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| Did you know topical medications for humans can be toxic to pets? Cats in particular may groom these products off themselves or their owners. |
Are you careful to protect
your pets against accidental exposure when you apply medicated creams to
yourself or family members?
The US based Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) recently warned pet owners of risks associated with topical painmedications containing the NSAID flurbiprofen.
The FDA issued the warning
after receiving reports of probable flurbiprofen toxicity in cats in two
households where the owners used these preparations on themselves to treat
pain. In the affected households, the owners applied the cream or lotion on
their own neck or feet.
While it is not known how
the cats were exposed to the medication there are a couple of possibilities.
The drug may have been groomed directly off the owner, or the owner’s clothing
or bed-linnn. Alternatively it may have been indirectly exposed to the cats’
fur when they sat on or near the owner, or on or near objects that had been in
contact with the owner’s treated body parts, then groomed the drug off
themselves. Or it may have been absorbed through the skin.
In addition to flurbiprofen
the products implicated contain muscle relaxants (cyclobenzaprine and baclofen)
and analgesics (gabapentin, lidocaine or prilocaine). Flurbiprofen is used in
eye preparations for companion animals in some countries, but at very low
concentrations. The concentrations on the topical product used to treat muscle
pain in humans are much, much higher.
In one household two cats
developed renal failure and recovered with treatment. Somehow this was
associated with the flurbiprofen as the FDA included this in the alert.
In another household, two
cats died after showing signs including inappetence, lethargy, vomiting, melena
(black, tarry stools), anaemia and dilute urine – consistent with renal
failure. A third cat died after the owner had ceased using the medication –
although it’s not known if this was delayed onset or due to ongoing exposure by
some route. Necropsies showed evidence of renal and gastrointestinal pathology
that were consistent with NSAID toxicity. Pretty devastating for these owners.
The FDA has provided thefollowing consumer advice for uses of topical pain medications containing
flurbiprofen, but this is good advice to follow in general when it comes to
topical medications.
This is not the first time
topical preparations for humans have been implicated in companion animal
fatalities. Minoxidil, the active ingredient in a hair growth promotor, has
been associated with fatal acute heart failure in cats. Diclofenac gel which is
commonly used in humans is also toxic to companion animals.
Always wash your hands after
applying topical preparations, don’t let your pets groom you after applying any
sort of topical preparation, and avoid leaving residues on clothing and furniture.
Remember that companion
animals are not small humans. What is an appropriate dose of a drug in a human
might be a highly toxic dose in an animal.
