Siamese Resting after Eating Half of Plastic Wrapper from String Cheese

I am worried sick. It has been about an hour since my six year old Siamese ate a plastic wrapper from a string cheese snack. He was napping and now he is eating. I do not know what to expect.  I have searched all over and cannot find the other half of the wrapper. There was a lot of saliva on the half I found and it was pink, possibly, from his gums bleeding or something hurting him when he was chewing the piece off. I can not relax knowing that it is in his stomach.  I am praying that he will not die. I am dreading the thought of him retching and vomiting. I am worried that either way, he may suffer internal injury as a result.  The plastic is not very soft or thin. It is definitely a bit rigid on the edges.  Thanks for any feedback.

Do you think he swallowed it whole or chewed it up? If he chewed it up, which is probably what happened, you probably have nothing to worry about. What you are looking for is hunched posture, not eating and no bowel movement. That mean the bowels are blocked up and your cat is in danger and needs emergency surgery.

Thank you so much. It has now been 11 hours since my Siamese boy ate that plastic wrap.  I am trying to stay home all weekend to monitor his behavior.  So far, his eyes are bright and clear, his dispositon is perky, playful and typical of his normal behavior.  Two cats live with us so I am on poop patrol. If Habibi could type, he would say, thank you too. I hope this plastic passes without causing him any injury.  I am praying.  Thank you for your kind reply.  I will rush him to an animal hospital should he become ill.  So far, I am the basket case, blaming myself etc.  Just before he jumped up on the table and stole the wrapper, I was thinking, "you better get up and throw this wrapper away before Habibi gets it."

Glad to hear Habibi is still doing well.  There is usually is a pretty drastic behavior change when the gut is blocked. It is very uncomfortable to say the least. Bright perky & playful are good signs, like you said.

I hope your cat will be alright.  Are you trying to check his poop to see if he passes it.

Our male tabby once ate three feet of a plastic 'lei'. It came out just fine (with a little help from us...) He was just not very happy during the coming out process. I'm sure your baby will be fine!

Your baby is so beautiful.  Today is day two of the string cheese plastic wrap nightmare.  As I suspected, when I went to the grocery store, I did not want to buy any string cheese.  I was so upset.  I have been on poop patrol for 48 hours now.  I am hoping that all is well. Habibi is still perky and normal in all his behavior. I am hoping that all will be well in the next two days. I really appreciated your kind words. When I called the vet's office on Saturday morning, I was told they were booked solid. I was told to bring him in that afternoon if he had not pooped.  I am still anxious because checking the litter box so frequently, with two cats I cannot be sure.  I think he out of the woods. He has enjoyed all the attention he is getting.

Well, we have been on poop patrol for 72 hours now. The naughty boy is up to his usual antics. Playing rough, biting, scratching and then as quickly becoming a sweet angel again.  His eyes are clear, energy is high and with two cats sharing the litter box, I am not quite sure about how much he has evacuated. One of them vomited some cat food today, not plastic to be be found.  Last night, I went to the grocery store and could not even look at the string cheese.  Thanks everyone.  Nice to have a cat forum.

Very good news!

Sounds like Habibi is doing well. It is hard to know why your cat through up. I had a vet tell me once sometimes cats just through up, and really no good reason why. And all the tests in the world won't nessisarily give you a reason.  But vomiting could also mean that the food can't go anywhere due to a blockage. I don't want to scare you. You have had a very stressful weekend worring about Habibi. But still keeep an eye on him. Like I said before, he will act very sick if he is blocked.

 Thinking or you and Habibi............

Hi, i'm new to this site but not to cats! just saw your thread and thought i'd make a mention. Sometimes cats chew things just because they smell the food that was on them (my Nutmeg got into a box of pouch wet food once and chewed them all open. sigh)  BUT it's worth keeping an eye on him in case he has what my Sebastian has. He has a condition called "Pica" which is where animals/people will eat things that arn't generally considered food. To date Seb has eaten:

Incense sticks,

Candles,

Anything plastic, bags, bag ties, cling film

and, most expensively, a pair of silicon breast enhancers. (i know they call them chicken fillets but come on!)

It's impressive the lengths he will go to to get to these sorts of things and it's harder than you would think to keep everything out of reach.

Chances are your Habibi just smelled the cheese and wanted it but it's worth knowing about this condition just in case.

How is Habibi doing? It's been nearly a week since he ate it, so surely it's passed by now?

I once knew a little Schnauzer who ate one of his toys. He was bunged up for a week until finally he passed (with my help- oh boy, I have all the fun) a huge wad of compressed toy fluff. Poor little guy. He was just fine though, a lot happier afterwards.
And my cat Pushkin once ate the string off a roast chicken. We didn't see him do it and wondered why he was unwell for a few days. We were just about to take him to the vet when he pooped it out. Since then we've been very careful with leaving stuff out because he's a piglet and will get into things.

My Shahdee used to eat all my lingerie straps, even opening the drawers to the dresser in order to get at them. I remember the time I took out my best black lace cami and lifted it to put on. I was so confused by the lack of straps, I kept looking inside it trying to find them. Then I started to find pieces of bra strap thrown up under the bed. It all ended with a rather dark ironic twist. I found some undies without straps that I thought I shut up safe, but never saw the straps in either vomit or poop.  I was so concerned I decided the cat needed surgery.  However, at the time I thought it was Loki (an infamous sprayer of every item in my home) because he'd always been a string chewer and swallower. Poor boy went through surgery with the vet searching from oesophagus to lower bowel for straps, and of course not finding any. It was only when I found Shahdee chewing the middle out of a sweater on the bed that I realized she was the culprit. After that I had to lock away all clothing in closets and never use wool blankets.

It's very scary waiting for the swallowed item to reappear.
 

How did you help your cat get it out??