Cat keeps eating string and dental floss
Cats are naturally drawn to linear foreign objects like dental floss and yarn, forcing owners into a constant state of hyper-vigilance to inspect everything within paw's reach. This relentless worry over potential emergency vet visits and accidental ingestion makes it difficult to keep everyday household items secure without constant close calls.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Rushing the pet to the vet immediately for induced vomiting, endoscopy, or surgery
- 2Closely inspecting everything within the cat's reach including clothes with drawstrings
- 3Checking the puppy's poop for the passed object
- 4Feeding bread to help cushion sharp items in the digestive tract
- 5Calling a veterinarian for guidance on whether to observe or bring the puppy in
- 6Reading stories of similar incidents online to calm down while waiting for the veterinary clinic to open
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“my sweet girl Parula decided to kick off the day by eating a full foot of dental floss.”source ↗
“I’m currently just beating myself up for leaving a piece of floss where she could get it.”source ↗
“If i do not let hades eat cardboard he will unleash the wrath of the underworld onto his brethren”source ↗
“As the title says, my puppy ate one of those plastic floss pics with the dental floss on one side and the sharp end on the other side.”source ↗
“I’m panicking. It’s been almost 24 hours she seems ok otherwise. Anything I need to do?”source ↗
“Thankfully I managed to stop her from swallowing it, but she almost ate like a foot and a half of yarn. We’ve had a few other close calls and now I have to closely inspect everything that’s in her reach, including any clothes with drawstrings, etc.”source ↗
“Everyone must think my carpet is just dirty as hell but i have a little monster who likes to chew and eat cardboard putting it everywhere”source ↗
“I am going soon. 10 more mins until they open”source ↗
“I just want to hear people’s experiences because I found out it happens pretty often. Obviously during those two hours I read a bunch of stories and it made me calm down a bit more.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 25How to stop a puppy from biting when playing
- 4How to stop a puppy from scratching furniture and appliances?