1-13-09 e-mail:  

"My cat was poisoned by professional carpet cleaning"
Ziggy Nobarr <nobarrziggy@yahoo.com>   e-mail does not work 11/2009

Margaret,
I have read comments from people whose pets have been seemingly poisoned from carpet cleaning products. I believe my cat was just recently subject to the effects of these toxins and I WANT ANSWERS and CHANGE IN POLICY TO PREVENT THIS FROM CONTINUING.

My carpet was cleaned by a local company 3 weeks ago and my cat just died 5 days ago. I am VERY INTERESTED in pursuing a class action suit. I was told the chemicals to be used on my carpet were safe for pets and we followed all of their instructions. My cat was a Maine coon....similar to Persian with long hair and hairy paws that would pick up residue from the carpet leading to ingestion of residues while grooming.

She had routine lab work in late August 2008 which was all normal. She had never been sick in her life. Last week she became progressively weak ...dramatic decrease in function over 2-3 days. The lab work at the veterinarian's office showed she had acute liver and kidney failure. She had black diarrhea the day prior to her death which likely means it contained blood. She also had severe vomiting. She died in my arms having rigors/tics and then respiratory failure at the veterinarian's office. She received the best care to no avail. She will be having an autopsy and specimens of several organs will be sent to a pathologist for detailed analysis. Tomorrow I plan to obtain the chemical list from the local carpet cleaning company and this will be scrutinized by our Dept of health toxicology division. My carpet samples will be analyzed for contents that match toxic chemicals in carpet cleaning solutions. I am looking for others with similar experience to stand up. My cat and many others' have suffered horrific deaths.

THIS MISINFORMATION "SAFE FOR PETS" MUST BE STOPPED! I still have a short hair cat with elevated liver enzymes and and reduced kidney function. Again, she had normal liver function in 3/08. Of course I am looking into getting my carpet recleaned with "a safe method" immediately. I would like anyone interested in going forward to e-mail me at nobarrziggy@yahoo.com.

Please post this and if you know how to reach the person looking for another person or two to stand up with him, please let me know. I want to contact him ASAP. My husband and I are interested in going forward with him and hope that anyone else with similar experience will come forward and contact us. Thank you!

Discuss:  more: Severe liver damage & renal failture for Ziggy comment 1-17
 
 
more: Severe liver damage & renal failure for Ziggy comment 1-17-09

We had 2 cats, Ziggy and Lexie. Ziggy, was 14 1/2 yrs old and perfectly healthy with complete lab evaluation 8/28/08 and all quite normal.  Lexie, 12 yrs old, had hyperthyroidism and mild kidney failure for approx 2 years, but normal liver tests. 

Our carpet was cleaned on 12/12/08.  We were assured all the products were safe and nontoxic. I had some nausea, abdominal pain, headache, and dizziness the night of the cleaning and had to leave our home for a few hours while the fans aired the house out.  Our cats were locked in a room that had not been cleaned. Once the carpet was dried, they were let out onto the cleaned carpet. The cats showed no ill effects initially, and we soon forgot all about the carpet cleaning.

 
In retrospect, Ziggy's appetite had declined somewhat approx 2 weeks later.  Her coat didn't look quite as good by 3weeks later. We did not notice any significant change in  her activity level until a sudden decline  1/6/09.  Labs showed severe liver damage and kidney failure as well. She was weak, vomiting profusely, and had diarrhea. She suffered terribly and died a horrible death on January 9, 2009.  The veterinarian asked me a few times if she had been exposed to any toxins/chemicals, which I initially denied since I was told all the products on my carpet were said to be safe and nontoxic and we followed all the instructions on keeping cats off carpet until dry. The vet said she went downhill much too fast for typical illnesses. 

Also noticed about the same time, Lexie was losing weight but her appetite had increased--typical signs of hyperthyroidism.  Her labs showed her thyroid levels were very high even though she was getting her medicine. Of special note, her liver enzymes were elevated, but not nearly as high as Ziggy's (Ziggy's were 10 x higher).  At this point Lexie has been kept off the carpet for 11 days and lab results from yesterday show her liver enzymes are heading back toward normal.  She also is responding better to her medicine and her thyroid levels have come back down to normal. ( Likely, the toxins made her medicine get cleared from her body faster so her thyroid levels were allowed to rise.) 

 
We are convinced that it was indeed the toxins in the carpet cleaner or the stain resistant product (also supposed to be nontoxic) that is reponsible for Ziggy's death and liver effects in Lexie. I think Ziggy was more affected because she was more active so getting more exposure to the carpet. Additionally she had longer hair and large hairy paws that she groomed constantly.  I think she was poisoned bit by bit as she ingested more everyday.  Today I have found a website for a veterinary school that specializes in post mortem analysis/toxicology and I hope they can help to build a very strong case.

 
 We are hoping a number of people will come forward with their accounts/ suspicions of carpet cleaning product causing illnesses/fatalities in cats.  Otherwise, it will be said that very few cats seem to be sensitive and warning labels etc are not really necessary.  Veterinarians in general seem to be unaware of these toxins in carpet cleaning products and consequently do not ask people for history of these products when a pet presents with sudden kidney/liver failure. So this issue is likely MUCH more widespread than it seems.  The more cases collected,  more likely change in policy/ labeling / warnings will occur. Can you please provide an account of what happened with your cat ? and would you be willing to participate in a class action suit or testify if it comes to that ?  I really don't know what will be asked of the group of pet owners.  If you know anyone else who has a similar experience, please ask them to come forward.

