Cats and Ibuprofen

[TylerBean]

Our cat was declawed (front paws) a couple of months agao and every once in a while will hold up his right foot as if it is bothering him. Two days ago he was running around the house, like his typical crazy self I think he landed on it a bit hard and it was obvious that he aggrivated it.
My husband thought it would be a good idea to give him a small piece of Ibuprofen to help ease the discomfort. We didn't do any research on giving Ibuprofen to a cat at the time because we thought it would be fine, we've since learned Ibuprofen should never be given to a cat.
He's vomitted three times in the past two days. The first vomit was the worst and it contained a huge hair ball. The other two episodes we're much smaller and only one contained a small hair ball (not sure if it's the hairball or the Ibuprofen causing the vomitting so I wanted to mention the hairballs).
We will fast him today, giving a small amount of water only to see how he does the rest of the day. He has been acting fine except for the vomitting.
Any suggestions or anyone knowing what Ibuprofen can do to a cat would be apreciated.

[Lucky Rescue]

Poor cat! Ibuprofen is TOXIC to cats. A very small dose may cause irritation to the stomach and intestines, and larger doses can cause internal bleeding.

TAke this cat to the vet **ASAP**, and tell them what you did. Also, declawing can cause many complications, including deformed regrowth, so have that checked too.

[marko]

http://www.pets.ca/pettips/tips-8.htm

[moontamara]

Good point, Laura. I think the main purpose of this person's post was to inform others not to make the same mistake. Let's not attack her for that!

[Lucky Rescue]

I think the main purpose of this person's post was to inform others not to make the same mistake.

Actually, the point of the post was to ask what the effects of ibuprofen are on a cat who already been given it.

I don't know why this cat wasnt' taken to the vet when he showed signs of pain from his declawed paw. There was no problem spending a lot of money to declaw him, so the pain from this operation should be taken care of when it started, instead of these people deciding on their own to medicate him with something toxic and without even consulting a vet.

Now the cat is not only in pain, but sick from the drug.

[moontamara]

Sorry LR, on a more careful reading I realized you're right! For some reason I assumed the OP had taken the cat to the vet after the Ibuprofen.

[krdahmer]

An adverse reaction to the glue they apply after declawing is very common soon after the procedure (although this did also occur in my mom's cat 6 years later)....since you'll be rushing that poor kitty to the vet ASAP because of the toxic substance he has been given , you may want to have them check each paw for a glue reaction (it's like a hard little growth that is very painful and uncomfortable for the kitty.) We all make mistakes, let's just hope that kitty bounces back from this!

[Lucky Rescue]

I did give this person advice in my first post here.

And MANY people consider this practice to be cruelty, since declawing is outlawed in all the following countries:

The following is a list of countries in which declawing cats is either illegal
or considered extremely inhumane and only performed under
extreme circumstances.
England
Scotland
Wales
Italy
France
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
Norway
Sweden
Netherlands
Northern Ireland
Ireland
Denmark
Finland
Slovenia
Portugal
Belgium
Brazil
Australia
New Zealand
Yugoslavia
Japan

[VickyK]

I learned from my hollistic courses that whenever an animal digests something they shouldn't, its good to give them a drop of Milk Thistle, scientif name, Silybum marianum (chardon de marie in french)

This will help the liver take "defensive" measures as it is the liver that gets hit when toxins are ingested.

ONLY ONE DROP PER DAY for a day or two and PLEASE DO NOT GIVE IF the animal has health problems.

[chico2]

OMG,are we starting the declawing debate all over again
It is my opinion and that of my vet,declawing is inhumane and cruel,NO cat-lover would ever consider such a horrendous deed.
Giving a cat or any other animal pain-killers meant for people is careless,but I am hoping this poor cat will eventually be fine and recover.

[krdahmer]

And....thanks to this thread I don't think Tylerbean will be returning...

[VickyK]

I probably shouldn't be butting my nose in but what the heck........Everyone who comes here obviously loves their pet enough to try and do something to help them. I know some of us have an abondance of love for animals and are tired of seeing neglect or mistreatement, but we should try and help or "guide" people so they can make better decisions or even awaken them to what they are doing wrong cause some people just plain dont know and arent doing bad things on purpose,which is why they come here to get help. So lets try and help educate them cause really when it comes down to it, I personally dont care much for the owner, but I care alot about the pet.

[Shelly]

Hi TylerBean,
I have no personal opinions or advice to add to this thread I was just wondering how your cat was doing today. Any improvement?

[dsmith]

Sooo, I suppose some of you guys are against circumcisions on babies? And, you must also be against spaying and neutering your animals because that causes a great deal of pain, too.

[moontamara]

Actually, you might be surprised to learn that not only has declawing been discussed AT LENGTH on this forum, but there is a whole thread about circumcision (comparing it to declawing) as well. Do a search. It's been done.

Edited to add: the neutering/spaying comparison has been made before as well. You're not as original as you think you are!!!

