Help! Cat Ate Hair Tie!

Britney91

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a thin white one, i am not completely sure if it had one of those tiny metal looking thingies attached to it.

We webt to the vet but the failed in inducing vomit. Now we have to wait and see...

Should i be worried?

This cat eats everything! I always make sure everything he would eat or destroy is hidden, i always check on my boyfriend where he leaves everything so he doesnt forget that stuff and yet he eats my hairtie eventhough i try so hard! No clue where he got it from... maybe from my bag or maybe i forgot to put it away..

I feel very stressed and alone. My boyfriend isnt very supportive, he kind of leaves me alone in these things, in most things actually.

The cat is still fatigued from the stuff they gave him and it was overall very stressfull for the cat and me!

Any similair experiences and/or advice??
 

Azazel

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Watch for lethargy, diarrhea, vomitting, or lack of appetite. If you see any of these signs get your cat to the vet right away as it could indicate a blockage.

Best case scenario: the hair tie passes and you find it in the stool. I would check the stool every day. Feed some plain canned pumpkin for extra fiber to encourage bowel movements.

Worst case scenario: the hair tie doesn't pass and needs to be surgically removed. If you don't see the hair tie in the litter after a few days contact your vet. If you see any of the symptoms listed above at any point, get to the vet immediately.
 
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Britney91

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Watch for lethargy, diarrhea, vomitting, or lack of appetite. If you see any of these signs get your cat to the vet right away as it could indicate a blockage.

Best case scenario: the hair tie passes and you find it in the stool. I would check the stool every day. Feed some plain canned pumpkin for extra fiber to encourage bowel movements.

Worst case scenario: the hair tie doesn't pass and needs to be surgically removed. If you don't see the hair tie in the litter after a few days contact your vet. If you see any of the symptoms listed above at any point, get to the vet immediately.
Thank you! I will do all these things. But right now he is still very lethargic and sleepy after the attempt of induced vomiting... is that normal?
 

Azazel

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Thank you! I will do all these things. But right now he is still very lethargic and sleepy after the attempt of induced vomiting... is that normal?
Did the vet tell you that the induced vomiting attempt might make him lethargic? I would maybe just call the vet and let them know. If your vet is closed you could call the emergency clinic and tell them the situation and ask them to assess whether he needs to be taken in. They are usually pretty honest because they don't want unnecessary animals coming into the emergency room.

How long ago did you go to the vet?
 
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Britney91

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Did the vet tell you that the induced vomiting attempt might make him lethargic? I would maybe just call the vet and let them know. If your vet is closed you could call the emergency clinic and tell them the situation and ask them to assess whether he needs to be taken in. They are usually pretty honest because they don't want unnecessary animals coming into the emergency room.

How long ago did you go to the vet?
He has been home for about 1,5 hours. And the stuff has been given way before that! They only said what to watch out for if the vomit inducing would fail. But i dont recall them telling us that it could take awhile for the stuff to wear out.
 

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Good news - at least you know the cat may have eaten it and you can watch for signs of trouble (e.g. not eating or using the litter box, lethargy). Worse is when you don’t know and it’s too late to do anything about it.

P.S. Men worth having might not be the best at communicating, but act in ways that show what makes you happy, makes them happy.
 

Azazel

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He has been home for about 1,5 hours. And the stuff has been given way before that! They only said what to watch out for if the vomit inducing would fail. But i dont recall them telling us that it could take awhile for the stuff to wear out.
I would just call the vet and ask.
 
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Britney91

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First of all, thank you all for replying!! Little update: our cat has returned to normal, so I guess his lethargy yesterday still was from the stuff that they injected in the hope to induce vomit (which failed). Today he is 100% himself again. He eats, he drinks, he plays, etc. and he has even pooped! I checked the poop, but I didn't see the hairtie.

In terms of blockage... is this news already a good sign though? I am also pretty sure he has eaten bad stuff before. We have a cat that either destroys or eats everything small enough or string/cable like. Nomatter how hard we try to make this place "catproof", he always finds something!
 

Azazel

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First of all, thank you all for replying!! Little update: our cat has returned to normal, so I guess his lethargy yesterday still was from the stuff that they injected in the hope to induce vomit (which failed). Today he is 100% himself again. He eats, he drinks, he plays, etc. and he has even pooped! I checked the poop, but I didn't see the hairtie.

In terms of blockage... is this news already a good sign though? I am also pretty sure he has eaten bad stuff before. We have a cat that either destroys or eats everything small enough or string/cable like. Nomatter how hard we try to make this place "catproof", he always finds something!
Glad he’s doing better. I would continue to monitor the poop, it could take days for it to come out. I have also heard of cases where it took weeks for a sign of a blockage to show. So I guess you want to continue monitoring and take him to the vet at any sign of a blockage.
 

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It took my cat about five days to pass the string he ate, so I would just keep waiting for the hair tie to reappear.
 
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Britney91

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Thank you both! I will def. continue monitoring, but I am glad he behaves like normal and is pooping!
 

reba

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Good to hear he is doing better. It’s maddening when they’ll eat anything. I kept sewing thread in a drawer and my kitten managed to start trying to get at that when I screamed at her “what do you have a death wish!!!!” Good for you for keeping on top of this - risk, reward - it’s hellish not knowing if you left something around they might swallow.
 
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Britney91

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GREAT NEWS! He pooped it out on his second poop since he ate the hair tie... We are so relieved! I already try so hard to keep objects like this away from him but still he found one! Now we will be even more stricter, I will even cut off strings from his toys etc! Our other cat doesn't do things like this, but the other one.. he loves to eat everything! Pfff, and I almost didn't even check that poop because it looked like there could be no hair tie in it but I still checked and it was in there, hiding.. haha so my advice is to always check very accurately!!
 

Azazel

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GREAT NEWS! He pooped it out on his second poop since he ate the hair tie... We are so relieved! I already try so hard to keep objects like this away from him but still he found one! Now we will be even more stricter, I will even cut off strings from his toys etc! Our other cat doesn't do things like this, but the other one.. he loves to eat everything! Pfff, and I almost didn't even check that poop because it looked like there could be no hair tie in it but I still checked and it was in there, hiding.. haha so my advice is to always check very accurately!!
:poop::poop::poop:
 

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Happy to hear he passed it :) One of our cats recently ate a piece of fabric. She was spayed a month ago, and she was wearing a bodysuit I made for her, she suddenly managed to tear a part of it and swallowed in seconds in front of my eyes.

I gave her antihairball paste, I thought if it helps to pass hairballs it may help to pass the fabric piece, too. She passed it without any problems.

Just in case, if you need it in future... (I hope you will not)
 

reba

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That's great news! And you're so right about the strings on toys being another problem. So many cat toys are dangerous and who would know. Especially with all the pictures around of cats playing with string.
 
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