Post # 1
Member
2767 posts
Sugar bee
Crap! I don’t know what to do. We called the ER vet and they said we could bring him in for an X-ray if we wanted. If they see it inside him via X-ray then we would just wait to see if it could pass or they could do surgery.
Or we could wait until tomorrow and take him to our normal vet. Or just wait to see if it passes!
I’m scared because I googled this problem and someone said their cat died right away from this.
My cats chew up and eat my hair ties all the time and they poop them out. I’ve never seen them eat a bobby pin before. I don’t want anything to happen to him, but I don’t really want to drop $300 right now for an ER X-ray when he is behaving fine at the moment. I’m not even sure if he swallowed it. I tried to get it out of his mouth and he turned away. Maybe it fell out, but I can’t find it on the floor anywhere.
Post # 3
Member
305 posts
Helper bee
If I were you, I would not be too worried about it. More than likely, the cat will poop it out! As long as it was a bobby pin that had the little rubbery-plastic covers over the ends, I would imagine the bobby pin is dull enough not to cut or scrape the inside of the cat’s stomach and intestines.
I hope your kitty is ok! Let us know how she does!
Post # 4
Member
2767 posts
Sugar bee
See the thing is I was wearing a lot of bobby pins today. And I know a few of them had the one or both of the rubber caps missing. I had them all sitting next to me on the table. I don’t know which type he swallowed – the ones with the caps on or the ones with the caps off. The ones with the caps off are really sharp. I’m so mad at myself for not putting them away. If anything happens to him I’ll be devastated.
Post # 5
Member
4803 posts
Honey bee
Oh no that’s a tough one! I took my dog in once for the emergency x-ray ($$$$$) when she had a lump in her stomach (turned out that her stitches from being spayed were infected). But they didn’t even do anything after that, just told me to wait until the next day and take her to my regular vet. She has also swallowed several earplugs…those just passed through.
I think the concern is that the bobby pin might be sharp enough to puncture her intestine?? If that happens, I don’t know how long it would take for her to get sick and if they could do anything. Sorry I don’t really have an answer! Good luck with your decision and I hope it just comes out!
Post # 6
Member
3613 posts
Sugar bee
I would take him to the vet immediately and have the x-ray. Better safe than sorry in this situation. Chances are he’ll be fine, but if something happens to him wouldn’t you beat yourself up over not spending the $300?
Post # 7
Member
2767 posts
Sugar bee
@meliss: yeah, but I’m worried about how much it would cost if they do find it on the x-ray. Will a surgery cost thousands of dollars then? Or will they just tell me to wait it out and see if he passes it? On the phone it seemed like they thought I could wait it out… I don’t know!
Post # 8
Member
336 posts
Helper bee
As long as he is acting normal this evening (eating, drinking, playful/not lethargic, etc) I think you would be fine waiting to see your regular vet in the morning. If there is a high chance he actually ate the bobby pin though, I would take him to your vet tomorrow though. Having rads done can help pinpoint where the pin is- if it’s made its way into the colon you may be okay and able to avoid surgery, but it all depends. Not knowing and waiting until he shows any sign of illness is worse, IMO. And for what it’s worth, I’m a vet tech.
Post # 9
Member
318 posts
Helper bee
I am a vet and I agree completely with twentyeleven. As long as he’s feeling good, I would take him in for rads tomorrow.
If he ends up with a hole in his intestine, intestinal bacteria leak into the abdomen and it will be very painful and he may not survive surgery to fix it, so it is better to go with a rad and find out where it is and how concerned you need to be.
Hopefully it is not in him at all, but it would be worth the money to know.
Post # 10
Member
1267 posts
Bumble bee
I”m going to concur with the last two posts. Monitor tonight. If you see him in pain or lethargic then go to the er vet right away. If he is okay tonight I would without fail bring him in tomorrow to get checked out – you don’t want to get lucky tonight and then press that luck tomorrow by not getting him checked out. Good luck to you!
