I could be wrong - Leela could have been suffering from some invisible disease or perhaps ingested some mystery substance from some unknown corner of the house. If you do find your cat choking, Ringstrom suggests these steps from Veterinary Partner’s website.įinding those shredded packets was terrible revelation. Axle is very sensitive to animals (and humans) in distress and will try to help however he can, which explains the slobber, the scratches, and him guarding Leela’s body. The more the cat can’t breathe, the more distressed she becomes. It is a completely inert substance if ingested.” In her 10 years of veterinary practice, Ringstrom has never treated a pet for true choking, as “it is very rare for pets to truly choke, even if they eat non-food items.” Ringstrom went on to say that “cats that love to eat hair, fabric, paper, and plastic are far more likely to experience gastrointestinal upset, or even blockage of the GI tract, from this behavior.” Vomiting is a good sign that your cat is in trouble and should see a vet.Ī choking cat can’t go get help or try to perform a self-Heimlich. It only says ‘do not eat’ on the packet because it is a non-food item. Erin Ringstrom of East Atlanta Animal Clinic, silica (like you find in shoeboxes and purses) “is not toxic if eaten. On examination, I could see some tell-tale bite marks on the shredded packets and around the flaps of the cardboard box.Īccording to Dr. Regardless, they were in there and I missed them.
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Perhaps they were wedged underneath the bottom flaps, or maybe they were tucked up in a corner. I hadn’t noticed them when I took out the shoebox. Not only had the company placed some of those little silica gel packets in the shoebox, they had tossed them in the large cardboard box, as well.
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When I picked it up to throw it on the fire, I heard a rattling sound. I figured the cats would like playing with it in the meantime. They had been in their own smaller box within the large cardboard box, so I’d left the cardboard box out to burn. The day Leela died, I had gotten some shoes in the mail. What in the world could have happened to her?Īs I was collecting the paper products to burn the next day, I found what I believe to be the answer. I even have to be careful how I dispose of my hair that falls out when brushing, as I’ve caught Leela choking on a wad of it before. She was a healthy 11 pounds (yes, I have big cats), and the vet saw no indication that Leela was sick.Ĭould it have been a stroke? A heart attack? Did she find some little string or something I missed and choke on it? We knew from early on that she would try to eat anything she could fit in her mouth, so we’ve always been careful about toys in the house, as well as household hazards.
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In fact, I had just taken her and Fry in to see the vet the previous week for a brief exam and their rabies vaccines. Besides her lifelong history of gastrointestinal issues and her insistence that if it fits in her mouth it must be for eating, she was a healthy cat. The day after her death, I couldn’t get Leela out of my mind. Throughout the night, I’d hear Fry cry out in the dark of the house, looking for Leela.įry seemed fine the day after, although now he spends day and night meowing loudly through the house.
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Fry watched solemnly as my husband wrapped his sister up and carried her out. Axle had scratch marks across his cheek and ear, but there were no other signs of struggle. Her fur was mussed up and she had a little dog slobber on her, but no puncture wounds, no obvious trauma. She had emptied her bowels on the kitchen tile. She wasn’t bleeding, and nothing was obviously broken. After we gathered our wits, we assessed the situation.