My 8-month old kitten ate some bits of sewing thread that I threw in the kitchen sink this Tuesday - I found her over the sink with a long piece hanging out of her mouth which I was able to get from her. I didn't really think she had actually eaten any at the time and thought the rest had washed down the sink. Called the vet and he advised either to monitor or the ER, but it was a tough call since I really didn't think she had eaten any and so I monitored her VERY closely all night. Well, I guess it hadn't all gone down the sink and she had fished it out of the drain because to my great horror, the next morning she had pieces of thread hanging out of her bottom after using the litter box!
Call the vet again and I cut it as close as possible and kept monitoring her until the next time she used the litter box which was the next morning; the first piece that came out had a LOT more thread that I thought she could have possibly eaten. At least 3-4 pieces, which left up to 1-2 pieces (perhaps anywhere between 1.5-4" in length) potentially unaccounted for; I think I dropped one down the sink when rinsing them, and it's also possible one or two went down the kitchen drain initially but I can't be sure.
Took her to the vet later that day because online searches were absolutely terrifying - like every single event ends in complicated surgery with high risks, and often death. She was evaluated and palpated and checked and x-rays were taken not showing anything of interest. The vet noted that if that was it, we were extremely lucky, but that he wouldn't necessarily consider us to be in the clear until about at least a week (!) had passed. I honestly thought the vet visit would make me feel better and although I do value the honesty, it certainly made me feel a whole lot worse.
I am leaving the province tomorrow morning for four days and although we have someone come in once a day to feed and check on the cats and I have four cameras up, I am absolutely having full-on panic attacks. This person would be coming by once every 24 hours or so and has been advised of the situation but she doesn't "know" our cat. By the time I leave tomorrow morning, it will have been about 3.5 days or ~90 hours since ingestion.
I don't really know what I am looking for here, I realize there are probably not "good stories". I feel terribly stupid, guilty and like the absolute worst. If anything should happen to this kitten due to my negligence, I do not think I could deal with it. I honestly thought that after 3-4 days, it would be unlikely to cause any issues, especially if most of it had already come out. Throughout all of it so far she has been her normal self, still getting the zoomies a few times a day. She's just the sweetest thing and I feel so very sick about this. I'm worried that maybe she'll hide or the person won't notice any changes and a million other things.
P.S. In case anyone is wondering why the sink, well - ironically enough, I usually put pieces of sewing thread in the sink and wash them down as opposed to throwing them into the trash bin to ensure all bits are really gone and nothing falls on the floor and is missed. I do usually ensure they fully wash down but this time they didn't and I needed to pull the faucet thing out but my hands were full so I stupidly walked away for 5 minutes to put them down and she was on the counter by the sink when I came back. In the six months I have had her, I had never even seen her on the kitchen counters.
Call the vet again and I cut it as close as possible and kept monitoring her until the next time she used the litter box which was the next morning; the first piece that came out had a LOT more thread that I thought she could have possibly eaten. At least 3-4 pieces, which left up to 1-2 pieces (perhaps anywhere between 1.5-4" in length) potentially unaccounted for; I think I dropped one down the sink when rinsing them, and it's also possible one or two went down the kitchen drain initially but I can't be sure.
Took her to the vet later that day because online searches were absolutely terrifying - like every single event ends in complicated surgery with high risks, and often death. She was evaluated and palpated and checked and x-rays were taken not showing anything of interest. The vet noted that if that was it, we were extremely lucky, but that he wouldn't necessarily consider us to be in the clear until about at least a week (!) had passed. I honestly thought the vet visit would make me feel better and although I do value the honesty, it certainly made me feel a whole lot worse.
I am leaving the province tomorrow morning for four days and although we have someone come in once a day to feed and check on the cats and I have four cameras up, I am absolutely having full-on panic attacks. This person would be coming by once every 24 hours or so and has been advised of the situation but she doesn't "know" our cat. By the time I leave tomorrow morning, it will have been about 3.5 days or ~90 hours since ingestion.
I don't really know what I am looking for here, I realize there are probably not "good stories". I feel terribly stupid, guilty and like the absolute worst. If anything should happen to this kitten due to my negligence, I do not think I could deal with it. I honestly thought that after 3-4 days, it would be unlikely to cause any issues, especially if most of it had already come out. Throughout all of it so far she has been her normal self, still getting the zoomies a few times a day. She's just the sweetest thing and I feel so very sick about this. I'm worried that maybe she'll hide or the person won't notice any changes and a million other things.
P.S. In case anyone is wondering why the sink, well - ironically enough, I usually put pieces of sewing thread in the sink and wash them down as opposed to throwing them into the trash bin to ensure all bits are really gone and nothing falls on the floor and is missed. I do usually ensure they fully wash down but this time they didn't and I needed to pull the faucet thing out but my hands were full so I stupidly walked away for 5 minutes to put them down and she was on the counter by the sink when I came back. In the six months I have had her, I had never even seen her on the kitchen counters.
