Cats Got Into The Dog's Antibiotics

[krisash]

When I got home today around lunchtime, my dad told me our two 7 month old kittens got into the medicine cabinet and ate 8 of our dogs 300mg antibiotic pills. No idea what number each cat got or whether they were all eaten by one cat but he called poison control and was told that the main risk was crystals and to take them to our primary vet.

We called the vet and we're told instead to take them to an emergency vet as soon as possible for the possible damage to their kidneys. I'm completely panicked at this point thinking we've wasted 2 and a half hours just monitoring them and assuming it was all we could do.

The emergency vet says we can leave them for 24 hours for $3000 plus test fees so they can be on fluids until their next blood and urine analysis or we can take them home and just bring them back for the second blood and urine tests in 24 hours when the pills would typically start showing effects.

I want them home with me so badly that I can't tell if I think that's what's best for them or if I'm just scared to leave them here.

Has anyone had a similar poisoning incident happen with their cats? Part of me thinks since they'll only be on fluids if they stay here versus being watched by us for behavior changes at home, that it isn't worth putting us in debt.

 

[Aieko]

I'm not knowledgeable here, hopefully, someone else who is smarter than me can help you out. My cats got sick on the smell of paint one time, but that is all. The best thing I can offer is this;

Are Canine and Feline Antibiotics the Same?

Good luck! Let us know what happens.

 

[Kieka]

I'd be torn. The benefit of having them on IVs for fluid is they will get a large amount of fluid, which will help flush their kidneys and system in general. Thereby, in theory, giving them less of a chance of experiencing problems from the antibiotics. If there are complications they would already be at the vet and have an IV in which increases response time should they have problems.

If the cost is a major concern you could ask about SubQ fluids. An injection at the office and possibly take home fluids. It wouldn't be as effective as IV but it would increase their hydration and help flush their system. I wouldn't recommend it over a vet stay, but it might be worth discussing with your vet. If your hold up is just being with them, I do get it. I've left my boy at the vet overnight and for several days on different occasions. It's hard and it's even harder to not worry about them while they are gone. But it is for the best.

One thing to keep in mind, if they did get enough to damage their kidneys, it would become a lifelong maintenance issue. So going aggressive with a vet stay now could save you thousands later in kidney and urinary type problems. I would switch them to an all wet diet after this to help prevent against future problems.

Hopefully everything works out for the best. Please keep us posted.

 

[krisash]

I'd be torn. The benefit of having them on IVs for fluid is they will get a large amount of fluid, which will help flush their kidneys and system in general. Thereby, in theory, giving them less of a chance of experiencing problems from the antibiotics. If there are complications they would already be at the vet and have an IV in which increases response time should they have problems.

If the cost is a major concern you could ask about SubQ fluids. An injection at the office and possibly take home fluids. It wouldn't be as effective as IV but it would increase their hydration and help flush their system. I wouldn't recommend it over a vet stay, but it might be worth discussing with your vet. If your hold up is just being with them, I do get it. I've left my boy at the vet overnight and for several days on different occasions. It's hard and it's even harder to not worry about them while they are gone. But it is for the best.

One thing to keep in mind, if they did get enough to damage their kidneys, it would become a lifelong maintenance issue. So going aggressive with a vet stay now could save you thousands later in kidney and urinary type problems. I would switch them to an all wet diet after this to help prevent against future problems.

Hopefully everything works out for the best. Please keep us posted.

Thank you for this! This is where my head was at as well. They're already on wet food because our boy cat has a history of crystals that are easily handled by cutting out dry food and they were given subcutaneous fluids before we left today. The doctor said if it were her cats she would take them home because of how small the chance of toxicity is from the type of antibiotic they had so we ended up bringing them home.

They're behavior is normal and they were given anti-nausea meds so they won't vomit further so we're going to monitor them very closely and make sure they're drinking a lot of water before their tests tomorrow.

Here's hoping we lucked out and their bodies can regenerate healthy bacteria.

 

[war&wisdom]

Please update us when you can!

 

[krisash]

Thank you all for the support! We took them home and gave them extra water in their wet food and they ate very well. They slept fairly normally and peed and pooped normally as well which was great considering we were told to watch out for diarrhea. We took them back in for the second tests at the 24 hour mark and they're blood tests are clear and the urinalysis will be in tomorrow.

All looks good we just have to wait for the confirmation from the urinalysis results.