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Calvin ate a piece of string

post #1 of 29
1/29/11 at 9:55am
Thread Starter 
I am such a terrible meowmy
So I was playing Da Bird with Calvin and the phone rang and so I went to answer it. I came back in a couple of minutes and saw Calvin holding the feather with a bit of string attached to it and the pole with another piece of string attached on the floor beside him. However, when I put the string end to end, it is shorter than what the original was and I feel about 8 inches missing. I tried to look inside his mouth and could not see anything. This happened 1.5 hours ago and he's so far playing and being his hyper self. I called the emergency vet and spoke to a tech (regular vet's office was closed and so I called their recommended Emergency vet). They asked me to watch him for vomitting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, lethargy and not to pull on the string if I see it emerging from either end.
I asked if I should feed him something and she suggested I could give him some wet food for the moisture in it. I gave him some after adding a little water to some vet food. Any other suggestings anyone has? I am just so upset at myself. Please send some vibes Calvin's way that this resolves painlessly.
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post #2 of 29
1/29/11 at 10:09am
It seems to me that you are definitely not a terribly owner seeing how you have done everything you can for him at this point. Not to mention you adopted Calvin... so he could be a lot worse off!

It's only been 1.5 hours. It's going to be awhile before he poops so when he does you can examine it and check for the string. I hope it comes out no problem!

Stop being upset with yourself! Worrying will not make him poop any faster.
He's fine right now and you're doing what the emergency vet said to do.
If the string doesn't come out you will deal with it then, swiftly like how you reacted when you discovered the missing length of string.

You're a good meowmy. Don't beat yourself up.
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post #3 of 29
1/29/11 at 10:11am
No suggestions other than what you've already done, but lots of that Calvin will be fine.
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post #4 of 29
1/29/11 at 10:18am
Been there, done that! It's so nerve wracking and panic inducing! Look around for the missing string as he could've managed to move it somewhere (under furniture, papers, etc) or knocked it around while playing. You're already doing all that you can; you just have to watch the poop and watch him for the indications the ER staff gave you.

Praying all is well and that you just overlooked the string.
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post #5 of 29
1/29/11 at 10:26am
You don't sound like a terrible meowmy at all! Once Wessie ate a piece of ribbon about 10" long... I didn't know until I scooped his litter box, though. It was hanging out of his poop. You're doing everything you can!
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post #6 of 29
1/29/11 at 11:10am
When Queen Eva ate some foam rubber I called the animal poison control center hotline.

The vet, once assuring me that the stuff was not toxic gave this advice:

Feed as much as kitty will eat, wet food especially, and add a lot of fiber to the diet. I was mixing 1/4 teaspoon of pure psyllium to Queen Eva's watery meals twice a day.

<psylium is what is in metamucil, but without the other stuff added>

Keep a sharp watch for the next 24 to 72 hours, if you see any signs of lethargy, vomiting or straining in the litter box, call your vet, or the on call or ER vet immediately.

And as was already mentioned, NEVER pull on anything poking out of either direction.

Try not to blame yourself. It can happen to anyone, no matter how vigilant we try to be.

PS..Queen Eva pooped a LOT, with all the extra fiber, and passed the foam rubber in less than 36 hours.

Keep us posted on Calvin.

Calvin
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post #7 of 29
1/29/11 at 11:24am
yep feed lots of wet food with fiber-canned pumpkin, organicc catnip, mineral oil- anything that will allow the string to slide through and not do damage. Cats have no choice but be attracted to strings and ribbons and yarn, thread etc- it resembles their favorite food of all mouse innards. Once they have it in their mouth and realize it doesn't taste good, it is to late. It gets caught on the barbs of their tongue and they have no choice but to swallow it.

