Question: Bradley, our young indoor-outdoor cat, recently experienced a bout of vomiting, lethargy, and seizures. I remembered that our neighbor had scattered mothballs in her garden to deter skunks and groundhogs. Can mothballs cause his problems?
Answer: Yes. Mothballs are so toxic that they deserve no place in the garden or anywhere else a child, pet, or wild animal could ingest even one of them.
Most mothballs in the U.S. contain either naphthalene, which causes most of the mothball poisonings in pets, or paradichlorobenzene. Signs of mothball ingestion are similar for naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene: vomiting, loss of coordination, disorientation, weakness, collapse, tremors, seizures, and coma. Liver damage can occur within a few days, and kidney failure is possible. Also, the gums and whites of the eyes may turn yellow from naphthalene exposure.
Diplomatically ask your neighbor to rid her garden of mothballs and use a safer, more effective wildlife deterrent, such as a motion-activated water sprinkler or a nontoxic repellent available from a local garden store.
Ask the Vet is written by veterinarian Lee Pickett, VMD. Send questions to [email protected] and read more at saturdayeveningpost.com/ask-the-vet.
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Comments
Mothballs can aid in keeping unwanted and poisonous creatures away from your home including snakes. If my neighbours (which are few & far between in distance) asked me to stop using mothballs, I would in turn politely tell them to mind their own business, and hit the road. No one is going to attempt to dictate what I can and cannot have just because they fear their cats might wander onto my property.
The mothballs I use have never bothered my outside dog and he’ll rip a cat to shreads usually leaving a mess for me to clean up in my yard or driveway. He also kills armadillos. I think he’s up to fifteen so far. He doesn’t like other dogs either. He doesn’t like me target practicing with my guns though, but of course he can’t stop me from doing that and neither can my neighbours. Thank God I live in a rural sparsely populated area. I would not even think of being anywhere else.