Cat Health Symptoms

What are the symptoms of cat anti-freeze poisoning?

I know, I should have her at the vet instead of trying to ask questions on Yahoo. I am a single parent that has been out of work for two weeks with the flu and will be out two more weeks from complications-plus no health insurance. My cat has not eaten in acouple days. She approaches the food as if hungry but does not eat. She has a slimey clear discharge coming out of her mouth. Please, is there anything I can do?

Public Comments

1. Take her to the vet is all that you can do. We all have our hard times, and it sucks you're sick too, but you're clearly well enough to be online, so pull yourself together, suck it up, and take her to the vet- ESPECIALLY if you suspected anti freeze poisioning, because it's fatal without treatment and there is, of course, no home cure.
2. A pet does not have to drink a lot of antifreeze to be poisoned. Most brands of commercial antifreeze consist of 95 percent ethylene glycol, an extremely toxic chemical. Even a few licks of this sweet-tasting liquid can be fatal to a cat or dog. Antifreeze poisoning occurs in two stages: In the first stage, the ethylene glycol in the antifreeze causes a drunken appearance in the animal within about 30 minutes which may continue for several hours. After passing through stage 1, the animal appears to recover. Stage 2 begins when the dog's or cats liver begins metabolizing the ethylene glycol, changing it into more toxic substances. Within 12 to 36 hours of ingestion, these metabolites have reached such a level that the dog's or cats kidneys stop functioning, and the animal slips into a coma.
3. If you cannot afford a vet, you need to take your cat to a no-kill shelter or humane society NOW or it will die poisoned. I know you love your cat but what is best- Saving her life or watch her die? Please surrender your cat and let her live!
4. You have to get her to the vet. If its anti-freeze poisoning your cat would be dead in a matter of hours. But its probably another kind of poisoning.
5. If it was anti-freeze she'd have been dead within 6 hours. What you're describing is a cat with a really awful agony in her mouth from either a broken or cracked tooth, or an infected root, or a mouth ulcer. She really needs to see a vet about this--standard checkup prices but don't wait 5 days to get her in, she's in pain right now. The slimy discharge is saliva she can't swallow, it's drool. She probably IS very hungry but the pain makes eating seem too awful. She needs antibiotics, and if necessary some teeth removed. Don't wait on this, you know how bad teeth problems are in humans, it's just as awful in cats. Antibiotics should be about $18 (just had this myself with one of our cats), and the cost of the checkup is $35 or so, depends on the vet. Have them take a GOOD look at the cat's mouth. Ulcers can be cleared up with antibiotics but a broken tooth needs to be removed.