Take kitty and a ball point pen and sit kitty in your lap so his rear is facing you. Put him so he is in the center of your crotch. Scruff him gently, raise his head up gently and use the pen to open his mouth. You need to look under his tongue that is where most often these items will end up, either under the tongue or wrapped around the end of the tongue. If you don't see it there, simply release him and apologize later. Keep all string toys on a supervised basis only- they are a huge danger for cats and kittens.
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post #8 of 29
1/29/11 at 11:56am
I don't know what else to tell you. I hope that Calvin is ok!
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post #9 of 29
1/29/11 at 12:16pm
I'm sending lots of positive energy your way, hoping that Calvin will be fine.

He probably will be, you know.

It can happen to anyone.

You're a good meowmy.



Robin
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post #10 of 29
1/29/11 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks everyone for the tips and for your reassurances. I will get him to eat and will try to add more fiber in his diet. I try to keep anything stringy out of reach and usually are able to keep all hazardous stuff for a kitten out of reach. I don't know how I ended up leaving the Da Bird with him. I do not think he hid it anywhere....he was in a room, sitting on the same spot where I left him. DH vacuumed it and we did not find the string.
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post #11 of 29
1/29/11 at 1:22pm
I would try to find out the normal length of the string on the toy. Maybe someone else here can measure theirs and let you know. You might be worried over nothing.
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post #12 of 29
1/29/11 at 1:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrblanche View Post
I would try to find out the normal length of the string on the toy. Maybe someone else here can measure theirs and let you know. You might be worried over nothing.
That would be good. To the naked eye it does look way shorter and I checked online and it seems to be aboout 32 inches according to someone's measurement. I have to go upstairs and check and it definitely is not even 20 inches that I have. Calvin has a tendency to eat ANYTHING he finds that should not be eaten. He is picky about eating his food but not picky about eating anything else and we usually try to stay a step ahead of him but definitely not this time.
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post #13 of 29
1/29/11 at 1:56pm
I just measured my cats' Da Bird string. It is 32".


Robin
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post #14 of 29
1/29/11 at 2:39pm
You are a good mommy!!! Things like this can happen to even the most vigilant - and we can't think of everything...remember the story here about the kitten who gots its head stuck in the back of a chair....I can't imagine who would have been able to see that happening.

The only thing I could add is if you don't know exactly where your e-vet is, you do a dry run so you'll have no issues finding it in case you need to make a trip. I've been there - when you're frantic yourself, I don't care if you have the best GPS in the world, it's better to have real life experience before hand.

Try to stay calm, for Calvin's sake - so he doesn't pick up on your stress and get too nervous to poo himself.

Many good wishes for Calvin to have a successful, string filled, poop soon.
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post #15 of 29
1/29/11 at 4:37pm
Yup - we've been there and done that too. We examined a lot of poop with four cats at the time it happened, but it eventually turned up. We didn't know the wet food, mineral oil, fiber tips either.

for Calvin!
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post #16 of 29
1/29/11 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bastetservant View Post
I just measured my cats' Da Bird string. It is 32".
Mine is 31"
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post #17 of 29
1/29/11 at 6:15pm
I had the EXACT thing happen to Perla last month!!!!! I had been playing with the kittens and an interactive toy with the wand and string and then the little turtle on the end. I had to go to the bathroom, yes, natured called. I was only gone maybe two minutes, and when I returned Perla had the string in her mouth and was eating it little by little and had already chewed it in half. When I got it away from her, it was definitely shorter. I called my vet immediately. He said to feed her the wet food and mineral oil. Just like we do for horses when they colic!!!!!!!!! to get things going and to pass it safely through her system. I did this for a couple of days and I never saw the string or pieces of string. My vet also said that usually when kittens chew string they chomp it into pieces and it will pass just fine. But other kittens will swallow it in one fell swoop and that is not good. Perla must have chomped it up a bit and it caused her no harm!! I was lucky and I am sure your darling Calvin will be alright. Kittens eat the darndest things don't they
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post #18 of 29
1/30/11 at 10:22am
Thread Starter 
Once again, thanks everyone for the tips, hugs, vibes, stories, measurements and support. There's good news and bad.

