Can I Use Bacitracin On My Cat

I recently received a query about a cat suffering from scabs at the base of her tail and around her face and cervix. The reader was concerned about the scabs, which seemed to be itchy. The reader wondered — can yous put Neosporin on cats?

The answer to his question is no, and I'll become to that in a moment. I wrote back to the reader and told him that the distribution of scabs (along with the itching) sounded highly consistent with a syndrome known as miliary dermatitis, which is caused by allergies to fleas. Was the reader by any chance using a flea preventative?

The reader responded apace. He had, in fact, seen a few fleas on his cat. This confirmed the diagnosis. The reader stated that he was strongly opposed to flea preventatives because he didn't want to apply chemicals to his pet.

I was taken ashamed by the man's scientific illiteracy. He didn't want to apply "chemicals" in the form of a flea preventative to his cat, simply he wanted to employ Neosporin (which is fabricated of chemicals) to treat his cat's scabs. Those scabs, by the fashion, were the outcome of his cat's torso's response to the complex mixture of chemicals in flea saliva — and the man was perfectly happy to subject the cat to those chemicals which were clearly causing adverse effects in the true cat.

Did the man even know what a chemical is? Did he realize that water is a chemical?

Perhaps he was only opposed to man-made or unnatural chemicals. Simply what makes natural chemicals so condom? Cobra venom is fabricated of natural chemicals. Flea saliva is fabricated of natural chemicals. The potent liver toxins in death cap mushrooms are natural chemicals.

Heck, if you lot want to talk about dangerous chemicals, I tin think of a real doozy off the elevation of my head. Our world is contaminated — nay, saturated — with a chemical whose dangerous potential is astounding. The chemic, in its pure liquid form, can burn abroad a person's body to the signal that almost nothing remains. Information technology potentiates fires and plays a meaning part in the damage to Dna that leads to many cancers. It is an oxidizer so powerful that the very term "oxidize" was named for information technology. You're sitting in a 21-percent solution of the chemic as you read this, and that's a adept thing — because if you or your cat went iii minutes without oxygen you'd be dead.

So in my stance fright of "chemicals" is totally fallacious. Only I have digressed.

Is it prophylactic to utilize Neosporin on cats?

No, it is not. Nor is it legal. In a contempo Catster post I discussed the fact that, in the United States, it is illegal to use any medication — prescription or over-the-counter — in a mode inconsistent with its labeling. Neosporin is not labeled for use in cats, and then it is illegal to apply it to a cat.

The reason for this illegality, equally best as I tin can tell, is that the FDA is a bureaucracy and as such its primary purpose is to perpetuate itself. It does this by making and enforcing rules, whether or not those rules make sense. Merely in the instance of Neosporin and cats the dominion actually does make sense.

The FDA is not going to kick open your door and arrest yous if you put Neosporin on cats. Merely y'all still shouldn't do it.

Hither's why: Neosporin and other triple antibiotics contain three agile ingredients. They are neomycin, polymyxin B, and bacitracin. In some places similar "double antibiotics" such as Polysporin contain just polymyxin B and bacitracin.

Polymyxin B has been linked to anaphylaxis and decease in cats.

The reactions are rare and have most frequently involved ophthalmic products (intended for use in the optics). But whatever use of Polymyxin B in cats is a big no-no.

Regulatory and legal matters bated, information technology is almost invariably a bad idea to administer any homo medication to a true cat. I am aware of a case in which a woman administered Vicodin to her true cat because the cat was limping. She did not realize that Vicodin contains acetaminophen, which is highly toxic to cats. The true cat suffered liver failure.

Other owners have administered Tylenol (which besides contains acetaminophen), Advil (Ibuprofen — toxic to the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract), or Aleve (naproxen — also toxic to the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract) to cats. Owners intending to administer Benadryl (generally safe) to their cats have accidentally given combination products containing acetaminophen or pseudoephedrine (neurotoxic to cats).

Cats are unique picayune creatures with highly unique metabolisms. Medications that are safe for people and dogs often are non prophylactic for cats.

Cocky-medicating pets is mostly a dangerous suggestion. Although most cats won't suffer reactions to polymyxin B, the potential adverse reactions are and then serious that the medication simply isn't worth it — particularly when one considers that in almost cases information technology's non very useful in cats.

I stand past my original suggestion to the reader. The chemicals in loftier quality flea preventatives are safer than those in Neosporin or in flea saliva.

Learn more about your cat with Catster:

Weird Cat Facts: 8 Reasons Your True cat Likes to Lick Yous
ten Sounds That Cats Make — and What They Mean
viii Things to Effort When Your Cat Won't Eat

Got a question for Dr. Barchas? Inquire our vet in the comments beneath and you lot might exist featured in an upcoming column. (Note that if you accept an emergency situation, please see your own vet immediately!)