My cat ate little piece of plastic bag

whc216

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 9, 2013
Messages
68
Purraise
30
Hello All,

Recently, my cat ate small piece of plastic bag (I would say probably 1" x 6" which is a little piece came from packaging wrap (sticker part)). She first chewed it (which she usually does), but all the sudden, she ate it!!! I was freaking out and tried to make her spit out, but unfortunately, that did not happen. I heard that I suppose to wait for 1-2 days and check for a litter box or if she threw up, but even till today (which has been 2 days), I still don't see anything! Also, I think yesterday, she ate another piece of plastic bag, which I thought I threw away all, but I guess one of them was still on the floor :(

I am started to worry about all this. I cannot really see a big sign of her sickness though. She drinks and eats as normal, and purr as usual. So what should I do? Is there anyway I can force her to throw up? I personally would love to put vet as the last option.

Thanks,
 

mrblanche

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
12,578
Purraise
119
Location
Texas
Keep an eye on the poop.  If it stops, you have an emergency and need to get to the vet.  Yes, this can be serious, even fatal, so you're right to be worried.  More than one cat here on this site has been saved with emergency surgery to remove blockages.
 

flintmccullough

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jul 26, 2012
Messages
552
Purraise
40
Location
Dallas, Texas
I already been thru this, she ate the bread and the plastic wrapper.  Plastic is toxic to kitties, it affects the liver. I highly recommend you take her to a vet, as soon as possible. Ask them for an x-ray, tell them they need to do it from the side, which is the norm, and also from the top. Tell them to check specifically, her liver. You also need to do a CBC and Wellness blood panel, and ask them to specifically check the ALT (liver) value. Normal is 10-100, hers was 917. Antech had them draw the blood, 3 seperate times, and ran each test, 3 seperate times, it read the same, each time. 

She was sent to the ER on an emergency basis, they called in 2 specialist for her, one at the ER, one was out of Rochester, believe it was the University of Minnesota at Rochester, for an ultrasound. She had 3 specialists working on her, the ER, Rochester and the one at Antech.  They all got on the phone with my vet. 

One specialist said, I only saw one other cat, this happened to, and he required surgery, she did not. 

They tried a zillion different medications, changed doses, tried liquid, tried pills, nothing worked. The specialist out of Rochester said try Denosyl, spelling, it worked. 

She started to eat, her ALT value started to come down.

Tell them too, to check the BUN and Creatanine value, that too can can be, and should have been elevated, hers wasn't, they were shocked, that it wasn't. 

Do not wait, get her to a vet. That I didn't wait, saved her life. 

I could no longer leave the bread out, and I had to make sure, there were no plastic bags or plastic anything around, she could get into, kinda like, you really have to make a concentrated effort, to do it.  I wasn't going thru that again.  
    
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,772
Purraise
3,491
Location
Texas
I would continue watching for all the signs of blockage:  no pooping, throwing up, extremely lethargic.  Continue watching the litter box for output.  You are right to be concerned as these things can be fatal, but keep an eye on it and your kitty.
 

cprcheetah

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
1,887
Purraise
149
Location
Bountiful, UTah
Forcing her to throw up wont help at this point of the game as it has been in her system for 2 days already, it should be long gone or at least in her intestines by now.  I 2nd Flints recommendations to get her to a vet for xrays.  We just did surgery on a cat who ate plastic.  It really did a number on it's organs both kidney and liver values were through the roof.
 

madamenordica

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jul 15, 2015
Messages
67
Purraise
6
Ok, now you all have me nervous. My Onyx just came into the living room draggin her butt, and I found a small plastic wrapper protruding, so I donned a glove & got it the rest of the way out, but now hope she will be ok. She seems normal at the moment. I guess we will see.
 

margd

Chula and Paul's roommate
Veteran
Joined
Feb 24, 2015
Messages
15,669
Purraise
7,838
Location
Maryland USA
Did the plastic wrapper seem intact?   If so, it's possible it passed through your kitty's system intact, but keep a close eye on her anyway.   If she shows any changes in behavior, vomiting, lethargy or straining to poop, she needs to go to the vet right away.  If she continues as normal, you should probably call your vet when (s)he is open (if closed now) and ask about bringing your cat in to be checked.

 Good luck.  Hoping your girl is okay. 
 

talkingpeanut

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 12, 2015
Messages
11,793
Purraise
3,600
I hope everything is ok too.  In the future, never pull anything that she is struggling to pass out.  You can do serious internal damage if it's stuck on anything in her GI tract.
 

madamenordica

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jul 15, 2015
Messages
67
Purraise
6
a. There was only an inch or so left inside her, so no damage to her intestines from that tiny bit and

b. she seems good as new this morning. 

she had been a bit odd the past few days, and she probably WAS struggling. We've had some fast changes in the house (son moved back home and has 3 year old on weekends here) so I was sure if her behavior was due to the changes in house dynamics or physical - she was eating fine and drinking fine. I have 3 cats, so poop in the box doesn't mean much. She is more sociable and seems to want more attention than she had the previous couple of days, so I'd say she had distanced herself because she felt bad. I have gone around and emptied the bathroom trash - not sure how I'm going to dispose of the wrappers now, but I guess I'll figure it out somehow - any suggestions with that are much appreciated haha :D
 

talkingpeanut

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 12, 2015
Messages
11,793
Purraise
3,600
 
a. There was only an inch or so left inside her, so no damage to her intestines from that tiny bit and

b. she seems good as new this morning. 

she had been a bit odd the past few days, and she probably WAS struggling. We've had some fast changes in the house (son moved back home and has 3 year old on weekends here) so I was sure if her behavior was due to the changes in house dynamics or physical - she was eating fine and drinking fine. I have 3 cats, so poop in the box doesn't mean much. She is more sociable and seems to want more attention than she had the previous couple of days, so I'd say she had distanced herself because she felt bad. I have gone around and emptied the bathroom trash - not sure how I'm going to dispose of the wrappers now, but I guess I'll figure it out somehow - any suggestions with that are much appreciated haha :D
I'm glad it worked out this time and wasn't suggesting that you caused damage.  The issue is that there is no way to tell from looking how much is inside her or if it's stuck on anything.  You were lucky that it was a small piece and that she simply hadn't passed it.
 
Top