Jasper has eaten things he shouldn't

Hi everyone I'm posting because my 10 month old kitten Jasper seems to have a penchant for eating non-edible things. A few months ago, he got into my clothes hamper and ate the straps off of two of my tank tops including the small metal piece that was on one. I looked all over the room but couldn't find the straps so I am assuming he ate them. This morning I woke up and he had gotten my cause bracelet (one of those rubber bracelets with words) off my dresser and I found just a few pieces on my floor with the rest of it gone so I'm assuming he ate that too. I've had cats before and I've never had this type of problem. When he first ate the straps off my shirt I was terrified especially since the metal was missing too but he seemed perfectly fine. I kept an eye on him and saw no ill effects. It's been the same with the bracelet so I'm not too worried but I'm afraid he may eat something harmful to him one day. I try my best to keep things out of his reach but he can jump over 5 ft in the air so almost anything that's not in drawers is fair game. Does anyone have a similar story or some suggestions for what I should do?

I had a kitten climb a 8ft bookcase, knock a box off, and eat part of the dried flower that was inside it. That was an emergency trip to the vet. While the worst of the toxins in the plant were lowered from drying, he was still very sick.

Rubber (more likely a type of PVC) does not break down and isn't as likely to pass since it's a wider bracelet type. Your kitten needs to go to the vet. Make sure to tell them he has eaten other things in the past.

Luna does that, she drives us nuts, she eats everything! We're always chasing her away from things. She goes after blankets, blinds, fuzz, carpet, books, shoe laces, paper etc.

My little 10 mo old Tumbles has eaten a piece of embroidery floss and chewed up and eaten a piece of a magnet strip, and no telling what else! I just watch the litter box for evidence of it passing and watch him for signs that it's not passing. Look for lack of appetite, no poop, and lethargy.

We have learned to pick up after ourselves and to put things in drawers where he can't get to them.

I nearly lost Mickey a few years ago, because he'd eaten a piece of hard foam. Some time (a couple weeks, I think) later he became lethargic and refused to eat, so he got whisked off to the vet. They suspected he'd eaten string, and actually opened him up, found nothing, and eventually sent him home. He came home and nearly died the first night, threw up bile, I called emergency number and whisked him back.

This time the inexperienced vet asked a more knowledgeable vet to help, they searched some more and found the foam right outside the stomach, apparently in a hard-to-see place.

Another surgery, and he is fine, to this day.

Truthfully, I had never seen him eat it. I'd seen him playing with it. I didn't know what was inside him until the vet showed it to me after removal.

I tell you this because you will need to make sure your kitty cannot get into these kinds of items if they have a penchant for chewing. Foam toys and Christmas ornaments had to leave this house, for sure.

I'd probably call a vet, as well, if I were in your shoes.

I had a kitten that swallowed the tip of a nipple from a bottle. I just assumed it had come out but a month later she vomited and in the middle of the puddle was the tip of the nipple. It had swelled a bit but other than that it was intact and the kitten never had any problems. However, I did learn from this experience that foreign objects can stay in the stomach for quite a while.

When it happened though I took her to the vet and they said that there was nothing they could do and just to watch her for symptoms. It doesn't hurt to have the cat looked at though just in case the vet notices something you don't.

Thanks for all the feed back. I've had dogs injest things before and the vet has always just said to keep an eye on them for signs of lethargy, not eating/drinking, and not going to the bathroom normally so I think that's what I'm going to do. I hate the thought of rushing him to the vet for surgery when it could very well pass on it's own so I'll just watch him.

Sometimes mine will destroy things, then stash some of the evidence away. I one time took him to the vet 5 times in one month worried that he ate something he shouldn't have. It's so hard to pin point what they may, or may not want to eat!

I've located his "Secret" hiding spot so when he gets into something he shouldn't, I can first check his spot to see if it's there. If not - that's when I start monitoring his poop & behavior.

Most cases, he's just taken off with its and hid it someplace for a rainy day.

Just here to update! I got home today and it looks like that bracelet finally made its way out. I found the missing pieces in a small pile of throw up on my floor. It's pretty amazing it stayed in his stomach that long but it's a relief that I don't have to worry about it anymore. He seems perfectly fine and healthy and is as crazy as ever!

The best thing to do to prevent your kitty from eating odd inedibles is to make sure you pick up small things off of the floor and put them in tight sealing plastic bags, boxes or drawers. Everyone should have an odds and ends drawer with keys, pens, screws etc., and that is a good place to toss small scattered items. Possibly a jar of glass or plastic. You get so used to noticing things like this on the floor every day after training yourself to do this, that almost nothing gets into the cat's tummy that shouldn't. Strings from big bags of food go instantly into the trash with a lid or in an empty litter jug. Small things your cat might eat that are trash should be thrown away quickly.

One thing you should never let your cat eat is the plastic bands on lunchmeats -- I bought BarS Bologna and my black cat, Pumpkin, ate 3 of the red plastic bands. She actually got into the high lidded trash can, knocked it over, took out the plastic ziploc bag and chewed into it to extract the bands. The next morning she wretched them up and went on happily with her morning as if nothing had happened to her. She gave no indication she had ingested anything odd at all. This was an improvement from one bad incident in her kittenhood where she ate a pencil eraser and after going to the veterinarian, was miserable an additional 7 - 10 hours until it passed out of her.

I remembered that time she was very ill from eating that pencil eraser and I never want her to go through that again! I decided to always put those red plastic bands in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator/freezer until trash day on Mondays.

Always pick up everything that looks to be the size a cat might be attracted to and put in their mouths -- it's like child-proofing your home.

I hope this is helpful advice; I have had cats all my life and the only non-edible they get hold of are floral arrangements.


My Pumpkin just upchucked a silk aqua color flower petal intact yesterday! That's all she has been able to get in her mouth since the BarS Bologna Incident.

I do try to pick up everything I can but in the case of the bracelet, I had set it on my dresser when I went to take a shower. I had every intention of putting it back on afterwards like always but this one time I forgot and he took advantage