Cheddar took an impromptu trip to the veterinarian this morning.
He pooped a very long length of 1/4″ satin ribbon just before bed last night. Thank Bast, Robin did NOT take a picture of the poop although it was an interesting shape and color. The ribbon was pink or orange to begin with, and turned a deep shade of red inside Cheddar. The little man’s intestines folded that ribbon into neat, accordion pleats on the way through his digestive tract.
He didn’t get to meet our FAVORITE veterinarian, who has the nerve to take a week off. Cheddar reports that the sub was satisfactory, the tech was nice to him, but Robin didn’t live up to her usual high standard of service. She did not take Cheddar’s pouch! He feels safe in his pouch, but he had to resort to hiding his face in her purse. Next time, she promises, she will take his pouch.
We did learn that the mats Robin made for the Cheeses are purrfect for those times when a kitty needs to be brave but isn’t feeling very confident.
Cheddar stayed on Robin’s lap under the mat the whole time they waited for the vet and then while they waited to be able to use the x-ray machine (the x-ray is in the operating room, and another vet was performing a spay surgery). They offered to keep Cheddar so Robin wouldn’t have to wait, but she didn’t want to leave the little man. (Not so little, really. They said Cheddar weighs 11 pounds!)
The x-ray showed that he’d had a good breakfast and has a lot of poop in his colon. Seems as though the ribbon was the only weird thing he ate. We’re supposed to watch for vomiting and anorexia (that means not eating, which would be VERY ODD for this Cheese). He’s already had Alpha Cat kibbles from the food puzzle and greeted his brothers heartily.
Now, Robin understands why Cheddar cried when he used the box on Sunday night and why he wasn’t particularly into going out to Thunderpaws or to work with her for the last few days. The vet said it would be hard to know how long ago he ate the ribbon because stuff twists around in the intestines.
Cheddar is a lucky little guy this time and really needs to stop eating junk off the floor. Also, Robin could stop leaving junk on the floor in the first place. She threw out everything that looked like a ribbon as soon as she figured out what was in the poop.
So glad that he is okay. These things are very scary for us and I always try to be so careful not to leave things around but they can get into everything.
Cheddar! You gotta stay away from the ribbon, buddy. Stick to eating kibble.
Zoey’s been known to eat string and stuff and the mom needs to keep it away from her. Once she ate about 12 inches of string. The mom was so happy to see it in her poop a couple of days later.
Poor little Cheese man, he needs to stop being silly and eating ribbons and strings! We are so happy he is okay and glad Robin was alert to his behavior to know something wasn’t right. She may be messy with stuff at times, but she is a good, loving Mom. All of us cat staff have to be aware of what we leave out. Smooches to Cheddar Cheese boy!
Oh my CAT this is scary. Our Phoebe grabs small plastic bags of supplies and runs – we are keeping our eyes OPEN!
Harvey
So glad that there is only food and poo in there now…. Pippin threw up a bit of ribbon the other day and we have no idea where he got it–it was an inch long fortunately and didn’t go through the rest of him.
So glad the ribbon came out on its own. Poor lil fella. Special hug hug hugs for Cheddar and the whole kitty family.