Geoffrey ate paper strip!!!!

[artiemom]

Hi all,
I am venting and needing support; so I came here, to my friends for it.

Late this morning, I was writing out bills and sending a letter. The business envelope was a self adhesive one, with a paper/plasticy strip covering it. You just pull it off to seal.

I dropped the slip on the floor. Geoffrey in no time, came slinking over and started to chomp down on it!!
By the time I moved my chair, I was at my desk, He had 1/2 of it swallowed. I did not want to pull on the strip, because it would tear. I tried to grab him, sit down, open his mouth and pull it out..

No way!
Geoffrey was so fast...he sucked that strip right up, as if he were one of the dogs in the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp!! I could not believe my eyes..

By the time I was able to open his mouth, wide, it was already down his throat!! OMG...

I panicked! I really did... He has enough vomiting issues.. now this. I just spent Mega Bucks on him, last Thursday!

In a panic, I called IMVet---on vacation.. left VM for secretary.
Called regular Vet: On Vacation.. but the secretary did ask the Vet Techs, who were at lunch, if this was an emergency.
They said he would pass it, one way or another....ugh

Called Angell Animal Center--ER.... They said to bring him in!!! OMG....
Then IMVet sec returned my call. She said IM Vet will be back tomorrow, but will check with a few people to get their opinion..
She called me back 15 minutes later. The general consensus was not to panic. It will pass.... Go about my normal routine... and forget about him... but how can I??

I gave Geoffrey a huge amount of laxatone, just in case.

I am keeping him out of my bedroom, where he was hiding from me---under my bed. I had to use the vacuum, with the extension on it, to shoo him out. He loves to hide under my bed---His security place..

I made an "Artie" tent for Geoffrey on the sofa--towel on sofa with fleece throw covering him, and a large sheet covering the rest of the sofa.

I took the stip from another envelope; putting it in a glass of water, to see if it dissolves. If you pull on it slightly, it will break apart..so any soft pulling cut it. Dam Cat...

I went out, came home; Geoffrey came out of the 'tent' to eat some wet food from breakfast... I do not think he is getting any dry food tonight..

This cat is going to be the end of me... He has PICA! I swear... all his blood tests are normal.. He had a bunch done.

Upon Dr B's return tomorrow, is going to get a good laugh out of this episode! I am NOT laughing!!

 

[Caspers Human]

I used to have a cat that liked to eat scraps of photographic paper.

I'm a photographer...the real kind...who develops his own film and prints in a darkroom.
My cat used to lick, chew and sometimes swallow scraps of photographic paper, left over from the darkroom.
It used to drive me nuts. (or more nuts than I already am )

But it never seemed to hurt him any.
It always came out in the litter box within a day or so.

No, it's not good for a cat to eat things like that but I'd say that, on a scale of 1 to 5, this rates about a 2.

Keep an eye on your cat and do your best to be sure that he doesn't get into anything he shouldn't and he'll probably be okay.

As always, call the vet if you have problems.

Thoughts and prayers be with you!

 

[artiemom]

I used to have a cat that liked to eat scraps of photographic paper.

I'm a photographer...the real kind...who develops his own film and prints in a darkroom.
My cat used to lick, chew and sometimes swallow scraps of photographic paper, left over from the darkroom.
It used to drive me nuts. (or more nuts than I already am )

But it never seemed to hurt him any.
It always came out in the litter box within a day or so.

No, it's not good for a cat to eat things like that but I'd say that, on a scale of 1 to 5, this rates about a 2.

Keep an eye on your cat and do your best to be sure that he doesn't get into anything he shouldn't and he'll probably be okay.

As always, call the vet if you have problems.

Thoughts and prayers be with you!

Thanks,

Geoffrey is a plastic eater. I am s careful around here. I do not leave things out for him. I am very very cautious. This was so fast and so frightening.. Even dental floss, I either throw, immediately in the toilet and flush or I ball it into a knot, putting it in the trash. The trash can is a stainless steel step on lid...

I do not have any flowers, plants, in here.. all plastic is put away, immediately...

I also caught him chomping down on the paper covering to printer paper! So I am very cautious.

I wonder what causes this???

 

[fionasmom]

I am so sorry that this happened and know how incredibly stressful this is. He sees IM vet tomorrow? I agree with Caspers Human that your baby is probably okay, but as he said, you are there watching so know to react if this seems to go south. Around here, it is Q tips and shoe laces. If I get out Q tips to clean someone's ear, the others gather around for who knows what reason. When Kate was a baby (she is 13 now so evidently this did not kill her) she ate the end of a shoelace before I could even bend over to stop her...just like Geoffrey. Vet said it would come out which it did, but I was expecting abdominal surgery in the meantime.

 

[verna davies]

Our cats just love to worry us and your Geoffrey is no different. Check is poop tomorrow, you'll most probably find it mulched in it. Let us know.

