Missing earplug... maybe it's inside my cat?

I use earplugs to sleep and sometimes they fall out. Last night one fell out and I couldn't find it anywhere in the morning, I'm worried my cat ate it because she looooves to get up in my ear and eat my earwax. A few days ago when one disappeared, I found it in another room, but this time I don't see it in any of the places she usually hangs out.

So. Maybe it's inside my cat.

So far she's acting normal, eating. No poop yet, but it's less than 24 hours since her last poop. But her poops recently have been hard and small, and I'm worried that means she'll have an especially hard time passing it. Would giving her psyllium (fiber) be a good idea? Maybe mixed with water? (Mmmm, kitty metamucil!) I've been giving her slippery elm bark, and I think that helps the poop be less dry (there's actually distinct slimy spots I've been meaning to ask if anyone else that uses SEB notices), but I don't know if it's bulky enough to help.

The other problem is I'm going out of town next week for the whole week (and there's no way I'm going to get my partner to squish all the poop to watch for it passing). How long will it take for her to show symptoms if it's plugging her up? And the symptoms to watch for are not eating/pooping, difficulty in the litter box, lethargy, anything else?

It's one of those reusable rubbery (silicone?) earplugs with flanges. Quite a bit bigger than a kitty bottle nipple.

I wonder if there's anything I can soak my earplugs in that will make them taste bad but not irritate my ear canal.... I foresee this coming up again somehow....

I can't help you much, but keep an eye on her.  Look for throwing up and eating, but not pooping.  Of course, you might want to watch the litter box to see if you find it there. 

I had this problem before!. I now switched to earplugs with a string connecting them(kind of like head phones) you can find them at any hardware store.that way it's alot harder to lose them especially at night. My kitty ate an earplug on two occasions, once it was just a piece of the earplug missing, the second she ate the whole thing. It took about a week and luckily she passed it. Just keep an eye out for vomiting, not eating, diarrhea, acting strange, etc. I hope your kitty is ok!! More then likely it will pass in her stool, just be careful if she throws it up, you don't want it to obstruct her breathing. Keep a close watch, let us know what happens, Good luck!

Go to your local market and get some pumpkin. Not pumpkin pie filling, but pumpkin.

Pumpkin is something that most cats enjoy eating, and also winds up being a wonderful natural laxative that is perfectly safe .

I'd avoid Libby's these days, because they've somehow managed to strip out the fiber, yet still claim "100% pure pumpkin"...probably something to do with the fact that they're now owned by Nestle - you know, the mega-corp that's buying up everything and has a CEO who claims that water isn't a basic human right...ahem...yeah, you may need to go to Whole Foods and spend more if you don't want to be part of that whole mess.

Whatever route you choose, pumpkin comes highly recommended by many, many veterinarian and other pet sites. It's safe, it's nutritious, and cats love it! They think it's a treat!

Pumpkin pie filling with all of its spices and sugars? Eh...not so much.

As to how much to give her? About a teaspoon or two mixed into whatever food she's accustomed to...or just let her lick it right out of the spoon if she wants!

Weruva makes pumpkin in a packet, it's called "patch up" I use it for my dogs and cats and they love it.

The earplug magically reappeared!! But thanks for all the suggestions! I was thinking about the earplugs on a string but I sleep on my sides a lot and feel like they wouldn't be so comfortable to lie on.

While I was panicked, I did end up giving her a nice amount of olive oil to try to lube up her digestive tract, though. And now she's a little diarrhea-y. Does canned pumpkin help solidify diarrhea, too? I tried giving her 100% winter squash baby food (not sure which squash exactly, but a lot of canned "pumpkin" is actually butternut squash anyway sooo) while she was having an irritable bowel poopfest and it just turned her diarrhea orange. But maybe it's because baby food is more watery? (Anyone else try it instead of canned? The quantity makes so much more sense than a whole can of pumpkin.)

(And speaking of evil corporations, Whole Foods has some problems itself but that's a whole nother story.)

Another question: if a cat doesn't poop as regularly as normal (say, it poops once a day and it misses its daily poop but no other symptoms) and it might have eaten something that's blocking it, is giving a bulking laxative (fiber, pumpkin, that kind of thing) a bad idea? Is it better to give something like oil or hairball paste that just greases everything up?

samus said:

Another question: if a cat doesn't poop as regularly as normal (say, it poops once a day and it misses its daily poop but no other symptoms) and it might have eaten something that's blocking it, is giving a bulking laxative (fiber, pumpkin, that kind of thing) a bad idea? Is it better to give something like oil or hairball paste that just greases everything up?

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Mixing something like miralax in with the food would probably be ok as long as you use the right dosage, for most cats 1/8 of a teaspoon is ok. If you know your cat has eaten something and not passed it I would definitely ask a vet as there could be a blockage. I would try it and if no improvement probably go to the vet.

samus said:

The earplug magically reappeared!! But thanks for all the suggestions! I was thinking about the earplugs on a string but I sleep on my sides a lot and feel like they wouldn't be so comfortable to lie on.

While I was panicked, I did end up giving her a nice amount of olive oil to try to lube up her digestive tract, though. And now she's a little diarrhea-y. Does canned pumpkin help solidify diarrhea, too? I tried giving her 100% winter squash baby food (not sure which squash exactly, but a lot of canned "pumpkin" is actually butternut squash anyway sooo) while she was having an irritable bowel poopfest and it just turned her diarrhea orange. But maybe it's because baby food is more watery? (Anyone else try it instead of canned? The quantity makes so much more sense than a whole can of pumpkin.)

(And speaking of evil corporations, Whole Foods has some problems itself but that's a whole nother story.)

Click to expand...

Glad she passed it! I thought pumpkin just softens stool so I wouldn't recommend giving to a cat with diarrhea you may just want to give her something with more fiber it may take a couple of days to resolve make sure she drinks enough water so she doesn't get dehydrated from the diarrhea.

the soluble fiber in pumpkin slows digestion, which aids in the manqagement of diarrhea. And, since it absorbs water, it bulks up the stool. But every thing in moderation. I give my 14lb cat 1 tablespoon 2 times a week. I know most people give more, but he hates pumpkin and I'm running out if ideas how to make it more palatable, that way more ends up in his stomach rather than on my clothes
I'm glad you found the earplug!