Kitten ate a third of a paper towel sheet, what to do?

[Dr. Jeff]

Could you please let me know when I should feed her next?

1/2 of her regular breakfast this am would be great.

She may not be happy with the restriction and may ask for another small meal in a few hours.

she is having too much fun still running around

That's perfect! The more she runs, plays and is happy, the better her body will work to either digest or pass the paper.

a sign that she is feeling fine.

Go Bodhi!

 

[JoanneDM]

Update: this morning, she had a productive bowel movement (42 hours from previous bowel movement). I played with Bodhi vigorously and then gave half her breakfast at 8:30 am (20 g of raw rabbit) and she ate it all up in minutes, went down well, and gave the other half at around 9:15 am, and that she also ate in a matter of minutes, all went down well. At around 11:20 am, I gave her 1/2 tsp of Vaseline....it was amazing to watch her enjoy eating it

Slippery elm would be another option as was mentioned earlier... never tried giving it to her in-between meals though ...

I would like to give Vaseline (1/2 tsp) or slippery elm (? tsp) every day until I see the paper towel in her stools ... would this be okay? Also, I used to add 15 ml of water to her food bowl at meal time, should I continue adding the water ... not sure if this may cause the paper towel to expand further... what do you think?

 

[NancyK]

Update: this morning, she had a productive bowel movement (42 hours from previous bowel movement). I played with Bodhi vigorously and then gave half her breakfast at 8:30 am (20 g of raw rabbit) and she ate it all up in minutes, went down well, and gave the other half at around 9:15 am, and that she also ate in a matter of minutes, all went down well. At around 11:20 am, I gave her 1/2 tsp of Vaseline....it was amazing to watch her enjoy eating it

Slippery elm would be another option as was mentioned earlier... never tried giving it to her in-between meals though ...

I would like to give Vaseline (1/2 tsp) or slippery elm (? tsp) every day until I see the paper towel in her stools ... would this be okay? Also, I used to add 15 ml of water to her food bowl at meal time, should I continue adding the water ... not sure if this may cause the paper towel to expand further... what do you think?

I have given slippery elm paste between meals using a syringe.

Nancy

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Glad she seems okay this morning! Keep an eye on the litterbox, see if we have any pieces showing up!

I would not add anything else to the mix right now. Best to wait and let her body deal with it, we can always help later.

 

[JoanneDM]

Update 2: she ate 17 g of rabbit at around 2:15 pm in minutes and the rest at around 3:00 pm again in minutes (her usual intake is 35 g at lunch time), and we have been playing vigorously with a feather wand that she loves to chase after.

She has slow bowel movements (BM) on average 40 hours ... she may not produce stools until midnight tomorrow (had BM this morning at around 9 am) ... paper towel may likely not come out yet until the next BM which may be early Friday morning.

The first week I brought her home, her bowel movements needed some help and I gave her 1/4 tsp of vaseline (when she was 2 months old, weighing 2 lbs) ... it took three days before I saw the effects of the vaseline ...

I would like to give her another 1/2 tsp of vaseline, when would be the earliest I can do so, given her slow bowel movements?

Thank you so much for your support and guidance!!!

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Let's say if she eats dinner okay, then give Vaseline at bedtime.

 

[JoanneDM]

Update 3: Bodhi ate very well her dinner yesterday, and 2 hours later I gave her 1/2 tsp of Vaseline.

She continues to have a strong appetite and had a bowel movement this morning at around 11:30 am, about 26 hours since her last bowel movement ... no sign of paper towel though.

Is it possible for the paper towel to take more time to go down the GI tract and have waste material pass it by, such that it will take several passages of feces before the paper towel all gets evacuated?

Or does the Vaseline clear everything in its path?

I'm particularly wondering if it would help to give more Vaseline at some point, and if so when? Any guidance would be much appreciated as I don't want that paper to stay stuck in her for long...

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

You can give more Vaseline, one more dose would be extra insurance. B ut I'm thinking that the paper towel is so shredded and digested, and now embedded in the poop so it's brown and indistinguishable from anything else, you may not actually be able to see anything remotely resembling its original state. I think we're past the danger zone. But if she starts acting tummy-achy, let us know!

