My cat ate face mask string twice

[pringandpan]

My cat ate face mask string twice. First, it was during nighttime. I woke up and notice my face mask lying on the floor. She chewed about 2 inches. I observed that she was acting normal after a day or two. Then, on another day, I woke up again with a surgical mask with missing string about 2.5 inches long. I have two cats and I’m not sure which one chewed on it.

This happened three or four days ago now. They are both acting normal—eating, drinking, urinating, and pooping solid brown stool. No vomiting. My mistake is that I’m just realizing how serious this issue is now, and I just started investigating the contents of their poop now. They had stools for three days that I was not able to inspect if the strings were present.

I called the vet last night and he said to continue observing the cats. One of my cats is picky with food and sometimes would refuse to eat. She already went to the vet on October and December for lack of appetite but all tests and radiographs came back normal. So they vet said she is a finicky cat.

Today she would only eat food out of my hand. But she ate a whole 3.3 oz can of wet food this morning. Now, I’m worried if she has a problem with potentially eating the string or she is just picky. She is acting fairly normal though.

Do you think the string may have already passed without me checking over the past three days? The strings are elastic and soft and not very long piece are missing. I’m worried that this might still cause major issues later.

I’m so worried now.

 

[vince]

I read online that a cat's gut transit time is about three days. If it came out, it should have done so recently. The big problem is if it doesn't. I'd keep looking for a day or two more.

I don't think a piece of face mask string 2 1/2" or 3" long is going to be that big a problem. I think my cats have eaten worse. Just do what the vet suggested.

 

[pringandpan]

I read online that a cat's gut transit time is about three days. If it came out, it should have done so recently. The big problem is if it doesn't. I'd keep looking for a day or two more.

I don't think a piece of face mask string 2 1/2" or 3" long is going to be that big a problem. I think my cats have eaten worse. Just do what the vet suggested.

Thanks for the reply. I just checked their stools today and I have not seen any string. I’ll continue to monitor them.

 

[Antonio65]

My cat ate the string of my eyeglasses last year in July.
She ate all of it, the whole length, about 12 inches!!!

She passed it two days later. It wasn't the complete length, though, and I kept inspecting her poop for at least two weeks (not the best of jobs to do...), and found nothing else. But she kept doing fine, so I stopped panicking after two or three weeks.
The same cat ate one of the two strings of a surgical mask three months ago, and never found it in her poop, but she's still fine.

The only thing I can say to you is to keep monitoring them and as soon as you notice something unusual, go to the vet.
I fully understand you!

 

[pringandpan]

My cat ate the string of my eyeglasses last year in July.
She ate all of it, the whole length, about 12 inches!!!

She passed it two days later. It wasn't the complete length, though, and I kept inspecting her poop for at least two weeks (not the best of jobs to do...), and found nothing else. But she kept doing fine, so I stopped panicking after two or three weeks.
The same cat ate one of the two strings of a surgical mask three months ago, and never found it in her poop, but she's still fine.

The only thing I can say to you is to keep monitoring them and as soon as you notice something unusual, go to the vet.
I fully understand you!

Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience! I feel so much better now. I will continue to monitor my cats. So far, they are both acting normal. I hope it stays this way. Thanks again!