Summertime brings evening activities like fireworks, picnics, and other fun outdoors that stretches into the dark hours, and one of the fun human toys that often come home from these celebrations are glow sticks and glow jewelery.
They look like fun cat toys to play with in a darkened room, but they aren’t intended for being bitten or chewed. The glow jewelry or sticks are filled with dibutyl phthalate, and it only takes one bite with sharp, kitty teeth to cause it to leak out.In 2011, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center received 315 calls about ingestion of glow jewelry, 82% of them involving cats.
Dibutyl phthalate has a bitter taste, and will cause drooling, gagging, and retching, and even pawing at the mouth. About half of cats who ingest dibutyl phthalate exhibit hyperativity and aggressive behavior. Though the signs of this are especially frightening because of how suddenly they appear, dibutyl phthalate is only considered mild to moderately toxic. However, cats may ingest more of it while grooming and go through the reaction all over again. Its ability to irritate the skin and eyes as well as the terrible taste make it something to avoid.
Additionally, some larger glow sticks contain a glass vial that is broken to activate the liquid’s glowing feature. Biting anything glass or potentially swallowing it makes even the limited toxicity of the glow sticks something to be sure that aren’t punctured by aggressive cats.
Don’t forget that cats who are cord chewers are more likely to chew things like glow jewelry, since the texture and diameter are similar. Children may want to leave their glowing treasures where they can see them at night, but be sure they are placed out of reach of cats who chew when unattended.
If a glow stick is punctured in your house, turn off the lights after cleaning to look for glowing residue so that you are sure you didn’t miss any, or your cat may end up licking dibutyl phthalate from her paws.
References
Glow Jewelry, Pet Poison Helpline
Glow jewelry (dibutyl phthalate) ingestion in cats, ASPCA Professional
Can Glow Sticks Kill Cats and Dogs?, Pets Adviser
Photo courtesy Erica Joy on Flickr
This is important info. We don’t have any of those sticks in our house.
Thank you for the warning, that is something I never thought of as a hazard.
An excellent post! I did not know this, but like The Island Cats, we don’t use or plan to use this items in the future. But, I’ll pass it along to others! Thanks!
Very good information! Mommy is always very careful when bringing things home. And she’s trained Daddy to be the same too. 🙂
Thank you for the warning, we didn’t know glow sticks and its dangers. Purrs
Gweat posty. Meez shawed.
Luv ya’
Dezi
Yowza. Good information. We don’t usually have glow jewelry, although you never know what DadFOD brings in as movie props. – Crepes.
Thank you for this important information! I did not know this!
~LisaCo9T
Thank you for this! Not that we ever thought glow sticks would be a good snack for kitties, but now we know to be extra careful with them! My husband uses them when he plays with his band sometimes, so we definitely have them around. We will have to make sure they are always put up! Thanks again.
That stuff sounds darn yucky!
I’m so glad my human does not bring these home!
WE never even heard of these sticks so glad to know it is something we sure don’t want in the house. Sounds pretty darn dangerous. Have a great day.
Very good information! Thank you for sharing. WE did not know how dangerous glow sticks were.
Oh no…we have never heard of those things or seen them…thank goodness.
We hope and purr none of our furiends get into them!
Hugs madi your bfff
Good info. We don’t have any but will be sure to pass on the info if we ever see them in a friends house.
The Florida Furkids
great post! this isn’t something we would think about as a safety hazard. thanks for the tip!
Pip, Smidgen, Minnie, Hollie
Mum would not buy that sort of stuff.
Our trail has always been a trail, just that they are widening it and will pave it too.
Thanks for this informative post. Mom has never brought any of these into the house, but we are sure if she did, we would be attracted to them. So now she says that she will avoid them. Kitties Blue at The Cat on My Head are having a giveaway for an appliquéd kitty flag. XO, Lily OLivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Great info You may save some kitties Yay
Wow, really informative post. We did not realize the extent of the danger of these things.