“I held him while he was being euthanized."
Those are the words Sidney resident Michelle Sopczak said as her cat, Joey died on Friday, Nov. 2 after being exposed to methamphetamine.
On Wednesday morning (Oct. 30), Sopczak found her seven-year-old cat wobbling home after disappearing outside for about 12 hours.
“He was panting with his mouth open, tongue hanging out and he was having trouble walking, like an impaired person,” she said. “He would get up, sit down and then push himself backward. I thought it was just stress from being locked out.”
After Joey’s condition did not improve, Sopczak and her husband took him to Sidney Animal Hospital for some tests. His blood work was relatively normal, but the urine drug test came back positive for methamphetamines.
Joey had to be transferred to VCA Central Victoria Veterinary Hospital where he was admitted to the intensive care unit.
In their summary report, VCA said depending on what was ingested, typical symptoms of methamphetamine can start to show between 1-3 hours after ingestion and can sometimes last for up to three days.
“Typically, we will see hyperthermia (fever), agitation or hyperexcitability, potential heart arrhythmias and/or muscle tremors or seizure activity,” the report said.
Joey exhibited most of these symptoms, so he was kept in the hospital to receive continuous supportive fluid therapy and monitoring.
After two nights of confinement, his condition improved and Sopczak took Joey home hoping he would recover soon.
“We got home around 7 p.m. on Friday but within 20 minutes, I noticed he still wasn't good. He couldn't walk, couldn't move his hind legs. I thought it was muscle atrophy at first because he hadn’t been active for a few days,” said Sopczak.
They rushed Joey back to VCA where a reassessment found a blood clot in his heart.
“They said the prognosis was not good because his paws were turning purple due to lack of circulation," said Sopczak.
The hospital recommended keeping him until Monday but suggested he would end up being on blood medication for the rest of his life.
“That's when we decided, we didn't want Joey to suffer anymore," said Sopczak. "He had a pretty rough go for the last few days.”
That one final trip to VCA ended up being their final hours with Joey, who was put to sleep around midnight.
But how and where did Joey become exposed to methamphetamine?
Sopczak told Peninsula News Review on Saturday morning (Nov. 2) she suspects drug activities nearby may have caused it.
They live in a quiet residential enclave at the end of Amelia Avenue.
“There’s a bike path right behind us, by Pat Bay Highway, and I’ve seen an increase in what looks like homeless people on the path smoking up, drinking in a little grassy area just off the bike path and then down the Mariner Village Mall," said Sopczak. "Joey could've licked discarded paraphernalia or worse, someone may have deliberately played with him while smoking.”
This prompted Sopczak to post warning signs along the path to make sure their pets do not suffer the same fate as Joey.
For now, they must mourn the loss of their cat, beloved by their neighbours, while figuring out how to settle Joey’s $3,200 outstanding hospitalization bill.
Anyone looking to help the Sopczaks can do so by visiting their GoFundMe page at https://shorturl.at/2Mlyr.
For more information regarding this specific toxicity, contact the pet poison helpline at 1-800-213-6680.
