first post on this forum. I just wanted to describe a recent occurrence in mine and my cats' life.
I have three cats. Two females whom I've had for five years and a male stray whom I took in six months ago.
The male brought back fleas when I took him to a mobile van to be neutered. The problem got worse as the weather became warm and humid.
I've used Frontline Plus before so I applied that again. When looking for a carpet treatment, I was directed to a vast array of products at a local pet shop.
What I bought was Zodiac 7 carpet and upholstery spray. Nowhere on the can it there any warning of the dangers of permethrin and cats. It contains 0.50% permethrin and I sprayed it all over my apartment.
I became aware of this when I thought that I might be having an allergic reaction to the carpet spray. It was then that I read of the high toxicity of permethrin for cats.
The vet recommended washing them in Dawn dish soap and monitoring them for signs of poisoning (tremors, hypersalivation, seizures). However, as of 30 hours after applying the carpet spray, the only symptom that I can see is loss of pigmentation in the nose and gums.
I am writing to warn people to not look for a cheap alternative to safe medication, to read the labels carefully and research the ingredients before buying anything. As I mentioned, the Zodiac spray had no warning on the can which I find reprehensible.
Also, has anyone else experienced sudden loss of color in their cats' gums and noses?
Thank you.

Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry this has happened! I hope you and your babies are okay.

to TCS, and thank you for the warning.

Anemia can cause a loss of color in the nose and gums, but sometimes pink noses look almost white when dry and/or cold. Are they still whitish? What does your vet say about the loss of pigmentation?

that the kits are okay!

Oh My!!!!!! My vet's office has a wonderful flea product for the home but I forget the name of it.

Thank you both for the well-wishes... Their noses do seem rather dry but the vet feels that there is nothing wrong with this. One of the signs of permethrin poisoning (or any sort of poisoning) is hypersalvation so the fact that they are experiencing the opposite makes me curious (and worried).
Again, I will never try to cut costs when it comes to taking care of my cats... An expensive trip to the vet is better than a potential tragedy.
Also, it's great of the vet to take the time to answer my questions even though I've only been there once when I took my boy for a checkup before I taking him into my house (I was concerned about parasites and feline AIDS).
All this could just be a case of over-reacting but it's hard not to worry about my cherished companions.

I had a dog poisoned by a flea treatment spray that I purchased at my vet's office. It was supposed to be safe for dogs, cats, puppies and kittens.

After that happened, I did some research and found out about food grade diatomaceous earth (DE). You can eat it without ill effect, and can be sprinkled in carpets, bedding, etc around the house. And it worked far better than any house treatment that I had used previously.

I avoid all sprays, whether they are over the counter or vet prescribed. So I'm adding to your warning about over the counter products. Some animals are just more sensitive to flea products than others and what may work for most animals, may not work for all.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

I had a dog poisoned by a flea treatment spray that I purchased at my vet's office. It was supposed to be safe for dogs, cats, puppies and kittens.

After that happened, I did some research and found out about food grade diatomaceous earth (DE). You can eat it without ill effect, and can be sprinkled in carpets, bedding, etc around the house. And it worked far better than any house treatment that I had used previously.

I avoid all sprays, whether they are over the counter or vet prescribed. So I'm adding to your warning about over the counter products. Some animals are just more sensitive to flea products than others and what may work for most animals, may not work for all.

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Amen! For me and my fur babies, DE is the only way I'll go. I KNOW it is safe and I won't have to worry that it will hurt them.

Update: The cats seem to be doing well! I bathed them all in Palmolive Pure & Clear because the only Dawn I could find was citrus-scented.
Baby, my five-year old tortoiseshell, has always been docile during a bath. Smokey, Baby's eight-year old tabby mother weighs over twenty pounds so bathing her is a real workout. Buddy, my two-year old black and white male, takes everything in stride... even a rabies vaccination and a thermometer insertion during both of which he never stopped purring!
I am using a flea comb several times a day (finding two fleas a day on average) and have started vaccuuming my apartment daily.
The good thing is that I'll be moving in a month or two. Moving has solved flea problems in the past.
This summer is the first time since the summer of 2008 that my cats have been infested. I believe that the source this time was Buddy, the male stray that I took in back in February.
The mobile spay/neuter van staff told me that he had no flea dirt in his coat but this was probably because he'd been living under our back porch in below-freezing conditions.
I think that Buddy picked up fleas from another cat in the van and that they just needed a hot, humid summer and a cluttered old apartment with a nappy carpet to become a problem...
But enough of that... Thanks to everyone for their advice and concern. I am glad that this is a story with a somewhat happy ending.

Originally Posted by abebesheir

Update: The cats seem to be doing well! I bathed them all in Palmolive Pure & Clear because the only Dawn I could find was citrus-scented.
Baby, my five-year old tortoiseshell, has always been docile during a bath. Smokey, Baby's eight-year old tabby mother weighs over twenty pounds so bathing her is a real workout. Buddy, my two-year old black and white male, takes everything in stride... even a rabies vaccination and a thermometer insertion during both of which he never stopped purring!
I am using a flea comb several times a day (finding two fleas a day on average) and have started vaccuuming my apartment daily.
The good thing is that I'll be moving in a month or two. Moving has solved flea problems in the past.
This summer is the first time since the summer of 2008 that my cats have been infested. I believe that the source this time was Buddy, the male stray that I took in back in February.
The mobile spay/neuter van staff told me that he had no flea dirt in his coat but this was probably because he'd been living under our back porch in below-freezing conditions.
I think that Buddy picked up fleas from another cat in the van and that they just needed a hot, humid summer and a cluttered old apartment with a nappy carpet to become a problem...
But enough of that... Thanks to everyone for their advice and concern. I am glad that this is a story with a somewhat happy ending.

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Awww...that's great! Kudos to you because I'm TERRIFIED of bathing any of my cats!!! Thank goodness we don't have fleas here. Whew!