MY MOM SPRAYED MY CAT WITH CLEANER

meowdelilah

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I am 18 years old and was ready for a new responsibility in my life so I got a cat about seven months ago and so she's still a kitten, reaching that one year mark pretty soon. She is my world. I don't really like to punish her, but I will by lightly pinching her ear or just avoiding her.

I payed for everything with her, like her vaccinations, litter, food, ect.

I bathe her.

I play with her.

Basically, I'M the owner of the cat, not my mom, so everything involving the cat is my responsibility.

However, today I noticed my cat's fur on her back a little wet and hardened. The hardness and stickiness made me realize it wasn't water. I asked my mom about it and she told me she sprayed her. I got scared and asked what she sprayed her with, and out she pulls out a bottle of grease-cleaning solution!!!!!! My mom has been spraying MY cat with this for a few days now and never even brought to my attention!!!! I'M SCARED! My mom keeps telling me it's not a big deal and that "she shouldn't have gotten into the plants" but she's still a baby and this stuff has been on her! I ran with her into the bathroom and rinsed it out with water as fast as I could. But I'm scared now. She seems fine, I haven't checked for vomit though. WHAT SHOULD I DO? MY MOM IS SO DUMB! I'M SO SCARED. I am a high school student working two jobs just to pay all these expenses like my insurance and gas and cat and now if I have to take her to the vet I have to pay over $100? 

I told my mom she will have to pay for it but she refuses saying this cat isn't hers. But it's HER mistake and she STILL refuses when I tell her that. 

Now I'm stuck with the fee. Is there an easy way out without having to spend all of my paycheck for my mom's stupid mistake?
 

Norachan

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Most household cleaners are toxic to cats, you should keep they away from all pets and not allow them to walk on surfaces that are still damp after cleaning as they can absorb the toxins through their skin. Please tell your mother that she could kill your cat by doing this. It really sounds like the woman shouldn't be around animals at all. Could you keep you cat in your room when you're not at home?

You did the right thing by washing her neck.  You can use Dawn dish soap to wash away any residue that remains. Was it at the back of her neck where she can't lick it? Hopefully she didn't ingest any of the cleaner and you caught it in time.

If she vomits, becomes listless or starts drooling you should take her to a vet.

Spraying a cat, even with water, is a really bad idea. It won't teach the cat not to do something you don't want her to do. Cats don't understand that they are being punished. You can't train a cat the same way you might train a dog. Pinching her ear isn't a good idea either. It will just make her aggressive.

Let us know if you need any help with training your cat not to do things. There are ways this can be done that won't hurt her.
 

catapault

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Yikes! I can tell how upset you are - and what a good kitty parent too. First things - take deep breath. Now take another one. One more. Now calm down.

First thing - some plants are not good for cats to chew on. What plants were your mom trying to keep her away from?

Second - there are lots of different cleaners. Did your mom tell you which one she used?

I would be more concerned if your cat tried to clean itself and was licking the stuff off its fur. You probably got rid of most of it when you rinsed her. BTW - cats are very good at keeping themselves clean. You shouldn't need to bathe the cat except for circumstances such as this.

Thirdly - you mention that you got her her vaccinations. That tells me you have a vet. Give them a call, explain what happened, and see what advice they have for you. Maybe it will be as simple as keeping an eye on her for vomiting, diarrhea, or some other symptoms. But perhaps they'll just say "so far, so good, but find another way to keep her off the plants."

And then when you are reassured and calmed down, have a calm discussion with your mother about finding a better way to keep the cat off the plants.

Just curious - what's her name? Could you post a picture so we can all see how pretty she is? And - when are you going to have her spayed? If she has kittens herself your mom is really going to be unhappy.
 
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meowdelilah

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Most household cleaners are toxic to cats, you should keep they away from all pets and not allow them to walk on surfaces that are still damp after cleaning as they can absorb the toxins through their skin. Please tell your mother that she could kill your cat by doing this. It really sounds like the woman shouldn't be around animals at all. Could you keep you cat in your room when you're not at home?

You did the right thing by washing her neck.  You can use Dawn dish soap to wash away any residue that remains. Was it at the back of her neck where she can't lick it? Hopefully she didn't ingest any of the cleaner and you caught it in time.

If she vomits, becomes listless or starts drooling you should take her to a vet.

