I have spent the last six weeks recovering from eye surgery. My three beautiful cats have been by my side during this journey. When I went into surgery, two of these cats were still in the midst of their own recovery from their recent exposure to permethrin.
In part 1 and part 2, I introduced them and talked about how to recognize symptoms of pyrethroid poisoning. Today, I want to talk about the experience of bringing them home.
Jade and Kira were in the animal hospital for approximately 36 hours. I called to check on them every few hours, even waking up at night to get updates. I felt a bit like a pest, but it was important to me to check on their progress. I usually started my call by asking simply how they were doing. I wanted to hear what the tech would tell me on their own. If the information was not offered, I asked when their last medication dose was, whether they had been offered food and whether they had eaten, whether they were still having tremors, etc. Jade’s tremors stopped early in the morning following her admission, but Kira’s continued throughout the day.
When I picked them up, I was not prepared for what we would be dealing with over the next few days. I thought they would be well and life would return to normal.
The vet gave us a supply of Methocarbamol tablets in case they continued to have tremors and told us that the tremors might continue for several days. As it happened, neither cat had any tremore after discharge.
What we did observe was that both cats had very poor coordination. Jade was very limp and continued to have partial seizures for a couple of days. I worried about whether she might have them long-term.
Kira’s movements were exaggerated, and I monitored her closely as she jumped on and off of furniture so that she would not fall. Her vocalizations were abnormal since her inability to control her muscles extended to her throat. She had difficulty eating, and I put her on wet food until she was able to swallow properly.
Jade and Kira were aggressive toward each other and toward Angel for about a week. In turn, Angel was competitive with them for space near me. Kevin and I felt a lot of anxiety about how long this would last, especially since I would be having surgery. Fortunately, it settled as the drugs left their systems.
My eye surgery was scheduled only one week after Jade and Kira had gone into the hospital. My doctor is out of state; and our original plan was for a friend to come and check in on them while we were gone. Since Jade and Kira recovered so slowly, we decided that Kevin would stay home with them.
It was not easy to be apart on that day. I experienced a lot of pain after surgery, and I missed Kevin very much. But Jade and Kira were just beginning to move around the house normally. Kira was especially sensitive to changes in routine at this time and seemed to need the stability of his presence. To make matters more interesting, the neighbors had plumbing work done in the yard all day.
Needless to say, we don’t regret the choice we made.
The homecoming period was the hardest part of our journey with pyrethroid poisoning. We consulted with the vets daily, but they were sometimes not able to determine whether the muscle control problems were due to pyrethroid drugs still being present in the system or Methocarbamol. We were told several times that Methocarbamol does not remain in the system for more than a few hours. However, when I called a pharmacist, I was told that in a human, it can take some time to completely leave the body, especially after repeated doses.
Today, both cats have normal muscle function, and Jade has not had any seizure symptoms in five weeks. Both cats have gained back all the weight they have lost. In fact, Jade is on a diet due to overeating.
The cats did not have bloodwork done in the animal hospital. I asked our regular vet what he looks for on blood panels when he treats cats with pyrethroid poisoning. He answered that he wants it to be normal. If I had had the finances at the time, I would have requested that it be done just to be on the safe side.
We administered a normal flea treatment last week. Jade and Kira were distressed. Kira had some mild tremors which I suspect were due to extreme anxiety. They continued for about an hour after the treatment was administered, and she did not show any other symptoms of reaction to the treatment.
We kept a low profile around the house that night, and all was well in the end. Kira slept in Kevin’s desk chair for several hours. She also attempted valiantly to find a way to get that stuff off.
Kira reacts strongly to the smell of any sort of cleaning chemicals near her that are antiselptic in nature. I sanitized my hands once before putting drops in my eyes while she was near me, and she ran out of the room as if I was going to torture her. I think that the impact of this will be with us for some time.
In This Series
- Learning From My Younger Self - February 10, 2024
- more reflections on ITD - June 30, 2023
- On travel while at ITD: reflections after day 1 - June 27, 2023
- ITD day 1 - June 27, 2023
- ITD day 1 - June 27, 2023
- Job Descriptions, Inclusivity, and Equity for People with Disabilities - October 15, 2022
- Traveling without a Guide Dog: Experience with Cane and Walker - October 14, 2022
- Disability and Church, Intersection - June 11, 2022
- Review: When Chronic Pain and Illness Take Everything Away - June 11, 2022
- Grammar and Style Resources for Writers - June 9, 2022
