When we received a frantic phone call from Ramez’s mum and studied the x-ray results
she had obtained from another practice, we knew we had to do something really fast.
Ramez is a 3-year-old female DSH ( Domestic Short Hair ) cat with history of lethargy and vomiting 2-4 times over the last 24 hours. Her mum was so concerned, as we all would be, thinking that our beloved pets are in pain. She had already been to another Veterinary Clinic where they had taken Xrays revealing a foreign body in the stomach.
You can see below the extent of the compaction (mass) that is visible on the image below. What is that? I can hear you all thinking it, well we thought the same.
Ramez's, mum made a bee-line to our practice after speaking with one of our staff members who advised them to come in directly without an appointment as an emergency. At Star Veterinary all cases are of high importance to us so we saw the case immediately. The medical team sacrificed their break time for this urgent matter.
As soon as Ramez arrived she was taken immediately to the surgical room and In no time, she was sedated and prepped up for Gastrostomy ( a surgical procedure into the stomach).
What came next was a shock to us all..
No sooner had the opening been made into the stomach some string like material propped up. At first we thought a snake tail? shoe laces?
NO! Ramez had in fact swallowed 12 elastic bands or pony hair ties!!!
Situations can occur on a daily basis that are strange and this was certainly one of them. Why would she eat them? and one after the other? I guess we will never know, but one thing we do know is that animals play with all sorts of objects and you can never be too careful.
SO GET THOSE HAIRBANDS INTO A SAFE PLACE.. Your cat may also think these are a delicacy.
The great news is that Ramez's mum knew her cat well, sensed something was wrong and acted fast. Which in theory saved her life. Luckily there was no damage to the stomach itself and Ramez recovered very well and returned home the following day.
Job well done team!
Dr. Everard Chukwuemeka Kasimanwuna
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