Conference misery::feline_v1

    Almost anything can be a hazard to a cat/kitten.
    
    The other day my 5 month old kitten (Pookie) was playing with a hanger. 
    I didn't think anything of until I looked up and saw her hopping around
    in a panic and running around my room with the hanger.  At first, I
    thought she was just being silly, but then I realized that the hanger
    had gotten stuck in her jaw.....what a scare....so be careful of those
    hangers too!!!!!
    
    michele

this one really startled me:

my friend's ocicat kitten was playing with a thin plastic rod, approx.
16 inches long.  I asked what it was and Rene said it was a "kitten teaser
toy" with all the soft rubber strips pulled off of it.  As we watched,
Cory grabbed one end of the rod and ran at the couch, PUSHING the rod 
in front of her on the floor - the rod was pushed under
the couch as she approached it....she then fished the rod out from under
the couch and tried the same trick under a chair....but the rod didn't
fit under the chair.  Cory got the end of the rod jammed into her mouth
very hard - she was obviously in pain and Rene and I ran her to the vet's.
Dr. Lee said she had been very lucky.  She could have jammed that rod
through the roof of her mouth and killed herself.

    
    Dian, I experienced the same thing with Bailey early on.  Luckily
    he did not need a trip to the vet, but he was obviously uncomfortable
    for a minute or two.  I never leave him unattended with any toys
    like that.  It never occurred to me it could cause a problem until I saw 
    him walk straight into the couch with it. Sometimes it's tough being a
    good mum...
    
    

    I kick my girls a lot, and I hate when it happens, but sometimes, I'll
    be sure they're in the other room, and they've followed me. I won't see
    that they're right under my feet, so when I go to take a step sometimes
    a furface will get in my way. I feel JUST AWFUL whenever I do this, and
    I wonder if they think I did it on purpose. I try to go after them &
    say, "sorry" but they just look at me like, "whaddare you? CRAZY, lady?
    you just KICKED me, gett outta my face!" So I'm really careful about
    running around the house w/o looking where I'm going!
    
    ANTIFREEZE!!!!!!!!!!Be totally careful of it! Especially if you have
    outdoor kitties! It only takes one lick & they can die. I'm careful
    of it when I've got them out on the leash & ALWAYS make sure I wash
    my hands well after filling the radiator in my car. (I'm also careful
    when I pour it into the radiator, so that I don't spill any on the 
    ground for my neoghbors kitties to walk thru)
    
    When it's cool out, always bang on the hood of your car before you
    start it, to make sure some unsuspecting furface isn't keeping warm 
    in your motor!
    
    EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE CATS, check your stove & oven after each meal &
    before you leave the house! It only takes for someone to brush by a 
    burner or oven knob to turn it on, and the time it takes to check is
    invaluable compared to the consiquences!!
    
    My .02
    
    Careful, but still allowing independance,
    Bonnie (the kitty mom)

    re: .4 "kicking"
    
    I know what you mean.  I have one of mine who manages to get under foot
    no matter what - I swear that I look down and she's not there but then
    I start to make tracks and I either end up kicking her or falling into
    a wall.  My husband took a dive down 10 steps about three months ago -
    he was walking down the stairs to get the a.m. paper and Pippin decided
    to hide further on down and he litterly fell over her and into the
    wall.  She's constantly getting "kicked" and having her paws and tail
    stepped on.  You'd think she'd get the hint - well, she hasn't - not in
    7 years.  I hate to hear that cry of pain and I immediately pick her up
    and tell her I/we didn't mean it - then the other two come over and
    start checking her out, touching  noses, sniffing and giving me/us
    dirty looks like:  What The HE@@ DID YOU DO MY SISTER????!!!
    
    Giudi
    + 3

    
    Somehow Bailey managed to get his body through the handle of a large
    Nordstrom shopping bag.  He panicked and went flying around the house
    stuck in this bag.  I'm glad that I was there because there were
    objects in the bag that could have hurt him.  All bags are now folded
    and put away promptly.  At least he has good taste in the bags he
    chooses... ;')
    
    

    re: .6
    
    All of my kittens have done that at one time or another but there
    wasn't anything in the bags....They  just run around like a bat out of
    he&&....ZOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Comedy for the night!!!!
    
