Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

My husband's accidentally killed our cat [sad]

152 replies

sadspringday · 20/04/2020 11:32

Our cat is likely going to be put down today Sad.

She is quite an anxious kitty and had had a couple of bouts of FIC (feline idiopathic cystitis) which she can get when particularly stressed which she took metacam for. She got locked in a garage for a whole day last week which set off another episode so we called the vets who prescribed the metacam. Husband gets up earliest so he usually does the food in the morning and had been doing the medicine alongside it.

A few days later she doesn't have her breakfast- not normal but not totally strange (although she does love her food). That night she was upstairs without us knowing- we usually shut them in the kitchen at night to prevent 3am kitty goo demands! The fact that she hadn't woken us and had no interest in breakfast once we found her rung major alarm bells for me and I just knew she wasn't right..

We called the vet who said bring her in immediately and blood tests showed her kidneys to be not working so they had her in over the weekend on a drip and although she's in good spirits they've not recovered so she's got 24-48h left if we leave her (I'm of the opinion that we let her go today Sad )

Turns out husband had been massively overdosing her without realising as he read the box wrong.. It's so so hard not to be so angry at him and I know we're all human and make mistakes but... I'm just so sad that she's died because someone she trusted failed her...

I guess I'm posting here because I can't tell anyone IRL that this is why she's going to die- it's not fair on husband, he already feels terrible.

I'm so sad Sad

OP posts:
oakleaffy · 20/04/2020 15:47

She gave him the dose for 35kg not 3.5kg.... we took him to the vets and he made a full recovery

This....The Decimal point is crucial. It has been misunderstood before, and gives a 10 x dose..Also some {older} people don't think in Metric, but pounds and ounces..as the were never taught metrics at school.

Toddlerteaplease · 20/04/2020 15:49

It could just be a terrible coincidence. It can happen. I can't imagine how he could have given her such a huge overdose, as it's a very small bottle and the syringe is clearly marked with weight.

TodaysFishIsTroutALaCreme · 20/04/2020 15:52

Sorry, correction to my post. I had a 3ml bottle not 15. I dont know how long a 15 ml bottle would last for

Boswello · 20/04/2020 15:53

Medication doses get fucked up all the time in hospitals by very well educated professionals. He made a dreadful error but he was the one bothering to administer the medication. We already double check each other before giving any animal/kids medication. It's a sad mistake but it's just that - a mistake.

QuimReaper · 20/04/2020 15:56

I’m not sure how he did it, if it’s one ml to one kg, who has a fifteen kg cat.

I think it's quite a bit less than that - our cats are both about 2.5kg and we normally get the 3ml Metacam bottles I think, which last a few doses. The syringe only goes up to about 5kg though, so he must have been doing multiple syringes.

Costacoffeeplease · 20/04/2020 15:59

I couldn’t forgive this either, your poor cat😢

QuimReaper · 20/04/2020 16:02

I think oakleaffy makes a good point about the metric system. When my niece was born I discovered my mum was completely clueless about kilos, if you'd told her the baby was 8kg she would have probably accepted it, as kilos just don't really mean anything to her.

Cam77 · 20/04/2020 16:08

If it was a one of kind of mistake, just move on. People die in large numbers from other people not showing due caution every day, never mind cats.

If he is always careless and does stupid shit all the time, well, then the OP is just as to blame for getting married and kids - not to mentjon letting him administer medicine! Bottom line, mistakes happen. Move on.

ALovelyBitOfSquirrel · 20/04/2020 16:15

If you have DC do not let him give them medication OP

Agreed. Scary thought.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I do all meds in the house for all pets, it's not that I don't trust DH, I do , but I would never forgive him if he did this, ever.

If he killed one of ours because he was too fucking lazy/stupid to read very important instructions, that would be bye bye from me. I'm not suggesting you LTB of course but I know I just couldn't get past it. I love them too much! 😊

Oldestchild90s · 20/04/2020 16:26

I'm so sad to read this, so sorry to hear. I've nearly done that before as instructions can be very unclear! It's made me really sad, i hope everything gets better for you all 😭

Ostanovka · 20/04/2020 16:38

So sorry for you and your lovely cat. x

slipperywhensparticus · 20/04/2020 16:46

Actually I had to triple check my cats dosage for metacam the box really isnt clear at all in cat meds

Frlrlrubert · 20/04/2020 18:04

I remember getting antibiotics (I think) for the dog once and being given a syringe graduated in kg that went up to 70 (dog was 8kg at the time) and thinking it was a recipe for disaster if someone misread.

I'm sure he feels awful, it might be worth flagging up with the vets that their labelling could be clearer so it doesn't happen again.

And Thanks for you, I'd be really struggling if it happened to me, torn between being devastated for him and furious at him.

Itwasntme1 · 20/04/2020 18:25

I once stopped my mum giving the cat her flea medication orally when it was supposed to be squirted on her skin☹️. It was years ago and she clearly hadn’t really listened to the vet, just saw a squirty syringe similar to the calpol one and went for it. We had words.

Waspnest · 20/04/2020 19:32

Well I think we must have brilliant vets compared to some of you. The prescription label on our cat's Metacam says 'Give 3 units once daily with food.' Really hard to misunderstand plus the leaflet inside explains it plus the vet nurse explains it plus the leaflet explains how important it is not to overdose. No excuses for the DH really.

Oldestchild90s · 20/04/2020 19:45

Phew, we can all sleep tonight now knowing your vet was a good one @Waspnest.

Who cares, the poor womans cat has died give her some bloody support!

Waspnest · 20/04/2020 22:29

I have given her support (have you RTFT?) I just think she's perfectly entitled to feel both absolute grief for the loss of her cat and be absolutely livid with her DH for his monumental fuck up.

Original poster
sadspringday · 21/04/2020 10:38

Thanks everyone. Very sad today and will see how we go but I haven't done or said anything rash. Hard to lose a kitty in lockdown, she was my shadow at the moment and quite enjoying the company.

OP posts:
ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/04/2020 11:00

Hugs to you today. If you can, let your grief out privately & don't bottle it up (I speak from experience). Take time to feel what you feel, honour your beautiful cat, talk to her & let her know how much you loved her & miss her - whatever you feel you want to say to her. Flowers

InfiniteSheldon · 21/04/2020 11:03

It's a very easy mistake to make with Metcam the instructions are not clear my 4k dog has a tni amount and the 4 on the syringe is about 10 times what he should have and is still a small amount

Cosmos45 · 21/04/2020 12:57

@Waspnest - my label on the metacam says the same for my dog but it's 38 units (she's a big girl) also the syringe has kg on it. I don't think it's particularly hard to misunderstand that... so 1 unit per kg.

FizzyGreenWater · 24/04/2020 13:42

Oh god, I'm so sorry.

What happened @sadspringday? I'm hoping against hope that somehow she pulled through but I am guessing not :(

FizzyGreenWater · 24/04/2020 13:43

Oh @sadspringday I'm very sorry - for some reason my page didn't show all messages so I didn't realise she had been pts.

I'm very sorry for your loss Flowers

StudentHelp · 24/04/2020 13:55

So sorry for your loss Flowers

rosiepony · 24/04/2020 13:57

Why don’t you read the thread?