Cats are naturally curious creatures. When it comes to warm things, cats are instinctively drawn to them due to their desire to be warm. One cat owner named Maddie Smith out of New Zealand, recently learned this harsh reality. The vet hospital that saved her cat’s life took to social media to warn other cat owners of the potentially deadly dangers of salt lamps.
In recent years, these lamps have skyrocketed in popularity. Many people boast about their health benefits, and they add a nice touch to the decor of any home. But there are hidden dangers to these lamps that many cat owners do not carefully consider prior to purchasing them, just as Maddie fell victim to.
These popular pinkish Himalayan salt lamps are potentially deadly to both cats and dogs alike…
Rose Avenue Vet Hospital out of New South Wales shared on their Facebook page the cat’s plight, and thankfully, a happy ending.
Here is a copy and paste from their Facebook post:
*****WARNING ABOUT SALT LAMPS!!*******
Written by Maddie Smith of NZ (case happened in NZ at First Vets): Please please pleeease if any of you out there have salt lamps, KEEP THEM OUT OF YOUR FURRY FRIENDS REACH!
We woke up on Wednesday morning to our darling Ruby walking really strangely and had her head in an odd position as she walked. We initially thought this was just because she was so cold so we got her nice and toasty and left for work as usual. Wednesday afternoon Clayton arrived home from work and she had deteriorated dramatically so we rushed her to the vets.
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The vets were extremely concerned for her and could see she definitely had neurological problems because she simply could not walk properly, could not hear or see, couldn’t even eat or drink properly because she couldn’t function her tongue the best. Her basic senses and abilities GONE in 12 hours. She was so helpless ☹️
So the vets ran some tests and they were all good, no worries. Until her blood arrived back this morning, and she had extremely high sodium levels in her blood.
So this severe salt poisoning had caused her brain to swell, and ultimately the neurological problems that followed.
The salt poisoning was caused by just your normal salt lamp that we had in our lounge, Ruby has ingested the salt by simply licking the lamp (we didn’t realise obviously). This is usually more common in dogs so this was a huge shock, and their first case they have seen with a cat. Salt poisoning is EXTREMELY deadly to animals and she is basically a miracle to still be here now. These salt lamps are addictive to animals, and if they get a taste it becomes just like potato chips are to us! So please please keep these out of reach from your fur babies. Ruby still has a long road to recovery but we are so glad she’s still here with us, with the right nutrition and hydration we should have her back to normal. Ruby wouldn’t be here today without the help of First Vets who have helped her with every hurdle we have faced with our Ruby the past 11 months we have had her. She’s a fighter that’s for sure!
Hopefully sharing this might help educate others on just how deadly these lamps can be if the salt is ingested. I know mine’s not staying in our house that’s for sure.
So what does this tell us? If you do choose to have a salt lamp in your home, ALWAYS keep it out of reach of your feline and canine friends. But if you’d rather be safe and not sorry, you should play it safe and ditch them all together.
We would like to wish little Ruby the best on her road to a speedy recovery! And please, pass this info along, it could help save a life!
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