Cat Ate Rubber Band

ellsworth

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Last night my cat stole a large rubber band from a file I was working on and in 1 minute consumed half of it. When I went to retrieve it from him, a quarter of it (1.5 inches) was on the ground and a quarter of it was making it's way down his throat. I pulled that part out. I have a feeling that the parts he ate were much shorter because he was having trouble consuming the 1.5 inch length one.

He ate and drank after the incident. He acts totally normal. He's 8 months old so he's still a wild man when he plays. There was no poop with rubber band in it this a.m. but I have 4 cats so who is to say who pooped?.

Has anyone experienced anything like this?
 

mews2much

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Coco did that once and I was scared.
My husband had left them on the counter and I aked thm were they went.
He did not know then Coco was coughing so much and I though it was her asthma.
She threw up and there were 5 big rubber bands in it partly chewed.
She was ok after that.
I would call the vet and tell them what happened.
They can do xrays.
 

darlili

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I'd call my vet for advice on next steps on what to watch for - and, with the holidays, I'd figure out exactly where the ER vet is, their phone number, and when would be the time to go in, if need be. Better safe that sorry. I actually did a dry run to my ER vet, since I wasn't quite sure exactly where it was - and a good thing too - first time I went it was midnight on a Sunday and I'd probably still be driving up and down Ogden looking for the office. It's obvious when you know what you're looking for, but it's on a four lane street in the burbs and street numbers vary from town to town.

Good luck - and you might want to search on Lawguy and how his male kitten ate an entire cat toy.
 

rang_27

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Yes. When Isaac was about that age he ate better than 3/4 of a thick rubber band. He was a little constipated for a couple days, but eventually it did pass. I would call the vet though just to be sure.
 

kluchetta

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Just watch for vomiting clear or foamy liquid, because that's what Elsa did and she had an intestinal blockage they had to operate on!
 

nekomania

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I am also thinking you should give the vet a ring, they can tell you signs to watch out for.

Rubber bands are pretty obvious so you should see it if he passes it. If he only ate a tiny piece I wouldn't worry AS much as if he were to eat the whole thing or a few of them.

If he did swallow a big piece, just remember to not pull it out if you see it hanging out of an orifice. Better to wait to see if it passes on it's own.


I would take him to the vet if he stops being able to keep food/liquids down or if his litterbox habits change drastically.
 
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ellsworth

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Thanks you guys. I'll check on him tonight and if there is any question, I'll take him to emergency. It makes me feel better to know that cats have eaten rubber bands before and survived.
 
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ellsworth

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Just an update.

The cat is fine. He never got sick. He never pooped the rubber band out. According to the box it had the highest percentage of rubber in it possible (I guess that's good or something, for rubber bands). Isn't rubber a plant? All I can figure is that he digested it.

This morning he started to conduct the same experiment with those styrofoam packaging thingies but I stopped it before the experiment was completed.
 

darlili

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One of the nice things about having a cat, or any pet, is that you will find yourself becoming so totally neat and tidy at home - just so the little varmints don't eat everything left out and send you to the ER vet every other week.
 
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ellsworth

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Originally Posted by darlili

One of the nice things about having a cat, or any pet, is that you will find yourself becoming so totally neat and tidy at home - just so the little varmints don't eat everything left out and send you to the ER vet every other week.
Ain't that the truth
 

m935

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Glad your cat is ok!!!

by the way - would this be the same situation for ribbon?? Mine ate a small piece yesterday. hes fine -so i guess at this point theres nothing to worry about... right??
 

darlili

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IMO, same deal - including calling your vet for what to watch for, and knowing where the ER vet is, just in case. You might skate on this, but you should be prepared for a quick trip to the vet. In the meantime, I'd clean up everything possible - and keep a sharp eye on any possible change in behavior (lethargy, peeing, pooing, vomiting, off appetite). Good luck!
 

silva_unt

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Glad your kitty is okay. You should read Dewey - true story about a library cat. Great book! Dewey use to eat rubber bands and they would find them in the litter box after they passed. They even had the whole library hide ALL rubber bands. Dewey ended up finding some still
 
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ellsworth

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Yeah, who knows what they are eating when we're not home? They must have some pretty powerful stomach acid.
 
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