 

[GinnyW]

I agree with Dr. Jean. Paper towel is not made to have much integrity. I think it could easily become amorphous and stool-colored - those bile-based pigments are quite strong. I doubt we will see much of anything identifiable as towel. I suppose we could do an experiment by soaking a bit of towel in, say, ACV or even a stronger acid - can't think of one likely to be around the house - and seeing how well the towel holds up. Ahh, kitchen chemistry....

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Oh yes... soaked in hydrochloric acid while being beaten by stomach muscles that would give an NFL quarterback nightmares... scrunched through the pyloric valve... pushed and pulled by peristalsis in the intestines... pretty sure she has well and truly pulverized those strips by now!

 

[JoanneDM]

no sign of paper towel though.

I take back what I wrote. Later yesterday evening, I investigated further and actually went through her stools ... they were her usual stools, 5 of them, with 3 being bulkier than the other two weighing (in a clear transparent sandwich bag) 8 grams net. ... and lo and behold, there it was, an intact piece of paper towel, still white that I unfolded as I removed the outer layer of fecal material ... and a smaller piece too you can see next to it... below is the photo ... at the center top, there is even sign, I think, of a remnant (that small light brown fuzzy clump) of the big chunk of brown paper bag that she ate weeks ago,

 

[JoanneDM]

Now, as for this morning, at around 9:00 am, she tried and tried at her litter box, but nothing came out. Then, one hour later, she tried and tried and tried and tried ... and when I went to see what she produced ... I found tiny, tiny pieces of stool, as though someone had taken the stools and crumbled them in their hands, but that is how they came out of her, already all crumbled and spread all over her litter box. Here is the picture:

 

[JoanneDM]

pretty sure she has well and truly pulverized those strips by now!

So I think what happened is that one of the pieces of paper towel got out of her stomach quickly and escaped the degradation via the stomach acids, and the rest of the paper towel pieces got "truly pulverized". This bowel movement actually has a net weight of 18 g!

I gave Bodhi 1/2 tsp of pumpkin puree at lunch time with 3 teaspoon of water mixed in with her food.

Lately, she has been having such a strong appetite ... I'm concerned that all that paper is reducing nutrient absorption ... @Dr. Jean Hofve would it be reasonable to give another 1/2 tsp of Vaseline at bedtime tonight as I did yesterday evening, given that I did detect what appears to be an old piece of brown paper bag that also finally came out?

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

LOL what a story!!! What a cat!!

You can always give Vaseline... my cat Spirit got a teaspoon (yes, really!) of Vaseline every day of her life, twice a day when she could talk me into it. She loved the stuff!! She lived to 20-1/2 so evidently it did her no harm!

The paper bag was probably rattling around in her stomach all along, I've seen hairballs sit there for weeks before moving out -- in one direction or the other!

Once something gets into the intestines, peristalsis and the slippery mucous surface move things through. Things don't stick to it.

Nutrient absorption happens in the small intestine so paper will not interfere with that. She's a kitten, they eat a lot... but let's only let her eat FOOD from now on!

Would you please post a picture of this amazing kitten? I gotta see her!!

 

[JoanneDM]

Update 4:

Bodhi's bowel movement yesterday still came out crumbly but I finally saw the first sign of the Vaseline...see photo below, that big clump at the bottom ... As I guessed earlier, it took 3 days for the Vaseline to finally come out

She really loves to eat this stuff. Thanks Dr. Jean for the reassurance that I can use it whenever she needs a good grease up ... try as I may to keep her from eating non-food stuff, this is really easing my mind that I can count on Vaseline to come to the rescue!

 

[JoanneDM]

And here she is, my beautiful 4-month-old Bodhi, all 4 pounds of her

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Fantastic! Crisis averted! Glad she likes the Vaseline, that will make life much easier!

Bodhi is a beautiful girl, with a beautiful name and a BIG BIG spirit!

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Three days is reasonable, but it varies.

I came home from vet school one day to find a little pile of cat puke with 3" of soggy, colorful yarn in it. I knew the piece of yarn had been about 12" (and, I thought, out of reach!). Oops.

Who knew cats could digest acrylic yarn... she pooped in technicolor for a week!