need some advice on keanu - being sick - hairballs? and eating strange things

[jenny]

hey guys.

im a bit concerned about keanus eating habits.

The last couple of days he keeps trying to be sick. Is this a sign of a furball? the first time he threw up bile, the second time he projected out something that looked like grass. He has no access to grass so dont know what it is.

Today i noticed hed got poo over the edge of his litter tray and it wasnt a great consistency. On closer inspected i found what looked like the drawstring from a bin bag in his poo. It must have been at least 30cm long!

And a few weeks ago i found more elastic bands in his poo.

I just cant control what hes eating. Hes finding the most stupid things to eat. Hes even eaten through the wire on our headphones that were on the desk. He'll shimmy through the tiniest opening in any drawer and eat whatevers in there, he'll pull things apart just so he can eat something.

He seems normal in himself, eating ok. Well, not as great as he normally does but ive put that down to the heat as its like a sauna in here not being able to open the windows incase he commits suicide.

[dinahsmum]

It's never a dull moment with your boy is it Jenny?

In terms of this moment ..... if he has something untoward in his belly he will, hopefully, either pass it or chuck it up. Keep an eye on his litter tray and make sure anything that comes out is of normal consistency, no blood, no mucous etc. Be concerned if he doesn't pass anything in a reasonable time - you know his system/habits, so you'll know when you would expect a motion.
Sickness - it's not normal for a cat to throw up 'nothing'. (Digress to own experience. A couple of months ago Chester had a vomiting session. He threw up stomach contents (2 piles), then vomited bile/froth 5 further times, overnight. I took him to the vet straight away. It just didn't seen right. No diagnosis, he was probably settling down by the time he got to the vet, but the vet asked me lots of questions about whether he was a 'thing eater' and told me if the vomiting didn't settle i should take him in next morning for an exploratory op)
Sorry, rambled. But, eating 'stuff' is not very clever but is a habit cats (? particularly orientals?) can get into. I think the word is pica - maybe you can google, but don't frighten yourself. Vicky Halls talks about a Siamese that ate a DM boot in her book
(My Mini had a thing for fleece blankets, and munched her way through about 20% of a fleecy throw before i really became aware when spotting a purple poo in the litter tray)

Have I answered any of your questions? Hope so.
Good luck - you will have to be a 1000% tidy person till Keanu grows out of this

Edit - just to add that there is a difference between the cough/retch of trying to heave up a furball and actual vomiting. I'm not so good on furballs, never having had a fluffy, but persian fanciers and others with longhair cats will give you tips, I'm sure

[jenny]

ah ok. well his stomach was turning like he was going to be sick. so i guess thats not a furball then.
he hasnt done it today, but did poop out the plastic.i keep telling OH to clear up his elastic bands etc but he doesnt listen. maybe if i tell him keanu will need an op and it will cost lots of money if he doesnt start being tidier!

[yola]

DM - from experience, retching due to furball and due to vomitting are the same (if me 3 persians are anything to go by).

Jenny, my serial-puker, Balie often brings up froth but has been doing so for pretty well 10 years and doesn't seem any the worse for it. However, he isn't a feline dustbin/vacuum cleaner as will only really eat food and grass. If Keanu is eating rubber bands then you really need to make sure all this kind of stuff is out of his way. String, threads, rubber bands etc can all get wound around the gut and can be very dangerous and potentially lethal.

I know it's a pain but it really would be worth while keeping all that kind of stuff out of his way until (and if) he gets out of the habit.

[dinahsmum]

Jenny - if you haven't organised Keanu's insurance yet I'd get it done today! Emergency surgery ..... what do you reckon? £350+ I bet. £5 a month insurance sounds a good bet

[Fran]

Jenny, just a thought are you sure the 'elastic bands' and 'drawstring' aren't worms? Is he up to date with worming?

[dinahsmum]

Eueuuuwwww Fran
................ but very good point!

[kado]

Kay also eats elastic bands. I do post for a rugby supporters club and all the cards have elastic bands around them.. The last she ate i inspected it to make sure the ends met. She also is a little devil for toilet rolls. We call her the andrex kitty. Now all elastic bands are put away from her

[charliebubs]

Hi Jenny,

It's called "pica" when animals (and humans) eat non-edible objects. I have found one article on it, but I'm sure that if you do your own search on Google you'll be able to find lots of sites with advice.

http://www.healthypet.com/library_view.aspx?ID=104

I can lead to problems.

Good luck with Keanu. Keep us posted.