Kitten Emergency - Possible Link To Profender Overdose

[Lilly P]

Hi,

I was hoping to get some urgent advice about my 7 month old kitten. She was given Profender in Feb and was given an accidental overdose by the vet, she was given the dose for medium cats rather than small cats (her weight would fit the small cat dose). Everything was fine until two days after when my kitten started getting severe muscle spasms through her body that were driving her mental. She was trying to bite off her tail and was throwing herself against the walls as she was so distressed. We took her to the emergency vets who said she thinks it has nothing to do with profender despite me raising the neurotoxicity issue and said if it was that it would have been an immediate reaction. As the days went on the spasms reduced in frequency, she continued to still spasm but only a few times a day and my kitten wasn't bothered by it anymore. I reported it to the yellow card scheme and spoke to Bayer as well who of course would not admit liability and just simply said that if it was the Profender that caused it, then it would simply spontaneously resolve.

Fast forward to this week. My kitten had reduced appetite for a few days. She threw up on Wed morning and we took her to the vets who said she had an extremely high temperature, she has also lost 300g in 2 weeks and so she sent off for a blood test. Results came back that she has extremely low White blood cell count and that she required emergency treatment. She has been admitted to a hospital and has been in for 24 hours. They are conducting multiple tests and said it's just a process of elimination as her symptoms are very general. 3 feline viruses have been ruled out and we are waiting on the results of multiple other tests still. Meanwhile she still has a temperature although it has reduced slightly, won't eat and is on Iv fluids and syringe food. Meningitis, toxoplasmosis, fip have all been mentioned as possible diagnosis.

I am convinced there is a link between this and the profender. I was really hoping somebody would know something more about this and may be able to help me find a link. I am absolutely distraught and want to do everything I can to save my kitten.

I appreciate all of your help in advance x

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I know nothing about this but wanted to assure you that you are not alone and that others will be here soon with better answers. I am so very sorry you and your precious kitten are going through this. We have other members who have gone through similar horror stories. My thoughts are with you both. Lots of until someone with experience spots this!

 

[foxxycat]

sending vibes to your baby! I don't have any experience but I wanted to let you know sending healing vibes to your baby!

 

[LTS3]

I believe kittens mom had a similar experience with a vet who ODd the cat. She may be able to suggest ways to hold the vet accountable for what is happening to your cat.

There are TCS threads on Profender. Here are a few:

Profender - Is it safe?
Profender??
Profender for cats? Your opinion is needed.

The second link in particular has a few posts about negative reactions to Profender.

 

[mingsmongols]

It is very possible that the symptoms she experienced in February we're the result of an overdose. That however has nothing to do with what's going on now. Your kitten has a severe infection of some kind, her immune system is either not responding or has been overwhelmed. I hope you find the culprit soon.

 

[kittens mom]

I believe kittens mom had a similar experience with a vet who ODd the cat. She may be able to suggest ways to hold the vet accountable for what is happening to your cat.

There are TCS threads on Profender. Here are a few:

Profender - Is it safe?
Profender??
Profender for cats? Your opinion is needed.

The second link in particular has a few posts about negative reactions to Profender.

For the veterinarian to be accountable the product has to be used outside the parameters set and even then veterinarians are allowed a great deal of laxity in how a drug is used.
I had several interesting dialogs on the phone with veterinarians and reps at both Bayer and Putney. They will deny any liability for their product. That said one quick google says there is a great deal of incidental evidence that the issues are more widespread than reported.
profender – HartzVictims.org
I'm confused as it only seems to be for worms and it seems that would be best administered orally rather than absorbed through the entire system ?
I hope you get some answers soon.

 

[kittens mom]

I just seen where the veterinarian gave the wrong dose. Sorry. In this case you can go online and find your states Veterinary Board , all of them have a complaint process. You can also make a report with your states Attorney General.
As we learned after our overdose comprised systems in a cat can look normal until they are critical. Not all damage is on the spot.
You can also do your own adverse effects report How to Report Animal Drug Side Effects and Product Problems
You will need to obtain your cats complete medical record. Vets usually only hand out the summary. By law almost all states require the veterinarian comply or face a penalty.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

How is this baby doing today? Any new news on what the issue is?

 

[Lilly P]

Thank you so much for all of your kind replies. This is my first experience on the forum and I am so glad I have found you guys. We had an awful 24 hours. My cat is very sensitive (exotic shorthair) and so she was absolutely distressed being in the hospital ward so close to other dogs and so much loud noises. She wouldn't eat or drink and they had to syringe feed her and put her on an iv drip and antibiotics. We explained to them that we know she's not well but she is so anxious and distressed there which is not good for a sick cat that perhaps if she was at home she would at least be relaxed and we could coax her into eating. After a lot of fuss we managed to get her in a private room there overnight. Her temperature came down over night and remained stable through the day time today. They then agreed it wouldn't be right for her to stay in hospital so anxious so they discharged her. They warned us she probably wouldnt eat for the rest of the day as they had syringe fed her and she would be stressed. We got her home a few hours ago and she immediately as soon as she was out of her carrier started eating and drinking! it was amazing to see. She is currently on antibiotics, the doctor gave her an injection which lasts 24hours and we are to go back in tomorrow for an injection which lasts 48hrs. We are still waiting on more results, toxiplasmosis I believe and if they rule that out then they will start testing for meningitis. They have ruled out FIV, parvovirus, FeCoV as tests came back as negative. They have also done the urine test dip stick analysis and sediment and said it was within normal range. They also did a very quick basic ultrasound and said she doesn't have a uterus disease and her chest looked fine. I have got a printout of her results so if that would help please let me know.

Thank you so much once again, I know this is probably going to be a long road ahead and that she's still not well but I am crying with joy just seeing her walk around the house exploring and eating and drinking. Complete opposite to how she was in hospital 24 hours ago.

 

[kittens mom]

There are some members that are excellent at reading test results. Glad your cat is home and eating and drinking.

 

[Lilly P]

 

[Lilly P]

Please see results above. The handwritten ones were because they said they were tested 'in house' so could not print those out. I hope this helps and I am sorry if this isn't the right place to post them, please let me know and I can remove them if so.