Are you one of those who tuck the rat poison away so that your cat won’t reach it? Have you ever thought of the fact that the cat could suffer from secondary poisoning? If you happen to kill a rat at your place with poison and your Frisky eats up that rat, you are indirectly poisoning the cat as well. The cat can get poised from the poisoned rat it is ingesting.
What is primary poisoning?
Your cat might itself fall for the mouse bait and risk primary toxicosis. Primary poisoning is the poisoning caused by ingesting the poison directly. If you have a rodents issue at your place and you wish to disinfect the area with little mouse baits of poisons, poisoning your own cat might be a what you end up with. According to the Pet Poison Helpline, the effects of poison might be light depending upon the quantity of the direct ingestion, but you need to get your cat to the vet immediately.
What is secondary poisoning?
If your cat eats a poisoned rat, she can become very sick. The poison, when passed through the food chain, like the cat eating a poisoned rat, is known as secondary poisoning. Secondary toxicosis can be very dangerous to the health of your cat. When a rat has had a single feed of the poison, it does not die immediately. Poison will take it slow, and it might take 2-3 days for the rat to die. If in this time period, the cat comes in contact with the rat and happens to eat it, the cat is also ingesting poison.
What are the symptoms of rat poisoning?
Unfortunately, you can not instantly know that the cat has eaten a poisoned rat. Like the mouse, the cat will also take two to three days before it shows an effect on its system. However, you will see some trouble and changes in the cat during this course of time. Again depending on the quantity of the poison, the cat will have a loss in the appetite, seizures, bleeding from the nose, paralysis in the back legs, muscle tremors, bloody urine and feces, pale gums, red patches on the skin, swollen belly, lethargy, and weakness.
How to treat secondary poisoning?
When you notice all or some of the above symptoms, it might be a chaotic situation for you. However, the first thing you need to do is, see a vet right away. The success of the treatment will depend on the amount of poison ingested. The vet will conduct the urine analysis and a blood test and other diagnostics as necessary. The treatment will start from thereon. Depending on the condition of the cat, it will be kept under observation and treated as needed.
How to prevent secondary poisoning?
Obviously, prevention is better than a cure. Keeping a rat poison at the house is very risky for your cat. So, to minimize the rodent presence in the house, keep the house clean, store the eatables right so that the rats won’t feed on it. Seal all entryways from where the rats can possibly enter. And you better keep your cat inside the house where it is safe and can’t prey on the rats.