Cat Ate Laundry Bag Cord - Help!

ileen

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I think he ate it Saturday overnight, but he didn't eat his Saturday evening feeding or any of his Sunday food. I came home Sunday night to 6-7 areas of vomit on the floor & before I went to bed he also vomited on my bedspread, which is quite rare since he usually does it on the floor.

When I got out of the shower this morning, he had thrown up two pieces of cord, probably 9-10 inches in length total. Until then I didn't know what was making him sick.

Is there anything I can do for him? An emergency vet appt will be so costly & I just had an $800 bill a couple of weeks ago when he was throwing up and the day after he got better.
 

dahli6

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I know the ER is expensive but if he still might have some cord in his intestines you really should take him.
Only other thing I could advise is make sure he has water and make kibble or cooked meat available in case he tries to eat.
 
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ileen

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Thanks. I emailed the vet, awaiting a response. I'm at work now so I can't check on him. I won't be home until 8pm or so unless I'm told to bring him in ASAP by the vet. I'm hoping it will be okay to see how he is when I get home & if he still hasn't eaten, take him in tomorrow.

Why do they eat things that aren't food that are bad for them?
 

valentine319

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Thanks. I emailed the vet, awaiting a response. I'm at work now so I can't check on him. I won't be home until 8pm or so unless I'm told to bring him in ASAP by the vet. I'm hoping it will be okay to see how he is when I get home & if he still hasn't eaten, take him in tomorrow.

Why do they eat things that aren't food that are bad for them?
You are looking at your cat the wrong way. Look at your cat as a toddler. Life will make a lot more sense.

If you can measure the bag the cord came from it might give you an idea how much your cat swallowed.
 

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I think your vet is going to want to see him, unless (like Valentine mentioned) you can figure out how long the cord was and that he perhaps threw up the whole length. Otherwise, there is likely to still be some cord inside him.

If he is able to eat, pee and poop now, that would be a good indication that the cord is not causing a blockage (like it was) and he may be able to pass any remaining cord in the cat box. Once it's in the intestines, it could bunch up and cause serious trouble. Is there any way you can take a lunch hour and go check on him?
 
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ileen

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I will endeavor to measure the cord from my other laundry bag and compare it to what I have left plus 10 inches. I disposed of the thrown up cord, but did take photos. Do you think it looks like 10 inches?

CIMG3734.JPG CIMG3736.JPG

As for looking at my cat like a toddler, that doesn't quite scan for me. I would never leave a toddler alone for 10 hours a day, but I will try to think of his behavior that way going forward. I was told he's like an adolescent at this point (between 2-3 years), but they need behavior adjustments as well.
 

dahli6

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I have a cat who used to eat hair ties. I realized what she was doing after she threw a couple of them up. Completely chewed. Now I keep rhem put up.
 

orange&white

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Are your floorboards 4" wide? It looks like 16" to 20", less if your boards are 6". Hopefully that's all of it. :alright:
 

orange&white

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A tennis ball is approx. 3" wide, so your floorboards are narrow. I'd guess that you're looking at minimum 18 inches of cord.
 
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ileen

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Thank you, amateur detective! I did include that photo to give the cord scale. The floorboards are much narrower than 4". I will factor your calculations into my findings this evening. I so hope he got it all out of his system. There was some pee & poop in the litter box this morning, and I cleaned it around 8pm last night, so that's a good sign. No signs of any cord. I don't know how long a cat's digestive system takes to work, but since he threw the cord up between 24-36 hours after he ate it, I'm thinking any more of it didn't have a chance to get further through his system.
 

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It looks like he's vomited it all out, thank goodness. If he pees, poops and eats normally then I'd say you're out of the woods and caught a lucky break!
 
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ileen

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2/3 so far, just waiting for normal eating.
It took him a long time to vomit it out, I bet his little stomach muscles are sore.
 
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ileen

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Things weren't as I hoped last night. He didn't eat and his litter box is still clean this morning. There was a few more vomiting instances, at this point just water and bile I guess. The full cord on my other laundry bag is 60" & what I have left of the one he partially ate is 34". So even if he did throw up a full 20 ", there's still some unaccounted for. I'm planning on bringing him to the vet, wish us luck.
 
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ileen

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Thanks. I'm worried about him and sad he isn't enjoying today. After over a year, the scaffolding & netting around the scaffolding is finally off our apartment building so he has clear vision out the windows & more importantly, the birds can land on the external windowsills. I've been telling him how great it will be, but he was under the table in misery when I left this morning.
 
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ileen

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I took him to the vet this morning, am waiting for his prognosis. Litter box was still clean 48 hours after the last cleaning. As sick as he is, I still had problems getting him into the carrier, had to get a pillowcase over his face to disorient him so he wouldn't jump out while I zipped the carrier up. This was about three minutes after he vomited bile, since there's nothing in his stomach.
 

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oh no poor baby!! Hope they can help him! Poor momma too!! I am sure you are worried!! Who knows why they eat things they shouldn't...my Honeybee ate a toy mouse with yarn-it bunched up in the beginning of the small intestines. and we had to put her on iv fluids to help move it along but it was smaller than the string your kitty ate...so worried for you. -hoping they can help your baby!!! Glad you didn't wait any longer! Keep us posted. :hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs:
 
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