Cat ate something (maybe a dryer sheet), I think...Been to vet but still not well

Friday, we came home to find my cat in a lethargic state and trying to cough up something that would not come out. We went to the vet with him and I told her that I thought my cat had swallowed something but not sure what it could be. My cat got into the laundry room yesterday morning, even though he is not allowed in there and I think might have ingested a used dryer sheet (He loves them). I caught him with them a few times before and am now careful at throwing them out right away and locking him out of the laundry area but not yesterday morning.

To get back to the vet visit, she checked his heartbeat, lungs and said everything seemed ok, other than him gagging and trying to throw up what he had swallowed. She told me to give him some hairball remedy and wet food to see if he could pass whatever he had swallowed. She said to come back if he was no better and they would X-Ray. He did not feel good until 5am Saturday morning but seemed fine afterwards (playing, eating, drinking...) until about 1pm (vet was closing) when he gagged a few times. I called her and she said to monitor what he was passing from both ends, vomitting, diarrhea and come back on Monday if still hadn't passed. I have tried to give him grass to help him vomit but it didn't work.

We are now Sunday and he is eating and drinking but still hasn't pooped since Friday and has had a spell of coughing this afternoon trying to pass whatever is bothering him. He is not as lively as before but better than Friday. He will play a bit and look for affection if you come to him. He will not come to us.

My cat has a tendency to eat various inedible things. He once ate a ribbon from a teddy bear and threw it up in a hairball two days later. It is worse than baby proofing a house for a child :-)

I'm still worried, as if it is a dryer sheet, wouldn't it be toxic for him? I just wanted to see if anyone has had the same experience.

Thanks.

I'm actually surprised that your vet didn't already do the x-rays. When I even suspected that my dog ate something she shouldn't have, the vet did an x-ray right away, hoping to catch it before it caused a blockage. This happened two times. The second time was nothing. The first time, when she ate a bit of a plastic bag, they induced vomit in her, which didn't work, and she ended up doing an endoscopy. That was a pretty big deal. Had we waited and the body took it in even further, they would have had to cut her open to take it out.

If he is acting really off, I would definitely take him in asap. It's a big concern that he was lethargic on Friday and hasn't pooped since. I think for the vet to tell you (on Saturday) to wait until Monday is a long time. I'm just not understanding why the x-ray wasn't done as soon as you brought him in the first time with a cat that has a history of ingesting foreign objects.

Good luck! And please keep us updated.

I think he should have had a xray.
He could be blocked inside.

I am also quite surprised the vet did not radiograph right away.

The concern when animals eat foreign objects is a blockage. If a blockage forms, it must be sugically removed (or, like in KatGoddess' case, removed via scope. That's sort of "best case" for a foreign object.)

At this point, the cat needs to be radiographed. If the cat is, indeed, blocked, it will need surgery. If the cat is blocked and you do not do surgery, the cat will die. I would take the cat in to an emergency clinic now, if possible, or to your regular vet first thing in the AM.

I am taking him to the vet first thing in the morning. We do not have emergency clinics where I live. I think the reason why she sent me home is that the thing he swallowed if he indeed did (I don't know for sure) was in the throat area and she said that he might be able to regurgitate it by using hairball medicine and wet food.

I also thought that she would do an ex-ray but he had eaten and they prefer for them to fast before sedating them. I thought that was a bit weird but I'm not a vet. He has been feeling a bit better ( he plays a bit), that is why I haven't called for emergency treatment and I have been keeping an eye on him eating and drinking, which he does but it is the pooping that worries me, even though he is not a constant pooper. I was told that as long as he gags and tries to cough it up, it is still in his stomach. I hope so. I almost felt like giving him the peroxide to make him vomit, like they say to do to induce vomiting in cats but I'm scared to do so.

Sorry to hear you are going thru this!

Take all food and water away from him tonight by midnight, just in case they find out that he is blocked and decide that he needs surgery tomorrow.

Good luck tomorrow

HOpe he is OK. Can't wait to hear an update!

Well, I picked up Gizmo from the vet today. He is a bit groggy from the sedative but doing fine. They did X-rays and whatever he ate has made it through his intestine fine. They could not tell what it was, as he still hasn't pooped it out but they said it is a matter of time before it happens. They gave him a laxative to help speed it up.

When I see him heading for the stairs, I have to help him down so he will make it to the litter. By himself, it would take forever. He looks like he is a bit drunk and does not seem to impress with me right now...lol. I will lock him in the family room tonight to make sure he does not hurt himself trying to jump everywhere.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and advice. I just found this site and will be visiting it on a regular basis. It is kinda nice to be able to get advice from people who might have been there and to also share the experience that I have had with my kitties.

Oh my goodness, I hope he is ok! Poor kitties dont know whats food and whats not sometimes

Awe, I hope everything 'comes out' okay! Keep us updated.

Did they do any other tests on him? Since nothing showed up on the X-ray, could it be that he ate something toxic (plants, chemicals)? Or it could be a virus.

They did not do any other test. They checked his throat and said that it would have been irritated if he had swallowed something toxic. I also don't have anything toxic that he could have gotten to and no plants. All that stuff has been put away, as I have a nozy two year old as well.

They said whatever he took had gone through fine and would come out. I am pregnant so I did not venture in the kitty litter to examine but he is now back to normal. He is back to his evil self again so I think he will be fine.