Two cats from Nandlstadt came to the veterinary clinic with severe symptoms of poisoning.
Apparently they narrowly escaped death.
Owner Christine Altkrüger sounds the alarm.
Nandlstadt
– Muscle twitching, staggering, hypersensitivity: When “Becky” and “Anna” slipped back into the house through the cat flap a few days ago, Christine Altkrüger immediately had a terrible suspicion: Did their two cats eat poison?
The woman from Nandlstadt knows that every minute counts.
She packs the two into the transport boxes and drives to the veterinary clinic in Ismaning.
There, the veterinarians quickly confirm what the Nandlstadt resident (70) had already suspected.
Cat "Anna" has to be put into an artificial coma
While the infusions quickly took effect for "Becky", "Anna" got it worse: the ten-year-old cat had several epileptic seizures - so severe that she had to be put into an artificial coma.
Altkrüger is only able to take her home again after two days.
Since then, the animals have recovered and they have been grounded until further notice.
"I don't dare to let her out at the moment."
The current situation is a nightmare for Christine Altkrüger - and brings back unpleasant memories.
Because it's not the first time that it hits her cats: in 2018 and 2019, the Nandlstadt native turned to the daily newspaper: Within a few weeks, "Django" and "Pasha" had eaten poison twice.
The veterinarian who was able to save the two assumed that they had come into contact with the nerve toxin phosphoric acid ester.
Cats ate rat poison
This time, according to the doctors, it was a different, no less dangerous substance: alpha-chloralose, a rat poison that can be sold over the counter as grain or paste bait.
According to the animal rights organization Peta, it is mainly used in the winter months because it is said to cause rats and mice to freeze to death.
The poison bait is therefore controversial.
In use, it is actually only intended for closed rooms.
But not everyone sticks to that.
And so the colorful substance can also be eaten by dogs, cats or wild animals such as hedgehogs.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
The poison attacks the central nervous system and can cause death within a few hours.
Pet owners who recognize the symptoms should therefore consult a veterinarian as soon as possible.
"He can help with charcoal paste and infusions or rinse out the stomach," Christine Altkrüger knows from experience.
Settlement was a crime scene just a year ago
To warn others, the 70-year-old has now printed notes and hung them up in the neighborhood.
“My concern is also that the stuff gets into the hands of children.
They could easily think that these are colorful sweets.” Just a year ago, someone in the housing estate, where many dog owners also go for walks, laid out pink grains – rat poison.
Mayor Gerhard Betz was convinced at the time: "That's on purpose - someone wants to kill animals."
Altkrüger, meanwhile, hopes that there is no malicious intent behind the poisoned baits that her cats have now eaten, but that they were just used incorrectly.
Nevertheless, she is critical of the bait: "Cats also eat mice."
She has not filed a complaint against unknown persons – there are hardly any chances of success.
"I just hope that it was a one-off incident." If only because the treatment of "Anna" and "Becky" in the veterinary clinic cost 2,000 euros.
Altkrüger says: "I simply can't afford it again."
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.
