Diarrhea & possibly ate yarn/ribbon

[ZukoCat]

So first off, this is my fault. I used to very careful about what toys were left out, what he could get too when we aren’t watching etc. but Zuko has never been one to tear up, destroy, chew or eat toys. My dog will eat anything that holds still long enough, but with Zuko, I got a bit… comfortable. We left a ribbon toy out, one of these:

and it was suspiciously shorter. Brady messes with some of his toys, But never this kind. We wondered if he just frayed/broke a piece off but never saw it. It would be between 2-3 inches. We threw the toy away, and he continued to act, eat, & poop like normal, so we assumed it’s fine. This happened Saturday. So last night, Wednesday night, he had pretty bad diarrhea. Like, wash his long-hairbutt in the sink for him bad. It was about the consistency of cottage cheese. So pretty formless but not fully liquid. He is still eating normal, acting normal, no vomit. He hasn’t pooped yet this morning, but has eaten his breakfast just fine and is still drinking lots of water.

I suppose this could be unrelated? I gave him a couple treats this week, when he would normally get none. So perhaps they upset his tummy? It looked like he’d had a couple other bad poops recently when I cleaned his litter box last night (I normally do it every night, but I fell a sleep early and missed the night before so it was 2 days worth)

I also got him a harness on Saturday, and have been trying to get him used to it. Hence the treats. The first day he really freaked out when I tried putting it over his head and hid for like half an hour. So perhaps it’s stress related?

He’s had no vomit, no issues with us petting, cuddling, touching his tummy. He has been very vocal today, but he’s a pretty vocal guy in general so I’m probably overthinking that. Still behaving normally.

My husband feels like, since he has diarrhea it can’t be a blockage since it would be, well, blocked. Plus he has no other symptoms. He thinks it could be unrelated, and just a fluke. I’m going to see what his bathroom trips are like today and go from there. But I was wondering if anyone had any experience? Any tips? Could it be an issue with the ribbon? Am I over reacting?

 

[kass2y5]

My kitty had diarrhea before for almost two months. He was still gaining weight and growing fast too.
I took him to the vet and got medicine and plus some probiotics on the second visit.
I made a list of the types of food I gave him and it turns out he is food sensitive. He can't eat seafood, also the vet recommended pro Purina for sensitive stomach.
He also ate a big plastic but he throw it out before.
I was freaking out the whole the time but he just eat one type of food now.
Sweet potato toppings can be added to the food but my kitty didn't like at all. I hope your cat feel much better soon.

 

[FeebysOwner]

How is he doing now? I know I have read threads on this site where it took days and days for a cat to pass pieces of something they should have not eaten. I know most of the threads I have read everything turns out OK. But I also know that having diarrhea is not a valid way to judge if there is a blockage going on.

The more time passes, without additional symptoms showing up, the better the odds are that it is not an issue. You literally have to search every inch of poop looking for any signs of a piece of that toy. It is highly possible that digestive juices have broken down the ribbon into tiny pieces.

Just continue to monitor him for other negative signs and if they do show up it will be time for a vet visit.

You could also talk to your vet about it and ask if an x-ray might show anything amiss. Not so much the ribbon itself, but rather if it were causing some sort of blockage - I think that would likely show up.

 

[ZukoCat]

The day after my initial post, we kept a close eye on him all day, and he didn’t poop at all. I was fully prepared to call the vet the next morning.

That morning we wake up, give him breakfast, he ate it all, and while waiting for the vet to open, he finally pooped! It was mushy, but more solid than before, so I thought, I guess he just had an upset tummy and it’s getting better, and I decided not to call the vet after all. 30 minutes later, vomit on the carpet.

So I call and immediately take him in. They assess him and he’s clearly not feeling like himself, way more aggressive with the vet and assistants than normal, more vocal, unhappy on the car ride (he’s usually very good). They decide to do a X-ray since his tummy is so sensitive. And the X ray revealed… Gas. No blockage! (Yay) He just had some kind of stomach bug. Gave him antibiotics and he’s doing great.

Never found the missing string… our best guess is he may have tore the string off, but his sister took care of the evidence.