Assuming that a cat didnt claw into a bottle, are there any common household things that cause antifreeze-poisoning-like condiitons in a kitten?
here's the story of everything that has happened so far......
I adopted brother and sister kitties in March when they were 6 weeks old.Their names are Buffy and Spike. They have been to a vet, they have had their shots. They have not been spayed or neutered yet.
Today is Thursday Aug 26th. On Saturday the 20th, I noticed a small puddle of vomit in my house. It caught me off guard because neither of them had ever vomited before. The next day I found two more spots of vomit. Once in the morning and once in the evening. I finally caught Spike doing it. The vomit was yellow/brown in color and looked like it was mainly liquid. It has always looked like this.
Once I knew which cat it was I observed his behavior and noticed that he wasn't eating. I assumed he had just caught some brief illness and it would pass. Monday morning when I woke up, I couldnt get Spike to eat and decided to take him to the vet. I told them that he was lethargic and wasnt eating. but was drinking water and urinating. They took X-rays, and did a barium drop. By Tuesday morning, the barium correctly moved into his colon. They also performed an enema to make sure that things in the colon could get out and there was no problem. So, they let me take him home.
Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, he was still lethargic but he was eating and drinking normally. Thursday morning when I woke up he was still a little lethargic but was back to his morning routine of meowing at me to fill his bowl. he even jumped up on the countertop once. This was a positive thing because since he has been ill he really doesnt move much. I thought things were returning to normal.
Thursday night...I get home, he's still lethargic but is eating and drinking. However, when he went to sit down at one point, an uncontrollable tremor shook his head as if something was almost forcing his head to turn right. I felt the back of his neck and his muscles were spasming like crazy. These tremors only lasted a couple of seconds. I also noticed at one point that almost immediately after urinating, he would go to his water bowl and drink for a long time. Since this was a new thing that I hadnt seen yet, I contacted the vet and made an appointment for this morning. I asked them to perform a blood test and urinalysis to see what came up.
The vet called me two hours later and told me that Spike is very ill. She said that his kidney levels are off the chart and that her initial evaluations point him getting into some antifreeze. She said that he is extremely dehydrated and that he is now on intravenous liquids. She also said that there is a rare disease in kittens called Addisson's disease (?) that he is exhibiting symptoms of but she doubts that it is this since it is so rare in cats.
Anyway,, I have no antifreeze in my house, all my chemical cleaners, etc.. are in plastic bottles, I know of nothing I have that he could have gotten into that would contain ethylene glycol. I have never noticed any of my chemical cleaning supplies appear to have cat scratches or any evidence that the cats are playing with the bottles.
Other factors involved....last week my girlfriend visted my house for a couple of days with her dog. Also, there was a box with some styrofoam in it accessible to them...other than that I cant think of anything strange that happened last week.
Also, Buffy(his sister) is showing absolutely no symptoms of declining health. She is alert, active, and happy. This is why I dont think its some kind of general sickness. I really think he ate something.
here's the story of everything that has happened so far......
I adopted brother and sister kitties in March when they were 6 weeks old.Their names are Buffy and Spike. They have been to a vet, they have had their shots. They have not been spayed or neutered yet.
Today is Thursday Aug 26th. On Saturday the 20th, I noticed a small puddle of vomit in my house. It caught me off guard because neither of them had ever vomited before. The next day I found two more spots of vomit. Once in the morning and once in the evening. I finally caught Spike doing it. The vomit was yellow/brown in color and looked like it was mainly liquid. It has always looked like this.
Once I knew which cat it was I observed his behavior and noticed that he wasn't eating. I assumed he had just caught some brief illness and it would pass. Monday morning when I woke up, I couldnt get Spike to eat and decided to take him to the vet. I told them that he was lethargic and wasnt eating. but was drinking water and urinating. They took X-rays, and did a barium drop. By Tuesday morning, the barium correctly moved into his colon. They also performed an enema to make sure that things in the colon could get out and there was no problem. So, they let me take him home.
Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, he was still lethargic but he was eating and drinking normally. Thursday morning when I woke up he was still a little lethargic but was back to his morning routine of meowing at me to fill his bowl. he even jumped up on the countertop once. This was a positive thing because since he has been ill he really doesnt move much. I thought things were returning to normal.
Thursday night...I get home, he's still lethargic but is eating and drinking. However, when he went to sit down at one point, an uncontrollable tremor shook his head as if something was almost forcing his head to turn right. I felt the back of his neck and his muscles were spasming like crazy. These tremors only lasted a couple of seconds. I also noticed at one point that almost immediately after urinating, he would go to his water bowl and drink for a long time. Since this was a new thing that I hadnt seen yet, I contacted the vet and made an appointment for this morning. I asked them to perform a blood test and urinalysis to see what came up.
The vet called me two hours later and told me that Spike is very ill. She said that his kidney levels are off the chart and that her initial evaluations point him getting into some antifreeze. She said that he is extremely dehydrated and that he is now on intravenous liquids. She also said that there is a rare disease in kittens called Addisson's disease (?) that he is exhibiting symptoms of but she doubts that it is this since it is so rare in cats.
Anyway,, I have no antifreeze in my house, all my chemical cleaners, etc.. are in plastic bottles, I know of nothing I have that he could have gotten into that would contain ethylene glycol. I have never noticed any of my chemical cleaning supplies appear to have cat scratches or any evidence that the cats are playing with the bottles.
Other factors involved....last week my girlfriend visted my house for a couple of days with her dog. Also, there was a box with some styrofoam in it accessible to them...other than that I cant think of anything strange that happened last week.
Also, Buffy(his sister) is showing absolutely no symptoms of declining health. She is alert, active, and happy. This is why I dont think its some kind of general sickness. I really think he ate something.
