One of my cats ate some thread

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One of my cats ate some thread on Thursday. My wife called me at work to say he was throwing up and acting really weird during the day on Friday so I took him to the vet that night where it was confirmed that indeed Nemo had eaten the thread and that one end was wrapped around his tongue. The vet cut the thread and then said since we had noticed it pretty early there was a good chance that it would pass by itself and they wouldn't have to cut him open. I took him back again today, Saturday, since they had a specialist in doing sonograms and the specialist told the regular vet the sonogram would be useful since the thread had been cut sufficiently in advance.

When I first brought him back to the vet he said Nemo's abdomen seemed a little more relaxed than the day before, that his intestines weren't 'splinting,' which was good. After the sonogram the vet told me that it didn't show any problems with the intestines but there was some inflammation in the stomach, and there was still some danger of peritonitis.

Now this evening he is still very sluggish and is not eating although he does drink a little water now and then. I just took his temperature, which is 103.1. Apparently normal body temperature for a cat has a high of 102.5, so he has a slight fever, but not an emergency high fever.

I am still waiting and seeing for him to perk up a little more and start eating something and drinking a little more, but I have a referral from the vet, which I don't think I really need, for the surgery should it come to that. Apparently lots of cats do this and need to get cut open, my friend's cat had the surgery four times. I don't want them to do it if they don't have to, but I don't want to wait too long either if he doesn't get better.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Sunday, 27 May 2007 02:13 (sixteen years ago) link

I'm sorry. I wish I had advice. My friend's dog once ate a ton of coins, and he survived.

Google's top hit: http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/nutritioninformation/f/FAQ_string.htm

Tape Store, Sunday, 27 May 2007 02:23 (sixteen years ago) link

Ugh. I've been through that a few times, with no worse result than expensive cat-scan bills and alarming cat's-cradles in the litter box, thank goodness. Drinking water is a good sign. Best to you and Nemo; the 24x7 vet on 15th Street is pretty efficient if you need one urgently.

eater, Sunday, 27 May 2007 17:44 (sixteen years ago) link

I thought this might be some arcane ILx version of 'the dog ate my homework'. I hope yer kitty recovers good as new and slightly wiser.

Aimless, Sunday, 27 May 2007 18:01 (sixteen years ago) link

My housemate's cat ate a bacon candle I made and he threw it up all over the house in gross little piles of bacony wax. He was totally OK, though.

libcrypt, Sunday, 27 May 2007 18:34 (sixteen years ago) link

zomg

lfam, Sunday, 27 May 2007 18:36 (sixteen years ago) link

Thanks, guys. He still wasn't eating and wasn't drinking either this morning, so I took him to the Animal Medical Center on 62nd Street, where they took an X-ray and said they saw "corrugation" so they needed to operate. I'm at home now, waiting to hear from Surgical Service 3.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Sunday, 27 May 2007 20:13 (sixteen years ago) link

What is corrugation in this context?

libcrypt, Sunday, 27 May 2007 21:39 (sixteen years ago) link

I think it means the intestine is wrinkled and bunched where it should be smooth.

Anyway, the vet surgeon just called and said that he had eaten a lot of strong that they had to remove, that it went all the way through his GI tract, but otherwise everything was pretty healthy so we should be able to pick him up day after next.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Sunday, 27 May 2007 23:00 (sixteen years ago) link

Poor kitty. Who can resist the taste of delicious string?

libcrypt, Sunday, 27 May 2007 23:11 (sixteen years ago) link

Cat's can't, apparently.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Sunday, 27 May 2007 23:49 (sixteen years ago) link

The whole vibe in the Animal Hospital Emergency Room with all the different slices of New York life was really like a Barney Miller episode, which I can't quite recount right now, but will perhaps do so in a little bit.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 28 May 2007 00:06 (sixteen years ago) link

I'm sorry. Cats and string are a bad combination.

tokyo rosemary, Monday, 28 May 2007 00:51 (sixteen years ago) link

poor cat - i hope he gets better soon!

