Overdose
January 27th, 2010
I’ll start this by saying it seems everyone is fine.
Dokuritsu is on Tapazole for her thyroid.
(can you tell my hands were still shaking when I took this photo?)
The vet recently changed the dosage to 0.06 ml and the stuff comes as a gel in a 1.0 ml tube. I had about 0.04 ml left in the first tube, and I had a second, unused tube ready to go. My plan was to empty the whole 0.04 ml tube into her ear and then add 0.02 ml from the new tube. No big deal, right? I grabbed the wrong tube. Since I thought I was dealing with a pre-measured amount I just hit the plunger and suddenly way too much stuff shot out.
I panicked. I started scooping the stuff out with tissues, then cleaning it out with wet Q-tips. After I removed all I could, I called Ambu-Vet, a pet emergency and ambulance center. They said it was an emergency and would have someone call and come right over. Half an hour later, no call.
I remembered my vet had a different emergency number on his answering service, so I called them and they referred me to the ASPCA’s poison control hotline.
They asked how recent it had been, and if there was any way I could clean the excess off her ears. I told them that I had. They asked how much I got, and I said, about 80%. Then they asked how long she’d been on the medicine (since November) and if she’d had any adverse reactions to it (she hadn’t).
They told me to get a wet tissue and clean all I could out of her ears (I used wet Q-tips because I could do a more thorough job with those). Since she’d tolerated the medicine well before, it was unlikely there would be any serious problems, but I should watch for nausea, diarrhea, lethargy, or loss of appetite. She hasn’t thrown up, she has no diarrhea, she’s no more lethargic than usual (I had to break up a four-way cat fight in the middle of the night) and this morning she was eating everything in sight. I spoke to her vet, and he said to skip the medicine tonight and resume tomorrow.
I feel so stupid. I’m just grateful there weren’t any serious consequences.
Entry Filed under: Cats
3 Comments Add your own
1. Cricket | January 27th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Hugs! I remember giving Dtr a second dose of baby Tylenol, reasoning that she hadn’t gotten much of the first. Half an hour later I was on the phone to poison control, convinced most of the first dose had gotten in and I’d double-dosed her.
Turns out that a Tylenol overdose is very serious. Most of the damage is silent and permanent.
Also turns out they don’t start worrying until 5s (or maybe it was 10x) the maximum on the label. Doctors often double the label when kids are in the hospital. (Usual fine print — I’m not a medical person, and it was a long, long time ago.)
0.06mL? I’ve never seen a dose that small, usually they dilute it so something we can measure accurately. Then again, I’ve never put medicine in a cat’s ear. Guess it’s like a patch, but on a non-furry area.
2. Ivy | January 27th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
It’s a cream, and it’s easy enough to dose even that small. I think I’m really giving her 0.006 ml of the actual medicine, the rest being just the delivery system.
3. Pet Poison Helpline | January 27th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
So glad she’s doing well – that’s the great thing about those transdermal meds – you can wipe them right off. I also wanted to let you know you can also call Pet Poison Helpline also – it’s a similar 24/7 animal poison control located out of Minneapolis, and is more cost effective at $35/case (vs ASPCA’s $60-65/case). You can find important info at http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com too! They can be reached at 800-213-6680.
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