10/27/2026
PSA - Obstructions in cats.
Cats eat things, and sometimes those things aren't good for them. Sometimes something they eat can become an obstruction and require immediate veterinary attention. I've been mostly offline the last week and one of the reasons is because of Mr Pedro Pascal. This is long, so please bear with me.
It all started very subtly the weekend of Oct 17th-18th. Saturday he was his normal bouncy, cuddly, silly self. Saturday morning he ate just as normal. He's one to eat slow and steady. If I'm putting out canned and/or raw for him and others, he'll politely wait his turn. Saturday evening I noticed that he wasn't as interested in his dinner. He ate less than his normal and then tried to "bury" it. He's done this before when he didn't care for the flavor of the food.
Sunday morning he ate even less before trying to "bury" it. Several hours later I heard him throw up. It was about half of the amount that he'd eaten but mostly water & bile. He was still drinking normally and using the litter box. He threw up a couple more times during the day. It was just water & bile, nothing solid. I decided that I'd call the vet for an appointment in the morning.
By Sunday evening I could tell he was uncomfortable. Pedro is one to usually sprawl out on his side with belly up or curl up like a shrimp. He was mostly laying like a loaf of bread, which he's done before, and his energy level was slightly less. I just FELT that something wasn't right. Pedro LOVES to be held like a baby against my chest and shoulder. He also constantly tries to suckle on me, which drives me crazy! LOL By Sunday night all he wanted was to be held and was turning his nose up at everything, including Churu.
Monday morning we were at the vet when the doors opened. He was examined, blood work was done, and images taken. Blood work was good and images were inconclusive. He was given fluids, anti-nausea meds, and got to spend the day at my wonderful vet's office being loved on. We decided to give him the night to see how he did with the meds and see if he would eat. And, if he ate, if he could keep it down. We both suspected an obstruction at this point, but the images didn't show what or where it could be. Doing surgery at this point would be exploratory and invassive. Monday night I syringe fed him small amount of kitten mousse every couple hours. By the early hours of Tuesday morning he was throwing up again.
Tuesday morning we were back when the doors opened. He had surgery and an obstruction was found & removed. It was a small part of a toy that I'd had around for a few years that was made out of TIGHTLY crocheted cotton yarn. Pedro had managed to chew on one enough that he swallowed just enough for this to happen. Luckily, the majority of it was in his stomach and they didn't have to looking around in his intestines. If I had waited, it could have progressed further, surgery could have been much more invasive, and we could be dealing with a much worse outcome.
My beautiful Pedro Pascal is now a week post surgery and doing wonderfully! I'll be honest, the first time he tried to suckle on me I nearly cried. The moral of this very long post is to trust your gut when it comes to your cats. We live with them day in and day out, we can FEEL when something isn't right, even if we can't put it into words. If you feel something is off, get them seen by a veterinarian. Tell them everything about any changes you've seen; litter box habits, not eating a favorite food treat/food, laying or holding themselves differently than usually do, wanting more or less attention than normal, and be honest with them. A good vet can take the pieces of the puzzle you bring in and add them to the tests they can do to get the full picture so they can better care for our little furry overlords. An "unneeded" trip to the vet based on a "feeling" can sometimes save you and your pet an expensive emergency later on.
I have to give a huge thank you to Deer Park Animal Hospital for the amazing care they always give my babies!
The photos of Pedro are from about 24 hours post surgery (green onesie) and one week post surgery (gray onesie). I'll put a photo of the obstruction in the comments.
