Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In My Cat

[Cassie&Sassy]

Hi all!
I’m need to send out an URGENT message about CO poisoning in my cat and my home! I live in a studio apartment with my 3 year old ragdoll kitty. I went out of town for 24 hours and came home to a very sick girl!

Her symptoms included;
wobbly walking, confusion, sleeping all the time, not cleaning herself, zero playful activity, decreased appetite, dehydration, weight loss, hiding in new places, passing out, falling over, facial twitches, dilated pupils, stiff limbs, possible stroke, sneezing, trouble breathing, hot pink gums and nose.

I took her to the vet and was told her blood work came back clean. I had NO answers! The vet was NO help! My heart was breaking for weeks not knowing what to do for her. She was slipping away right before my eyes.

After ALL my research I finally came to the conclusion it MUST be the gas stove I have! I turned the gas line off and sure enough it’s now been two days and she is back to herself! This is a SILENT KILLER! Please always have a CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR in your home and check it often! All I was experiencing was headaches and sneezing.

Thank you for reading!

 

[silkenpaw]

Thank you for the warning. Did you document a high CO (Carbon monoxide) level in your apartment? I'm glad your kitty is better.

 

[maggiedemi]

Thank you so much for the warning! I don't have a gas stove, but if I ever move to an apartment with one, I will be careful.

 

[MRG2018]

Hi all!
I’m need to send out an URGENT message about CO poisoning in my cat and my home! I live in a studio apartment with my 3 year old ragdoll kitty. I went out of town for 24 hours and came home to a very sick girl!

Her symptoms included;
wobbly walking, confusion, sleeping all the time, not cleaning herself, zero playful activity, decreased appetite, dehydration, weight loss, hiding in new places, passing out, falling over, facial twitches, dilated pupils, stiff limbs, possible stroke, sneezing, trouble breathing, hot pink gums and nose.

I took her to the vet and was told her blood work came back clean. I had NO answers! The vet was NO help! My heart was breaking for weeks not knowing what to do for her. She was slipping away right before my eyes.

After ALL my research I finally came to the conclusion it MUST be the gas stove I have! I turned the gas line off and sure enough it’s now been two days and she is back to herself! This is a SILENT KILLER! Please always have a CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR in your home and check it often! All I was experiencing was headaches and sneezing.

Thank you for reading!

Use those kid proof clips for the knobs of your stove. It prevents any such incidence in the future.

 

[LTS3]

If you rent an apartment or home, it is the landlord's responsibility to install properly working smoke and CO detectors and to check them at least twice yearly to make sure they are working and to replace the batteries. Even hard wired detectors need batteries as a back up. Many smoke and CO detectors "expire" after 10 years or so. Some just go faulty after a couple of years. If you're not sure how old your detectors are, ask the landlord to check and replace them if needed. Make it a point to have all the smoke and CO detectors replaced by the landlord before moving into a new rental apartment or home.

If you have sources of gas in the home (hot water tank, heating system, stove, etc) have the landlord check on those yearly, too.

Child safety knobs are great for gas stoves to prevent a curious cat from accidentally turning the stove on Newer stoves might require the knob to be pushed in firmly before it can be turned but old ones don't have this feature.

 

[artiemom]

There is also a portable, battery powered CO2 monitor/alarm which can be place anywhere.. not very expensive, the batteries last a long time...

Landlord is responsible for CO2 monitoring... make sure you have monitors installed... against the law, not to....

 

[Margret]

I hate to quibble, but CO2 is not Carbon Monoxide; it's Carbon Dioxide. You need a CO monitor, not a CO2 monitor.

CO2 is always present - we breathe it out - and isn't inherently dangerous the way CO is. Carbon dioxide is only dangerous if it means that there's not enough oxygen in the air. Carbon monoxide, on the other hand, latches on to red blood cells the same way oxygen molecules do, and then doesn't let go. That's why the body tends to go bright pink; all that "oxygenated" (NOT) blood. It takes a great deal of time to completely recover from carbon monoxide poisoning; basically all the poisoned red blood cells have to die off and be replaced by new, healthy red blood cells. You can speed the process along somewhat by getting a diet high in iron, or taking iron supplements.

Margret

 

[LTS3]

Typo fixed

 

[ineedhelpnow]

Always, always make sure to have a carbon monoxide detector and test it monthly to make sure it's working.

Take note: Sources of carbon monoxide include

Cars accidentally left running in the garage
Clothes dryers
Water heaters
Furnaces or boilers
Fireplaces, both gas and wood burning
Gas stoves and ovens
Motor vehicles
Grills, generators, power tools, lawn equipment
Wood stoves
Tobacco smoke, or any other smoke for that matter (burning food)

We had a close call with the fireplace a few winters ago. We were very lucky to notice the headaches and put out the fire and open all the windows before we went to sleep.

 

[artiemom]

I hate to quibble, but CO2 is not Carbon Monoxide; it's Carbon Dioxide. You need a CO monitor, not a CO2 monitor.

CO2 is always present - we breathe it out - and isn't inherently dangerous the way CO is. Carbon dioxide is only dangerous if it means that there's not enough oxygen in the air. Carbon monoxide, on the other hand, latches on to red blood cells the same way oxygen molecules do, and then doesn't let go. That's why the body tends to go bright pink; all that "oxygenated" (NOT) blood. It takes a great deal of time to completely recover from carbon monoxide poisoning; basically all the poisoned red blood cells have to die off and be replaced by new, healthy red blood cells. You can speed the process along somewhat by getting a diet high in iron, or taking iron supplements.

Margret

Opps... was never good in Chemistry....