    But once they got it caught around their neck and it twisted....Now
    they are put away...besides they wake me up in the middle of night
    playing with the bags....8'()
    
    mich

    I had left some ribbon over by Heather's toys.  It is the kind you
    would tie in your hair, or you could also tie it around packages (yarn
    like).  One night after dinner, I took it away from her.  She was
    playing with it, and she had a BIG piece down her throat trying to
    swallow it.  I got it away from her before she did.  Gross!  It was
    all covered with saliva ... got my hand all wet.  Thank God I got it
    out of her mouth!
    
    One of my friends had a cat, Sassoon, that ate the elastic gold coated 
    frilled string you tie around Christmas packages.  I know she had to
    take her to the vet.  She did live surprisingly.
    
    You are right.  I try to keep my eye on Heather all the time.  She
    gets under my feet too at times.  She also likes to get nestled up
    and sleep in the grocery bags from the store (plastic).  They are
    all folded up, and she stays on top of them.  I watch her very
    carefully when she does this.  It is kind of hard not to let her do
    this because we don't have any doors on our kitchen cabinets.  I
    don't know if she does this while we are at work.
    
    Heather ate my African Violet.  Actually, she just liked chewing off
    the flowers, and leaves.  I don't think she swallowed anything.  My
    vet told me if I wanted plants with her around I should plant only
    things that are safe for humans to eat!  Look out for spices, and
    vegetable plants!
    
    She too likes drawers, and also to climb up in the refrigerator when
    it is open!  She also likes to occasionally play with pens/pencils.
    I think she only does this when we are home.  Again we watch her
    carefully.
    
    Heather likes to be around Mike, and me.  She doesn't like being alone.
    It seems like she doesn't do too much in the daytime while we aren't
    home.
    
    Thanks for all of the interesting safety hazzards.
    
    Julie
    

    Like two of the previous notes, Heather got caught in a bag once.  She
    too ran around in circles on the carpet.  Then, she slid on the kitchen
    floor ... bang ... right into the cabinets.  I felt sorry for her, but
    at the same time I laughed so hard.  It was our comedy for the night.
    I got the bag off of her, and her little heart was racing.  She was
    real cautious after that incident for awhile.
    
    Just another hazzard I almost forgot - read the others and had to
    share,
    
    Julie

    re:  Paper shopping bags
    
    Like the previous notes we've had ours get stuck as well - so now we
    cut the handles in the center - they can run in the bag - lay on it,
    etc. but won't get stuck - they seem to like the bigger bags so we just
    figured to cut the handles and let them have the bag - they'r happy and
    I don't have to worry.

re: ribbon

Hannah swallowed a huge bow of thin, black grosgrain ribbon....she managed
to upchuck it  - and the vet and I watched her like a hawk for days, but
EVERYONE should be aware of the cat's tendency to swallow string, ribbon,
thread, cord, elastic, and rubber bands.  They can kill themselves with
this stuff and it doesn't take long for it to go down the throat.  After
it is down, the damage can become too great before you know what is wrong.

And, unless you lock it up, the cat can get to it.  Hannah got on top of
a hutch to get the ribbon...

    re: ribbon
    
    You mean it can cause internal damage if they swallow ribbon.  My two
    cats have swallowed ribbon numerous times (while I was not home) and I
    have found it in their litterboxes.  It just passes through...yuck!!!!

This is a "hazard", but a rather humourous one that happened
yesterday morning...

My husband was on his way to work when the doorbell rang. He
opened the door to find a county policeman. The policeman
asked my husband if everything was okay, and he said yes.
The policeman THEN said he just got a "911" call from this
address, to which my husband replied,

"Uh oh. I think my cat is locked in the bedroom, and she
likes to walk on the phone, which we have a 'speed-dialer'
with '911' programmed in."

Sure enough, there was Gracie at the bedroom door, saying
"You wouldn't get me out! I was scared! So I called the POLICE!"

I'm sure the policeman has heard it all now! But we've got
to get a cover over the phone -- she's speed-dialed my
mother several times -- guess she misses 'grandma'.

Anyhow, that is a hazard, considering the police might not
come if Gracie keeps calling them!

Cheryl, Gracie, Charlie & shanti

    Also dental floss - ugh.

re: ribbon/string/dental floss, etc.

yes they are a hazard.  They can wrap up and bind the intestines, shutting
down normal elimination....the result of this is a very sick cat, and often
by the time you notice the problem, gangrene can set into the intestine due
to loss of blood flow - the tissue dies...
the end result of that is, at best, major surgery and a very restricted life,
or death.

