Besides common poisons cats take many ordinary substances as toxic. These chemicals surround our cats and us all the time. While we try to clean the environment and control its' normal state, in respect to cats we often litter it involuntarily. Most harmful are disinfectors and insecticides. They may be of use for us but while using them we should not forget about our cats, otherwise this will affect the animals sooner or later. One should always remember this fact while applying chemicals inside his house and outside - in gardens and at farms. Not only wild animals suffer from technical achievement of rural economy. Poisons designed to combat rodents are most dangerous for a cat while taking a walk. People use very different ratsbanes and forget that the first effect is that rodents become less active, and thus become an easy prey for hunting cats. In other words, a poisoned mouse is more probable to occur in cat stomach. And it is clear that a poison that helps a cat to catch a rodent stays in its' organism. This has very serious consequences. Eating mouse of this kind may cause vomiting, froth comes out of mouth and cat staggers around having a puzzled look. Cat's pulse may get weaker, and breathe harder. Convulsions as well as bleeding may occur. If a mouse contained large dose of poison a cat may perish.
Humiliation follows a physical damage, after all, catching of mice has always been a prerogative of cats. And here is such a bad luck!
Powders and aerosols we widely use at home, for example, for grass-plot keeping, are also of danger. If a cat lays on the grass that was sprayed with liquid against weeds it may later swallow poison while licking its' haircoat. At home insecticides, disinfectors and furniture cleaners may get on a cat haircoat when it lays on the floor or any other surface. In this case a cat, overwhelmed with cleanliness licks its' hair and may bring a dose of such substance-"helper" to its' organism. Small amounts of it may not do harm but since today such sanitary measures are held on a large scale, poor domestic animals run apparent risks.
The opinion that if something is good or bad for us it is in the same way good or bad for our pets is one of our mistakes. Some anesthetics that are in request, even such common and delicate remedy like aspirin - alas! - is poisonous for cats. It accumulates in cat organism. Injections are admissible not more often than once in three days in dose of 40 mg. Humanizing our pet to such a degree so as to try to treat it with remedies assigned for people, we by our kindness may do harm. If a cat falls ill one should consult with a vet.
Sometimes on Christmas or during a party somebody may think that it would be very nice to give a "pleasure" to holder of the cat and to add some drinks into cat milk. Most cats refuse to join to party. Those tempted by booze will be very sorry soon. Such things as alcohol are harmfull even to a human organism. But human organism is at least flexible and is able to get rid effectively of different dubious substances with which we torment our long-suffering insides. At this point digestive system of cats is less strong and sometimes can't split dangerous substances that get inside it into innocuous components. A cat hardly bears both the inferiority of vegetarian diet and drinks, even not strong ones: they can cause vomiting, faint, coma. Sobriety is a norm of cat life.
At last, there is a very old natural poison that represents real danger for inexperienced cats. A young cat that decides to have a stroll in the garden at spring, with pleasure finds a prey, which is easy to catch. A clumsy jumping toad can't hide quickly. Charmed by such an inviting view a cat eagerly pounces on the prey and plunge its' teeth into it. In a second the hunter feels a pungent pain. Its' mouth becomes red and swelled. Belching and active salivation begins. An inpatient cat gets the first lesson how to live outdoors: never try to kill a toad.
Toads are slow and clumsy and to each carnivorous mammal or bird seem easy to be caught. For millions of years they have managed to survive because have learned to secrete a very strong poison, called bufotaline. It accumulates in smaller knolls on the skin of toad. Knolls don't pose hazard to human hands because release poison only if a toad is injured. When a cat or any other imprudent predator bites a toad, the poison is injected out of knolls between the clenching jaws of the hunter. The toad falls on the ground right then and hides, getting off with some easy scratches in happy case. The biggest two knolls are situated on left and right sides of its' thick neck, where teeth of cat clench when it strikes a lethal bite. These knolls are so big that look like two knobs covering eyes of toad from behind. The skin on knolls is pierced with pores, through which the poison gets in. Taking into account the fact that 20 mg of this poison is enough to kill a dog and that cats are as sensitive to this poison as dogs, it's clear that an incautious animal runs serious trouble. Probably, from here begins the proverb - "curiosity killed a cat". Fortunately, most domestic cats, when meet a toad quickly feel that it is disgusting to taste. After have tried a toad they through a writhing amphibian away at once and never repeat their mistake. Only the most bloodthirsty hunters that dig deeply into toad's neck at the very first touch, may suffer badly or perish.
And the last we'd like to warn you from. Antifreeze has a sweet taste and cats like its' smell. If a domestic cat has a chance to go inside garage, where the holder fills up the radiator with antifreeze at the beginning of winter, the animal may found a puddle of spilled liquid and lick it. Glycol may cause irreversible affection of kidneys. A cat may fall into a deep coma. Puddles of antifreeze most often occur under the car. Since they are hard to notice and uneasy to reach with a cloth the liquid is very likely not to be wiped out. Unfortunately, narrow space under car is much more available for a cat which has a small body.
In case of a morbid event in animal we most often suspect microbes and infections, while chemical poisoning happened by chance could be the real reason.
Translated by Tatiana Karpova (Moscow)
(MSU, Biology faculture, Dep. zoology and ecology).