Hello, I’m Dr. Lauren. To learn more about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller, please read my introduction.
Unlike dogs, it’s not that common for cats to eat things they shouldn’t, but they do sometimes do things they shouldn’t, like when one of my friends stuffed Legos up his nose as a kid to prove it was possible, and ended up in the emergency room with a very amused doctor examining him.
As a veterinarian, I see a lot of different cats. They always leave you scratching your head — a cat that ate a tiny plastic toy carrot, a cat that ate an entire child’s doll’s head, a cat that swallowed part of a straw, a cat with a tiny pine cone stuck in its trachea. But there are a few consistent objects that Pancake and Tiller would keep away from, or that I wouldn’t have in my house, because they often show up as foreign objects in the clinic.
So let’s take a look at some common foods that cats should not eat.
6 foods your cat should never eat:
thread
Threads can also be found attached to needles and are very common as foreign bodies for cats. The threads can get tangled and fixed in the tongue and the intestines can bunch up as they try to digest the threads and cause a lot of problems. Then, if the threads almost penetrate the intestines and the intestinal contents leak out, it can cause secondary problems such as infection and inflammation in the abdominal cavity. As a vet, I have seen poor patients who had eaten thread 3-4 weeks before I saw them and suffered all that time from something getting stuck in their tongue and the thread damaging their intestines. Ouch!
Fishing Lures
These often come with a fun feather attached and may seem like the perfect toy to an unsuspecting cat, but I’ve seen more cats than I’d like to admit end up eating a fish hook as part of the deal, which then gets stuck in their mouth, tongue or cheek.
Human Toys
Human toys. Small, soft toys like bouncy balls are cats’ favorite treats and are the perfect size to fit into their small intestine.
Forms
Have you seen patients chewing on foam items like earplugs, or bits of flip flops? Or perhaps the smell of these items spending time in more unusual places also adds to their irresistible allure?
Hair Ties
It’s fun to chase, but easy to take.
Christmas decorations
They make a great holiday toy for your cat, until they get eaten.
Solution
Of course, cats can ingest other foreign objects besides those mentioned above, but these are common items to be wary of and should be kept away from your inquisitive cat.
So if your cat has gotten their hands on one of these, what should you do next? Well, you should definitely take them to the cat vet! With things like thread, you won’t know if your cat has thread lodged under their tongue unless they’re anesthetized and examined. Fish hooks stuck in your cat’s mouth also generally require sedation to be properly assessed and removed. Small objects may pass naturally without intervention, but a visit to the vet is still recommended so that together you can come up with a plan for any lingering issues that may result from the object.
After all, it’s always better to prevent problems long before they occur. In the worst case scenario, your cat may need surgery to remove the ingested item. (Did you see my recent article on why your cat needs pet insurance?)
After all, we love these furry creatures, but you should always be careful about what your cat might touch, or even get inside of them.
This article is part of a series by Dr. Lauren, Dr. Pancake, and Dr. Tiller.