The smartest thing you can do is keep ribbons off of packages in your home.
The problem with the ribbons are that the fiber is bound with an extract that
smells like fish (probably made from fish bones, etc.)- guarenteed to get 
the cats' attentions.

Twine/floss/elastic, etc. can do the same damage and seem to also be very
desirable in the kitty menu plan...for what reason, I know not.

    Easter Basket Grass...  My friend's cat got into her stash of
    different holiday stuff that she kept in a closet.  He pigged
    out on Easter basket grass and it never digested.  It wasn't
    until he had eaten a ton of the stuff that she noticed he was
    sick.  Then he had to have major surgery to remove the stuff
    and now has permanent liver damage.  He's still O.K., but not
    the same.
    
    - Kathryn
    

    
    I'd like to thank everyone who's been talking about the elastics being
    dangerous to kitties.  My kitty, Ben, loves to play with elastics and
    pens, but I only let him play with them in front of me.  Now, I'm not
    even going to let him, since he could probably swallow something when
    my back is turned.  He never seemed to try to eat them, but I'm not
    taking any chances.  He also loves to chew on plastic, which I've had
    to actually fight with him to get it away.  I don't understand why he
    likes it so much.
    
    He's also a hazard to me.  He loves to play hide and seak and catches
    me at some of the worse moments.  I won't know where he is, and I
    figure he's sleeping somewhere, and the next thing I know he comes
    darting out and wraps his paws around my leg.  It's the cutest thing,
    but sometimes he has tripped me.  I think he feels bad when that
    happens, because he comes over to kiss me, but it doesn't stop him from
    doing it again the next day.
    
    nancy
    

    
    
    	Great note - especially for new kitty owners.  I'll add one that
    	could have done my poor Siamese in....
    
    	The ties on a chair cushion - We have cushions on our dining room
    	chairs and Ashley was up on the chair playing with the end of the
    	tie, when she decided to jump off, except she had her head through
    	the loop.  If I wasn't there, she would have hung herself.  This 
    	has never happen with my cats I've had for 16 yrs. - but this
    	little devil is into everything!  Now I too try and look at things
    	around the house in a different way - what if I was a cat, would
    	this interest me??????
    
    
    	-dee
    
    	

    Macrame belts and plant hangers can be really dangerous.  A friend had
    put aside her belt in the morning and when she came home almost all of
    it was gone and the macrame was hanging out of Slim Lizzy's mouth -
    needless to say it turned out to quite an experience for the cat and
    the owner.  She later discovered that Lizzy had been at the hangers as
    well.
    
    Giudi +3

    
    	What signs would one look for for a cat that might have
    	eaten plastic?
    
    	 About a week ago we found a few pieces to a plastic bag
    	that someone (we suspect Audrey) had thrown up.  I've
    	been keeping my eye on her and there's nothing out of
    	the ordinary.  She's just as frisky etc and Cary hasn't
    	noticed anything unusual in the litter....
    
    	JJ
    

    While I don't think this a hazard - I keep finding slivers of soap all
    over the house - hazardous to me and mine but ..... go figure

re: .20

signs of distress are distended stomach, failure to keep food down, lethargy,
attempting to throw up with nothing coming out....failure to deposit hard
waste in the cat box.

If any symptoms exist....get to the vet fast.

    re. .21
    
    Don't know if soap is a hazard either, but every once in a while I find
    my kitten licking my Clinique facial soap which I sit on the side of
    the tub.  I just push her away and she goes away....
    
    mich

    Mao likes to lick soap too, the silly.
    

    
    	re: .?
    
    	Well she's showing none of those signs.  whew!
    

    I've seen Heather lick soap a few times too now.  Whew!  There are
    other cats that do this too, huh?
    
    I was worried ... but not now,
    
    Julie

    When Jimmy was a small kitten, he nearly ended up in the washing
    machine. 
    I had loaded the thing up and looked around for my two kittens. I never
    switch ANYTHING on like that unless I can see them both. I could see
    Rosie, but no Jimmy. So I emptied out the washing machine. Still no
    Jim. 
    I was mystified - until I noticed that a pair of my jeans were a little
    heavier than normal. I shook them out gently and - sure enough - out
    fell a small ginger kitten - VERY cross at having his nap disturbed!
    He'd clambered into one of the legs while I wasn't looking, and I'd
    bundled the jeans - kitten and all - straight into the machine. 
    He had a lucky escape!

