Plants Toxic To Cat, Update On Cookie 1-11-12

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Jean and Charcoal

Jean and Charcoal

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Hi Everyone,

Just wondered if anyone knows or recognizes the plants in these pictures? This is at my son's house, and the cat they had, I brought to my house, because it was causing too much turmoil with the four year old grandson of mine, going after the cat all the time. I have only had Cookie since Sunday, January 1, 2012.

Anyway, almost every day when he lived with my son and dil, this cat, named Cookie, got into these plants, and ate them. My dil would find vomit filled with remnants of the plants, especially the one that is behind the arms of my son and dil on the first picture. She said the vomit was filled with plant remnants and a lot of clear liquid. My dil does not know what that plant is called, but she refused to get rid of any of her plants, (and she has aloe vera, which I know is toxic to cats, but that is on top of the fridge), and she has all different kinds of plants throughout the house and upstairs that Cookie got into. She told me the other day that she has had these plants for so long, that if she had to make the choice to get rid of the plants or the cat, then the cat goes. So, I decided it was best that Cookie come live with me and my four old cats, as I do not and will not have flowers, or plants in my house due to allergies that I have.

My big question is, that Cookie, since my dil adopted him in October last year, has had chronic loose stools and goes about four times a day. It smells worse than any of my other cats, and I am thinking if he is not suffering from damage from the plants he ate, that maybe he just has IBD. He has been seen by the vet, but my dil forgot to tell her about this. I am debating on taking a stool sample, just to make sure he does not have anything transmissible to my four old cats that all have health issues.

Cookie is now almost one year old. He was adopted from Petsmart.

Any thoughts on this matter? Thanks!

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UPDATE on January 11, 2012: I took Cookie who is just under one year old, to my vet on Tuesday at noon. She believes he may have coccidia since he was adopted by my dil last October from a shelter that adopts cats out at Petsmart. The vet said that is usually found in younger cats. Anyway, she put him on Flagyl (Metronidazole) once a day for five days. She gave him the first dose while there, and today, I have to give him the second dose, which I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to get that down him, without him tasting it? I don't have pill pockets, and I do have the pill plunger, but have never used it. It is really safe to stick that thing down his throat?

Any ideas? Open a can of tuna and try to put some of that on the pill and try to get it in? I am so dreading this, as he is one feisty young and lively 'kitten'. He weighs 9 and a quarter pounds or so.

Thanks for any hints or input.
Jean and Charcoal (GA)
 
Re: Plants Toxic To Cat, Anyone Recognize These Plants? 1-5-

Top pic is asparagus fern, bottom on mantle is ivy, can't see the tall one's leaves well enough...
 
Re: Plants Toxic To Cat, Anyone Recognize These Plants? 1-5-

Don't know about the ivy, but the fern will cause diarrhea and vomiting in cat and dogs.

The tall one could be a ficus, but can't see it well enough to tell for sure.

There is a great list with pictures here of plants that are toxic to animals http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Re: Plants Toxic To Cat, Anyone Recognize These Plants? 1-5-

Thanks, everyone, for the info. I just hope since this is the fifth day he is at my house, that he will start feeling better physically. I really think eating those plants could have been causing the loose stools.
 
Re: Plants Toxic To Cat, Anyone Recognize These Plants? 1-5-

An asparagas fern in the first pic for sure. The tall one is a Hawaiian Schefflera and the other could be a pothos or a type of philodendron. I don't know about the fern but the rest are all toxic especially the philodendron. I have a shefflera and they won't touch it so maybe it tastes nasty.
 
Re: Plants Toxic To Cat, Anyone Recognize These Plants? 1-5-

Altho I don't see one in any of the pix, diffenbachia (sp?) is also highly toxic to cats.
 
Re: Plants Toxic To Cat, Anyone Recognize These Plants? 1-5-

Thanks to you all who have taken time to try to see the plants. Wish I could find some pictures that are more clear, but I was concerned about these plants possibly causing Cookie any distress in his stomach or intestines.

I may be taking him next Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 to the vet's for a gen'l checkup and see if she thinks he needs any bloodwork done, etc.

His BM's a day, have seemed to slow way down compared to when he was at my son's house. No wonder I thought my dil was never cleaning his litterbox. I think now, that she was, but he was eating all the poisonous plants, and having terrible gas and loose stools and vomiting. Glad he is now here for the 7th day.

