# I think my Squirts ate some fishing line



## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

Aurora has a 2 ft long ribbon that she drags around to play with. She usually sets it close to me and then just waits till I pick it up. It gets boring because of the way she wants to play and she gets mad if I don’t, so to spice things up a bit I tied it to my fishing rod and used it to play. Well she really got aggressive and managed to break the fishing line then ran upstairs with the ribbon. She did not like it at all and hid the ribbon. 










I set the fishing rod down and went to do other things, but when I got back I found the fishing line was missing all the way down to the reel and except for a small 1 foot long piece on the floor. I don’t know where the rest is and I suspect that Squirts ate it because she’s the only one that does stuff like that and she was laying next to it. She loves chewing on wires and cords.

So if she did eat it, what do I need to worry about?


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## CJinCA (Dec 5, 2011)

Any string longer than about 1.5 inches can cause problems in the intestines, so yes, if she did swallow a 1 foot piece of fishing line, you should be calling the vet!


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

CJinCA said:


> Any string longer than about 1.5 inches can cause problems in the intestines, so yes, if she did swallow a 1 foot piece of fishing line, you should be calling the vet!


 Thanks, I know the vet will want to take an x-ray, because thats what they always want to do for everything, but its monofilament line and I don’t know if it would even show up in an x-ray. I guess I’ll have to keep a close eye on her to see in she is any different.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

I would keep an eye on him. You are right the fishing line probably won't show up, but it might. If it passes you should see it within a couple days in the stool, but if not you need to watch for signs of lethargy, illness or any number of things. Not a fun place to be - I hope all works out well.


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

Thanks Marcia, I wonder if there is something like high fiber or something that might help move it along. I don’t know it works the same as people or not.


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

We just had something not too long ago simlar so I went to look for it. I typed in "cat ate" in the search engine ... Oh My Goodness, there has been a lot of cats eating various things and subsequently reported to this forum.

Anyway, here is the one I was looking for...
http://www.catforum.com/forum/38-health-nutrition/172530-help-cat-ate-string-vet-said-wait.html


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

Whew, well that’s a relief. 
My wife just now told me she found a string on the floor and threw it in the garbage. I also found a string and I’m hoping that the two would be the full length missing from the Fishing rod. It might have been that she just chewed through it and did not actually eat it. 
Anyway I will still be keeping an eye on her and I guess I will not be using the fishing rod to play anymore.


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

At this point there is probably not a lot your vet would be able to do for Squirts. Even if the vet could see the string on the x-ray, which is unlikely, they wouldn't necessarily be able to tell whether it's making a natural progression through the digestive track. Exploratory surgery is invasive and can be risky, so your vet wouldn't want to do it unless they were fairly sure there was an actual problem.

I would make sure you have the number of an emergency vet handy just in case, and watch for signs of lethargy, inability to use the litterbox, not producing any stool, prolonged vomiting, or refusal to eat or drink. If you have any doubts whether she's having these symptoms, it's better to err on the side of bring her in.

I hope Squirts didn't eat it, but even if she did, it won't necessarily be a problem and will like pass safely out the other end.

Both times Maisie ate things he shouldn't (an unused tampon one time, a quarter of a bar of soap another time,) the vet just said to keep an eye on him.


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## CalyxTheCat (Feb 6, 2013)

Blakeney Green said:


> Maisie ate things he shouldn't (an unused tampon one time, a quarter of a bar of soap another time,)


Blakeney Green, I am cracking up at your kitty Maisie. Those are some unusual food choices 

Builder, I'm glad you found the string. Hopefully your kitty will be just fine. Also - you are correct - they wouldn't be able to see monofilament plastic fishing line in your kitty unless it caused something else - like formation of a bezoar or intestinal obstruction.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

> Well she really got aggressive and managed to break the fishing line then ran upstairs with the ribbon. She did not like it at all and hid the ribbon.


that's funny: "how *dare* you mess with my ribbon toy! i never!"

since she likes to play with ribbon, the cat charmer (same company that makes cat dancer) is a fun toy. it's like a long piece of fleece or some bathrobe material that's stretchy and brightly colored on the end of a plastic wand. i have gone through several of them already, the worst thing about it is that if the cat grabs on and doesn't want to let go, the material stretches out and becomes way longer than it needs to be. (i always cut mine back down.)

it isn't a toy to let them play with alone because i have heard of cats eating the string. it's probably pretty easy to chew through, so i hide mine in the closet when we're not playing with it.

i also have da bird but the fishing pole thing occurred to me also and i bought a child's scooby doo fishing pole. biggest mistake ever: no one thought it was fun to play with and they also ended up breaking the line. so i'm sticking to the cat charmer, cat dancer, da bird with multiple lures to change out with, a peacock feather and turbo scratcher.


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

Oh she loves that ribbon and she’s very possessive of it. You can play with, but only on her terms and will not allow the other cats to touch it. That might be why she doesn’t want it tied to the fishing pole, because the other cats were getting too interested in it.

This pole is also a small kid’s fishing pole that I bought for my grandson and the string does break very easy. I admit that I love playing with it more than the cat do I think. The ribbon is a little light and I can’t toss it across the room, so I have stand and move around a lot. I had a feathered bird toy that was a lot heaver and I could whip that thing all over the room.

I have another fishing pole for ocean fishing that has 50 lb string and it doesn’t break, but it’s a little too big for inside the house. I always get yelled at when breaking my wife’s collectables, so I stopped using it. What can I say, I’m still a kid at heart. LOL

Anyway, thanks for the toy tip, I'm going check it out.


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