Civie may have eaten ribbon* update

Should I freak out? Not that I'm not already. She ran off with a little piece of ribbon last night, the cloth kind about 3-4 inches long. When I found her again she was smacking her lips and doing a little chewing action. I did not see her eat the ribbon but I cannot find it anywhere. I have looked several times for it everywhere...moving furniture and lifting rugs. She has been acting fine, running and playing and eating.
I guess when, if ever, do I become more concerned? Or do I just keep an eye on her? I am looking at her poo to be sure. Nothing yet.

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

My cat ate some ribbon once, he threw up some and the rest came out in his poo. I'd keep an eye on her but I wouldn't be too worried.

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

3-4 inches long shouldn't be too much of a problem

keep an eye out for pukes and poops -- should come out soon

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

I had a couple of cats that I couldn't keep out of the wrapping ribbon. The litter box was a festive place around Christmas time.

Probably not a good thing for them to eat, but it was impossible to keep them from it, they'd eat it off of packages or fish it out of the garbage.

My mom would tell a story of a cat we grew up with who ate the tie from one of her bathrobes. She found the cat the next day with the tie partially sticking out. She had to pull and pull (a couple of feet, the way I remember it) while the cat went rrrrroowwwwwrrrrrrrrr. Might be one of our family urban legends but I still chuckle when I think about it.

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

If it doesn't pass within 24 hours, then I highly recommend a vet visit. Honestly, you may want to go to the vet now and not wait.

All kinds of things can happen if it gets stuck while trying to pass. And then you end up in the ER with emergency surgery.

Maybe going to vet getting xray or ultrasound (as it may not show in xray) to
1) see if it was really eaten
2) see if it is passing through
3) know if you have to take further action

This is not something to take lightly - When Syd was a kitten she chewed on the filament in my quilt and ate some. She got violently ill and I took her to vet. It was only about an inch long, but it got stuck with something else and could not pass. I had no idea she ate this, and they do an ultrasound and spotted something funky, and did surgery immediately - turned out the filament string got wrapped around kitty grass or a leaf or something.

My friend's cat ate about 4 feet of ribbon and while yes it was passing through, we took him to vet and it had to be surgically removed, as there was so much inside him and it was getting wrapped around in there.

So, if you think she ate this ribbon - go to the vet, get an xray or ultrasound and give yourself peace of mind.

That's my 2 cents.

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

My vet told me to NEVER do this is it can cause thier intestines to become perforated!

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

I stupidly let my BF bring a balloon with a ribbon on it in my house. The next morning the helium was weak and it fell to the ground and Boomer ate all the ribbon. Luckily he pooed it all out and there weren't any problems....this isn't always the case unfortunately.

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

Still waiting on her to poop it out. I called the vet and they said as long as she is eating and acting normal to just keep an eye on her. If she starts to vomit, refuse food, or become lethargic to bring her in immediately.
I am only 80% sure she ate it. If I could just find the darn ribbon my mind would be at ease. I think if she hasn't pooped it out by tomorrow I will take her in anyway to be safe. But for now, she is eating and playing.

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

Aaron (aka Uber Goober) ate 22 inches of fleece from a toy (fleece at the end of a stick) Yes, 22 freakin' inches! I had even checked the toy before I left the room for weak spots - HA! lotta good that did. It never occurred to me to check 22" up the fleece for a weak spot. I new when I walked into the room that the damn thing looked a LOT shorter. I thought he'd eaten like 10". HA! again! :roll:

Fortunately, he threw it up in a few days (4-5 days). Vet said to watch for blockages and signs of him not feeling well. I measured it after it came back up. He ate some fleece tassels early on. I thought I had gotten to him before he swallowed them, but about a month later they came back up. Took me a while to figure out what the hell they were. The color had changed.

I've also heard not to pull anything out of kitty's bottom.

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

About a month ago, one of my civvies, Teddy, ate about 12" of metallic ribbon. He was vomiting up bits and pieces of ribbon and was refusing food.
I took him to the vet, and after taking x-rays, sure enough, there was a picture of the ribbon in his guts. The next day he went back for more x-rays to see if it was moving thru his GI tract. Sure enough, it was. I never did see ribbon in his poop, though....


~M

 

Re: Civie may have eaten ribbon

Jill,
Hope she's doing ok, I wouldn't even begin to try to tell you what to do. Hoping for the best, I bet she will pass it, but keep a close eye on her.

Sharyn,
My civie did the same thing when she was very little. A whole fleece end from one of those kitty fishing poles!! Most of it was puked up, but I was freaked and took her to the vet. $500 later, the vet sent us home with instructions to boil chicken and rice for her next few meals. Dh was a bit perturbed at having to cook for a cat; but of course did it anyway! Needless to say, we never left one of those toys out again. As soon as she became uninterested, it went into a drawer where she couldn't eat it.

Christmas is another interesting time, they don't eat the ribbon. Instead, they deposit little bits all over the floor---Christmas confetti!! This is all accomplished very late x-mas eve (the only time the presents are left out). Darn those little nocturnal imps ;-)

 

Sasha vomitted last night. It was quite a bit of food and a long thin black thing, which I am assuming is the ribbon. I pulled it apart with a paper towel to try to see what it was. It seemed like a long hair ball but I am pretty sure it was the ribbon, kind of disintegrated from her stomach acid. She is still eating well and playing so I think she is okay for now.
She does vomit her food up sometimes anyway, so I don't think I am too worried anymore. Will worry if she vomits again or stops eating.

 

Yeah! A bit of that hairball remedy, Laxatone?, might help keep everything flowing through in the right direction.

 

sounds like it came up so yes, I would just make sure she is eating and pooping alright.

Moochie always loved ribbon and I let her play with it - bad me - until I had to take her to the ER one night three years ago. The vet found the "culprit" in her carrier - a few satin ribbons I had tied together as a toy for her :?

She was okay. The vet found threads in her mouth but was relatively certain she had not ingested any of it. He could tell by the state of the ribbons in her carrier. Needless to say after that evening I learned and never let her have ribbon again (although many times it's unintentional for peeps). He (the vet at the ER) told me that the highest risks are obstruction or cutting of the intestines by the sharp edges of the ribbons - paper or satin.

 

Oh my. Well she has been eating and just had a bowel movement(for sure because I saw her). My vet was a little concerned today when I told him but I really think she is okay. She took the ribbon and before I could get to her, she ate it(I was doing favors for a class reunion). I will never allow this to happen again, accidentally or not! It was too scary.
Thanks for the advice and info everyone.