He is getting bolder each day, and trying to 'run the joint'. hehe....

I will post more, if I take him for a checkup. Thanks again!

Jean and Charcoal (GA) dancing_cat
 
Posted an update on Cookie, whom I took to the vet's on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012. Please see update in my first post above.

Thanks!
 
Flagyl is just the bitterest nastiest drug, it made my Bailey foam at the mouth when we gave it to her. Its taste is very difficult to mask. I ended up getting empty gel-caps (can usually find at a health-food store or a GNC-type place) and putting the pills in those, it worked really well! Good luck, and it is so sweet of you to take the little guy in!
 
We got really lucky--I can't imagine this would work for most cats--but our new cats are so crazy for Pounce treats that when they were on Flagyl, we could sort of mush a Pounce around the pill and they would just gobble up the whole thing. It didn't really work very well (the treat was not as mushy as I thought it would be, and tended to sort of crumble around the pill rather than molding to it) but they would still eat it.
 
I use the pill popper to give any of my cats pills - the dogs just eat them. I'd rather have that soft rubber in their mouths than my finger with a fingernail that can scratch them by accident. Just be sure to follow it with water (about 20 cc's if possible) even if you have to use a syringe...more if it's a gelcap type of pill.

I unfortunately have to pill often...

HUGS
 
Well, that was a fiasco trying to give a half of a half of the Flagyl to Cookie a few minutes ago. The pill plunger must take a certain technique and my arthritic hands, do not have it. So, I had to try to get it in by hand, and of course he spit it out and foamed. I did finally get it into him, and gave him some 9 Lives tuna canned, and he seems okay. But, that means later today I have to get the other quarter pill into him.

This is hard when living alone, and I am not used to such a feisty young cat. I opened my inside bathroom window, where I always gave the two boys, their insulin, because it is a good height for me, and I close the bathroom door so no one comes in (other cats) to disturb us. Didn't matter with Cookie though, as he near fill off of the window sill. ~sigh~
 
Check with the vet and see if the pill is one that can be crushed (some lose their effectiveness if you crush them). If it can, what i do is crush the pill between two spoons to a powder and then add a few drops of warm water to dissolve it into a slurry, then suck it up into an oral syringe. If it's a really nasty pill, I'll also add some baby food to the mix. Once it's in the syringe, shake it really well and give it to the cat. I give liquid syringe meds in several small squirts so the cat has time to swallow them, and then give a really good snuggle or treat, depending on the cat. It's way easier, IMO, than trying to give a solid pill.
 
Spooky was a cream cheese lover. I'd stick the pill into a little cream cheese, give him a small bite of some without the pill, then give him the gob with the pill.

Lisa and Spooky (GA)
 
Yes, pill pocket was tried. A no go. Yesterday, I tried the plunger in the morning with a quarter pill, and that was a disaster. Got it into him finally by hand. Then last night, I just bit the bullet and got him in the window, and of course, he knew what was coming, but I got his mouth open enough, got the other quarter pill into him, and syringed some water gently into the side of him mouth. He seemed okay with it that way.

Of course, too, I always check all around to make sure he didn't trick me and spit it out. But, he would have foamed with Flagyl.

My diabetic cat, Rudder, who died in 2009, used to be horrendous to give a pill to, especially Baytril! I used to find them a day later, spit out on the floor somewhere. One time when my son lived here, and he held Rudder, I tried to get the pill into him, and Rudder was a huge cat, long and big, 24 pounds! He got his one front arm loose from my son's grip, and grabbed his big claw into the palm of my hand, and got his claw stuck in my hand! OUCH!!!! That was horrible!

At least, my vet clipped all of Cookie's nails two days ago. Phew!
 
What about cream cheese as a pill pocket...it is sticky enough that he might not notice the pill. I have one little girl that is nearly impossible to pill but I can get them in her with either cream cheese or Velvetta, she loves both so much and they are sticky enough that she swallows before she realizes there is a pill in the center.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
When Gabby started refusing pill pockets I used a piece of American cheese molded around the pill, and then rolled the whole thing in Tuna. When she started refusing that, Aanother trick that worked for her was to use a tiny piece of pill pocket around the pill (just enough to completely cover it), and then mush up a moist treat (like Purina whisker lickins) and mold that around the pill/pill pocket.
 
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