My cat ate a contact lens!

melissaann

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Dec 28, 2004
Messages
23
Purraise
1
Location
Palatine, IL
Somehow she managed to wrench open the package and slurp up my lens. (I'm guessing, I found the package when I got home) At first I laughed but then I called the vet to make sure it wasn't harmful. They said since it was a soft lens that it should be okay and that I should look for it in her poop. Lovely. Anyone elses cat eat something crazy like this?
 

ktlynn

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 8, 2004
Messages
1,570
Purraise
22
Location
New Jersey, USA
My little guy ate a piece of ribbon once - I was so worried until the next day when it reappeared in the litter box! Thank God it did or we'd be off to the vet.

Cats are like toddlers - everything, even really strange things, go in the mouth. You have to child-proof your house to make it safe for the cats. In your case I'd be more worried about the packaging the lens came in - cellophane and plastic wrap are very dangerous for cats to ingest. Hopefully she didn't eat any of that. For the next 24 hours, I'd watch her carefully to make sure she's eating, using the litterbox and behaving normally.
 

cirque

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
1,086
Purraise
1
Location
Rochester, NY
I would not worry to much, considering it is usually next to your own eyeball. The cat should pass it without much concern considering its size and shape and what its made from. Hopefully. Don't worry to much, especially if the vet said it was not much of a problem. Good luck though...and don't forget to order some new lenses, grin. And keep them away from the kitty!
 
G

ghostuser

Guest
Eby tried eating my retainer once. Thankfully it was a really hard plastic and I stumbled onto her quickly before she could do any damage. My orthedontist had warned me that dogs love to eat retainers, but this was the first time he had ever heard of a cat chewing on one.
 

grapegal45

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
213
Purraise
2
My Wallace tried to eat yarn several times when he was younger, thank goodness we were able to catch it. When we first got our cats we had no idea cats ate strange things. I was used to that with a dog. Our dog has eaten many strange things over the years, although not so much now since he is older and we are wiser.
The worst was when he was little and he ate a dirty washcloth, we didnt even know it until he was running around the yard frantically with a wash cloth hanging out of his butt.
That was 11 years ago and we still get quite a chuckle. No harm done but it sure could have been a bad thing.
 

dicknleah

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Dec 6, 2004
Messages
1,126
Purraise
1
Location
Western Washington
Emmy is constantly trying to slurp from my contact lens case. I never thought of her actually slurping the lense as well. I'm sorry I had to laugh but are your contacts the soft ones? And, (kinda gross), did you retrieve it from the litter box?
 

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
I had a dog eat one of my contact lenses once. I was wearing hard lenses back then, and dropped one while I was putting them in. The dog just gulped it down, and never suffered any ill effects. The soft lenses are so small, and mainly consist of water, so I doubt that you have to worry about it.
I can't say Jamie has eaten anything weird other than the tails of toy mice. Since he does that, I just buy the really tiny ones, and only give him a new one every few months.
 

javern

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 23, 2004
Messages
333
Purraise
1
Location
Iowa
I doubt it would be harnful but the BIG question is....if you find it again will you continue to use it?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

melissaann

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Dec 28, 2004
Messages
23
Purraise
1
Location
Palatine, IL
The contacts are disposable so I have tons more (all well hidden now, of course!) It was a soft lens. I think I saw something resembling some plastic bits in her litter, but I"m not sure. She's still healthy and happy so I'm not that worried. Silly cat!
 

mom of franz

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 7, 2004
Messages
2,007
Purraise
2
Location
NYC The Town so Nice, They Named it Twice!
Originally Posted by melissaann

The contacts are disposable so I have tons more (all well hidden now, of course!) It was a soft lens. I think I saw something resembling some plastic bits in her litter, but I"m not sure. She's still healthy and happy so I'm not that worried. Silly cat!
I just hope both of you can SEE through this mishap...sorry I couldn't resist!
(Look here you are without your contact!)
 

darkeyedgirl

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 31, 2002
Messages
1,563
Purraise
12
Location
"Southside of Cincinnati"
mmm... to a cat, I bet a contact lens feels all juicy and wonderful in their mouth. Your cat simply thought it was a treat for him!

