As some of you may know, our cat Noodle had to have emergency intestinal surgery Friday night to have hair ties removed from his stomach. It was one of the most terrifying moments of my life when I realized he had eaten them and something was seriously wrong.

He had been throwing up all week, but I assumed he had hairballs (as cats do), and so we buttered his paws and called it good. Well, on Friday afternoon I got home from runing errands and heard Noodle meow like he was in pain or something was happening, so I ran up the stairs just in time to see him throw up a wad of about 10 pony tail holders!

So, I called our vet and they were full, and it was the Friday night of a holiday weekend, so I rushed him to the emergency clinic where he got an x-ray and found that he had several MORE hair ties in his belly. That meant surgery as soon as was possible before they passed into his small intestine.

His surgery was sucessful and they removed about 6 more hair ties from his belly! He's now home and doing well, he even demanded a dog treat this morning which means he is starting to go back to normal. But he had to have major surgery, and had he not thrown up those hair ties, I'm not sure if I would have ever known anything was wrong.

So, I'm urging everyone to please, PLEASE not let their cats play with pony tail holders! I've had my other cat, Mr. Doo, for 8 years and pony tail holders are his favorite toy! I've never had an issue before, and I just assumed that the cats were batting them around and losing them under furniture. It never even occured to me that one of the cats may be eating them!

I was so scared, and if we hadn't caught it just in time, this story may have had a different ending. Thankfully Noodle is doing well, but he's got several staples in his belly and days of medication left to take, and I am so thankful for the people at the emergency clinic for being able to take care of him so well.

Please think before you let them play with rubber bands! If they swallow them, best case scenario you have a HUGE bill and an unhappy cat, and we won't talk about the other alternative.

This is the group of hair ties that they vet had to remove, please be aware that it is a little gross before you look!

Bumping because I really want everyone who has a cat to see this!

I'm glad he is okay at least!!

Poor Noodz. But thank you for sharing this! It's good for any pet owner to think about!

 Ive already been taking mine away from my cats...luckily most of them get stuck under the piano, so they cant get them anymore...

I'm glad Noodz is okay, poor guy. I'll have to make sure I keep my hair ties put up, since we have two kitties. 

Paints since 6-8-14

I'm sure my cats would play with my hair ties if I wasn't constantly losing them immediately after buying them. Right now I only have 2 left and I keep track of them meticulously so I don't lose them and have to buy more. My black cat does like to chew on things, especially feathers so I do have to be careful with him as he puts everything in his mouth!

I'm glad Noodle is okay! And especially glad you caught it all in time so they didn't get deeper through digestion the process!

This applies to dogs as well. We've removed hair ties from a dog's stomach three times now. They're such an easy thing to misplace and lose track of.

Poor thing! Glad everything turned out ok! 

Thanks everyone! I'm glad he's okay, too. He is feeling better now and is bascially back to his usual self, although we do still hve to care for his staples and give him a dropper of anti-biotics which he HATES. He's currently cuddling between me and my laptop.

Glad to hear he's doing well. 

 I am super glad your kitty is okay, even if this is a little late. I am horrible about leaving my hair ties sitting around. I actually just took one of my daughter's small baby hair ties away from the cat! The picture isn't working and I am kind of curious. Kinda not too sure I wanna see at the same time. 

Thank you!

Here's a new link to the picture, haha. LINK

Hi! Thought it was just me that was crazy about keeping hair ties in safe places away from cats!

years ago one of my cats ate one and I didn't realise, she started to try and throw up and her eyes were dilated I knew something was wrong but wasn't sure what. As she started to be sick this massive hair tie came up! Luckily she was ok god knows what would have happened if she wasn't able to bring it back up herself. That's why i always make sure they are kept away.

sadly however she is no longer with me :( she got run over a few years later 

I'm glad to know that Noodle isn't the only weird cat out there who eats things! It can be really scary for us humans, though.

Aw, I am so sorry to hear that :(.