Cat is in exploratory surgery right now...

I posted here in the past under the name Pocketsheep. Don't know what happened to that account, but I'm back.

Anyway, Bella is having exploratory surgery. I came home yesterday to find she'd eaten, and vomited, a small piece of decorative ribbon. She seemed back to normal; eating, playing, using the litterbox, and drinking normally.

Today I came home to find she'd vomited again. She was crying for her food as usual, though, so I fed her. She ate a small amount and five minutes later, she vomited it right back up. She ate a bit more after this however, and drank some water.

I called our regular vet and made an appointment for tomorrow morning, since that was the next time they could get me in.

An hour later, Bella PROJECTILE vomited the food and water she'd had. At this point, I knew something was VERY VERY wrong. I called our vet back for the number to the emergency vet. I called and they said to bring her in right away.

We get to the vet, and they take X-rays and bloodwork. The X-rays showed what looked like hair elastics. Three of them to be exact. I could not figure out how she'd managed to get ahold of them since I keep my hair elastics in a drawer. They took her for surgery right away.

My husband and I got home and sifted through her toy basket. We found five more hair elastics. How she got them, I have no clue. We cleaned out her toy box and took everything out that could even remotely be harmful for her. Mice with tails, long dangly toys, etc.

I am so scared right now. Has anyone else gone through this? It's going to be a long night. I feel like a very irresponsible parent. I just hope we caught it early enough.

Good vibes coming your way - thank goodness you managed to get her in so quickly.

Update on Bella:

She came through the surgery fine. They found FIVE hair elastics in her, though. Also, some sort of unidentifiable metal object and some straw from one of her toys. Most of the objects were in her stomach, which means she must have eaten them within the past couple of days.

Anyway, we pick her up from the emergency vet for transport to our regular vet. The regular vet will hold her for 48 hours to be sure she can tolerate a bland diet before going home. I think the next 48 hours are going to be telling as to how she recovers. I am sure she will be fine, though. She made it as a kitten when she was at death's door, and she'll make it now. What a tough cookie.

Glad to hear that Bella came through surgery great. Poor baby. Keep us posted!

My goodness Bella...what have you been eating? Get well little sweetie pie & leave the hair bands alone. I think that it is time to cat proof your home.

Sending tons of *Good Vibes* I'm glad Bella came through surgery ok and hopfully will recover soon.

Originally Posted by xocats

My goodness Bella...what have you been eating? Get well little sweetie pie & leave the hair bands alone. I think that it is time to cat proof your home.

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We thought we had. We don't EVER let her play with hair bands or thin pieces of string, etc. She'd hid them in her toy basket, apparently. My husband and I have gone through her basket and our home and thrown out anything that could even remotely be bad for her.

We'll also be watching her as closely as possible to be sure nothing else happens. We can't watch her 24/7, but we will be highly aware of what's in our home that could be hazardous.

I thought I was horribly over-protective before - look out!

and well wishes for Bella

So glad she came through her surgery fine, and sending her fast recovery wishes!

Sorry I didn't say it before, but THANK YOU all for your well wishes. Bella sends her thanks! I'll post a picture of her when she comes home. You'll get to see her cute little (actually, it's not so little anymore) shaved belly.

I'm glad she's ok.
Exploratories can be so scarey, not knowing what they'll find.
Are you sure she's a cat, and not a labrador?

Just wanted to give you all an update. Bella is doing much, much better. She's back on her food, and seems to be healing quite nicely. I'm so relieved everything turned out okay, though she had me horribly scared for awhile.

Yay for Bella, I'm glad all is going well now!

Yeah Bella!!!

Oh my goodness, how scary!!!! I'm really glad Bella is ok now!

Our oldest cat also has a thing for hair bands (and anything else made of elastic for that matter). My teenaged daughter bought her a toy a few years ago that was a fur mouse that hung on a long piece of thin black elastic (about 6-7 feet long) and the whole thing hooked onto the top of the door frame so it could be batted around. For weeks she had a ball playing with that toy, batting the mouse around. One morning I woke up though and noticed that she had finally ripped the fur mouse down from the piece of elastic. The mouse had a short piece of elastic still hooked to it and the door frame also still had a long piece of the elastic hanging down. I cut the piece of elastic off from the mouse and threw it away (so she could still keep the mouse to play with) and I took the piece of elastic that was hanging on the doorway down. I never even noticed that there was about an 6-8 inch piece of elastic that was "missing" until the next day when I found it in the litterbox! She had a bowel movement and passed that huge piece of elastic all in one piece! It looked exactly the same when it came out as it did when she ate it. I have no idea how it didn't end up getting "stuck" somewhere inside her. No more elastic mouse toys for her. I never considered it a dangerous toy or I would have only let her play with it while we supervised her. Thank goodness she didn't end up needing surgery or I would have felt so guilty!

Glad Bella is OK!!