Anaphylactic shock and death from tapeworm injection?

[Jrkd]

My daughter brought a cat home that had a tapeworm infection. I already had 3 cats and the vet recommended treating them all with a tapeworm injection - I was allowed to do this myself because I am a nurse.

The other cats were fine after the injection but my 8 month old kitten Harry had a reaction immediately. He couldn't walk and lost control of his bowels - it was obvious that he was having trouble breathing so I tried to give him CPR style rescue breaths which didn't help and he died within minutes after the injection. I can't find anything on the internet about a cat having such a fatal reaction and am absolutely heartbroken over this. Also strange is the fact that my lips and tongue started swelling immediately - my tongue was so swollen that I could barely talk. I took a few benadryl which helped somewhat and the swelling wasn't extending to my throat so I didn't go to the ER. That was last night - today the swelling is almost gone but I am very puzzled by the reaction I had??

People who don't love animals like I do can't understand why I am such a wreck over this but he was my kitten and I loved him - the fact that I caused it is unbearable. I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone but I am completely baffled as the other cats are just fine. Any info/ideas about what could have happened would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[catsknowme]

Oh no - such a tragedy!!!! Did you save the cartridge from the injection? It sounds like it needs analysis - maybe from the health department or a veterinary college. The manufacturer should be notified as well but I don't know if they will try to sweep this under the rug. Please keep us updated!

 

[Jrkd]

They gave pre-filled syringes that weren't even labeled (already thrown away, it would impossible to know which was the one I used for him) - careless on my part to have given them anyway but I have been using this vet all my animal owning years so I trusted them. That was one my first thoughts when trying to decide how to treat the swelling of my lips/tongue - could I have received a syringe of something else entirely (that isn't safe for cats)? It is odd that I have been scouring the internet all last night and today and can't even find a brief mention of 'potentially fatal reactions'. Thank you for your response.

 

[fionasmom]

I am so sorry for this tragic loss. Like you, I just googled tapeworm/shock and what came up was your post for TCS, so this is definitely a mystery. What happened to Harry is not actually any of the side effects of the injection, even of an overdose up to 5 X too much from what I just quickly read.

Not going to go into details, but I do believe that things can go wrong with the vet's office from time to time. I also go to a vet, for the cats, whom I have seen for decades, but with my now deceased diabetic cat I had trouble getting the correct syringes from them and they blithely assured me twice that any syringe would do which lead to my resolving the situation myself. It as like I was just supposed to sort of eyeball the insulin and inject. Same cat died after a fructosamine test at the same vet. I am sure that she struggled as I was not in the room because they took her to the back and that she was pretty seriously manhandled, not abused, but manhandled which caused cardiac arrest a little while later.

I hate to say that I am with you on being given something else in the syringe. You yourself might have had a close call with whatever it was and I am glad that you did not suffer more serious effects but am so sorry, again, for Harry and your family.

 

[NewKitty2019]

My daughter brought a cat home that had a tapeworm infection. I already had 3 cats and the vet recommended treating them all with a tapeworm injection - I was allowed to do this myself because I am a nurse.

The other cats were fine after the injection but my 8 month old kitten Harry had a reaction immediately. He couldn't walk and lost control of his bowels - it was obvious that he was having trouble breathing so I tried to give him CPR style rescue breaths which didn't help and he died within minutes after the injection. I can't find anything on the internet about a cat having such a fatal reaction and am absolutely heartbroken over this. Also strange is the fact that my lips and tongue started swelling immediately - my tongue was so swollen that I could barely talk. I took a few benadryl which helped somewhat and the swelling wasn't extending to my throat so I didn't go to the ER. That was last night - today the swelling is almost gone but I am very puzzled by the reaction I had??

People who don't love animals like I do can't understand why I am such a wreck over this but he was my kitten and I loved him - the fact that I caused it is unbearable. I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone but I am completely baffled as the other cats are just fine. Any info/ideas about what could have happened would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

So sorry for your loss! Did you take this issue with the vet? They should have at least reimbursed your meds and did an internal investigation... This is outrageous and wrong! You could have died yourself from whatever they gave. They may do it to someone else now! Glad you are ok.