Updated: August 11, 2022 by Kristen Chapple
Adderall is a combination drug used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy but it also increases the physical and cognitive performances. You can only get it under prescription and if you have a cat in the house then you might find out that they nabbed one of your pills. Hence the question: can cats eat Adderall?
The smell of these pills seems to be really attractive for cats and there are many cases in which the owners found their cat eating one after which they had to rush to the vet. Adderall is actually highly dangerous to cats and should never be given to them.
Since cats have a much smaller size and weight than a human being, a pill of only 20 milligrams is sufficient to have your pet killed so you should pay a lot of attention to where you leave your medicine. This applies for your children as well, having a locked medicine cabinet with pills in bottles is the best approach to make sure that nothing bad will happen.
Adderall comes in two forms: the instant release and the extended release formulations and from these two the first is the most dangerous one. If they somehow managed to eat one then you have to quickly go to the veterinarian where they will try to force the cat to vomit. Charcoal can also be administered and they will have to keep the cat under observation with IV fluids that help to eliminate the toxic substance.
The symptoms of poisoning are usually diarrhea, vomiting, drooling, overall weakness, an increased heart rate and the cat might even experience seizures which aren’t a pretty sight. If the case is really severe the cat can fall in a coma and death can also happen so always treat these cases seriously.
Forcing your cat to vomit before getting to the vet (if the distance is long) might help with the recovery but you have to be sure you know what you are doing. One tablespoon with a solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide will induce the urge to vomit and you should do this more than once at a period of about ten minutes. Water will help get rid of the chemicals and get the pet with the dehydration that comes from vomiting.
To ensure that these kinds of accidents don’t happen always keep your medicine safely locked out of the reach of the pet and children and when creating a safe environment for your cat also pay attention to other things that might hurt them such as chocolate, garlic, or onions. There are also some plants that will harm them and thus you should make sure when you bring something new into the house that your cat won’t mind.
Short Answer:
No, it can be fatal to them.
