Oh no!! Need info ASAP please!!

I am STUPID! Stupid stupid and I need help ASAP please!
I stupidly left Advil on my counter... about 10 tablets because I was moving them to a container I leave in my purse at all times. Well I couldnt find the container so I left them out this morning. I left them on a counter, out of the way in a place I didnt think anything would get in to it (cats or kid)

Well, tonight I came home to them scattered all over the place, and I couldnt find them all. I dont think the cats would have eaten any, because they probably taste horrible and refuse pills theyre supposed to have.

So my problem is, they may have eaten some, but I cant be sure Either I cant find them all or I miscounted, which is very possible too. So I need to know what to look for with them. What symptoms should I watch for? Are they in serious health danger if they did ingest 1-3?

I feel so bad that this even happened. Im so scatterbrained lately
TIA.

ANY amount of Ibuprofen (Advil) can cause Depression, vomiting, gastric ulcers, and death. You may see blood in the vomit or stool. I would call your vet or get into the vet if you think the possibility is high.

Sandie is so right. I had a cat delivered to me a few years ago that was really ill. Turns out she had ingested Advil, she came here with bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Before we could get her to the vet- we were on our way, she had died. The necoprosy gave us the answer as to why.

:censor::censor::censor::censor:
That really sucks. They all are acting ok, so I think we are ok... but thats really scary. I feel terrible that I even did that!!!

I will stay up with them for the next few hours to see how they are doing. Id say its a slim chance that they ate any, but theres that possibility.

They are all eating, and I havent noticed anything in the litter boxes yet. I will go double check right now.
Thanks for the info.

Also get a broom and do a sweep. You are likely to find the pills tossed in the corner where you can't actually see them. I had to do that once with vitamins. I opened the bottle and the whole thing exploded and blew pills all over the place. Good luck! I hope none of the cats did eat them.

Thank you Hissy. I'll do that. My problem is that my counter is a mess of papers right now so there could be some strewn about in them since I did find a few hiding there so far.

From your experience, or opinion, how quickly would it cause a reaction with my cats? The latest they could have ingested one would have been 5:30 PM when my mom came home. She said the counter mess happened before she got home. (they made a big mess!) So that was about 3.5 hours ago. Would something probably have happened by now?

The problem with Advil is it affects them first inside where we can't see the harm at first. Unlike aspirin which causes internal bleeding- Advil will be causing ulcers and will start to shut down the kidneys. Honestly, if it were me, I would be calling the vet and making an after hours appointment, just to be safe.

Ok, so if I do the vet thing, do you know what the vet can or would do?

The first thing he will do is determine if there are any toxins in the blood by performing a blood test. It is really up to you what you want to do here. I am the type of person who if I feel my cats have been harmed by poisons, I would rather know now than if it becomes to late. But in re-reading your post, you left these out all day while you were at work so time has elapsed. Again, it is your call as to what to do here. I was just responding about how I would handle this situation.

I do appreciate your feedback 100%. Truly I do.
I just did another search on just my floor, went with my broom along all the seams and cracks and found 2 more there and 1 in my papers. So I think they are all accounted for. I feel more comfortable assuming that Ive found them all because like you said, time has elapsed and something would probably show by now....?

I do see the need for vet visit as well, the problem is bringing 3 cats to the vet for an emergency visit (which would be difficult for me to afford at this point but not impossible) but also having to wake up and bring my 3 year old. I should have been in bed an hour ago, since I have to be up before 5 for work tomorrow.... so you see my dilema, the reasons Im even pausing at all. I do see importance in bringing cats in for serious stuff like this.

*sigh* If only I had counted the pills for sure. Or just NOT left them like that. I feel like an idiot for that one. But Im pretty sure I have all of them now. Ive found 11 and originally I thought I only had 10. So I misjudged and have found more but I dont think it was much more than 10.

Anyway.. Im going to try calling the vet and see what they say as well. I'll let you know if we end up going or if anything happens.

I appreciate your opinions though and thank you for responding!!!

Oh I hope your kitties are ok!! One time when I first got Zoey, I was getting ready for work, and I had left my thyroid pill on the microwave for a few minutes while I checked the computer and I came back and it was gone! I totally freaked out.. I checked the floor, all around the microwave, I couldnt fathom that it just disappeared. Zoey had been on the counter! I didnt even know if she ate it or what, I had assumed it was somewhere on the floor and I didnt have time to thoroughly look. Needless to say I got lucky that nothing bad happened to her I have no idea what a thyroid pill would do to a cat

Anyway, you're like me, I hate to make such a big deal out of things and always run to the vet.. if I dont see abnormal behaviour I dont worry just yet. However, reading the advice of hissy and others over the last few months has made me realize that you cant always notice if something is wrong with your cat, and its better to be safe than sorry.

Good luck!

I am glad you found all the pills. That will make sleep for you easier. Don't beat yourself up about this, learn from it and go on.

When I first started rescuing many moons ago, my ignorance cost the loss of 3 tiny kittens' lives. It was my first rescue and the babies were newborn the mom had died. I left them for a brief few minutes and came back to find they had toppled off the counter into the sink with just a little water in it and had drowned. I was devastated, and made a choice to bug vets and other experts, collect all the books I could and read and research and learn before doing. Mistakes happen all the time, it is only disaster when you don't learn from them and go on to repeat them. I doubt this mistake is one you will repeat.

Thank you again
We all made it through the night ok, so I think that means none were ingested. YAY!! Youre right, thats one thing I will never do again

I did call my vet after hours though to see what they said. Unfortunately the closest ER vet is 40 miles away from my home!! Its actually close to my work, but 13 or so extra miles the other direction away from my house. What a pain in the butt! Well at least now I know if any real emergency comes up, Im kinda screwed.

I'll have to ask my vet personally if he ever does house calls or things like that if I had an emergency. I cant imagine trying to go 40 miles (about 1 hour) if I had a cat in dire straights. Theres gotta be something closer somewhere. So at least I know that now

What a scary situation but I'm glad you found all the pills. You never know what your cat will end up eating!