We are a locally owned business providing professional care with a personal touch
23/04/2025
Miss Maigo here decided to floss her own teeth the wrong way.
She presented after being found swallowing some material, and by the time we got in with the scope the stomach was already empty :(
Investigating the first part of the intestine we found the material just before it went around the duodenal flexure and out of reach and managed to grab it and pull it to the mouth, only for it to anchor further down the intestines where we couldn't free it - gah! We had no choice but to let it pass into the intestines and hope it would pass.
Maigo enjoyed a couple of peaceful days before she started vomiting and we had to retrieve the ball of material from her intestines where it got stuck just before it entered the colon. A metre of elastic is what we found!
While not happy with us taking her toy away, Maigo recovered uneventfully :)
String and other linear objects pose a risk to intestines as they can get anchored in one part and, as the intestines push the remaining string further along they can cut into the bowel causing perforation and sepsis. They can be tricky to diagnose as they often don't fully obstruct the gut before they perforate. Cats in particular seem to enjoy the sensation of string and are the most common offenders - sometimes the string can get anchored on their spiky tongues! So if your cat seeks out string objects, management is key and redirecting them to other sensory objects like cat grass can provide a safer outlet.
