Cat Ate Cotton Bud?

[nilbog]

I found my cat digging through the trash chewing on a q-tip bud. When I went to stop him I found he ate one of the ends (the cotton part). It's so tiny will he pass it on his own?

 

[mightyboosh]

I would say so. You now have the lovely job of searching through his poo to make sure.

 

[di and bob]

He most likely will, my cats have done this too with no problems. Just watch and make sure he keeps having normal stools in the litter box for three days. If he becomes lethargic, or quits passing stool at least you know what it is and you can bring him to the vet. I would bet he does fine, but at least it alerted you to the fact of what he can eat and be more selective in what can be laid around in his reach. It seems funny they turn down all kinds of expensive food and eat things like that I bought an expensive cat fountain for mine and was horrified to see them drinking out of the poopy bird bath! But it taught me to clean teh bird bath more often!

 

[epona]

I would have thought that would be fine, it's a small non-toxic thing - and not as dangerous as eating a length of string or ribbon or tinsel or a load of plastic or something like that. It will probably come out the other end with no harm done.

Symptoms of having swallowed something that have caused an intestinal problem include:

Sitting in a hunched position
Signs of abdominal pain or tenderness (noise/hissing or resistance/biting/struggling when being picked up if they usually like it for example)
Constipation or straining to do a poo
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Loss of appetite
Lethargy
3rd eyelids showing

I wouldn't have imagined that the soft end of a cotton bud would do any harm though, it's small, soft, roundish, not abrasive, and not toxic - will almost certainly go straight through.

One of my cats has pica (a tendency to eat non-food items), so am fairly used to evaluating what is likely to cause harm and what isn't (and have got very careful about not leaving things available that he may decide to eat!!)

 

[cat princesses]

I used to have a foster cat who loved to go in the small bathroom trash can and take the cotton swabs out and eat them - you might need to move your trash can somewhere so that they can't get into it. When we found a home for him the owners even called us and told us that he has an obsession with q tips! He should pass it but just to be safe, I'd put the trash can somewhere that can't be reached going forward.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I agree with epona , for the most part -- but would just add that if you have a cat that is normally constipated, mildly or moderately dehydrated, or IBD and the like, you want to keep a closer eye out on things like cotton. It might have a harder time passing through their digestive system/ intestines. In 2005, my last cat began showing a lot of the signs that epona warns about, but especially repeated vomiting. We were frantic, having no clue why she was sick. She ended up at the ER vet for five whole days, while they did every test under the sun. Somehow, even with xrays, they did not see the sqooshed little half-ball of cotton that she'd apparently ingested, which had gotten caught up in her system and caused tons of inflammation, etc. Once the vets really addressed her constipation in the hospital with fluids and an enema, and her vomiting had subsided too, she was finally eating some solids on her own. A few days after she got out of the hospital, what did I find in her poo but a very wrangled, awful-looking half ball of cotton.

 

[epona]

We're not talking cotton swabs or cotton balls though, we're talking a cat chewing off the 2mm wide bit of fuzz off the top of what is called a Q-tip in the US, NOT what Europeans call a cotton ball, which is massively bigger.

Having a cat with pica, I would honestly not give too much energy worrying about the end of a Q-tip, unless there were symptoms - this is a cat I have seen eat all the fuzzy stuff off a cat toy, or pull foam out of the sofa and ingest it before I could stop him, with no lasting ill effects.

I'm not saying don't watch out for problems - you should always be alert to the potential of problems through ingesting non-food items. Know what the symptoms of intestinal disruption/blockage are. But I think the end of a Q-tip is at the "don't worry too much" end of the scale. Seriously.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I'm not arguing with you at all, epona! I agree, which is why I purraised your post. I'm bringing up cotton generally, coupled with constipated cats. Some things are just not as easy for certain cats to pass, even if smaller. Cats are individuals. Depends on the cat's digestion, I would say. So, never say never, for sure.

 

[epona]

I'm not arguing with you at all, epona! I agree, which is why I purraised your post. I'm bringing up cotton generally, coupled with constipated cats. Some things are just not as easy for certain cats to pass, even if smaller. Cats are individuals. Depends on the cat's digestion, I would say. So, never say never, for sure.

Exactly, I don't think we're actually disagreeing - even if you don't see a cat swallow anything ever, the symptoms of intestinal obstruction should always be checked off if there is any indication that they are the slightest bit off colour - because they do have a tendency to grab things in their mouths, and once it is in their mouth it tends to go in one direction only - down. So always best to be aware of the symptoms.

 

[nilbog]

Thank you so much all! The little guy ate a whole can of kitten food afterwards so hopefully that moves it along. I did find the bitten piece and compared it to a normal q-tip and he sucked that cotton off like a tootsie pop! And it really is such a tiny tiny amount. I'm so relieved he didn't bite off the thick (maybe paper?) part connecting the swabs. I took the entire trash out afterwards because yes the goblin did try to get back into it after I tied it off hah. I told my husband if you ever use a q-tip throw it in the kitchen trash (which has a closing lid)

 

[epona]

It is true nilbog the best cure is prevention