Is it possible my cat ate 19 hair ties day/ short period of time?

[melchy]

So my cat just got out of surgery and had about 19 hair ties removed from his stomach. The thing is, I am a man and don't use hair ties, and have never purchased any in my life. My guy is also an indoor cat so it's not like he's hunting them up outside. I'm going completely insane trying to figure out where he got them from.

The only thing I can think is that he might have gotten them out of a friends purse. He got sick shortly after two of my friends visited, pretty much the only people I have had over in the new apartment, both women. however we were only in the house for about an hour, and went out afterwards with both the girls taking there purses. About two days after they visited, he started vomiting and was eating much less, just a bit of wet food I could entice him with. He's had episodes of pukiness in the past, but has never puked up or passed a foreign body. so I talked to a vet I have a good relationship with and they set an appointment for him. while I was waiting for the appointment he puked up a hair tie, and I figured problem solved, he must have eaten one, but I kept the appointment anyways. He immediately seemed much improved and drank a whole bunch of water right after he puked it up, and I was very relieved. However he still wasn't eating. The next day he still seemed sick and I asked to be placed on the call list for cancelations, got an appointment two days later. The vet didn't seem too concerned about his symptoms, but when I went in an abdominal X ray revealed a large mass in his stomach and a much smaller one in his colon. I scheduled surgery for the next day, and that night he pooped out two more hair ties. 19 more were pulled out of his stomach for a total of 22. I scoured my small studio apartment for anymore, I'm talking moved the stove and the fridge, moved all of the furniture, the works. The only spot I haven't gotten to is a large walk in closet, which he usually doesn't have access too but that I had left the door to open a few times. He really like's sneaking into this closet any time I am in there but that is pretty normal behavior for a cat. I would be much more relieved if he had found a stash of hair ties but so far I haven't found one, nor have I ever seen him playing with a hair tie. is it possible he pulled a bunch out of a purse and just chowed down on them in one sitting? he has a history of being able to eat a positively massive amount for a cat, he once ate a full burger patty in like ten minutes, (he was fine, just slept like a brick for about twelve hours.) and I've been very careful not to leave food unattended around him since that incident. I would feel much more relieved if I had found some hidden stash of hair ties so at least I know he can't do this again, I cannot afford to put him through surgery again. I know this story of finding a mass of hair ties in a cat is far from unique, does anybody know if when this happens they usually accumulate over time or are eaten quickly over a short period of time? any insight is appreciated.

 

[kittenmittens84]

Maybe it’s possible but i honestly think it would be very difficult for most cats to eat that many that quickly, especially without anyone noticing...I also think most women don’t carry around 20 hair ties in their purse. A few extras maybe but 20 is a lot! Have you asked your friends if they had hair ties in their purses that day?

most stories I’ve heard from people whose cats had to get hair ties or rubber bands surgically removed were ones where the cats seemed to swallow them randomly over time, not all at once. How old was your cat when you got him? Is it possible he ate them before you adopted him and then got one or two more from your friends bags’ and those pushed him over the edge?

 

[melchy]

yeah that seemed unlikely (the person carrying 22 hair ties) to me too. I asked one of them and that's pretty much what she told me, the other is aware of the situation and knows I wouldn't blame her for my cats weirdness, so I'm sure she would mention it. I've had him for a year, but he is four years old, and he has had two previous owners. The person who had him before me only had him for like six months, he lost his job during the pandemic and asked me if I would take him in because he was moving in with his parents who were allergic. He got him from the humane society, where he had been dropped off by his previous owners for unknown reasons. The guy who had him before me did mention he thought his previous owners were neglectful/ fed him off table scraps, because it took him awhile to get on a normal cat food diet, instead he would ignore his food and beg at the table when his owner was eating. I've been wondering if it's possible that his first owner just let him play with/ eat hair ties, but it seems like a year and a half is a long time for this to have been in his stomach without complications. however about a month before this incident he was sick for about 3 days, maybe they had been sitting in his stomach that whole time tangled into a small ball and him being sick disturbed them. The hair ties were all of the same type/brand so I know they came from one source. I asked the vet if this was a possibility but they said it was extremely unlikely, but I'm seriously at a loss for where he would get them while he was living with me.

 

[Caspers Human]

Are you sure they are hair ties?

After being inside a cat’s digestive system for God knows how long, they could look like anything at first glance.

Could they be rubber bands or some kind of package closures?

If one theory doesn’t have any plausible explanation, it’s probably time to look for a new theory.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Wow! Kind of going along with what Caspers Human posted - I really have nothing to offer except this: there are hairbands to fit around the head that could equate to multiple hair ties, and the smaller the hair tie size the larger the number that would equal a hairband. Regardless of how long they were in his stomach, acids would have somewhat disintegrated them, thereby making it much harder to ascertain whether they came from a hairband or two, or were actually a large quantity of hair ties. Maybe a bungee cord? Also, as said above, depending on what the stuff came out of him looks like, there could be any number of other possibilities of packaged ties of some sort.

 

[CatladyJan]

That sounds more like a package of hair ties (rubberbands) I know cats like rubber bands so like Caspers Human said it might not be hair ties at all.

 

[daftcat75]

It's possible he's been stealing and snacking on them from purses over a period of time. Perhaps the last visit, he was able to get a few more than usual that put him over the edge. Anyone who has cleaned a hairball from the carpet knows that cats can store massive amounts of hair in their stomach before it's too much. Perhaps this is the same way. If it's rubber bands, those could get entwined with ingested fat and hair which might end up looking like a hair tie when removed.