Two weeks ago, I spent a lot of time typing “cat ate string” into search engines. Aura, my 10 month old Ragdoll, ate some. A lot of some.
In my 15 years of cat ownership, this is the first time I’ve had to deal with this, other than the time when my late Persian ate about 2 1/2 inches of string and I didn’t know it until I found him running all over the house trying to pass it on the carpet.
- Da Bird toy of death
Aura ate the string from her Da Bird toy. I had read about what a great toy this was, and it was for a few months. She loved it. I was always vigilant about putting it away when we were done playing with it, but she’s such a calm kitten in general that this time I didn’t. I was out all Saturday night at a wedding, then came home and went to bed. When I woke up Sunday morning, I went to pick up Da Bird. The pole and the feathers were laying side by side. The two feet of string that connect them was gone. There was about two inches of string left attached to the pole and then attached to the hook that the feathers connected with. The cuts were pretty clean.
I looked everywhere, but I couldn’t find that 2 feet of string. I panicked. I cried. I blamed myself. I deduced that it had to be Aura. My other cat never chews on string, and Aura does at times. My other cat hardly has any teeth left. My dog isn’t the type to chew on string, either. As a test, I picked up the remaining string and showed it to the dog. He sniffed and looked away. Aura sniffed and immediately tried to take a bite! A ha! I watched her like a hawk. I started giving her vaseline twice a day. She wasn’t exhibiting anything odd. She was still passing normal looking stool once a day. But after four days of constant worry, I took her to the vet for an x-ray.
- I love striiiiiiiing!
The vet thought she felt something hard in Aura’s tummy, but looking at the x-ray, all looked normal. The danger was, if she hadn’t passed it by then, it could be binding her intestines causing internal damage and bleeding. It could be sitting there gaining bacteria. It could cause blockage. Or it could be wrapped around her tongue, and the rest could be trying to pass through, thus pearling up her intestines (however I think this string is a bit on the thick side for that).
But it is now two weeks later, and had I not known that that 2 feet of string is missing I would be none the wiser. Nothing has changed. I’ve seen no sign of the string. I’ve tried to check every stool, but a new discovery brings to light the fact that I have missed some opportunities. This morning, it was confirmed that the dog does indeed eat out of the litter box at times. Great.
So, besides the fact that my cat eats string and my dog eats cat poo, all is well here!
I can relate. One of my cats at some Christmas ribbon. She threw up some of it and I stayed up with her all night to make sure she was ok. What’s worse is that I’m a vet tech, so I’ve seen a few abdominal exploratories and all KINDS of scenarios were running through my head.
Don’t blame yourself. Cats are very smart and stuff happens.
When I was younger, my friend had a black lab that ate a string. For him and it’s dog it was simple.
When the dog pooped, the string came out and my friend stepped on it and the whole string came out. Thanks so much for posting valuable information that aides pet owners. I’m so thankful that I found your blog.
Marc, that is very dangerous. Any string coming out must NEVER be pulled on; you can actually lacerate the intestines by doing this. Glad your friend’s dog was ok after that, though. Scary situation.
lol. This post made me laugh. I think it may have been the part about the cat eating string and the dog eating cat poo. Brings back too many fond memories.
So glad to hear everything is ok with Aura. Been thinking about getting Da Bird because everything I read about it says it’s such a great cat toy. But my domestic shorthair, Sage, has chewed fishing line off some of her catfisher toys, so now I’m not so sure.
It is amazing how these animals can give us a never ending stream of things to write about! This story reminds me of the time our Basset Hound ate two golf balls. You should have seen the xray pictures! He had to have surgery to remove them.
I must admit while I’m sure that this story was pretty scary in it’s creation, I did laugh as well at the ending. 🙂 Although the most important thing is that all “came out” well. Thanks for sharing.
What an ordeal! I’m glad Aura is doing well. When my cats were younger, they used to chew anything, even electrical cords. I had to quickly develop a way to “cat proof” my apartment. And guess what, my cats were always a step ahead of me. They always managed to get into some kind of trouble. Now that they’re older (12 years) they have mellowed a bit, but you never know.
I hope Aura continues to do well.
So how much did it cost you total to go to the vet? I same EXACT thing happened to me today and I’m distraught. There’s Da Bird ripped into two pieces, and the string no where to be found. I’m so scared.
Tara! I’m sorry I’m just now seeing your message; I was away on vacation for a week. It cost about $100 to have her x-rayed. Maybe $120. You don’t have a dog do you? Did you try vaseline? How is your cat?
I am going through the same hell. My 9 months old cat consumed a 15 inches of string on Thursday while playing with a string toy. Will list chronology of events.
Day One Thursday):
Eats string at around noon. We notice 14 inches of string missing. Search all over for it.
eats normally that day, but stops drinking water. We go online and do research on “Cat eats string”. Cat does not poop at night. We are worried.
Day Two Friday):
Cat gets up at 5:30 as normal. Plays and forces us to get up and feed him. This is normal.
plays part of the day, and sleeps as normal. No poop in the morning and drinks no water. We are concerned. Begin giving the cat a pinch of Petrollium Jelly as suggested in many websites.cat goes to bathroom later and poops a few dried up very small clumps a 1/4 inch in diameter of fecal matter. He is clearly constipated. Does not poop at night, but eats normally.
Day 3, Saturday)
Cat does not poop in morning, but eats normally. Is playful. We are worried. Give him another pinch of Petroleum Jelly. Does not drink water, so we add extra liquid in his food. He is an indoor cat, and we take him for a little walk out in the park. He does not poop while out. Eats normally at night and does not poop.
