About a half hour ago I noticed Grey Kitty (AKA Frodo) scratching quite a bit. He’s been trying his best to escape to the outside world lately (and occasionally succeeding) so I figured he had picked up a few fleas. No problem, we got some Hatrz kitty flea spray, I’ll take care of that no problem! So I get Frodo and spray him with the kitty flea spray. While he’s not entirely happy about getting wet he’s relatively okay. Just a bit grumpy. After I spray Frodo mom grabs Black Kitty (AKA Mischief) and she gives him a good squirt. He runs off and I sit in the floor and comb Frodo’s fur.
After a few minutes I tell Patrick to bring me the kitty treats (I figure Frodo deserves somethin’ for being such a good kitty) and Mischief so I can comb him. He brings Mischief to the kitchen where he promptly jumps into the floor and goes into hiding.
A few minutes later Mischief jumps/spazms out into the floor with this massive amount of drool just hanging out of his mouth. Scares me to death so I hollar for Patrick and he comes back in and we hold the kitty and read the kitty flea spray bottle for the warnings (this is the second time we’ve used it, this reaction didn’t happen before). It says something about some animals having sensitivies and to wash them with mild soap if that happens.
So I give Mischief a bath and hold him and love him for awhile and now he seems okay. He’s not hopping around like he normally does, he seems kinda calm. I saw him drooling again after I got him out of the bath but not anymore since. Right now we’re just keeping an eye on him making sure he doesn’t get sick again.
Has this happened to anyone before with flea spray? Am I over/underreacting? We don’t have a 24 emergency vet where I live so i’m just hoping this is just a mild reaction that won’t make him fall seriously ill. If anything else happens then I plan on taking him to the vet first thing in the morning.
Any input would be great and hopefully everyone can just tell me I’m overreacting just so I’ll have a peace of mind.
Yeah, some cats can have alergic reactions to flea sprays. I’m not a vet by a long shot (so take it for what it’s worth), but the cats I’ve seen this happen to growing up were all fine a few hours later. Just don’t use that spray on that cat ever again, and consult your vet for alternative measures to battle the fleas.
I’d love to tell you you’re overreacting, but you’re not. Even “kitty” flea sprays are pretty potent chemical concoctions, and they can cause some serious reactions. But, it sounds like you handled it well. It sounds like he’s past the worst of it. He’ll probably be fine, but do keep an eye on him.
Don’t feel too guilty, though. You had no way of knowing he’d have a bad reaction. (I’d say don’t feel guilty, at all, but that’s not gonna happen. )
I’m afraid you did. I read in a thread here recently that the Hartz flea spray and drops can make your kitty sick. Essentially you are loading your pet up with pyrethrins…it makes the fleas sick but it can make your kitty sick too. It’s deemed an acceptable risk by Hartz. I have done this to one of my kitties, too. She seems fine, but she never really had much personality to begin with…
The only good flea stuff to use on your pet is revolution/aadvantage and I think there’s one other one…you pretty much have to get them from a vet.
If your kitty doesn’t get better soon take him to the vet. I will try to dig up the old thread, but i wouldn’t spout-off about something as important as a kitty.
Thanks for the warning against Hartz. I suppose that spray bottle of death will be going into the garbage. I’ll look into Advantix/Advantage for sure.
Duchess turned out to be a boy so we had to change his name so he became Frodo. I should’ve named him Gollum/Smeagol. He acts like he has split personalities all the time!
)