 

[tabbytom]

By the time I was able to open his mouth, wide, it was already down his throat!! OMG...

Oh dear, I hope he'll pass it out with ease.

Sending

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Hang in there, Darlin.

 

[artiemom]

fionasmom No, Geoffrey does not have an upcoming Vet appointment... The IM Vet is back in today.

So Far, no poop!! He poops every morning, at around this time!!

Geoffrey is acting normal.. just hiding from me more and more. He could not understand why I did not want him under my bed; and why the sofa was covered with a sheet.

He also demanded his dry food. I kept it away, thinking it was better for him to eat the canned food.
I caved in before bed, and gave him a tiny bit of it.

G slept on with me, on my bed, last night.
Acting normal... eating normal, peed.. but no poop as of yet....

The experiment with the 'slip' in water is not working out the way I was hoping. It is much softer, but not disintegrating. If you gently pull on it, it does break..... so I hope it does not get twisted

Cats!! I get crazy, sick, cats!! UGHHHHH

 

[Kflowers]

I know you're worried and freaked, every time you turn around something new with a big why attached to it. But stop a moment and step beyond the 'he ate it'. Some one was watching over the two of you, and where they let him eat it, they didn't let you pull it out of his throat. This is a big thing, because those strips are actually pretty sharp on the edges. Never forget someone is watching over you two, probably with Artie standing next to them.

hugs and pets

 

[Lari]

How's Geoffrey doing now?

 

[artiemom]

Thanks,
Geoffrey is acting normal! I gave him just a few dry kibble last night. He ate both the wet and dry. He ate all his food.
Fingers crossed, he has not vomited, as of yet.

He did poop this morning. It was not as much as usual, and a bit softer from al the laxatone; but he acted normal!

He ate this morning, peed, and is now hiding under my bedspread. All normal for him.
I even brushed him a tiny bit.

I was addressing envelopes this morning..about 6 of them. Darn it, He was right there, waiting for the lips of paper from the envelopes! He even jumped up onto my desk, to get them!! and then he was at the drawer which has a ton of boo-boos for him....

For a cat of 5 years old, he seems to have the mentality of a kitten!!
And PICA!!

The specialist is in today. He is not concerned; however, I am to call into either him or his associate tomorrow, to let them know how Geoffrey is doing...

I feel so foolish... paranoid, OCD... but he is my baby...

 

[Caspers Human]

This my former cat, "K.C.," the paper eater.



That picture was taken thirty years ago and K.C. has long-since passed.

Notice the strips of paper that he's playing with. Those are the edge strips from computer printer paper.
I had K.C. while I was in college and the comptuer/printer was the one I used to write my school assignments with.

Whenever K.C. heard the printer working, he would come a'running because he knew he would get to play.
I would tear the edge strips off and bundle them up like a pom-pom. We would rassle for a while, until the paper was all torn up, then it was "game over." (Pretty much all of my pets knew that "game over" meant that play time was over, for now.)

Yes, he ate photographic paper. Apparently, a lot of photographers with cats have that problem. Nobody knows exactly why.
People think that it's the fish gelatin used to make the emulsion that attracts them. I'm not entirely sure that the theory is true because K.C. used to also chew on those computer papers, too. Sometimes, he swallowed them, as well.

There used to be a common phrase, heard in the bathroom, when either me or my roommate would clean K.C.'s litter box...
"The cat's been eating paper...AGAIN!"

Nobody really knew why. K.C. was the only cat I ever had that would do this. Like I say, I have heard many people, over the years, say the same things. In fact, it was my photography teacher who told me about the "fish gelatin" theory because his cat did the same thing.

Maybe there's something in those envelope strips that attracts your cat like the gelatin in the photographic paper attracted my cat.

Maybe your cat wants to play with the paper strips like the way my cat did.

I don't know... Maybe you should try taking several strips from your envelopes and making a pom-pom to play with like I did with K.C.

No, I don't think you are paranoid. I didn't know about cats eating photographic paper until I asked my prof., either.

I don't think just eating a strip of paper, or two, will hurt your cat. Just don't let him get too much. Keep it out of sight and out of mind so he can't get into it while you're not looking or supervising play time.

 

[artiemom]

Thanks. I am so careful. I know About fetishes.
Artie with plastic; Geoffrey with plastic, and now paper!
Ridiculous.

He has a ton of toys. We play every morning. And sometimes afternoon. We also play: chase at night.

Weird cat!

 

[Kflowers]

SG doesn't like just any paper, she likes the foil that comes in cigarette packs, only the silver kind, not the blue. Do you know how hard it is to get that for her when I don't smoke? I have two little boxes of the gently balled up papers. We play with one ball at a time, when done I carefully put it back in it's box.

But then she won't chase the feathers on the string if you wave it in the air, only if you drag it across the floor.

Geoffrey is all about keeping you on your toes. Picture of Geoffrey thinking all night about what could be a toy that Mom hasn't thought of yet.