Thank you,
Angela 

I agree:  ALL glycol ether in any products should be disclosed * 

Tell Congress!  *

really weak ... ?  This is the ANEMIA ... white count was elevated (also an anemia sign) such as I suspect for Senator Robert Byrd *  (Ted Kennedy, too?)
 

On Sun, Jan 18, 2009, Ziggy Nobarr <nobarrziggy@yahoo.com> wrote:

I understand why you ask, and believe me, we have gone over this a million times in our heads and in conversations trying to figure out what we missed. We feel like if we had noticed something a little sooner, maybe she could have been saved. I remember her meow was a little different and approx a week prior to her decline, she lost her voice for approx 3 days. Lexie had been sneezing a lot so I thought they had a little cold. I just couldn't figure out how they got it. (NEVER outside) Ziggy had never had a cold prior as far as I can remember and Lexie rarely ever sneezed. I did notice some diarrhea in the kitty litter box for a few days prior to that as well as some vomit on the carpet. I thought it was Lexie since she has hyperthyroidism and she was taken to the vet on 1/5/09. Lexie did not have diarrhea or vomiting though. When we got home from work late on 1/6 Ziggy was weak and she had had diarrhea and had not eaten. I called the vet (my Dad) and we planned to take her in the next morning. We live 1.5 hrs from there. She did not want to eat her cat food (always Purina-one of few brands not on melamine recall list). She did eat a container of vanilla activia yogert--so I was comforted by that. Later that night she vomited that up. At 6am 1/7 (Thurs) I left to take her in. She was still alert, just really weak.

Her AST was 3x nl and ALT was 33x normal . Her white count was elevated and she had high neutrophils and basophils. She had blood in her urine and dark tarry stool---likely blood but this was not tested. There was no frankly red blood in her stools. Her BUN was approx 3x nl despite no food in her bowel. Creatinine was 1.5 x normal. Basically acute liver injury and severe dehydration and renal failure. Red blood cell morphology was normal- as well as bilirubin-so no real sign of hemolytic anemia. Hematacrit was upper normal---but note that she was dehydrated so this would appear higher than true level. Glucose was approx 2x nl (can occur with severe stress). She was getting Subcutaneous fluids but made little urine. Most of the fluid accumulated in her GI tract and she continued violently vomiting. She was given an antiemetic approx 5:30 pm. She remained alert until approx 6pm 1/9. Then she became less alert, more somnolent. She had increasing frequency of facial tics, pupils became more dilated and eyes tracked back n forth laterally--almost like REM sleep. Approx 7:30pm she had a full body spasm/almost seizure like activity. After that she really became more sedated. At 11:30 pm she began breathing hard and had small amounts of fluid bubbling in her nostrils. Her muscles began contracting and her limbs stiffened. Her respirations decreased and we pet and talked to her to keep her stimulated. Then all her muscles tightened, almost in a wave a she vomited one last time and her breathing stopped for the last time. Her heart stopped approx 60 sec later, approx 11:50 pm Fri 1/9/09.
 

She had become less interested in her food and possibly a little less spunky over the couple weeks prior to her rapid decline. She had lost weight, more than would be explained by simple dehydration, but we had not really noticed that at the time ( this demonstrates a prolonged effect of decreased food intake ...not just a few days acute issue). Some of these chemicals take awhile to build up in the blood before significant damage occurs and I think that is what happened in her case. I think as the toxin accumulated and damage increased, her appetite waned. Again, I think in this case, her exposure was most likely a residue on the carpet that did not come up with vacuuming and she continued to ingest it with grooming over the subsequent weeks. When she got to the point she was so nauseated, she could no longer hold down liquid or solids, she declined rapidly. Further support of a residue on the carpeting is that the other cat, Lexie, had increased liver enzymes that are resolving now that she has been kept off the carpet completely. All liver panels had been normal prior to this. There are likely more toxins in carpet cleaners than the 2 butoxyethanol. We will definitely include this on the list to test for given your information. As you probably know, it is not listed in the cleaning products used in our house---of course that means nothing. I am positive there were no other exposures. These are indoor cats we have had for 10 and approx 15 yrs, in this house for 5 yrs. There is nothing else to get into in this house. We will be getting to the bottom of this soon with reputable detailed analysis. We plan to seek legal counsel. I will tell you all I can when I am permitted to do so. We will also be contacting veterinary societies, medical societies, and politicians if this is validated.
 
And Nancy's Persian Cat  *
And Karen's cat  *

 

THE anemia does not show up as doctors expect it to,

too many autoimmune issues going on at the same time cancel out some issues 

another cause of high white blood cell counts. *  *

a cold? *
or more serious flu symptoms are signs of MORE exposure to glycol ether
(of which 2-butoxyethanol is the one you will find half the time).

 

Glycol Ether Exposure 'looks like' the flu
http://www.valdezlink.com/re/flu/swine/glycolether.htm