My cat Hammie likes plastic. Loves it, actually. I was putting together this little floor cabinet for my bathroom the other night, and all the screws & dowels & things were in tiny plastic bags. I would pile all the garbage together, and of course since Hammie has to be involved in everything I do because of his undying curiousity, he tasted and bit each part of the plastic! Finally I just put it all into the box the cabinet came in.

So then he stood up and tipped the box over and started to inside to get to his beloved plastic.

Had to move the plastic-bag filled box out into my garage. He followed me the whole way. He's that obsessed with plastic.
 

mrsd

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
1,515
Purraise
1
Location
USA
I'm glad you got in contact with your vet.
 

clixpix

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Messages
14,540
Purraise
2
Originally Posted by mrsd

I'm glad you got in contact with your vet.
Hee! Good one! I just wish I had been farsighted enough to make that joke first!
 

tootsy

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Messages
1
Purraise
1
OMG, my cat ate my lens last night!  I had it in the container and she jumped on the vanity as I was removing the other one and she slurped up the solution water.  When I checked . . . the lens was gone.  This was my first pair.  I have an appointment on Tuesday and was suppose to wear them 2 hours before the exam..... wonder what expression I'll get when I tell the eye doctor this one!!!
 

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
That's something he's probably heard before. I used to wear hard contacts, dropped one while putting it in, and the dog gobbled it. Neither the doctor nor the insurance company thought it was a strange thing to happen.

Mogli finds it fascinating when I put mine in, so it's probably just a matter of time before he samples one.
 

blackcat416

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Dec 16, 2013
Messages
324
Purraise
52
Location
South Philadelphia, USA
My Matthew will eat any string from a pet toy so any toys that are attached with a string the string has to get cut off. My 6 cats got a tree house for Christmas that came with 2 hanging toys that Matthew went right too to bite the string off so they had to get cut off. But mostly my cats eat their plants, I buy big pluming green grass and they love eating that all the time til it's dead.
 

amy86

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Dec 3, 2014
Messages
1
Purraise
1
I wear daily disposable contacts and if I leave them on my bedside table at night my cat will come along and eat them.
She must like the taste of my eyeballs....
 

arnie58

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Messages
7
Purraise
2
I think they do it not only for the feel and taste, but because it gives them tremendous hindsight!
 

BonitaBaby

Emotional Support Cat "Owner"
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 15, 2014
Messages
654
Purraise
351
Location
California
mmm... to a cat, I bet a contact lens feels all juicy and wonderful in their mouth. Your cat simply thought it was a treat for him!

My cat Hammie likes plastic. Loves it, actually. I was putting together this little floor cabinet for my bathroom the other night, and all the screws & dowels & things were in tiny plastic bags. I would pile all the garbage together, and of course since Hammie has to be involved in everything I do because of his undying curiousity, he tasted and bit each part of the plastic! Finally I just put it all into the box the cabinet came in.

So then he stood up and tipped the box over and started to inside to get to his beloved plastic.

Had to move the plastic-bag filled box out into my garage. He followed me the whole way. He's that obsessed with plastic.
My cat too! When I have to assemble things or open boxes with plastic inside, I try to quickly put all the plastic pieces in the empty box or in the trash. Your post reminded me of a time when my cat and I almost got into a tug-of-war over a little tiny piece of plastic when I was putting something together. I missed putting that piece away and she grabbed it in her mouth and ran off and I almost didn't realize. I went chasing after her when I realized and surprisingly, she is just not really scared of me, which is fantastic!! ^_^ Either that or she might have really wanted the plastic. It's probably the latter because my little girl is quite territorial and unafraid of some things and LOVES plastic!!! I managed to grab the piece of plastic while it was in her mouth and she somehow dropped it even though she had a very secure grip on it with her teeth.  Fortunately, I was able to grab it then, otherwise, she would have been under our bed munching away on it since that was where she was headed and she was almost there.

I really wish I could teach her what this means:
She just loves plastic!!! I'm surprised she's still alive since I'm fairly certain she was living in the wild or streets before she got captured by the animal shelter. She also LOVES the smell of chocolate. I only hope she's never eaten any before I got her.
Gosh, I love her!!!
I catproofed before I introduced her to my apartment. I even bought child safety latches for the under-the-sink cabinet so she can't get in there. Also, got covered trash cans. I just need one more for a bathroom and also to stay very vigilant on an every minute/millisecond basis!!
 
Top