# A long, sad tale



## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

I think Arianwen lost one of her lives recently. It was about three weeks ago, when I took her to a local groomer. 
It is only now I'm able to recount this story without crying my eyes out. Read on, and you'll understand why.

Arianwen had a couple of mats in her coat, and I felt a little flea dirt when petting her soft fur. So, with every good intention, I brought the love of my life to Pet Depot, only a couple miles/minutes away. She was an angel, getting into her carrier without protesting, and riding calmly in the passenger seat, facing me inside her belted-in carrier. She watched the world, cuddled up on the nice, soft towel lining I had arranged for her.

When we arrived at Pet Depot, I looked around and suspiciously noted the lack of feline clientele. But, when Rebecca, the groomer, began oohing over how beautiful Arianwen is and how soft her coat is, I dismissed my suspicions as just a statistical anomaly. It happened to be a day no one took a cat to the groomer, nothing more.

Rebecca started by clipping Arianwen's claws, which I didn't really like but let her continue because she was doing a good job. She was being gentle and very careful not to cut the quick in Arianwen's little 'fingers'. 

She clipped the two mats, doing a patchy job, but getting those mats off my baby so she could be comfortable was more important.

Rebecca gave Arianwen a flea dip shampoo that smelled kind of strong. I commented on the smell, but Rebecca said this the "standard" flea dip all groomers use. Upon my further protest, she said she had used this product on cats before with no problem. There would just be "a little oily residue," and that would be "gone in a couple of days". 

Later that day, Arianwen "told" me she did not like the oily residue left in her coat. She "said" it was dirty and smelled bad. Several hours later I understood why my laid-back little sweetheart was complaining. 

She called me after I had gone to bed, about 2-am, and I could see was not doing well. She wasn't walking normally, and was starting to tremble all over. Having no money for an emergency vet, I gently tried to wash the residue off her coat as best I could. After, I let her lay in one of her favorite chairs. Sitting on the floor in front of the chair I fed her some treats from my hand, crying as I softly petted her with the other hand. 
Then, I laid my head on the cushion next to her and sobbed away, thinking I was baby-sitting this precious, sweet kitty for the last time. The future seemed all dark and hopeless, as I tried in vain to imagine life without this darling, innocent, genius-kitty. 
As the tortured hours crawled by she seemed to get a little worse, as did my emotional state. Her breathing became labored, and at one point, she reached out her trembling little hand to pet my cheek, and tried to get up to lick the tears from my face, but she couldn't. I wrapped my arms around her, and she purred as we warmed each other, waiting for the first light of dawn so I could try to get some help for my baby.

Dawn came at last, and I headed to the groomer first, to get the insecticide off her as quickly as possible. Her vet is about a forty-five minute drive away, in Huntsville, and I was desperate. I rapidly got Arianwen into her carrier, and we were at Pet Depot within minutes, ahead of Rebecca. 

Rebecca seemed shocked upon seeing Arianwen, and offered to wash her before I even had a chance to speak. The warm water and washing seemed to help Arianwen a lot, as her breath came more freely and she trembled less. By the time the bath was over, her trembling had mostly subsided, and she was looking much better.

We rode to Huntsville, with Arianwen seeming to improve the whole way. When we arrived and got in an examining room, I freed her from her carrier. She hid under a bench seat, sort of predictable for a kitty who had just had a pretty horrible time. 

But, when I said, "Arianwen, honey, why are you hiding? You are safe here.", she answered, in plain, very distinct English,"Man hurt!". Obviously referring to the painful vaccinations she got on her last vet visit. I reassured her that the man would not hurt her, and he was a good man who just wanted to make sure she was alright. She softly said, "Okay!", and climbed up onto counter to lay down. When the vet came in, she actually rolled over on her back and showed her tummy for the examination. Little sweet genius-kitty!

The veterinarian told me I probably saved her life, but that she was a healthy cat. 

Arianwen talked to me almost the whole way home, but not as clearly as when she said, "Man hurt!". 

The moral of the story is: 
If you take your kitty to the groomer, and there are numerous dogs, but you don't see any cats, turn immediately around and find another groomer.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

OMG, John! What a horrible thing for you both to go through. I truly feel it was your love and comfort through the night that kept Arianwen with you until morning. Wow, what a scary thing.


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## katlover13 (Apr 15, 2008)

What a horrible traumatic experience!!! I am so glad Arianwen came through it ok! You two are so lucky to have each other.


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## raecarrow (Oct 27, 2009)

I know what happened to your darling girl. 

The same thing happened to someone I know. A friend of the family washed his dog and then decided to bathe his wife's the cat using the same shampoo. DOG shampoo. The cat started acting funny and walking weird. They took the cat to the vet. The vet knew IMMEDIATELY what was wrong and washed the kitty and administered activated charcoal, but it was too late. Apparently, there is a "flea bath" that is not toxic to dogs but is VERY toxic to cats. Most people don't know this. When you wash the kitty, they try to groom it off and get VERY ill. It even seeps into their skin. 

John, you are VERY lucky to have your Arianwen still will you. I am so glad this didn't kill her.


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## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

Thank you for your replies!
I cannot describe how devastating it was when I realized she had been poisoned by use of a dog flea shampoo. She was dying and I was responsible.















I've made it a point to be more loving with Arianwen since that incident, play more with her, and cherish each moment with her. 
Sometimes a beloved kitty's mortality comes up and hits you like a sledgehammer, making you realize what a privilege it is to share your life with such a wild spirit, and what an inspiration they really are.
:cat


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## Fran (Jan 9, 2008)

Oh, John - you and Arianwen had such a close call! I am so glad she has recovered...

The lesson for all of us is to listen when our intuition tells us something is not right....Your subconscious knew something was wrong when you smelled that shampoo, John, and it helped you act fast later when there was trouble. I am sure nothing like this will ever happen again! And thank you for sharing this with us, now we will all pay more attention.

atback 

Fran


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## Amberleaf (Feb 4, 2010)

Oh my gosh! ; That's.... Well, it's terrible! :'( 

Did she actually talk and say, "Man hurt"? XD Just shows us how much our cats are learning from us! ^.^;


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## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

Arianwen talks pretty often. I was really shocked when she first did it :yikes but I've gotten more used to my sweet genius-kitty doing (and saying) amazing things. 

There seems to be a pattern emerging with Arianwen's speech. The more motivated she is to have me understand her, the harder she tries to speak clearly. She has trouble with some words, of course, because her mouth and vocal tract is different from ours. But when she really tries hard, she can sound almost like a little girl, with an unidentifiable foreign accent.

She did say, "Man hurt!", in the veterinarian exam room, and I think one of the vet-techs heard her. And she did answer, "Okay,", after I reassured her the vet would not hurt her.

I have really come to appreciate Arianwen even more since her brush with death. And I'm surprised to say, our bond is growing even stronger with time.
:luv :luv


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

You are so lucky to have such a cat as Arianwen. She sounds very sweet. But yes, people need to know definitely NOT to use dog flea shampoo on their cats. I'm glad I found out early on because I also own Rocky the dog and at the very beginning when I didn't know, I did use some of his shampoo to wash her paws and butt. Good thing it wasn't flea shampoo and she didn't get sick from it. But now, I don't give her a bath at all. Even if I do, I'll only use water and a bit of soap.

And yes, I'm a sucker. I read the title, yet I still clicked on the thread. ....and paid for it. Now I look strange having my eyes tear up at work! 8O


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## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

Thank goodness that dear, sweet Arianwen woke you up. I am sure that your very intense bond was what pulled her through that night.

I'm so sorry that you both had that experience.


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