Day 4, Sunday) Cat has us worried. In morning, eats half the amount of food he usually eat. Drinks no water. We administer another pinch of petroleum jelly. Cat is playful, but we are worried. At night does not eat much, but I get him to eat some food. He does not poop before bed.
Monday, day 5):
Cat eats only eats 1/3 of his food. We are worried. Cat poops later in the morning but not sufficient given that this is the first time in a few day. We decide to explore his poot using to long sticks. Find about 4 inches of the string in his poop. We are happy. Cat does not drink water the whole day and only eats half his food at night. We give him a pinch of petroleum jelly.
Tuesday, day 6):
Cat does not poop and does not want to eat. We get worried. He is still playful. Take him to the vet. Vet x-rays and notices the stomach is enlarged. We narrate the story. Vet sees no physical obstruction in x-rays, but notices the enlarged stomach also notices lots of fecal matter in colon. Vet tells me it would be wise to operate and see if there is an obstruction. Vet also thinks there is bunching up of the intestines, but cat still presents no abdominal pains. I bid goodbye to the cat and leave vet with tears in my eyes. Vet tells me on the phone that cat threw up after I left
Vet operates that afternoon and explores the stomach. She call me after surgery; stomach is fine. She feels the small intestines for the string during surgery, but finds no sign of string; she biopsies the cat. Cat is being kept overnight. Vet claims all is fine. Can’t explain why he was not drinking water, or eating. Suspects the rest of the string is still in the colon and will be passed in future. We are perplexed and $3000 dollars later.
Wed, day 7) I will call today. Cat was kept overnight at vet. Will pick cat up in afternoon. Terrified of cat not eating again for a few more days and not drinking. Not sure what is going on. Worried. The surgery achieved nothing, only confirmed that there was not obstruction in the stomach, and that the string was not in the small intestine, although she determined that without doing an incision to the intestines, only by feeling the intestines when she took them out of the intestinal cavity. Confused. Upset.
Please dont let you cats play with string, even if your supervise them. In minutes a cat can ingest a string and put you through hell.
What an ordeal! I’m so sorry you are going through this! Your cat is certainly very lucky to be loved by you. I hope he comes through this OK!!!
Thanks for reply.
Wed. Day 7):
The drama continues. The vet called me today to report that he would keep the cat an extra day, but that he was doing well. He says that he ate a little bit but has not pooped. I am very concerned. I tell him that he might have fecal impaction since he had a lot of fecal matter in the x-ray; and since he has not gone to bathroom and won’t be able to go for a few days after surgery. He said not to worry. I tell vet I might pass by the clinic to visit my cat later in afternoon. Vet says it is fine and that he has him on anti biotic to prevent any infections from the surgery.
Vet calls me a few hours later to tell me that the cat pooped a little and that he ran a test on stool and that it came positive for Giardia. I have no idea where cat could have contracted that. I do some research online and learn that 30% of dogs test positive for Giardia and that the organism can be transmitied by being in close proximity to dogs and other infected cats. My cat does not spend time with dogs nor in the streets as he is an indoor cat.
Vet tells me that my cat appears to be asymptomatic, or that maybe he was infected a long time ago and that he got better on his own. I remember that the person who gave him to me said that he had heard that the kitten was dumped in a street dumpster by the owner but he could not confirm that. When I got him, he was trying to find a home for him on behalf of an old lady who had rescued him. I got him when he was about 3 months old. He has never exhibited the signs of having Giardia. I confirmed that after reading a great deal online. I decided not to visit my cat that afternoon for fear of causing him stress.
Vet tells me that I can pick the cat on Thursday morning, and that we can start treatment for Giardia after he recovers from surgery in a week or so. I am perplexed. Decide we will disinfect the apartment even before we start treatment for Giardia next week. Putting all his toys in the sun for a few day as I hear that kills Giardia.
I can’t believe I found this, my cat ate the exact same toy!!! She had cat nip for the first time last night, sprinkled all over that toy! She always does fine with fishing pole toys, she has several and has never even broken the string. Both the toy and cat nip being brand new, she went crazy for it, all the way up until bed time (an hour or two). When I woke up this morning and went to put the toy away, I picked the stick up and the toy obviously laid on the ground. Through hours of google searching, I know she isn’t showing any signs of complications. She’s happy, playing, napping, drinking water and ate a ton of food. I put Vaseline in the canned food which she gladly devoured. She’s piddled, but hasn’t pooed yet although that’s perfectly normal since she pooed right before bed. I’m expecting her to soon, hopefully without any problems. I’m so glad to hear that your cat was fine since its the same kind of string and they’re acting the same. I think it’s weak enough to have been chewed into pieces which is much easier to pass than the kinds that are tough to split. And unlike yarn, It doesn’t break up into a million shredded strings when chewed. Thank you for sharing, it’s really helped me feel a little less terrified! Kudos!
Wow, good luck! We have since moved to a new house and since then she (or the other cat, but I think it was her) ate another string. In the closet she liked to go in there and climb up it because it’s over the basement steps, so the back is slanted and carpeted. There was a string hanging down from the light bulb. We never thought about it and would let her play in there. One day I go to turn on the light, and half the string is gone. I was scared because at the end was a metal piece. I again did the vaseline but never found the string. After a few weeks we actually found the metal piece in the closet, so that was never eaten. Whew. Cats are so crazy sometimes 🙂
My cat ate a piece of 30-40cm string yesterday night and I was in full panic mode; basiclaly did not sleep all night ’cause I was so worried. I immediately fed it Laxatone after I found out that he had swallowed the string. This morning, he puked out a hairball and THANK GOODNESS there was the piece of string along with the hairball that came out of his system . God surely answered my prayers. Lesson learnt: NEVER EVER buy toys with string and never let my cats near linear objects.