Cat's persistent meowing leads to discovery of carbon monoxide leak in Treviso home

What happened

A 29-year-old woman in the Treviso area began to feel dizzy and lightheaded on the afternoon of Wednesday, 4 November, without understanding the cause. She decided to leave for work anyway, but the symptoms continued while she was driving, so she pulled over and called the 118 emergency number. Rescuers suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and took her to the Ca' Foncello hospital in Treviso. Doctors found that her level of poisoning required treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, which concluded on the morning of Thursday, 5 November. Her husband was also taken to the emergency department as a precaution after carbon monoxide was detected on the stairs of their building.

The cat's role

The cat began meowing without pause that same afternoon, and according to the Ulss 2 local health authority, the behaviour made the woman suspicious that something in the home was responsible. Her symptoms had already persisted while she was driving, which is why she chose to stop rather than carry on. The cat's calls did not point directly to the source of the gas, but they did prompt her to take the situation seriously. The household's first concern was therefore the animal's noise and her own worsening condition, rather than any sign of a building-wide problem.

How the leak was found

Firefighters carried out an inspection of the apartment and then checks in the building, where they found carbon monoxide on the stairs. The source was identified as a malfunctioning boiler used to produce hot water. When the appliance was switched on, it recorded very high concentrations of the gas. The leak was traced to that boiler, and the couple lived in the building with another family on the floor above. The firefighters' findings led directly to the medical checks on the people in the building.

Treatment and discharge

The husband and the family on the floor above were taken to the emergency department as a precaution. The upstairs household consisted of a husband, a wife and their two children, aged six months and three years. Tests showed that the 29-year-old's poisoning was serious enough to require hyperbaric chamber treatment, which ended on the morning of Thursday, 5 November. The husband and the upstairs family were discharged on the evening of Wednesday, 4 November, once the checks were finished.

Earlier cases in the area

The Treviso case came only a few days after two serious episodes in which ten people, between Follina and Loria in the same province, needed emergency room care for carbon monoxide poisoning. Those earlier cases involved people who were treated at emergency departments in the area. The Treviso case shows that the gas was an issue for several households in the same province within a short period.