my mom's cat was really sick a couple of years ago, throwing up, sluggish, wouldn't eat, etc, so they took him to the vet and the vet did a scan - turned out he had, like, eight hair elastics in his stomach and intestines! he had to have an operation, obv. scary and expensive. coincidentally, my mom and her husband both have short hair now.

my cats are smarter than that cat, it would seem

also, bacon candle??

srsly??

rrrobyn, Monday, 28 May 2007 01:17 (sixteen years ago) link

Bacon candle (made with bacon grease & bits of bacon):

http://i17.tinypic.com/4zel0us.jpg

libcrypt, Monday, 28 May 2007 23:11 (sixteen years ago) link

That's making me want to go see the doctor just looking at it.

I'm going to go fetch Nemo from the hospital in a little bit :)

James Redd and the Blecchs, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:27 (sixteen years ago) link

ugh!

rrrobyn, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:32 (sixteen years ago) link

Do bacon candles smell delicious?

Jordan, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:34 (sixteen years ago) link

it doesn't matter b/c it's not actually bacon! it's a bacon candle! i do not want pork chop perfume or steak shampoo either!

rrrobyn, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:37 (sixteen years ago) link

I imagine it smells like the kitchen of an underventilated greasy spoon.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:39 (sixteen years ago) link

OMG

http://i19.tinypic.com/4l63o5j.jpg

(sorry)

StanM, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:39 (sixteen years ago) link

hey guys i'm going to roast a chicken and then wash my floor with its drippings using its carcass as a mop!
xpost
that is a good contrast

rrrobyn, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:40 (sixteen years ago) link

I'm going to roast a chicken and then wash my floor with its drippings using its carcass as a mop!

and this is how many days after you got rid of your TV, two?

StanM, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:42 (sixteen years ago) link

this past Christmas, we left some wrapping paper and stuff around the apartment, and one of my cats ate a ribbon. it didn't seem to have any health consequences, although it was pretty gross to have to cut it out of his butt fur.

Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:42 (sixteen years ago) link

i have to make my own fun now
xpost

rrrobyn, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:43 (sixteen years ago) link

Ha, I've got an orange tabby too and he doesn't eat thread.

I heard the ribbon can be pretty bad too.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:46 (sixteen years ago) link

My cat chewed apart a wire sponge the other day but didn't eat any of it (I hope).

I think I would enjoy a bbq candle.

Jordan, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 17:49 (sixteen years ago) link

it doesn't matter b/c it's not actually bacon! it's a bacon candle! i do not want pork chop perfume or steak shampoo either!

I made bacon perfume too. When I get home, I'll dig up some pix of it.

libcrypt, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:07 (sixteen years ago) link

Of all my bacon experiments, bacon candy went over the best.

libcrypt, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:08 (sixteen years ago) link

The bacon candle didn't actually smell like anything to me, lit or unlit. A girl I knew used some of the bacon perfume on herself, but I dunno how she smelled with it.

libcrypt, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:09 (sixteen years ago) link

http://i19.tinypic.com/54mhvsi.jpg

libcrypt, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:12 (sixteen years ago) link

My cat eats insects, ive often wondered if thats entirely healthy for her but she never gets sick. She might if she manages to eat and get stung by a wasp or something some day I guess.

Trayce, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:21 (sixteen years ago) link

Our cat Morrie used to kill and eat flies, then go madly eat dry cat food like he wanted to get the taste out of his mouth. Lately, he's just been killing them and leaving their corpses on the windowsills.

Jaq, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:23 (sixteen years ago) link

btw, I hope Nemo's happily home and decides that string is not worth eating from now on.

Jaq, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:24 (sixteen years ago) link

i also hope no one on this thread is making anything out of bacon except bacon

rrrobyn, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:24 (sixteen years ago) link

I'm going to print out this thread and feed it to my cat.

Jordan, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 22:25 (sixteen years ago) link

And now she's having mittens!

Ithangyew.