    Just when you think your house is kitty proof...something else 
    happens.
    
    Last night poor little Dewey was playing with a bug in my living
    room floor.   We have base board heat and Dewey was having the time of
    his life trying to catch the bug when it came out from under the base
    board heater.    Well somehow or another Dewey got his back
    foot stuck in the slot that allows the heat to come out of
    the base board.  Once he realized he was stuck...he totally
    panicked.    Thank god we were right there to help him out.
    
    Hey...I never said Dewey was one of my smart ones but leave it
    to him to get himself in trouble.  Thank god the heat wasn't
    on!!!   His foot is fine...but I think he was a little embarrased..
    he had that look like "I meant to do that Mom!!"
    
    Sandy  
    
    
    

well, I really thought we were pretty kitten-proofed....baby locks on all the
lower cabinets in the kitchen, etc.  HOWEVER, I did not take Mandycat's
cleverness into consideration....

Last night, the little sneak started yanking the push-pins we have used to
hold up the plastic on the walls around the kitty litter corner.  She was
yanking out a push-pin with her teeth and then trotting down the hall to
show Marge what a bright kitty she was.  Needless to say, we now have
replaced the push-pins with thumb-tacks....if she can get these out of the
wall, I'm going to turn her into a commercial kitty and make some money
off the little brat.  She is one smart little feline.

Hannah looked awfully smug while we were replacing the push-pins...I'm
suspicious she put Mandycat up to it.  And Sadie "Bear Dog" looked SO curious
while were were futzing around, I expect she will be trying to play with
the tacks the minute my back is turned....

Bored?  Not in a multi-cat+1 clever dog household!

    Almost as much fun as pulling magnets off the fridge....
    

>     Almost as much fun as pulling magnets off the fridge....

uh, oh :-)  Well, the magnets are on the freezer (top), and I'd keep knocking
them off if they were lower.  When/if they can get to the freezer, I think we'll
worry about it...

Our dried flower arrangements have all migrated to the top of the stereo
cabinet, where they have been safer (so far...)

Yesterday was our first casualty...no, not one of the kittens, though if
we knew who did it there might be a lynching :-)

Background:  we collect glass insulators, and have them all over the house.
We've become used to the sound of our glass insulators being knocked over on the
floor (kitties version of bowling for dollars, I guess) and knew we had to do
something about it eventually.  Well, I won't name names (because we don't know
which name to name!) but someone with furry tiger stripes, 4 legs and a tail
knocked an insulator off the next-up-from-bottom shelf (phew!) and smashed part
of a larger insulator that was on the floor!  The falling piece may have gotten
a small ding.  (Of course, we couldn't blame the little critters).  But there
were small pieces of loose glass around, and for sure someone could get hurt
next time  (did I say next time??).  We took it as a sign; fortunately it was
one of the least expensive of our big pieces.  The rest are now in the bathroom
with the door closed.

They say when you have a baby, crawl on your stomach to see what kind of
trouble they can get into.  With a toddler, walk on your hands and knees.
With kittens, you have to do both of those, stand upright, and walk on stilts!!

Jill

    
    
    	Hi,
    	    I don't like to think of this hazard but since I know that it
    	happened, feel I should pass it along.  Bees, wasps, hornets, etc
    	that slip indoors can be deadly toys to unsuspecting cats.  If 
    	the insect is swallowed and is still alive enough to sting the
    	inside of the stomach, the pain causes the cat to go into a ter-
    	ible freenzied fit and the poison can throw the liver/kidneys 
    	into malfunction causing the poor animal to slowly starve to death.
    	I recommend a "wasp check" around indoor windows every so often.
    	An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of grief.
    
    	Jeanne
    

I had a real near disaster last night.  I have a couple of kitty toys that 
Hannah and her new baby brother love - the kitty-tease type toy - something 
dangly at the end of a rod/pole.  Well, one of these is a red pompom attached by
curtain rod cord to an old piece of curtain rod. Well, yesterday, since Simon 
seemed to have figured out where the litter boxes were, I left him out of my 
bedroom all day.  I knew I wasn't going to be home until about 9:00pm (about 
13 hours) but I felt pretty sure that he was safe.  After all, I've been cat-
proofing my home(s) for the last 7+ years (covered electrical cords, kiddie 
latches on cabinets, no poisonous plants within reach, no rubber bands within 
reach...) The toys were on the living room floor.  

