[Trippy]

Alright, here's an odd first post, but I've just gotta ask about this weird incident..

This evening I was wandering through the house when I noticed my cat, Tess, sitting underneath the dining room table, licking at her butt. Normally I wouldn't give this a second thought, but I caught sight of something hanging *out* of her butt. On closer examination, it looked like a long string of poo dangling there, so I figured I'd give her a hand and wipe it off. It wasn't until I had gotten a napkin and was reaching down that I realized: this was no poo - it was an actually PIECE of string! I was in shock, and not quite sure what to do. I consulted my father, who suggested that I pull it out. After all, there was about three inches of string hanging out, how much more could there be? So I bent down and gently began to pull - and go figure, Tess freaks out and runs off down the hall. I managed to get quite a bit out, but it was still /dangling/. I mustered up the courage to try again, and this time I didn't give her any time to panic and simply pulled. There wasn't much left and it simply popped out, much to my relief. But DANG! The string was about six or seven inches long! We were amazed, and concerned, that she could have eaten this string (which was part of one of my sweater shirts, so it was thicker than your ordinary string) and have it gone all the way through without difficulty. Now, you'd assume this would be the end of the story, but I went online later to see if I could find anything on the subject. Lo and behold, I find a site recommending NOT to pull a string out of a cat's butt if there is such a problem. I started fretting a bit, despite the fact that my cat seemed perfectly fine..

My question is:
Should I freak out and call the vet? Tess doesn't seem fazed now that the offending string is gone, so I'm not sure if I should call the vet over something like this. I'm not even sure what side effects could occur..

Has anyone EVER had this sort of thing happen?

If there is one lesson learned... never leave stray string around! :roll:

 

[Aonir]

Rule #1: String is VERY bad for cats. So forget about the cat and yarn thing.

String can damage the inside of your kitty(by cutting/tearing). I really think you pulling it out was a bad thing - but you freaked(understandable!) and dealt with it yourself. Watch kitty closely for blood and get her to a vet to make sure nothing was cut while eating and/or ejecting it from her body.

It's good that you got the string, kitty coulda ate it again ! :shock:

 

[Trippy]

Thanks for your help!

Tess seems to be dealing fine, but I'm making sure to check her litter box frequently and see that there's nothing fishy going on in there. I've also contacted a friend of mine who went to veterinary school to see if she has any suggestions.

I'm quite embarrassed for having this happen at all, and I'm certainly going to go on a little crusade of picking up all objects that have any attraction to a cat...

What is it with cats, though, and eating things that are NOT meant to be eaten? :?

 

[tanyuh]

Oh man, Samhain was raised by racoons I think - she will eat ANYTHING that is on the floor. Leaves, pine needles, hair....we have to vacuum constantly. I don't know what it is about her...

I'm glad nothing went wrong for your kitty. Time to get more diligent about what is left around your house!! Poor kitty, I can't imagine that was any fun for her either..

 

[cmaijer]

Eating Strange Things

My kitten, Ming, has been hanging out lately in the early evening in our laundry room downstairs. We have been getting a lot of crickets coming in from our garage. She hunts them and then eats them I watched her munch down on two the other night. If you take her upstairs, the minute you put her down, she goes right downstairs again. On the positive side, I noticed about 6 crickets a few nights ago and none last night. Maybe instead of a mouser, she'll be a cricketer! :lol:

 

[Lori]

Velvet will also eat any string that she finds, I have to be very careful. She also likes to try and eat dental floss. We have to be very sure it ends up in the wastebasket and not on the floor. I wouldn't put it past her to fish it out of garbage can! :roll:
When Velvet was a kitten I had to pull a string out of her rear end. Lets just say it didn't go over too well. She hated it and I was afraid I was going to hurt her. No harm done and I have been very careful ever since.

 

[Jeanie]

It's not unusual for a kitten or cat to eat string, ribbon, or icicles from the Christmas tree. Aonir is right. Watch her very carefully for any symptoms of sickness or digestive problems. Please let us know how she is doing. I'm saying a little prayer that all is well!

 

[queen of the nile]

My cats like previously-chewed chewing gum. ))) Blech! If they see me throw it in the garbage, by the next morning they will have knocked over the garbage can and scavenged it.

 

[Jeanie]

That's a new one! ( and, as you said, blech!)

 

[Trippy]

Well, good news! Tess is doing fine. She's eating well, there's no bleeding, and all seems to be in order with her litter pan. I guess she (and I!) was fortunate that there have been no difficulties.


In the meantime, I've made sure to clean up after myself and watch what's on the floor! Indoor cats, while rewarding to have so near to you, are sure a hassle to watch over. :wink:

At the moment she's sitting in the rocking chair, looking very high and mighty, so it's safe to say she's recovered from her ordeal! :lol:



And after hearing all those other things that ya'll's cats have eaten, I can see I have more to look out for than string - chewing gum?? I've never heard of THAT!

 

[AngelZoo]

Unfortunatly I don't seem to have my picture examples of my cats eating ballon ribbon on my server anymore, but it's a good example when people see it and realize the harm it can do.

Any type of string substance, which can not be digested is extremely bad for animals, it can actually tie up their intestines forming a sever blockage which can only be helped by surgery.

There has been a time when Asim about a year ago found a bunch of plastic carpet string bits (long) he pulls them up from the carpet, chews them off and swallows the long peices. I had to give him epicafe cause he ate soooo much, I did not trust that he could pass them successfully. He had already thrown up his breakfast after he ate the string, so I knew it was something I had to do. (No I am not recommending people run off and buy epicafe to administer to their animals at the smallest little fright.)

Ballon's and their strings are NOT allowed in this house, I have actually had to decline ballons which were bought for myself or my daughter on get well, or birthday occasions.

 

[kitkat]

Sounds like one of my cats Sugar, she eats anything on the floor, and plays with her food and eats it out of her paw too. Never had that situation where string is coming out of her butt, but she did throw up string one time, actually it was a red ribbon tired around a balloon and she gnawed at it and then ate it. Later I was cleaning it up and saw red pieces of string in it. Anyways, she kind of stopped eating alot of junk on the floor and near surroundings but hopefully your kitty stops eating string and other harmful stuff. :lol: