Overdose of drontal.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Beth,

Do you know how many milligrams (mg) of drontal Lola had?

How long ago did she get it?

Has she had any flea treatments lately?

Let me know by responding to this question and in the meantime I'll look up the toxicity information for drontal.


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Dr. Marie replied:

The side effects of an overdose of praziquantel in cats are usually gastrointestinal - vomiting, diarrhea, and not wanting to eat. At really high doses, you can see weakness and wobbliness. A toxic dose for a cat is 50-100 mg/kg. On average, a 9 week old cat will weigh just over 2 lbs which is 1 kg. So, she would have received 20mg/kg which is not even half of the dose that could cause serious symptoms.

For pyrantel, you need 7 times the recommended dose to see clinical signs. The clinical signs can be an increased respiratory rate and wobbliness. Are you sure that there were 230 mg of pyrantel in the tablet? If this is the case, then it is possible that the cat had too much. The normal dose of pyrantel for a 1kg kitten would be 20mg, so Lola would have had more than 10x the recommended dose.

It's tough to know how to advise you though. I can't say I have ever seen a kitten have these type of symptoms from an overdose of dewormer. I think, unfortunately an emergency visit is the best thing if that is at all possible.

I'm worried that there could be something else going on.

I wish I had a more concrete answer for you, but it does seem like Lola should see a vet right away.

Dr. Marie replied:

I just found a case report that claims that kittens getting 10x the dose of pyrantel would only have mild vomiting as a symptom.

I really don't think this is the dewormer.

I'm wondering if perhaps Lola has a condition called a liver shunt. This could cause her to not metabolize drugs properly.

One other thought...do you have any dogs in the house that have been recently treated for fleas or ticks? The symptoms really sound like toxicity due to flea treatments. If dogs are treated with a spot on treatment and then the cat rubs on them, this can cause toxicity.

It's really tough to know how to advise you. If you absolutely can't get to a vet then really, all you can do is to keep her as quiet as possible and hope for the best. If this is a toxicity because of the dewormer, then it will *likely* wear off within 24 hours.

Dr. Marie replied:

You're very welcome. I'd love to have an update in the morning!

Hope all is well!

Dr. Marie.

Dr. Marie replied:

I'm so glad to hear that! Thanks for the update!

Dr. Marie