When I got home at a little after 9 last night, only Hannah met me at the door.  
I called Simon, but there was no little black kitten anywhere (Granted, I hadn't 
turned on a light yet, but I hadn't tripped over him either ;^)  Then, in the 
1/2 light coming through the windows I noticed something dark by the leg of the 
dining room table.  I didn't remember anything there before I left in the 
morning.  When I flipped on the light, I saw it was Simon.  He had gotten the 
cord from the toy wrapped around the legs of 2 chairs and AROUND HIS NECK!!!

I was in a total panic.  I carefully extracted cat and toy from the chair legs. 
He was awfully passive.  I grabbed the closest pair of scissors and snipped the
cord from his neck and called a friend of mine who works for a vet.  Over the
phone, we checked his little body out - capillary refill time (ok), pulse in the 
back legs (harder to find than feeling his little heart pounding away in his
chest), pupils even and not dialated (ok), make him walk on his front legs & 
see if he keeps his balance (ok), can he purr (no, but this may be fright), can 
he meow (it took some real hard squeezing of his little feet, but I finally got
a little one out of him), check his neck for lumps/cuts/welts where the cord was
(don't appear to be any, even this morning).

He ate a some during the night, and seems to be using the litter box (he peed
big-time when I plopped him in there after removing the cord from his neck)
He even purred as he tried to nurse on my face at 2:30 am.  I think he's going
to be okay.  I'm lucky.  I have no idea how long he was caught up. (It couldn't 
have been *too* long, cuz there were no accidents on the carpet ;^)  I'm just 
glad I found him when I did.  I think it will take me longer to get over the 
guilt than it will for him to forget the experience.

The moral of this story: No more cords left where (baby) kitties can play with 
them if I'm not there.

    Thnaks, I'm going home at lunch to take away all toys w/ long strings
    attached. They can play w/ these while mommie's home, but that's it!
    
    Glad to know that Simon is OK. Give him a couple of head butts from my
    girls, OK?
    
    Bonnie (Callie & Tabitha)

    Actually, I recommend you remove ALL strings/cords, etc.,
    especially those that are attached to cat toys.  I have
    had two cats operated on this year for removal of strings eaten.
    (I think I single handedly funded my vets' new office! ;-) )

    In April, I rescued my little guy Trouble from a shelter when his
    owners wanted to "trade him in for a good one" because he was
    dying from being blocked after having eaten a beaded necklace 5
    days earlier.  The vet pulled him through and he is a wonderful
    friend now.

    My 3.5 year-old Spike was operated on two months ago.  He ate a
    string (one of the black, elasticized ones) from a cat toy.  He
    just chewed it off the toy and ate the whole thing.  I was out of
    town at the time (I had someone stopping in once a day to watch
    the monsters).  When I got home, Spike was sick (throwing up, not
    eating, generally depressed).  I took him to the vet, but we
    couldn't figure out what was wrong with him until he threw up two
    little pieces (he did this just before we started a series of
    diagnostic tests).  The vet operated and saved him, but it was
    touch and go for a while.  (He is back to full steam now.)

    Moral of the story:  No strings of any kind where the cats can get
    at them.  Especially the ones from cat toys - they are often the
    elasticized ones, and if the cat ingests them, they expand and
    contract with the intestines, and this can really tear up the
    cat's insides.  Spike was in the vet for a full week after the
    operation.

    re .-2 Hope your little one is feeling better!

    -Sue B, Smokey, Spike and Trouble

    So that is what happened to Trouble...I remember the story...but
    never heard the ending!!!   Happy you saved him and gave him
    a wonderful home. 
    
    To the original noter...so happy your kitty is okay!  It's amazing
    what they can get in to!!  
    
    Sandy

    Another item to be careful of... sewing machines!!  My kitty
    Sneakers, just loves to pull out the thread and run it through
    the house - and attempt to swallow the ENTIRE spool - good thing
    I caught him before we swallowed too much!!  Now I always take
    the thread OFF the machine when done using it!