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Pet and Mothballs
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Campers Monthly,
Northeast Region
April 2001 Traditionally
used to prevent clothing from being eaten by moth larvae, mothballs are
also scattered in backyards to repel deer, raccoons and other wild
animals. But unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped domestic animals from
getting into this toxic household product. According
to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), the ingestion of just
one mothball can cause serious problems in dogs and cats.
Symptoms include vomiting, lethargy, seizures and blood disorders.
Kidney failure and coma can develop in severe cases. “Mothballs
are supposed to repel animals, but they don’t always,” says APCC’s
Jill A. Richardson, DVM, who remembers an emergency call from a pet owner
who reported that her cat had bluish gums and seemed very depressed. “The
owners mentioned that they had sprinkled some mothballs around an opened
closet, and their son said he saw the cat lick some of them,” says
Richardson. The owners were
instructed to bring their pet to the local animal hospital, and the
veterinarian there consulted the APCC for recommended treatment – which
included, in this case, medication, blood transfusions and oxygen therapy,
“as the cat’s blood was not carrying oxygen well,” explains
Richardson. Treatment
continued for several days, and the cat was later released to her owner. To
prevent this from happening in your home or backyard, always keep
mothballs in areas that aren’t accessible to pets, and keep in mind that
the most dangerous mothballs are the old-fashioned type, which contain
100-percent naphthalene. Paradichlorvos is a safer type to use,” says Richardson. And if you suspect that your pet has ingested a mothball – or any other potentially dangerous substance – call your veterinarian or the APCC’s emergency hotline at 1-888-4-ANIHELP for round-the-clock telephone assistance. For more information on poison prevention, visit their website at: http://www.apcc.aspca.org
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