[Swordmaker]

I lost one of my cats this weekend. Thaddeus P. Cat died at age 12 of what appears to be the symptoms of onion poisoning. . . His breath smelled strongly of onions and he passed away about twelve hours later. I suspect he got some Thanksgiving leftovers with some turkey stuffing heavy with powdered onion from one of the neighbors. Most people don’t know about how highly toxic onions are for felines. As little as one gram per pound of cat weight is fatal. A cat will not eat a raw onion but will eat cooked or sautéed onions especially if they’ve been mixed with other food, as once cooked they are much more tasty.

The same chemical in onions that cause tears in our eyes is the culprit in killing cats. We humans have an enzyme that breaks it down that cats and canines lack. Yes, onion can kill dogs too, but it takes a larger dose to do it. That chemical will bind with the red blood cells in a cat or dog’s blood and prevent it from binding oxygen. The animal’s immune system responds by killing the red blood cells, which then overwhelms the oxygen starved liver and kidneys. Meanwhile the cat is trying to purge from both ends, further weakening it.

The only treatment is whole volume blood transfusion before symptoms start if you know your pet has ingested onion, a difficult thing to know, and support with oxygen for the few healthy blood cells left.

Symptoms start about ten hours after ingestion, too late to do much, except support and hope the chemical will be metabolized quickly enough and the cat is strong enough for his/her blood marrow to replace the killed red blood cells quickly enough for your pet to survive and recover.

[dainbramaged]

Very sorry to hear that.

[lysie]

:-(

[zeugma]

Didn’t know that Sword. Sorry to hear about your cat’s passing. Pets are a gift from God to teach us things that we don’t necessarily learn from people.