Posted on 03/15/2005 10:38:43 AM PST by Finger Monkey
A friend's cat appears to have eaten some reel to reel tape, said tape appears to be obstructing her digestive tract. Daisy, the cat, is now not eating, has been vomiting and is not drinking, and is lethargic. He, my friend, is taking Daisy to the vet this afternoon.
Does anyone now if reel to reel tapes are toxic? Or if it breaks down in stomach acid to some horrific toxin? Also, Daisy is QUITE large. Has anyone out there ever had surgery on an overweight cat? And how did the cat fair?
Thanks for any advice. I am glad FReepers (mostly) love kitties, and thanks to everyone who has welcomed me.
When my cat was just a wee thing he ate around twelve feet of yarn. Wouldn't eat, had nasty diarrhea kept trying to barf but just dry heaved. When he finally was able to cough some of it back into his mouth I was able to pull the rest out--veeeeeeeery slowly. Nasty.
Tell your friend to get the cat to the vet or start digging a hole. Keep us posted.
Could you ping the kitty lovers on this? Thanks
I'm working on a way to play the tape. So far, I'll need fresh catnip and an MRI scanner...
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Kitty Ping List alert!
[Freepmail me to get on or off the Kitty Ping List.]
They talked about an operation, but we decided to give him the kitty laxative (I forget what it is called) and he was ok in a day or two...JFK
something very similar happened to my family's cat when I was in jr high. We had eaten a roast beef for dinner and my mom threw away the meat juice soaked string that comes with the roast. But overnight, our cat Tiger knocked over the garbage can and somehow managed to eat the entire string. Within a day, he was very lethargic and throwing up bile. My mom rushed Tiger to the vet where he underwent surgery. the string had passed through his stomach but was blocking his intestinal track. He was very close to death, but made a full recovery. At the time of this surgery, Tiger was overweight (he still is, 10 years later), but his weight did not seem to affect things. The vet had to shave the fur off of Tiger's abdomen for the surgery, treating us to the delightful sight of his naked fat stomach for several weeks.
Hope all goes well with Daisy!
In college I had a cat who ate the tape in one of XTC cassettes (it was "Skylarking" for anyone who cares.) We didn't know he'd done until what looked like black tapeworms starting oozing out of his butt. (Sorry to gross anyone out.) We rushed him to the vet, and the vet said we were lucky because the tape hadn't wrapped itself around any organs or otherwise created an obstruction. So the tape itself obviously wasn't toxic to him. I'm sorry about this kitty who appears hasn't been so lucky.
I just got an update: Daisy has returned from the vet where she was x-rayed and was checked for dehydration (none), the vet did not know if the tape would appear on an x-ray or not (apparently it didn't). The vet also mentioned concern about fatty liver disease, as did NautiNurse. Daisy was given some stomach-settling medicine and sent her home with her owner for observation, and to see if she eats and goes to the bathroom.
I must say I'm a little surprised that they did not keep her overnight. This is my vet too, and I like and respect her very much. A vet, I might add, who only works on cats-very nice in the waiting room, no dogs, keeps the terror level of the cats to orange.
Thanks for the update. I hope the kitty does well.
Cat terror level to orange....very funny!
If she doesn't pass the tapes in 24 hours she can have studies to localize them and get them out. Unless there was metallic substance on the tape an Xray would show nothing. They have endoscopy for animals now to fiberoptically explore the gastrointestinal tract for foreign bodies. The critical point for a foreign body is passing the (narrow) duodenum. Usually if it clears that point it will pass through the (larger) colon and out. I hope it was a narrow tape. Things to watch for: Kitty vomiting (possible obstruction from the tape), black or bloody stools (tape injuring the lining of the GI tract). Best wishes for Kitty!
Get the surgery performed immediatle. I just had this sergury performed on a 7 week old kitten just last week. She'd doing fine.
I had a similar experience with my now 17 year old cat. When he was much younger and more adverturous he became very lethargic, not eating, trying to heave something up, but couldn't. After a couple of days I began to see irregular pieces of a brightly colored substance in the litter box. Turned out to be balloon fragments from my daughter's birthday party. Once he got it out of his system, he was fine. Tape, I don't know. Seems that could be more problematic.
Too bad about the Skylarking tape. I hope it was replaced with a less tasty CD.
Daisy has passed the tape. Three feet. It did not appear on the x-rays. She is back to her old ways. Thanks for your help.
Glad she's OK, but did you have to measure the tape? :)
I didn't measure it, my friend did. I wasn't there for the unveiling. Simply heresay.
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