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 May 2007 08:17 (sixteen years ago) link

Awh hope your kitty's OK. One of ours ate some thread once but luckily it passed straight through. It was sticking out of his arse and we managed to pull it out (very gently!) without it getting tangled inside his intestines. Lucky escape. He still managed to cost us £1500 in vet bills after he fell off the roof though.

Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 30 May 2007 11:34 (sixteen years ago) link

lol mark g

rrrobyn, Wednesday, 30 May 2007 14:01 (sixteen years ago) link

Mrs. Redd called me yesterday evening at work to tell me she was worried that he wasn't eating anything, so I was pretty bummed on my subway ride back. When I got home he was sleeping in the back of the closet, but he eventually woke up and I pet him on the head while he ate a little food. He woke up again later and ate some more and seemed in good spirits, was purring a lot. Still needs to recuperate though, this morning he tried (and failed) to jump up on a chair. He's not supposed to be jumping. We have him closed up in the back of the apartment where there is plenty of room for him but he is away from my daughters and the other cat and doesn't have much opportunity for over-excitement,

James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 31 May 2007 13:43 (sixteen years ago) link

Good luck man.

Dimension 5ive, Thursday, 31 May 2007 13:44 (sixteen years ago) link

Good kitty vibes going out.

accentmonkey, Thursday, 31 May 2007 13:46 (sixteen years ago) link

Colonel, I just read that cats are MORE likely to survive a fall from over 100 feet than one from, say, 40 feet! Because their terminal velocity is much lower than a humans they can reach it in less vertical travel, and once they do, they spread their legs out like a sail and take the impact across their whole little bodies. Also their bones are made of titanium elastic. Under terminal velocity they're still getting themselves righted and won't land as calculatedly.

Best of lucks, Ken.

Laurel, Thursday, 31 May 2007 13:46 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah Laurel we were reading about that at the time it happened - he fell 3 floors which I guess is probably about 30ft, so it could have been a lot worse than it was. Apparently they often break their jaws if they don't land properly which is not only extremely expensive to fix but the impact on the head can cause brain damage as well. Our kitty just dislocated his leg, he's fine now apart from slight limp.

Good luck James!

Colonel Poo, Thursday, 31 May 2007 13:56 (sixteen years ago) link

My friends' cat had surgery after which he wasn't supposed to jump or climb stairs, so when they'd catch him looking up at the windowsill or armchair they'd preemptively pick him up and put him on it. Apparently he got very accustomed to that treatment and now, fully healed, refuses to jump anywhere he doesn't have to, preferring to yell for assistance.

Glad to hear Nemo's eating again. When it's less tender, you can have your way with his warm little shaved belly.

eater, Thursday, 31 May 2007 15:40 (sixteen years ago) link

James and Mrs. Redd and Nemo:

You're in my thoughts today.

Michael White, Thursday, 31 May 2007 15:43 (sixteen years ago) link

Thanks, everybody. Actually, Paul, we've had to pick him up once or twice but still haven't figured out the best way to pick up a post-op cat with a sensitive stitched-up belly.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 31 May 2007 16:18 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh god, I remember when my cat had to have an operation for megacolon, and she had stitches in her stomach and around her arse. I picked her up, obviously hurt her, and she hooked her claw into my lip like a fish hook.

accentmonkey, Thursday, 31 May 2007 17:09 (sixteen years ago) link

Tonight he's looking really good, walking around with a lively step, ears and tail sticking up, purring a lot. Right now I hear him lapping up some water.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 1 June 2007 04:57 (sixteen years ago) link

that last post made me feel absurdly happy, i'm glad he's feeling better.

estela, Friday, 1 June 2007 05:02 (sixteen years ago) link

YAY, a triumph

now take a picture of his belly and write an amusingly spelled caption

I HAZ A ZIPPRGUTZ

Dimension 5ive, Friday, 1 June 2007 05:04 (sixteen years ago) link

that last post made me feel absurdly happy

I second that.

Michael White, Friday, 1 June 2007 05:23 (sixteen years ago) link

Yes, thirded here.

accentmonkey, Friday, 1 June 2007 06:34 (sixteen years ago) link

Hurrah! Glad he's feeling better.

