So, we've been refinishing old floors in our old house. 'Upside-down' is the only word I think truly describes this place right now. Exhausting work too. And if you know me at all, you know I'm not a 'manual labor' type of gal. I'll gladly manage the laborers -- and even show them how to do the job right -- but I get quite sick of dirty, sweaty, repetitive work ... really quickly.
One bedroom is all we planned on doing. It came out nicely & we had paid for the weekend machine rental & had a day to spare - but when I woke up with memories of a vivid dream about gorgeous old hardwood being under 7 layers of shit that we have -- not so affectionately -- come to know as our kitchen floor - I hopped out of bed & grabbed a crowbar. Yes, even before my coffee. I moved a small counter, in case I completely fucked it up so I could cover it up, and hammered the crowbar under the 1st 2 layers of linoleum. Then there was gunk, and then a layer of white textured paper that I think may have been the backing of the brown linoleum at one time. Then red & white checkered tiles from the 50's... then tarpaper. And that's when it happened. 6 or 7 inch wide beautiful old beaten hardwood, original to this 1879 house. I made coffee & went upstairs & woke Dor up with this: "Honey, I'm tearing up the kitchen floor ... wanna join me?" I have never, ever seen her get outta bed so quickly.
When we got it all sanded we weren't sure about some of the darker spots, inconsistencies & the old water stains... but we decided that it's aged & beautiful & it tells the story of what this home has been through. We discovered a 1 foot wide circular mark next to the chimney. There are square - rectangular actually - nail heads everywhere. Then we realized we found where the hearth was. You can soooo see it ... and to the left of it, where the wood was stacked. There's a warped part, and a burn spot where hot coals obviously fell. It's gorgeous.
We're waiting on the last coat of polyurethane to completely dry now. Last night, while Dor was spreading the last coat -- even though we had blocked off the room completely -- one of our cats managed to sneak in & run across it. Her paws were all sticky with this poison -- gunking now -- and she was licking & biting to get it off.
I googled like a madman - but found nothing. And I didn't know what to do. I didn't want her dying overnight. First of all, because I love the stupid cat. Secondly, if the floor killed her, I'd have to cover it up. Didn't want to do that either.
So I called our vet and it was a recording. "You've reached Greylock Animal Hospital ... If this is an emergency, call this number for on-call." So I call their on-call number. They took my name, number, a description of what happened, the pet's name, and asked if we were patients there. OK. But then they said there is no one on duty on the overnights and vetrinary office covering for them is in SOUTH DEERFIELD, which is over an hour away! And gave me their number. I asked why they needed all of my info if no one was there to help? She said the Doctor would be calling tomorrow to check on how the cat was.
I call the So. Deerfield Vet & they tell me they don't know about the polyurethane & I should call the ASPCA's Poison Control number.
So I call the ASPCA poison control number. 10 minutes or more on the phone with them, reading the label off of the can, pet info, contact info, and a credit card number for $60 payment for their services because they're not State funded at all, and THEN I'm put on hold for 5 minutes while the actual vet is reached.
The vetrinarian comes on & says ... To get the polyurethane off, that's stuck on & in between my cat's paws, get some peanut butter, mineral oil or vegetable oil & rub the area then wash off with palmolive or dawn. Hydrocarbons can cause pneumonia within 24 hours watch for trouble breathing, wheezing, coughing ... mild diarhhea is OK, more is not ... vomiting 1 to 2 times is OK, anything more is not. Some skin & stomach irritation may occur.
The cat was THRILLED with the whole peanut butter & oil & dishsoap & rinse experience ... she was soooo pissed. And I think the other cats all thought they were gonna get it next because they wouldn't come anywhere near us when we had finished with the first one... & they didn't take their eyes off of us.
Oh. And by the way... Greylock never called to check up on us. Oh, AND ... I blog'd about the vet the last time we took everyone in and how odd I found it that suddenly 80% of my pets needed dental work. Well, last week, they all (all 7 of 'em) had their yearly appointment. ($800.00) Funny thing, no one needs dental work any longer. They just have a little tartar. Funnier still, we never got the dental work done in the first place.
So today I called them & asked if they knew of a Vetrinary Hospital who has on-call emergency / overnight coverage. They gave me another Vet's number. Told them to have all of our pet's records ready for us to pick up ... we wouldn't be coming back there. Do you know ... they didn't even ask why.
Floor photos will be added soon.
:-)
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6 comments:
I hope this works.. same thing just happened to my cat..son of a bitch.. I used the peanut butter and dawn soap to wash the feet.. The cat was pissed off. thanks for posting this or I would have never found an immediate solution.
Thank you so much for posting this--my cat just jumped up onto a door I was polyurethaning. He was only there for half a second because I pulled him off right away, so he can't have gotten much on himself, but I was panicking.
It was water-based so I tossed him in the bathtub, but he wouldn't let me scrub. He's not licking his feet and he's not acting sick. Your post about the symptoms makes me feel much better, because now I know what to watch for.
Thank-you for the info! Just as my floor refinishers were getting ready to pack up my Nino slipped past them and onto the freshly polyurethaned floor.
The floor guy said that only paint thinner removes the poly. We both agreed that this toxic chemical did not seem like a good thing to use on a cat's sensitive paws.
I hope that the remedy works as Nino is an elderly cat with some other health problems.
Thank you so much, my daughter's cat stepped on the fresh polyurethane floor and she wasn't sure what to do. I googled the situation(thank God for google) and you were the first to pop up. She wrapped the cat in a towel and proceeded with the peanut butter-worked well-she also cut the fur around her paws-minimal blood shed (her's and the cat's!) You saved Nina!
Thank You! Lucy walked though a freshly painted floor last night. Her fuzzy tail is very stiff... I called the vet and as you stated they suggested the ASPCA poison control line which cost 60 dollars. Which I would gladly pay but since you already told me what I need to know I don't have too! Thanks Muchly! Lucy not acting sick just a little stiff!
Thank you so much for this. Ten years after your post and same story - cat hopped on a not super fresh, but tacky surface I’d coated earlier. Was also there for 0.5 seconds before I pulled her off. Was not happy to get the ol’ oil and dish soap pedicure but I feel much better knowing what to do and now what to watch for.
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