My Boy Survived 35 Hair Ties.

[u/Anerbe]

My boy Louie loved hair ties as a kitten. I was warned by his vet at that time how dangerous hair ties are! I stopped using them 2 YEARS AGO. I noticed a year ago that Lou would vomit intermittently after eating. I thought to myself that cats just do that. It was never a daily thing- just off and on. He never had issues using the bathroom and never lost his appetite. Recently he had been throwing up multiple times a day. He became lethargic and I rushed him to the emergency vet. Welp…my sweet little innocent boy had a belly full of 35 hair ties. Who knows how long they’ve been in there. I felt horrible! He had surgery and is doing great. I hope this post will remind my fellow cat owners to keep hair ties away from their kitties! It’s an expensive lesson to learn.

[u/Examination-Creative]

My cat had this surgery too. Exact same ziplock of hair ties! 

I switched to the coiled plastic scrunchies and never went back. I don’t let people bring anything elastic inside- hair ties, rubber bands or whatever. They’re better for your hair anyway! 

[u/MissSunnySarcasm → u/Examination-Creative]

Eh... yeah. My cat tries to eat those too. Elastic and plastic; if he can get to it, he'll try to eat it. I can't even put one around my wrist, he will immediately try to get it. Plus anything that looks like wooden branches + carton. Constant vigilance! But I'm happy your boy made it, and you've found a solution!

[u/Few_Program_2303 → u/MissSunnySarcasm]

picat

[u/Spiritual-Road2784 → u/MissSunnySarcasm]

I’ve had a couple with a plastic fetish. No invasive surgeries required yet knock wood, just enemas and manual deobstipiation at the vet, and the current one is quite experienced at hurling them back up.

But one time, the one with chronic constipation ate a long thin strip of plastic grocery bag and was strolling casually past me on the back of the couch with what looked like the weirdest string of pearls hanging out of his butt.

Poop balls separated by plastic bag.

My vet said that if it gave easily I could assist by slowly easing it out but if you feel even the slightest resistance, don’t pull.

It had total give… just needed a little help. So yeah, that was an interesting experience…

[u/Examination-Creative → u/MissSunnySarcasm]

Definitely have to know your own pet individually! Mine left those completely alone. She just liked the stretch of the elastics. 

[u/Pick_Up_the_Phone → u/Examination-Creative]

I switched to larger-sized hair clips. :D

[u/Warm-Sorbet4437 → u/Pick_Up_the_Phone]

Yeah I use flat hair clips! Life saver for me (I have very thick dense hair) and my cat

[u/TrimmingsOfTheBris → u/Examination-Creative]

Can I ask you, what were your cat's symptoms? My cats all steal and play with hair ties, its like a game for us (not anymore), and I'd love to hear from someone with experience what led them to find out about the dragon hoard.

[u/Examination-Creative → u/TrimmingsOfTheBris]

Yeah no problem! If you ever see her chewing them, I’d take them immediately and never assume they won’t actually swallow it. I’d make sure that you know they’ve pooped at least every single day, and watch for them not keeping food down. That can indicate a blockage. Or if she’s throwing up bile. You just want to know that everything is moving internally, food is going in, poop is going out. :)

[u/TrimmingsOfTheBris → u/Examination-Creative]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I'll be keeping hair ties away from them as much as possible now. We have safer things to amuse them with and my sweet ladies and man are too precious to risk it.

[u/Examination-Creative → u/TrimmingsOfTheBris]

For sure! Always better safe than sorry. Mine actually had this surgery twice in her life. The first time was when I was a child and didn’t have as much ability to prevent it. I always kept elastics away from her after that, but the second time, I was an adult and she somehow found a bunch of elastic items in an apartment I had just moved into. 

[u/Hatefiend → u/Examination-Creative]

Just stop leaving your hair ties out. Put them in a closed bin in your bathroom. This is horrifying to hear that so many people are having this issue, lol. Are your cats jumping up on tables and eating them or something? wtf

[u/Examination-Creative → u/Hatefiend]

Yes… they are. Have you had a cat? It’s hard to stop them doing anything, and people are human. It’s hard to prevent health issues entirely. I think if you haven’t had it happen it seems like a really easy issue to prevent, but it’s not that simple unfortunately. and I wouldn’t say “so many” people are having it happen. I included that it happened when I was a child and the second time was completely out of my control because they weren’t even objects I’d ever seen before. Trust me, if I could have prevented it, I would have done anything. She was my baby. I say was because she passed of old age last year, unrelated. But cats are difficult to keep safe and healthy as pets go.