[chico2]

dsmith,after your"flattened head"post,I am not surprised at your comments..
Facts will tell you,chopping off the tip of a cats toes(joints)cannot even be compared to spay or neuter.Having cats that die,get run over and have kittens all the time,I doubt you even know how a cat reacts to spay or neuter,much less de-clawing.
Uneducated questions like yours do not deserve an answer,but yes,I am against circumcision in babies

[chico2]

While I am ranting I just wanted to add,many cruel procedures are LEGAL,that does not make it morally right.
Much to do with our outdated 100yr-old animal-cruelty-law,unlike other western countries where mutilating animals is illegal,we have a long way to go.
To the original poster,I am sorry...many cat-owners think nothing of de-clawing a cat,often regretting it later,not knowing enough about the procedure.I believe you gave your cat the meds with no ill intentions,not knowing the effect it would have and I hope kitty is fine by now

[Lucky Rescue]

This is not about circumcisions on boys OR about spay/neuter.

This is someone who had no hesitation to take a cat to the vet and spend a good amount to have that cat's claws removed for their convenience.

And this isn't even about declawing as an issue.

What it IS about is when the cat is in pain, and has been in pain for awhile, from what was done to it by these people, they would not take it to the vet and instead gave it toxic drugs. They could see the cat was in pain. Why no vet now?

This cat could have gangrene or a painful regrowth of a deformed claw or one of a host of other complications and needs medical attention.

Period.

[Lucky Rescue]

Not a sight to push your morals and beliefs on people and to bash them for what they believe

This is NOT about "morals and beliefs". This is about TAKING AN ANIMAL WHO IS IN PAIN TO THE VET and NOT giving it toxic meds. Everyone should "believe" in that. Don't you?

What is YOUR advice in this particular case?

[bbv]

Laura05

I too commend you on your post! As a newbie I have made a few posts but
I haven't in a while. I am on the forum everyday but I choose not to post, I just keep reading and keeping my opinions to myself due to the fact I don't feel like being judged, criticized or told how horrible I am because I may not feel the same way as the "regulars". Like you said it is only our opinions!

[Lucky Rescue]

If you look at the beginning of this thread, you will see that I and others (unlike you) DID give advice and information.

[glasslass]

I would rather have seen this poster ask for advice before giving their cat a human medication. So much easier to say their cat needs to see a vet and please let us know how it turns out. Why do they always just jump in and wait til things go from bad to worse to seek advice?

[Lucky Rescue]

When will you understand that the people who ask these questions that you feel are "dumb" are the people that need your help the most. Now all you are doing is scaring them off

And when will you understand that I did give advice? Have you looked? Please provide a quote where I used the word "dumb".

ONE person bashed the original poster, and any other "bashing" is coming from you.

[chico2]

I too did not know Ibuprofen was bad for cats,but then again I would never give it to my cats..it's not for cats..
As for calling anyone dumb,I fail to find it anywhere
Laura,the fact of how totally selfish and pain-ful declawing is,has been posted here on many occasions,I am sure Lucky will put it back up if you so wish.
I have 3 male cats,all neutered and if I had a female she would be spayed,no question about it,it's for everyones benefit,including the cats.
I am certainly not standing on some moral high-ground,but I draw the line at chopping off my cats toes to save a couch,if you really love your animal,you wish them no harm
I also wish the original poster would have come here for advice,before giving Ibuprofen to the cat and sincerely hope the cat is now allright declawed or not.

[Sneaky2006]

I do not have any advice for the OP, as anything I would've said, was already done.
I did not know Ibuprofen was toxic to cats, but I wouldn't ever give my cats human meds anyway.

Just one thing off topic... I really wish people coming here, that think they're not a regular, didn't think that there's some clique they don't belong to. Some people are now friends here, it is not uncommon to chat aside from this board, but let me tell you, even if that is the case, we do NOT always agree on everything as someone stated here.
One example that comes to mind... I love Chico! I think shes an awesome gal and I love reading her posts, but we do not agree (at all) about the circumcision thing.

I think what galls me the most about this board is that if you don't believe the exact same as the "regulars" here then you are bashed...

What GALLS me is that people seem to think we only have one mind, we are our own people ya know!

[chico2]

Thank's Dinah...although I would never even consider giving pain-medication without consulting my vet.I am fortunate in that my vet has evening-hours and I am not that far away from a 24/7 emergency-clinic,should anything serious happen to my cats.
Sneaky,thank's for the sweet words..and no,we don't agree on everything,except the love and care for animals and that's why we are on this Forum,right?? Some dumb-dumb brought up circumcision,totally irrelevant on this Forum

[krdahmer]

I know of someone whose vet advised to administer aspirin to an old German Shepard who had severe Hip Dysplasia....is that normal? (The dog had to be PTS eventually he was a sweet boy...even though near the end he could hardly use his back legs, he always brought you his ball and wanted to fetch...)

[Lucky Rescue]

I know of someone whose vet advised to administer aspirin to an old German Shepard who had severe Hip Dysplasia.

Yes, plain aspirin is often given to dogs. I used it for pain management in my own old dog to ease his arthritis.
Any other pain medication should not be given without advice from a vet.

Also, there are many medications that can be safely given to dogs, but not cats.