A woman from New Zealand named Maddie Smith shared on Facebook the story of her sweet kitty Ruby who got poisoned after she licked a Himalayan salt lamp. This woman is trying to warn other cat owners of the dangers of these types of lamps and urges them to keep them out of the reach of their pets. She started by writing how Ruby was walking in a strange manner that Wednesday morning. They simply thought it was because the little one was cold so they got her toasty before they left for work. Unfortunately, once they got home, they could see the cat’s condition was way worse than before, so they took her to the vet. “The vets were extremely concerned for her and could see she definitely had neurological problems because she simply could not walk properly, could not hear or see, couldn’t even eat or drink properly because she couldn’t function her tongue the best,” the cat owner wrote. “Her basic senses and abilities gone in 12 hours. She was so helpless.”

When the test results came back, both the doctors and Ruby’s owners were left shocked. The cat was diagnosed with severe salt poisoning which caused her brain to swell. “The salt poisoning was caused by just your normal salt lamp that we had in our lounge. Ruby has ingested the salt by simply licking the lamp.” They all say how Ruby’s survival is a miracle as salt poisoning is deadly to animals. The thing is that once they lick these lamps, the animals can’t stop doing it because the taste is addictive.

The vets and medical experts add that these lamps are ‘deadly’ for animals but only if they consume too much of the mineral and lick them repeatedly, otherwise they can do no harm. The amount of salt cats are allowed to take per day is around 42mg. Anything above this quantity can cause poisoning. So, if you do decide to get a Himalayan salt lamp just make sure your pet can’t reach it.