Spraying a cat, even with water, is a really bad idea. It won't teach the cat not to do something you don't want her to do. Cats don't understand that they are being punished. You can't train a cat the same way you might train a dog. Pinching her ear isn't a good idea either. It will just make her aggressive.

Let us know if you need any help with training your cat not to do things. There are ways this can be done that won't hurt her.
Thanks for your response. My mom now knows to never do it again. However, mom says this has been going on for several days, and it ALL over her back today and I think she definitely ingested some of it since she licks herself everywhere. Should I take her to the vet tomorrow night no matter what?
 

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There's not much the vet can do that you haven't done.  Just keep a sharp eye on her.  Wiping her down with a microfiber towel wet down with distilled water might help, but it's probably really too late.  Be sure she has plenty of good, clean water to drink.  Watch her litter box for any new habits, distress, etc.  And kiss her once for all of us.
 
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meowdelilah

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Yikes! I can tell how upset you are - and what a good kitty parent too. First things - take deep breath. Now take another one. One more. Now calm down.

First thing - some plants are not good for cats to chew on. What plants were your mom trying to keep her away from?

Second - there are lots of different cleaners. Did your mom tell you which one she used?

I would be more concerned if your cat tried to clean itself and was licking the stuff off its fur. You probably got rid of most of it when you rinsed her. BTW - cats are very good at keeping themselves clean. You shouldn't need to bathe the cat except for circumstances such as this.

Thirdly - you mention that you got her her vaccinations. That tells me you have a vet. Give them a call, explain what happened, and see what advice they have for you. Maybe it will be as simple as keeping an eye on her for vomiting, diarrhea, or some other symptoms. But perhaps they'll just say "so far, so good, but find another way to keep her off the plants."

And then when you are reassured and calmed down, have a calm discussion with your mother about finding a better way to keep the cat off the plants.

Just curious - what's her name? Could you post a picture so we can all see how pretty she is? And - when are you going to have her spayed? If she has kittens herself your mom is really going to be unhappy.
Thank you, they were they pink daisy looking flowers but haven't grown in yet. She doesn't chew on them I've noticed, rather, she goes in the bathroom in them. We are still working on this issue, but because she did lick some of the cleaner off of herself, I think that is my biggest worry at the moment. I'm watching for vomit and foaming in the mouth and any other weird things going on with her. She's sleeping at the moment and I keep looking back to make sure she's breathing just of how worried I still am. I feel like she can die at any moment :( I will definitely give the vet a call tomorrow after work.

She had fleas when I got her so she went through some flea baths with me. Thankfully she is now flea free.

Also, her name is Delilah and she will be spayed within the next month. I can't afford it at the time, so that's why I'm waiting. I would love to show a photo, but I'm new to this site. How do I submit a photo? 
 
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meowdelilah

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There's not much the vet can do that you haven't done.  Just keep a sharp eye on her.  Wiping her down with a microfiber towel wet down with distilled water might help, but it's probably really too late.  Be sure she has plenty of good, clean water to drink.  Watch her litter box for any new habits, distress, etc.  And kiss her once for all of us.
Kissed her a lot, I feel so bad for the poor baby. Thank you for your response.
 

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One of my cats used to pee in the plant pots too. You can get some net to put over plant pots so the cat can't get in there. Also try getting some cat litter called Kitty Attract for her litter box. It's kind of expensive, but if you just put a thin layer of this litter over her regular cat litter it will work just as well.

Here are a list of plants and other household items that can harm your cat.

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poisons/

This is how to post a picture.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-add-an-image-to-your-forum-post

I'm looking forward to seeing her. 
 
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meowdelilah

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She is grey and white striped cat. I am extremely curious as to what her parents looked like so I will post a full body shot and maybe some of you can tell me.
 

catapault

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Delilah has a sweet face. Love her little pink nose and inquisitive look.

You say the plants haven't grown in yet - are they outdoors in the garden or indoors in a flower pot? There are some cat-scat sprays that can be used Not On The Cat! but instead On The Plants to shoo the cat away (I think it is something they don't like to smell or something like that.) O.K. for flowers but not vegetable plants.

My cats dig in my flower pots too so I mulch with fairly large stones, about 2 inches in diameter. You want something too big for the cat to scratch in - gravel is too small. And not so big that it would be a problem for the plants.

Spaying cats is expensive, more than neutering boy cats. Sometimes there are low-cost programs. If you are interested tell us in general where you live and one of our members involved with feral cat rescue might have suggestions.

