Kato absolutely LOVES big, red, thick, elastic bands. They had been banned from our house...so yesterday Kato took matters into his own maw/paws. On his morning walk, he found one on the street - I think the postman must have dropped it. Kato picked it up in his mouth, and proudly trotted back home to play with it there. He also does this with FLIES.
However, an elastic band is far more dangerous than a fly. Eventually the band will break and the elastic will look like a worm instead of a ring. And that's when Kato will EAT IT. Early on when we discovered this predilection, it was a 'too late' discovery as we lunged for him. So the next day, Kato was taken to the vet, who, being a pragmatic old-school type, said he'd see what happened if he made Kato vomit. We got lucky and the band came up. This vet had seen many many instances of pets swallowing elastic bands and said it can be a ticking time-bomb. The elastic can float for months (or years) on the gastic acids of the stomach, before one-day passing into the intestines, tying or blocking things up, and then you have an emergency or a dead pet.
Do you think we learned from that incident? Nope. It took another incident, where husband-man had carefully put away the elastic band (that came on his takeaway hamburger) into a drawer. I found a slid-open drawer, and chunks of the elastic band on the floor the next morning. So this is why we had a ban on elastic bands in the house - Kato can't resist, and he's just too clever.
So it was a bit of a mystery when I found Kato playing delightedly with an elastic band yesterday - until husband-man, who walked both cats, told me what Kato had done. And how he thought if we watched carefully, Kato could maybe play with it? (What a softie!!) Seeing as watching carefully hadn't quite been achieved - husband-man had once again put the elastic band away 'carefully' on top of a cabinet, so by the time I spied Kato with the band, it had obviously been retrieved and brought out to play by Kato himself - I assumed the eagle-eyed supervisor role.
I got some pretty classic 'cat shapes' during Kato's antics with that elastic band. Needless to say, it is locked away in a snap-shut sealed container, deep inside a drawer. And even then I have qualms! So if you allow play with elastic bands, please always keep a close eye on your cats, and put the bands safely away - some cats will eat them, others won't. Hair elastics are also eaten by some cats - also with dangerous consequences.
However, an elastic band is far more dangerous than a fly. Eventually the band will break and the elastic will look like a worm instead of a ring. And that's when Kato will EAT IT. Early on when we discovered this predilection, it was a 'too late' discovery as we lunged for him. So the next day, Kato was taken to the vet, who, being a pragmatic old-school type, said he'd see what happened if he made Kato vomit. We got lucky and the band came up. This vet had seen many many instances of pets swallowing elastic bands and said it can be a ticking time-bomb. The elastic can float for months (or years) on the gastic acids of the stomach, before one-day passing into the intestines, tying or blocking things up, and then you have an emergency or a dead pet.
Do you think we learned from that incident? Nope. It took another incident, where husband-man had carefully put away the elastic band (that came on his takeaway hamburger) into a drawer. I found a slid-open drawer, and chunks of the elastic band on the floor the next morning. So this is why we had a ban on elastic bands in the house - Kato can't resist, and he's just too clever.
So it was a bit of a mystery when I found Kato playing delightedly with an elastic band yesterday - until husband-man, who walked both cats, told me what Kato had done. And how he thought if we watched carefully, Kato could maybe play with it? (What a softie!!) Seeing as watching carefully hadn't quite been achieved - husband-man had once again put the elastic band away 'carefully' on top of a cabinet, so by the time I spied Kato with the band, it had obviously been retrieved and brought out to play by Kato himself - I assumed the eagle-eyed supervisor role.
I got some pretty classic 'cat shapes' during Kato's antics with that elastic band. Needless to say, it is locked away in a snap-shut sealed container, deep inside a drawer. And even then I have qualms! So if you allow play with elastic bands, please always keep a close eye on your cats, and put the bands safely away - some cats will eat them, others won't. Hair elastics are also eaten by some cats - also with dangerous consequences.