Foreign Objects - Thread, String, etc.

donna

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Hi everyone,

I had an incident over the weekend that I think deserves a new thread.

I came home Sunday to my cat Marina Mar rubbing her butt on the carpet. Since she is a long-hair, I thought she had some poop stuck to her fur. Upon investigating, I found she had a thread sticking out of her butt. At first I gently pulled some of it out (12" to be exact). I do alot of reading on cats and stuff and remembered that thread or string can be deadly as it can get wrapped up in the intestines. So, off to the vet she went. (She was not happy at me poking at her behind). The vet managed to get it out without incident and gave me an antibiotic just in case. He told me to keep an eye on her just in case there was more in there.

She's fine (and embarassed, I hope). I could not figure out where she could've gotten it from. Then I remembered that I had bee sewing kitty pillows and cage curtains last week in my living room. Sure enough, there was thread remnants on the floor. I vacuumed up real good (although I swore God was telling me not to clean) and vowed to do my sewing at my friends house from now on.

The point I want to make here is, cats are like children and like to eat things (weird things). If you have a hobby that includes working with small (edible) objects, be very careful around cats as they will play with (and eat) them. Things can get lodged in their throats or tied up in their bellies. That makes for an unhappy kitty and lots of vet bills.

If ever you have the experience I just described, run, don't walk to your vet. DO NOT attempt to pull it out as it can rupture the intestines which could be fatal.
 

Anne

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Poor little Marina, I hope she's over the whole thing by now. You know, I read once that because cats have rough one-way tounges, once they put something sticky in their mouth, they have no option but to swallow it. They can't spit it out. That's why they swallow their own hair when they groom and get hairballs. I wish pills were stickier - they have no difficulty spitting out pills that they actually need to take in!
 
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donna

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Anne,

Marina Mar is fine, although she hisses when I go near her tail or butt (I wonder why?? That'll teach her to eat thread - YUK!)
 
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