My cat swallowed a string!

My cat swallowed a string. There were bits of dry poo being found at various places around the house (bed, kitchen, couch) and we didn't know why, then the day after there was an enormous poo sitting beside the litter box. There was a string embedded n the poo from a rice bag... we keep rice in the closet next to the cat food but the door is closed... they are always trying to reach their paws under the door. He must have snagged one of the strings successfully and swallowed it.

Do you think he's OK? I'm worried about a string being pulled along through his insides could cause harm. He seems to be OK but I'm still worried. I'm not sure if all the string is through him yet.

Oh no! I hope all the string has gone through. Maybe you can phone a vet for advice? They might just tell you to keep an eye on him, but maybe they have some better advice than that. My vets office is pretty nice about answering questions.

I hope everything turns out OK!

I also second that you should seek veterinary assistance.

They seem fine so far... I haven't noticed any additional odd behavior. Eating, pooing, and overall behavior all seems good now. Hopefully we're out of the woods?

As one who had a cat swallow a minute piece of foam and nearly died, and needed two surgeries - I'd call the vet and just ask.

Mickey didn't show any weird behavior for at least a couple of weeks after he swallowed it - I know, because I remembered having seen him chewing the toy. At first we thought he had a UTI. That would have been wrong.

The foam piece was wedged just outside the stomach, and the first exploratory surgery didn't find it. Detective work between an experienced vet surgeon and a new-in-practice vet solved our problem.

Your vet may have a recommendation - and aren't cats worse than little kids sometimes? You just never know what they're going to eat!

I would say he passed the string. If he stops poohing then you may have a twisted area in his intestin from string. But it sounds like it went through. Mine swallowed a thick string and barfed it up after a day. But call your vet. Thats always the safe bet.

Speaking as one who knows, a vet visit so the vet can feel his intestines and do an xray would be in order just to make sure all is well.

My Buick LOVES wand toys...




One day the string broke off the wand and I did not immediately throw it away, so..... one major surgery and several thousand dollars later..... (you can even see all the staples )

Originally Posted by techiegirl

Speaking as one who knows, a vet visit so the vet can feel his intestines and do an xray would be in order just to make sure all is well.

One day the string broke off the wand and I did not immediately throw it away, so..... one major surgery and several thousand dollars later..... (you can even see all the staples

)

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techiegirl, I agree completely. I absentmindedly watched Mickey chewing on the foam toy, never dreaming a month later he'd nearly be dead from ingesting a tiny piece of it. Very scary, very expensive!