Permethrin poisoning in cats is a common emergency, familiar to all emergency services. Applying the wrong flea product to a cat causes seizures within minutes of treatment. The seizures can quickly lead to coma in your cat, or even death if left untreated.
A serious, even critical situation
Consult urgently even in the absence of symptoms
Symptoms of permethrin poisoning appear gradually in cats, in the first few minutes after the application of the flea treatment. The first signs are often related to your cat licking the product:
Permethrin is quickly absorbed by the body, either by licking or by spot application (pipettes between the shoulder blades) of a concentrated transdermal solution.
Symptoms generally appear within a relatively variable period of between 1 and 12 hours, in the hours following application of the medication. In some cases, the delay can be up to 72 hours.
The toxicity of the molecule causes neurological disorders that predominantly affect cats:
In addition to central neurological disorders, digestive symptoms may also appear:
In general, the clinical picture of permethrin poisoning in cats is limited to neurological signs and spasms, tremors and seizures. If your cat shows these symptoms, contact us as soon as possible at 033 0027 0670. We will arrange for our on-call vet to take care of it.
If you have accidentally used permethrin-based flea treatment on your cat, you must act quickly:
Any application of permethrin-based flea repellent must be preceded by a consultation with a vet. Outside of normal opening hours, our teams are available to provide you with the best possible support and ensure your cat makes a speedy recovery.
The prognosis for intoxication in cats is guarded. The earlier medical treatment is administered, the better the prognosis.
Once the stage of seizures and coma has been reached, the prognosis rapidly worsens. Your cat may die from this poisoning within 24 to 48 hours of the antiparasitic treatment.
To prevent the situation from getting worse, it is urgent to consult the on-call vet. A heavy treatment will be put in place:
Skin decontamination, the importance of which is too often underestimated, is the key element in the management of this poisoning:
Activated vegetable carbon limits the oral absorption of the toxic substance.
However, inducing vomiting with a view to digestive decontamination is of little interest in the case of recent ingestion, as the quantities ingested are generally small.
In order to avoid the onset of irreversible brain damage, the treatment of central neurological disorders is a priority.
As a first line of defence, diazepam can be used intravenously or intrarectally, at a rate of 0.5 to 2 mg/kg. It can also be administered as a continuous infusion, at a dose of 0.1 to 0.5 mg/kg/h, regularly checking that it does not precipitate in the solution or adsorb to the infusion tubing.
If Diazepam is not sufficiently effective, it will be necessary to resort to other molecules.
Lipid emulsions, such as Intralipid®, are useful in the management of permethrin poisoning in cats. As this molecule is lipophilic, the emulsions would cause a ‘siphoning effect’ that traps the toxic substance in the vascular compartment, thus promoting its elimination
To avoid poisoning, you must only use anti-parasite products suitable for cats. Always refer to the product label and look for the ‘For use on dogs only’ icon.
Many flea and tick products contain permethrin but are only authorised for use on dogs. Your vigilance therefore begins as soon as you purchase the parasite control product.
For total safety, we advise you to only purchase these products from a vet. By going to pharmacies, you risk applying a product that is unsuitable for your cat.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of antiparasitic products that contain permethrin and should not be used on cats:
Permethrin poisoning mainly occurs in cats following accidental administration of a dog antiparasitic product (usually a spot-on, a more concentrated product), or during close contact with a recently treated dog.
The minimum toxic dose of permethrin is unknown, but serious clinical signs and a potentially fatal outcome have been reported for a dose of 100 mg/kg. It is not currently known why cats are so sensitive to this molecule.
Permethrin is a synthetic insecticide from the pyrethroid family, generally used as an external parasite treatment. It is used in the form of spot-on, skin spray solution, shampoo, etc., which can be very concentrated and therefore dangerous.
Dogs are another type of pet that are sensitive to permethrin. Intoxication is much rarer in dogs. The effects observed are mainly digestive, possibly neurological in the event of a massive overdose, but much less serious than in cats.
