The time Zeus ate 29 hair ties and lived to tell about it
My dear cat Zeus recently found himself in quite the pickle. I have seen him time after time playing with my hair bands. I have a habit of taking out my pony tail and setting the band wherever I am...on the nightstand, table, whatever. He loves them. He's constantly playing with them. One day I noticed it disappeared. Could he have EATEN it? No way. Cats don't "eat" hair bands. However, I noticed this a few times. I blew it off thinking he must be passing them. I was wrong.
Last Sunday (the 16th), Zeus came on the bed when I woke up. He was acting funny and drooling. Worried sick, I took him to the emergency vet. We had to wait an hour to be seen, as the doctor was doing an emergency surgery on a dog at the time. I was sick with worry because his drooling was getting worse and worse. Once we were seen, the doctor kept asking if he ate anything toxic. We have nothing out like that in which he'd have access to. I had mentioned I have seen him eat hair ties but she blew me off. She was convinced it was a new smell in the house that was making him nauseous and therefore drool. I asked if maybe we should take an x-ray just to be sure he didn't eat anything weird. She agreed (duh, because she charged me through the nose for it).
She called me in the room and showed me this:
His stomach was half full of something that wasn't food. She said it was about to start entering his intestines and we need to get it out NOW. I was given the estimate of the surgery, and couldn't believe how much it was. However, it was that or "see what happens" and I couldn't bear to see him how he was or risk him dying. He's only 3 years old - a baby in kitty time. We signed the papers and Zeus had emergency surgery. They cut open his abdomen, pulled his stomach from his body and cut it open. Inside, they found this:
TWENTY NINE HAIR BANDS.
Zeus had been keeping quite the collection of these in his stomach. Ben and I scoured the house and put away all of my bands. That night Zeus had to stay in the hospital. His temp was low so they had to put him in some oxygen tank. $$$$$. He had to be in there for a few hours because his temp just would not regulate. $$$$.
The next day he was supposed to come home. They wanted to see him eat but he just wouldn't. Ben and I went in, and we brought his favorite food. Even in a room with just us two he wouldn't eat. I guess he was very nervous at the hospital. Every time they opened his cage he tried to bolt out. The doc told us that she opened it, he flew out and knocked her over and ran around the hospital with his IV line trailing. He's 17 pounds so he's no little baby.
Finally they decided to send him home Monday night, saying he may just not eat there because he's nervous. Monday night was very hard. He has to wear an e-collar (cone) so he doesn't pull out (and consume!) his staples. He HATED the e-collar so much that he wouldn't move with it on. He'd sit on his "bed" and wouldn't even get up to use the bathroom. It was HORRIBLE. Someone told me about this inflatable collar you can buy. That way their vision isn't blocked so they're not as scared. I sent Ben out to get one.
He has dealt with this collar SO MUCH BETTER. He uses his potty in it and is now totally comfortable. Things started to decline, though. Zeus had not had anything to drink. I called, and they said they gave him LOTS of fluids in the hospital so he's probably not thirsty yet. Finally Saturday he started to drink. He even stopped eating for a day or so. We still had to give him pills, which ended up making him sick. Friday night he woke us up with vomiting, and was frothing at his mouth. We were so afraid we were going to have to take him back to emergency. Thankfully we calmed him down and avoided that. The next day he woke up feeling well, ate, and drank. He was improving so much! That evening we tried giving him his pills, but he fought it so much we literally couldn't. He started frothing again and contorting, vigorously shaking his head and scratched Ben. We decided to give up the pills that night. He only missed one day of antibiotics. They were preventative so that's the only reason I was okay with it.
Yesterday he did really well. Every day now he's improving more and more each day. Ben is taking him in Wednesday to have his staples taken out which means he no longer has to wear his collar (thank god)!
So that's the epic story of the cat who ate 29 hair ties and lived to tell about it. Thank god his owner loves him so much!
Last Sunday (the 16th), Zeus came on the bed when I woke up. He was acting funny and drooling. Worried sick, I took him to the emergency vet. We had to wait an hour to be seen, as the doctor was doing an emergency surgery on a dog at the time. I was sick with worry because his drooling was getting worse and worse. Once we were seen, the doctor kept asking if he ate anything toxic. We have nothing out like that in which he'd have access to. I had mentioned I have seen him eat hair ties but she blew me off. She was convinced it was a new smell in the house that was making him nauseous and therefore drool. I asked if maybe we should take an x-ray just to be sure he didn't eat anything weird. She agreed (duh, because she charged me through the nose for it).
She called me in the room and showed me this:
His stomach was half full of something that wasn't food. She said it was about to start entering his intestines and we need to get it out NOW. I was given the estimate of the surgery, and couldn't believe how much it was. However, it was that or "see what happens" and I couldn't bear to see him how he was or risk him dying. He's only 3 years old - a baby in kitty time. We signed the papers and Zeus had emergency surgery. They cut open his abdomen, pulled his stomach from his body and cut it open. Inside, they found this:
TWENTY NINE HAIR BANDS.
Zeus had been keeping quite the collection of these in his stomach. Ben and I scoured the house and put away all of my bands. That night Zeus had to stay in the hospital. His temp was low so they had to put him in some oxygen tank. $$$$$. He had to be in there for a few hours because his temp just would not regulate. $$$$.
The next day he was supposed to come home. They wanted to see him eat but he just wouldn't. Ben and I went in, and we brought his favorite food. Even in a room with just us two he wouldn't eat. I guess he was very nervous at the hospital. Every time they opened his cage he tried to bolt out. The doc told us that she opened it, he flew out and knocked her over and ran around the hospital with his IV line trailing. He's 17 pounds so he's no little baby.
Finally they decided to send him home Monday night, saying he may just not eat there because he's nervous. Monday night was very hard. He has to wear an e-collar (cone) so he doesn't pull out (and consume!) his staples. He HATED the e-collar so much that he wouldn't move with it on. He'd sit on his "bed" and wouldn't even get up to use the bathroom. It was HORRIBLE. Someone told me about this inflatable collar you can buy. That way their vision isn't blocked so they're not as scared. I sent Ben out to get one.
He has dealt with this collar SO MUCH BETTER. He uses his potty in it and is now totally comfortable. Things started to decline, though. Zeus had not had anything to drink. I called, and they said they gave him LOTS of fluids in the hospital so he's probably not thirsty yet. Finally Saturday he started to drink. He even stopped eating for a day or so. We still had to give him pills, which ended up making him sick. Friday night he woke us up with vomiting, and was frothing at his mouth. We were so afraid we were going to have to take him back to emergency. Thankfully we calmed him down and avoided that. The next day he woke up feeling well, ate, and drank. He was improving so much! That evening we tried giving him his pills, but he fought it so much we literally couldn't. He started frothing again and contorting, vigorously shaking his head and scratched Ben. We decided to give up the pills that night. He only missed one day of antibiotics. They were preventative so that's the only reason I was okay with it.
Yesterday he did really well. Every day now he's improving more and more each day. Ben is taking him in Wednesday to have his staples taken out which means he no longer has to wear his collar (thank god)!
So that's the epic story of the cat who ate 29 hair ties and lived to tell about it. Thank god his owner loves him so much!