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He ate the string from a surgical mask!
- Thread starter kpc1024
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Call the vet and ask for advice. The vet may tell you to keep an eye on the cat for now or bring the cat in for x rays.
Good time to remind all to keep face masks and gloves of any kind out of reach of pets and dispose of used PPE in a secure trash can. Masks and gloves may smell yummy to a pet and ingestion can cause a serious blockage.
A dog ate a paper face mask and required ‘life-saving surgery,’ Animal Rescue League says
Good time to remind all to keep face masks and gloves of any kind out of reach of pets and dispose of used PPE in a secure trash can. Masks and gloves may smell yummy to a pet and ingestion can cause a serious blockage.
A dog ate a paper face mask and required ‘life-saving surgery,’ Animal Rescue League says
It's always best to call the vet for professional advice. But surgical mask strings are fairly soft and not very long. How many inches would you say are missing?
With strings there is always some risk of it tangling up in the intestines, so keep an eye on him for the next few days for any sign of distress. If he stops eating or seems lethargic or anything, call the vet right away. Also keep an eye on the litterbox, you may be able to see it when he passes it.
I'm not sure if strings would show up in x-rays, but the vet should know that.
With strings there is always some risk of it tangling up in the intestines, so keep an eye on him for the next few days for any sign of distress. If he stops eating or seems lethargic or anything, call the vet right away. Also keep an eye on the litterbox, you may be able to see it when he passes it.
I'm not sure if strings would show up in x-rays, but the vet should know that.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #4
He prob ate a good 1.5-2 inches
Well, that's probably not enough to get very tangled in there; long strings can really cause problems. So that's good! But still call the vet.
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I had a cat eat the string from a balloon. Kept checking the litter box for it to come out. Nothing. Cat happen to walk by and I saw some of it sticking out of his butt hole. Needless to say, what followed that was embarrassing to both of us. Luckily, one quick pull and it was out.
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In the future, don’t do this. It can be stuck/looped on something internally and pulling it would be REALLY bad.
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It was hanging out far enough to know that it wasn't stuck on anything. Otherwise I wouldn't have done it.
When Kate was a kitten she was obsessed with shoe laces and Q tips. She still is, actually, but has no access. She ate about the same amount of the shoelace as you are indicating of the mask loop. Called vet and waited and observed as it was not entirely conclusive that she had eaten it until she pooped it out...but it did come out in one piece. But watch carefully as this can be a potential issue.
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The same thing happened to me today? Update on your cat or what you did?Sometime overnight he got to one of my surgical masks (covid) and chewed about half the string off on one side.! Don’t see it around the house, so I assume he ate it. What do I do?!?!
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- #11
Oh boy, sorry to hear that. I waited it out bc I wasn't 1000% sure he did eat it. There was solid evidence but I didnt see it. He is fine. I kept a close, close eye on him. I hope your little guy is ok. Check those bowel movements.
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Do you think your cat just passed it out? She seems to be fine but im guessing she ate it as 10cm/a little more than half of one side of the mask string is missing.
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- #13
I was never quiet sure. I think I saw something that looked like a tiny tiny piece of surgical mask string, but I am not confident that that was what it was. Be careful, keep a close eye. The worst case scenario is a bad one, the best, he poops it out. I hoping the best for you!
