Q.My cat Princess recently spent a week at the vet hospital after she ate a couple of Tylenol caplets that had fallen on the floor. I knew they could be toxic to cats but I had no idea that even two small pills could kill her, otherwise I would have been more careful. Could you please inform your readers of how deadly this drug can be?

A. I'm happy to comply.

Veterinary Pet Insurance, the nation's largest pet health insurance company, has conducted a well-publicized annual survey of the most common afflictions affecting our pets.

The No. 1 pet medical claim in 2007 for poisonings? Nope, not the expected antifreeze, rat poison or plant ingestion. The top toxins are actually owner-induced. Aspirin, Tylenol (acetaminophen) and Advil (ibuprofen) are the most noted culprits. Usually, owners are ignorant of the toxic effects and administer these drugs to break fevers and treat pain.

In cats, Tylenol is especially dangerous because they have no way to break down the toxic acetaminophen molecule. Because ingesting it profoundly changes the way their blood carries oxygen, and because human doses are very large for a cat's small size, death is almost assured if treatment is not administered quickly.

Luckily, there's an antidote. Rapid administration of acetylcystine can reverse the effects in the blood. Unfortunately, high doses can also lead to organ failure. That's typically why several days' treatment with fluids is necessary and why relatively rapid treatment is not always 100 percent successful.

Ibuprofen and aspirin-like drugs can tear up the lining of the stomach. I've seen dogs die painfully due to bleeding stomach ulcers after these drugs were administered without a veterinarian's specific advice on careful dosing.

For all these drugs, getting to the veterinary hospital immediately after ingestion (within half an hour) is the key.

Sure, this means Fido has to be made to throw up your pills and Fluffy may have to be anesthetized to have her stomach rinsed out (the best medicine after very recent Tylenol ingestion in cats), but that's the breaks. It may not be comfortable but it's often a life-saver.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@