# Very weird veterinary question (treatment for exposure to insecticide -- FOR A PET INSECT)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-veterinary-question-treatment-for-exposure-to-insecticide-for-a-pet-insect/816608>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 23, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-veterinary-question-treatment-for-exposure-to-insecticide-for-a-pet-insect/816608 "2018-06-23T03:29:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-veterinary-question-treatment-for-exposure-to-insecticide-for-a-pet-insect/816608/21 "2018-06-24T06:28:55Z")

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> [@DPRK](#):
>
> I once took a young Madagascar cockroach that had been poisoned to a couple of veterinary clinics and in neither place did they know what to do. Exacerbating the problem was the fact that we did not know exactly to what pesticide it had been exposed, to how much of it, nor how long it had been; evidently long enough to do permanent damage. It did not recover. ☹
> 
> I suspect that a lot of these places see so many dogs, cats, and other mammals that they simply do not have so much practical experience with insects. However, if you don’t waste any time following **Enola Gay** ’s advice and then get to the veterinarian’s ASAP there may be something they can do as far as antidotes. In any case, I hope your scenario is indeed hypothetical.

Fear not: it was indeed hypothetical. For one thing, my mother has been dead for over eight years. The thought occurred to me that you never see pet insects at an emergency vet, so I posted what I thought of as a goofy OP to generate some exploration of the subject. No cockroaches were harmed in the creation of this thread (although I am open to suggestions as to how I might harm some by posting on this message board. Unless they’re members, because that would be against the rules).

> [@](#):
>
> PS if you do not have a breeding pair, I don’t see how you would get a “thousand baby cockroaches”.

Quiet, you.

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**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-veterinary-question-treatment-for-exposure-to-insecticide-for-a-pet-insect/816608/22 "2018-06-24T07:59:57Z")

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Full disclosure: I don’t really have an ant farm. Or a virus.

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