NEWS: SMH - 01/09/07 'Eastern suburbs cat high on cocaine'

[hoptis]

Eastern suburbs cat high on cocaine
September 1, 2007 - 6:49AM

A cat in Sydney's eastern suburbs was taken to a vet high on cocaine and benzodiazepines.

The eight-month-old Himalayan cat arrived at the Double Bay clinic on Monday morning with dilated pupils and a racing heart after being accidentally locked in a cupboard overnight, Fairfax newspapers reported.

It was having trouble walking, was easily startled, paced incessantly and was too anxious to have a thermometer inserted into its rectum, said a report in this month's edition of Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

The owner was adamant the cat had not been exposed to drugs, mouldy food or toxic plants.

But when the vet phoned the owner's wife, she admitted the cat could have licked "plates of cocaine" which had been served at a dinner party two days earlier.

A drug screen also revealed benzodiazepines in the cat's system.

The owner was counselled and allowed to take the cat home as there is no legal requirement for vets to report such cases to the police.

Sydney Morning Herald

PS. Intentionally giving drugs to animals is not cool, if you feel the need to share a story about when this happened... please don't.

 

[Splatt]

I dont know about cats but with dogs on valium and other benzos they apparently show signs of excitement, and not sedation or anti-anxiety, as shown in humans, which can lead to death pretty easy. They do give dexxies to dogs though to calm them down.

 

[peaked]

I wonder what they mean by plates of cocaine. Even for a cat, wouldn't a reasonable dose (i.e. more than just a few mg left over) need to be consumed orally for it to work? Or would the cat be far more susceptible to the drug?

I'd originally thought that a cat or a dog would need far less of a dose for drugs, however, one of my dogs (before she passed away) was prescribed valium at a dose of 10mg, which is pretty much the same dose a human would have.

Don't get me wrong, by no means do I have any intention of giving an illicit drug to an animal (regardless of the size of the dose) but I'm just merely curious - would the cat have needed to eat a few lines (thus showing extra carelessness on the owners behalf) or merely just licked up a few crumbs left over?

 

[Splatt]

Pot seeds are very good for birds.

 

[Chronik Fatigue]

I'd originally thought that a cat or a dog would need far less of a dose for drugs, however, one of my dogs (before she passed away) was prescribed valium at a dose of 10mg, which is pretty much the same dose a human would have.

My friend dated a vet and, yea, the dose for dogs is higher than humans. I wanna get me some doggy valium :D

 

[static_mind]

How exactly does a doggie get a script for Valium...

 

[koggi]

quote

"PS. Intentionally giving drugs to animals is not cool, if you feel the need to share a story about when this happened... please don't"

Agreed. Though i remember listening to helen razor(spelling?) on jjj many years ago and this asshole went on about giving his dog a trip. She chastised him of course. later this other dude rings in saying "yeh, giving drugs to animals is a shitty thing to do, but do u know what i hate? When u got no weed and its real dry out there and your cat goes out and comes back a couple of hours later wasted as"

 

[Splatt]

How exactly does a doggie get a script for Valium...

Pain and muscle problems I'd assume.
I think they give them dexamphetamine for being little pricks tearing the place apart.

 

[zagzig]

I wonder what they mean by plates of cocaine. Even for a cat, wouldn't a reasonable dose (i.e. more than just a few mg left over) need to be consumed orally for it to work? Or would the cat be far more susceptible to the drug?

I guess it would depend on how much of a habit said feline had.

Cocaine is a fairly powerful drug. One source (Oral cocaine: plasma concentrations and central effects) says 2 mg per kg (orally) results in similar peak plasma concentrations to intranasal administration (in humans).

and a cat weighs, what, a couple of kilos? So, assuming cats metabolise coke in a similar way to people, not very much at all would be needed for effect.

What I want to know is how the owner managed to transport the animal to the vet in the first place, I mean, can you imagine getting a coked-up cat into an animal carrier...

 

[drazz]

I couldn't stop laughing and then feeling bad for the cat at the same time in this article. Typical thing for cat to do, but not really fair on the cat.