And oh yes, welcome to TheCatSite!
 
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angels mommy

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Welcome to TCS. I can't add to anything, you have already gotten great advice from the others. It sounds like you are a good Meowmy (as some of us call ourselves around here)  ;)  so just keep doing what you're doing, keeping a close eye on her. Yes, you definitely need to have a serious conversation w/ your mom, & educate her. In the meanwhile, maybe you should keep her in your room while you're not home, if she will be content in there & not meow the whole time. Best of luck. She's a cutie! Keep us posted.  :)  

Oh, & if you are established w/ a vet, you can always ask them about a payment plan if you need to.
 

detmut

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Thank you, they were they pink daisy looking flowers but haven't grown in yet. She doesn't chew on them I've noticed, rather, she goes in the bathroom in them. We are still working on this issue, but because she did lick some of the cleaner off of herself, I think that is my biggest worry at the moment. I'm watching for vomit and foaming in the mouth and any other weird things going on with her. She's sleeping at the moment and I keep looking back to make sure she's breathing just of how worried I still am. I feel like she can die at any moment :( I will definitely give the vet a call tomorrow after work.

She had fleas when I got her so she went through some flea baths with me. Thankfully she is now flea free.

Also, her name is Delilah and she will be spayed within the next month. I can't afford it at the time, so that's why I'm waiting. I would love to show a photo, but I'm new to this site. How do I submit a photo? 
have you found a low-cost spay? not sure where you are.

Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Programs http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/spayneuter  
 
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manemelissa

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I'm not an advocate of spraying cats, but I just wanted to add that I know it can be hard to break old habits (especially a parent's old habits/mindset) and if your mom isn't on board with whatever new discipline you try, you may want to get a water bottle from the dollar store or something and fill it with water so that she has something else to use aside from the poisonous cleaners. I know how frustrating it can be to live with others (and parents) with pets involved. I caught my brother "spanking" my cat (a harmless small swat on the back end to him but unacceptable to me) some time after I adopted her and had to have a discussion about how he may have thought that was okay to do to his cat, but it wasn't how I wanted to discipline Belle. I hope your kitty is feeling okay and that you can sort things out with your mom!
 

puck

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The solution to pollution is dilution. No shampoo. No other soap containing agent. Degreasing cleaner has more soap than she needed already. Rinse copiously, as you did, for many minutes, with warm running water, in the tub or kitchen sink, is the best treatment and absolutely cost free.

I do it with liters upon liters of sterile saline in a septic abdomen and and toxins flush out effectively. You can't get better than your response time with many gallons per minute of flowing warm water on a topical toxin; observation here on out is the next best plan. If the cleaner landed in her eye at all, corneal irritation or abrasion is a common occurrence. Rinsing her eye copiously with water can flush out any foreign material. GI toxicity including diarrhea and vomiting is also common. We limit this if we know the toxin was ingested in last 4 hours by binding with activated charcoal in the stomach, before the point of absorption, the small intestines. This doesn't help a case like yours though, when the time of potential ingestion was many many hours and days ago.

If you see her ingest a toxin in the future, then taking her to the vet ASAP is when such a treatment is started, as well as antiemetics, so she doesn't worsen symptoms with caustic vomiting, unless it's a substance that can be safely vomited; depending on type of toxin vomiting can make exposure worse.  Veterinary toxicologists at the National Animal Poison Control Center or the Pet Poison Helpline can distinguish which should be vomited and/or bound and removed from the GI tract via waste. NAPCC charges $65 and is more consistently accurate; PPH charges $35 and is better than not knowing about the potential toxicity at all in cases of financial restraint.

Monitor the litter box, including urination, in case she absorbed enough to affect her kidneys. Her eyes look clear with no spasming (winking) in your pic, but best to watch her eyes closely many days after being sprayed, to ensure no squinting or discharge noted. If neurotoxicity was a concern with that particular cleaner, you'd have seen it by now.

You cannot control others, especially while a minor living at home. You can control only your actions and responses. Confining her to a room with a window seat, cat tower, and feather/mouse toys may be best while you are away at work, etc. She can exercise plenty under your watchful eye once you're home and not be a burden or risk to anyone else or herself. If an option our mom is open to, work with her to better cat-proof your home, making it safer for Delilah, and still home for your mom.
 
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