I don't know if he swallowed string or not......

The vet says if he stops eating, or if I see string hanging out of him, take him in...what else can people tell me?

One of the kids had a yoyo, which was found this morning without its string....I don't know if matt ate it or not, only that it's gone. What do I look for? when do I need to take him in? he's behaving normally, and eating. not tender in the tummy at all. Hubby's at work, so I don't have access to the car till later, but there is an emerge around the corner if it gets down to it.....

I agree with the vet.  And change in affect (hide? unusually cuddly or aggressive?)  or if she starts to throw up/refuse food, then e-vet.

And I'd also say, go with your gut (no pun intended).

Monitor the sensitivity of his stomach.  Pick him up by the stomach or give him a belly rub (assuming he likes them).

Ritz threw up three or four times in 36 hours, and I was afraid she'd eaten some thread from a new blanket.  I took her to the vet, and the vet noted that Ritz showed no signs of discomfort while he was holding her stomach for the two minutes he listened to any sounds coming from her belly.  Vet said it was "bad meat", doubted it was from thread and say x-rays were not needed.  (I feed raw.) 

The vet says if he stops eating, or if I see string hanging out of him, take him in...what else can people tell me?

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That's great that you asked the vet what to watch for.  We had a similar situation and my vet said "not eating and/or vomiting" were the signs to watch for with a blockage.  I'd take him in right away if you notice a problem.

PS:  someone correct me if I'm wrong, and forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but if you see string DO NOT PULL OUT.  You can't see what all it's tied around.

Ritz said:

PS:  someone correct me if I'm wrong, and forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but if you see string DO NOT PULL OUT.  You can't see what all it's tied around.

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no, not wrong....if I see string, that means he ate it and definitely needs to go to a vet. I you were to pull it you could sever an intestine or worse......

My Pushy ate the string from around a roast chicken once. We had no idea until he vomited it out four days later. We were very lucky with his situation! We had rung the vet and were going to bring him in on the day when he vomited it up.
We had noticed that he: had stopped eating, was lethargic, and he had greasy looking diarrhea (just very small amounts, and not pooping normally at all).

pushylady said:

My Pushy ate the string from around a roast chicken once. We had no idea until he vomited it out four days later. We were very lucky with his situation! We had rung the vet and were going to bring him in on the day when he vomited it up.
We had noticed that he: had stopped eating, was lethargic, and he had greasy looking diarrhea (just very small amounts, and not pooping normally at all).

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how long do you figure it took him to have ill effects? since I don't even know if he's responsible for the missing string, I don't want to panic yet...but on the same note, I can't assume he's ok after only 24hours either. the vet bill to know for sure is 300.....and I can't justify that for a healthy cat and mother's fear when the bills are all due this week too

I believe it was four days. It definitely took more than 24hrs for us to notice anything. Cats can have "off" days so we didn't panic at him seeming unwell the next day. Besides he still ate food the next day. It was I think the third day in a row when we realized that hey, 3 days of him not being well was very unusual and that's when we called the vet.
After that experience, we're both a lot more attentive to these things. We're more concerned with his crystals recurring so we look for those signs. Neither of us had any idea that he had eaten the string.

Thanks for answering I keep picking him up and when I let him down I do it so that his tummy glides over my hands...I figure that way if he gets any discomfort I'll catch it fast and I can get him in. He's going to the bathroom ok so far, and eating, so I'm guessing that's a good sign ( I hope) but I will be keeping a CLOSE eye on him because all I know is that the yoyo is missing string...I don't know if he ate it, or if it just broke off in the drawer my son kept it in. I'm praying it's the latter.

Having spent a weekend one time dissecting kitten poop to check for a missing piece of string, you have my sympathy.

Update......I don't know if anyone's following or not, but I'm happy to say that Matt did not show any signs of distress and the vets office thinks I can probably assume 5days later that he didn't eat the string YAY!

I'm late to this thread, but happy to hear the good news! Queen Eva ate some foam rubber a couple of years ago. I called the animal poison control hotline because I was worried it was toxic (it wasn't). She pooped it out about 18 hours later, after several watery meals with psyllium added (on the poison control vet's advice). And yes I did pick the poop apart to make sure. :lol3:

great news! I was just wondering about him last night!

My old cat - Keith - many years ago I came home to find a pile of cat sick on my bed (!) and in the middle was a small headless pink rubber pig (one of the novelty eraser type things that had been on display on a shelf). Took the advice of the vet , but she never had any symptoms, never saw the head come out the other end (sure it would have been noticeable in the tray - but she was an outdoor cat too) and she went on to live another 7 years or so to about 17 (and that was a good age for her - she had been a stray for years and had thyroid removed etc etc )