Dangerous toys?

My cat is about 6 months old, and probably ate a 2 inch long ribbon off a toy mouse bought for him from a pet store. This happened about a week ago. I have recently been told that a ribbon in the cat's system can prove to be fatal. The cat has been using his litter box regularly, and has been eating his meals. I'll take him to the vet tomorrow, but I'd like to know what to expect. Also, what toys are generally safe for cats? Mine gets pretty bored very soon.

So, it didn't come out? Good you are going to the vet.

I always take tails off of mice toys and any bells or things they can chew off and swallow. I used to buy the little mice with the catnip scent. However, I found they could chew them right up. My cat, Beeshee Marie, had two in her mouth at once and had to spit them out to eat. No more of them.

I now buy the large size mouse, almost rat sized and keep my eye on it. It can get pretty icky and then it is out in the garbage.

My other choices are a rolled up foil ball, or wax paper ball. Large size zip ties formed in the shape of a "9" by putting the straight part through the little square.

Honestly the best toys are the ones you make yourself. Sticks with feathers on it for interactive play. Cats LOVE feathers. Brings out the wild in them. Boxes with entrances cut in them. Paper bags. Newspaper crinkled up so they can burrow under it. I even tape sheets of newspaper onto table legs to form little hideouts. My cats love that.

I bought a ribbon toy for Luna and Midnight when they were real little, when I caught Luna trying to eat it, I threw it right away. I can't believe some of the toys they sell for cats! Some of them don't even look safe. Lynxx never ate the ribbons or feathers, he just liked to pull them off so he could play with the string they were attached to.

Do bring your cat to the vet, just incase.

Oh dear, I hope your baby is ok, please let us know how she gets on at the vets. My kitties love ping pong balls more than anything.They do sell some very unsuitable toys for kitties and the thing is when they are advertised for cats how are we to know if we aren't very experienced? x

Ping pong balls in the bathtub is a super hit here!

Sponge balls(a bit careful with the young ones as they will attempt to eat them)
I get a few dog toys for the small-medium dog(rubber wobbly balls) also the milk ring toys petsmart sells last a while and when they start going its obvious

catnip is not had to often cause it causes to many fights(i have a bunch of cats tho

Hope all is well and maybe it passed unnoticed

Originally Posted by catsallaround

Ping pong balls in the bathtub is a super hit here!

Sponge balls(a bit careful with the young ones as they will attempt to eat them)
I get a few dog toys for the small-medium dog(rubber wobbly balls) also the milk ring toys petsmart sells last a while and when they start going its obvious

catnip is not had to often cause it causes to many fights(i have a bunch of cats tho

Hope all is well and maybe it passed unnoticed

Click to expand...

Oh my gosh, ping pon balls in the bathtub, how fab, I bet they go mad x

They love that...the kittens(9 of them about 5 months old now-2 litters) are always in the bathroom and sit on the ledge when your in shower and have to take them out. We have a clear curtain and they have been raised very young to be outgoing so they sometimes hop in with "sparkle ball" in mouth figuring next best thing.

Most likely the ribbon has come out and you just didn't see it. It's also not very long which is good. The risk is that string can get bunched up and cause a blockage. It can also cut the stomach, especially if it gets caught and the cat tries to cough it up. With a 2 inch piece of string I wouldn't think the risk for either scenario is that big but it doesn't hurt to have it checked out by the vet. If your cat would have an obstruction or similar she would most likely show some symptoms. I found a website that lists the following symptoms of problems caused by string ingestion:

* vomiting or dry heaves
* anorexia or decreased appetite
* straining to defecate or diarrhea
* painful abdomen
* fever
* depression
* dehydration (due to vomiting)

If your cat seems fine I don't see a reason to worry although I'd still go to the vet to be on the safe side.

I have a pretty funny story about kittens swollowing stuff. I have a foster kitten who at about 3 months old chewed off the tip of a nipple on her bottle (she really liked an occasional bottle) and swollowed it. The vet said that there wasn't much they could do but that it would come out. I never saw it come out but just assumed that it had came out but I didn't see it. After all I have eight litter boxes. The kitten was just fine, eating and pooping like normal. A month later though she vomited up a bunch of watery substance and in the puddle was something very odd looking. I picked it up to look closer at it and realized that it was the tip of the nipple she had swollowed a month earlier! It had sat in her stomach that whole time! She showed no sign of anything being wrong though and the vet had not found anything while examining her either. It's quite amazing that it could sit there for a month and not cause any problems.

Cats of course love to play with string but it's best to just use it while you play with them and once you're done you put it away somewhere where the cat can't get it. They should never have access to any kind of string or rubber bands when they are unsupervised.

Anytime I buy a toy for Chickie Sue, since she loves to tear them apart, is to inspect them for anything that can come off. I equate giving her a toy just like giving a baby a toy. What can come off? What can be swallowed? If a little toy mouse has tinsel looking material on it, I don't buy it. If it has little sewn on eyes, I don't buy it. Or I remove these things before giving them to her. Anything that can come off eventually will, by wearing out or the cat tearing them off.

This is like one of the toys I just bought Chickster, it has small feathers on it. She's not an eater/swallower of things but I take no chance and only leave it on the toy when I'm there to watch her.

I've found some dog toys that are heavy duty and have nothing to come off easily work for Chickster since she is a lethal destroyer of most toys. Otherwise, she loves the cardboard that comes out of the boxes. They're like little kids, they move fast and eat quickly!

Thanks for your replies!

I went to the vet today. As my cat, Clawdius seemed fine, the vet said there seemed nothing to worry about, but gave him a laxative anyway. The vet's asked me to keep an eye on him just in case, and get him hospitalised if he seems constipated. Seems fine though.

I find it very irresponisible of pet toy manufacturers to sell products that can be potentially harmful. The least they can do is put a warning on the packet! Are peacock feathers harmful to cats?

I don't know about peacock feathers, but any feather wands or toys with feathers, I only let my cat use supervised. She could get it in her mouth and unable to spit it out since it's so feathery and swallow it, and they have very sharp edges. I have one large peacock feather a friend gave me and it is up and out of her reach, and out of sight.

That tip of the nipple story reminds me of my dog. She ate crayons, legos, anything. Well, she pooped the regular legos out, but the wheels floated around in her stomach until she barfed them out. The rubber had gotten all sticky and gooey. Really weird.

I wouldn't worry about them eating a feather. They are cats, afterall. When I was in college I adopted a feral kitten (named her Trouble for good reason!) and she knocked my finches cage over and ate him while I was at school. All I found was one feather stuck to a piece of paper under my recliner. I panicked and called the vet. They told me just to watch her poop for blood, but that eating a bird was not a big thing even though she was only 7 weeks old.