Good news: Calvin's poop did have string today! . He usually poops 2-3 times a day and yesterday he did have a BM after eating the thread - which was a concern but was eating a LOT and keeping it down. This morning he pooped once while I was asleep and DH was up and then again when I went to clean his litter box. The 2nd pile had the string. I did not measure - saw it and was relieved and then threw it. Maybe I should have to see if he ate in pieces and if the whole thing was out but will continue keeping an eye on him.

Bad news: There was a feather from 1 of his toys and maybe a tiny bit of plastic. I dont know where the latter is from but think it was this bag he had attacked while I was putting away grocery yesterday, which I promptly put away. Also a strand of my hair!

So the thing is - this little kitten just eats anything and everything. Is there any way I can stop him from eating random stuff? He loves to eat dirt when I am sweeping floors and so I tend to put him in a room so that he does not eat dirt. I try to play with stuff that he cannot tear apart - but he just loves toys with feathers and now I know why!!!! he eats paper too, at times. I can be careful (and ususally am) about plastic and string but don't know what to do about paper and a random fallen hair before I can see and clean the floor. Any suggestions?
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post #19 of 29
1/30/11 at 10:28am
Hmmm....

Maybe put out some of the kinds of things he especially likes, (under your supervision of course) such as feathers and string, doctored with a spray of red pepper?

I don't know if this kind of aversion therapy will work or not. If you try it , let us know!

PS glad he pooped out the string...and even though it's not funny I did smile over you finding more than you bargained for.
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post #20 of 29
1/30/11 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calvin&I View Post
Is there any way I can stop him from eating random stuff? He loves to eat dirt when I am sweeping floors and so I tend to put him in a room so that he does not eat dirt. I try to play with stuff that he cannot tear apart - but he just loves toys with feathers and now I know why!!!! he eats paper too, at times. I can be careful (and ususally am) about plastic and string but don't know what to do about paper and a random fallen hair before I can see and clean the floor. Any suggestions?
All you can do is kitten proof. Anything and everything. I once caught Blann chewing on the broom I had just sat down (it was literally there 5 minutes). He ate a couple of pieces off of and promptly vomited them back up. He and his sister Tanna used to pick at the sisal scratching posts and eat stray strands of that - then vomit. I had to put one of the slightly more used posts away until they grew out of that. I even caught Blann with the copper pot scourer once, but thankfully got that away after a short chase through the house.

The point is, this is what some kittens do. You do your best to kitten proof and watch them like a hawk. Most will outgrow it. In the meantime grow some cat grass and find some cat chew toys that are safe - no plastic.

Small undyed feathers are fine. Cats eat birds and some feathers in the process. Just sort through his toys and put away anything too risky for your playtime together.
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post #21 of 29
1/30/11 at 12:10pm
Woohoo for string in the poop!! I think this is the only place one can be happy about such things!

We put all "dangerous" toys away in a drawer. Any bag, feather type toy, anything with a string goes in the drawer after playtime.

As for eating random stuff off the floor, good luck!! Tumbleweed is a HOOVER when it comes to junk on the floor. A couple of weeks ago, he nibbled on a piece of magnet I use for my cross stitching (one of those magnets that comes on a roll) that had fallen off my magnet board and I missed picking it up. I was on poop patrol. He'll eat ANYTHING!!! Vacuuming daily seems to help, but honestly, that doesn't happen often in our home.
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post #22 of 29
1/30/11 at 1:15pm
Thread Starter 
I thought I was kitty proofing enough but guess not
I keep no strings out and this was an exception but I do keep his feather toys out. I do not trust him around much anymore. He does use his scratching post (the cardboard ones) and eats the shavings. Have not seen him do that with the sisal yet.
The issue is when we are not home for long hours I want him to have some stuff to play with . I can see potential danger with nearly everything. Any safe toys you can suggest? Maybe another kitten?
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post #23 of 29
1/30/11 at 1:49pm
I second that - YAY for string in the poop!

Flowerbelle tears paper, Ming Loy eats plastic, Spooky eats string. The only solution we've found is to not leave any out.