Can cats play with and eat bees without getting stung? Our 6 month old Rhubarb is a fantastic fly hunter, but right now she's toying with a bee, padding it and picking it up in her mouth. The bee doesn't seem that angry, strangely, but she's not lost an insect yet, and I can see this ending in disaster. Of course she could have killed and eaten 20 bees already, I've just not seen her do it.

Vicky, Friday, 1 June 2007 08:02 (sixteen years ago) link

ok, she just got bored of the game and wolfed it down, and isn't crying with pain.

Vicky, Friday, 1 June 2007 08:03 (sixteen years ago) link

My dogs and cats have always eaten bees and wasps and other unpleasantries, and it's never done them any harm.

accentmonkey, Friday, 1 June 2007 09:39 (sixteen years ago) link

Wow, I hope everyone's OK. My cat is sleeping soundly next to one of my pillows; I'm about to brush my teeth and join her.

If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 1 June 2007 10:52 (sixteen years ago) link

all pets are rotters, mine is strutting around with a pig's ear in his mouth pretending he won it in a deadly battle even though we all know i brought it home shrinkwrapped from woolworths.

estela, Friday, 1 June 2007 11:08 (sixteen years ago) link

seven years pass...

Now my buddy has a hyperthyroid condition and may be going in for some radioactive iodine treatment.

The Jody Valgrind (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 August 2014 04:36 (nine years ago) link

i once saw a seagull at the beach with four inches of twine sticking out his butt

the late great, Friday, 29 August 2014 04:41 (nine years ago) link

hope your cat is doing ok btw

the late great, Friday, 29 August 2014 04:41 (nine years ago) link

two years pass...

RIP, buddy, you were a trooper to the very end.

Y Kant Jamie Reid (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 November 2016 16:41 (seven years ago) link

:(

emil.y, Sunday, 27 November 2016 17:43 (seven years ago) link

The Iodine treatment worked out well for him.

I will try to tell you some good stories about him when I am able.

Y Kant Jamie Reid (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 November 2016 18:47 (seven years ago) link

three years pass...

*sigh*

Together Again Or (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2020 19:38 (three years ago) link

Tell us a story. We'll like it and so will you.

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 22 April 2020 19:47 (three years ago) link

Dealing with another cat now. But yeah I still owe you story I guess

Together Again Or (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2020 19:51 (three years ago) link

A friend told me of her dog which would eat anything. At some point it ate a pair of stockings and it was having difficulty passing them. Dog wandered around outside trying to get it out but gave up and came back in the house. With a leg of stocking hanging out its ass, the foot of the stocking loaded with shit and dragging across the white carpet like a brown marker. Mom screamed and dad, the hero, stepped up and grabbed the shit squishy end of stocking. The dog howled and ran forward, leaving quite the mess.

Cow_Art, Wednesday, 22 April 2020 20:22 (three years ago) link

We didn't like the story after all, and neither did you.

Evan, Wednesday, 22 April 2020 20:28 (three years ago) link

Dog_Art

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 22 April 2020 20:40 (three years ago) link

one year passes...

My current crop of three cats got a little traumatized last night and are not getting along now so we are having to keep them apart.

AP Chemirocha (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 June 2021 12:44 (two years ago) link

Now my buddy has a hyperthyroid condition and may be going in for some radioactive iodine treatment.

― The Jody Valgrind (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, August 29, 2014 12:36 AM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

we are doing this soon :(

superdeep borehole (harbl), Monday, 14 June 2021 12:51 (two years ago) link

Don’t worry, it works great in my experience. Place we took him had a kitty cam so we could watch him during his stay.

AP Chemirocha (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 June 2021 13:09 (two years ago) link

Can’t remember if I mentioned it upthread, but one time I met the woman whose lab came up with this treatment, I think. She and her husband and son are all super smart.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Carrasco

AP Chemirocha (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 June 2021 13:13 (two years ago) link


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