But the random hair on the floor... I had REALLY long hair until last year, and while they didn't eat it intentionally, cat tongues are covered with little "hooks" that when something like that touches the tongue, it pretty much can only go one way. I took to brushing my hair only in the bathroom and using a hand vac right away, and putting my hair up in a pony tail while just around the house. Not much more you can do than that (at least not that I could think of).
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post #24 of 29
1/30/11 at 1:50pm
Stuffed toys with no eyes/nose/easy to eat ears. Balls too large for him to swallow. Pillow type toys, again too large to be swallowed. Toys with small feathers. Larger fur mice toys instead of the small ones as there can be the occasional cat that will choke on one. Knitted toys that are well made are good, too.

Pretty much anything much anything that just can't be swallowed and won't be harmful if it is. If you're the crafty type at all you can try making some safe toys. I have some pillow cat nip toys I've made that I put some plastic-foil wrappers inside of to make them crinkle (they're sewn well) that my cats love. I've also made some small stuffed square and triangle pillow toys just large enough not to be swallowed that the cats like to bat around - the toys are easily lost, though.

Walmart has a braided raffeta and fleece toy with feathers that I make a similar version to - I use undyed raffeta, no cloth or string, and to hold the feathers in a tiny amount of white elmers glue. All safe if small amounts are torn off and eaten during play vs something that might not be (store version). You can actually do this with a lot of toys that you like the idea of but don't agree with a couple safe features they may have.

Take the vacuum cleaner hose to the cardboard scratcher daily. I have a couple that eat the pieces, too.
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post #25 of 29
1/30/11 at 6:26pm
Thread Starter 
I am not good at crafting so will have to depend on store bought toys for Calvin but those are really good suggestion for toys and keeping things clean. We try to keep the house clean, and not just for Calvin, but always have, though the work has become manifold since his arrival. We bought a new handvac a few weeks ago and try to use it often. I do "shed" hair and tying is not an option all the time since I may get migraine sometimes when my hair is tied. I do only brush in the bathroom and clean up after and if I see hair anywhere, I immediately pick it up. I do need a haircut, maybe will go shorter.
Calvin does not play with any stuffed toys or knit toys. He only likes paper balls (crumbled paper is his favorite toy to play with), one other ball - stuffed, a thick rope that he has (we dont keep this out when we are not home but I dont think he can injest it), a couple of feather toys, the laser and Da Bird (which met with an early demise). Paper is something that I will probably have the hardest time keeping away from him but he does not chew/ eat the moment he sees them (since they are everywhere) but on rare occasions he will.
This was a huge scare - so will have to be way more vigilant from now on.
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post #26 of 29
1/30/11 at 7:26pm
I would definitely hide all the plastic bags. Cats love to play with them because of the crinkle, but they are easily torn too. I am glad Calvin pooped the string.
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post #27 of 29
1/30/11 at 7:42pm
Early on with Tumbles, he ate a piece of leftover embroidery floss. I had to watch his poop for a few days. That was enough to make me extremely diligent about putting the ends in a glass jar with lid or in the trash every single time I walked away from my stitching spot.
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post #28 of 29
1/30/11 at 7:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946 View Post
I would definitely hide all the plastic bags. Cats love to play with them because of the crinkle, but they are easily torn too. I am glad Calvin pooped the string.
I was really surprised to see the little piece of plastic since I keep all plastic bags hidden and use them only to scoop litter. That's when I remembered he pounced on some grocery while I was putting them away and I was able to shoo him immediately but I guess not fast enough.

yay for the poopy string or stringy poop - however we see it!
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post #29 of 29
1/30/11 at 7:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stephanietx View Post
Early on with Tumbles, he ate a piece of leftover embroidery floss. I had to watch his poop for a few days. That was enough to make me extremely diligent about putting the ends in a glass jar with lid or in the trash every single time I walked away from my stitching spot.
There are things that you never realize these kittens will be interested in till they show their interest - in the worst kind of ways. Am glad Tumbles was ok
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