Help! Kitten swallowed teat from hand-feeding bottle

I have been hand-rearing a set of 3 feral kittens whose mother died.
The kittens are now 3 weeks old. I had been using a syringe to feed
them formula with until I found a baby animal feeding kit with bottle
and replaceable latex teats. One of the kittens however instead of
suckling from the teat began to chew on it and when I attempted to take
the bottle from her she clamped down on the shaft of it hard enough to
sever it and swallowed it. I am very worried that this could cause an
intestinal blockage. She has not had a bowel movement since ingesting
the nipple (nearly 3 days ago). Does anyone know if the teats made on
these small animal feeding bottles are made to dissolve if ingested?
my vet never heard of this happening before and we are both at our wits
end. If it caused a blockage she will have to be put to sleep because
she is too small to survive surgery. If the nipple is made to dissolve
and pass through the system if ingested however then it is just a
matter of wait and see and the blockage will clear. Does anyone have
any information or experience with this? I'm really frightened for
her.

Bring her to a vet.
Gail
"Yaeli" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have been hand-rearing a set of 3 feral kittens whose mother died.
The kittens are now 3 weeks old. I had been using a syringe to feed
them formula with until I found a baby animal feeding kit with bottle
and replaceable latex teats. One of the kittens however instead of
suckling from the teat began to chew on it and when I attempted to take
the bottle from her she clamped down on the shaft of it hard enough to
sever it and swallowed it. I am very worried that this could cause an
intestinal blockage. She has not had a bowel movement since ingesting
the nipple (nearly 3 days ago). Does anyone know if the teats made on
these small animal feeding bottles are made to dissolve if ingested?
my vet never heard of this happening before and we are both at our wits
end. If it caused a blockage she will have to be put to sleep because
she is too small to survive surgery. If the nipple is made to dissolve
and pass through the system if ingested however then it is just a
matter of wait and see and the blockage will clear. Does anyone have
any information or experience with this? I'm really frightened for
her.

"Yaeli" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have been hand-rearing a set of 3 feral kittens whose mother died.
The kittens are now 3 weeks old. I had been using a syringe to feed
them formula with until I found a baby animal feeding kit with bottle
and replaceable latex teats. One of the kittens however instead of
suckling from the teat began to chew on it and when I attempted to take
the bottle from her she clamped down on the shaft of it hard enough to
sever it and swallowed it. I am very worried that this could cause an
intestinal blockage. She has not had a bowel movement since ingesting
the nipple (nearly 3 days ago). Does anyone know if the teats made on
these small animal feeding bottles are made to dissolve if ingested?
my vet never heard of this happening before and we are both at our wits
end. If it caused a blockage she will have to be put to sleep because
she is too small to survive surgery. If the nipple is made to dissolve
and pass through the system if ingested however then it is just a
matter of wait and see and the blockage will clear. Does anyone have
any information or experience with this? I'm really frightened for
her.


I don't know if they dissolve or not. I suppose you could try contacting the
manufacturer and asking them. I've had kittens pull the nipple right off the
bottle (and spill the whole mess) but never bite off the end of the nipple.

W

Gail, she has been to the vet twice, once this morning and then again
this evening. In the morning the vet gave her a lot of laxative by
mouth. He also gave her littermate some (though much less) laxative as
he has also been constipated. When i got her home, a few hours later
she projectile vomited more liquid than I new a small cat could
contain. I immediatley took her back and he gave her an enema --but
nothing came out immediately. I had been keeping her in a separate
carrier so I could see if she were using the bathroom between
feedings/rectal stimulation but the vet wanted her back with the others
as he said seeing a littermate "go" or smelling the result will
sometimes stimulate a kitten to do it on their own. One of the kittens
did go copiously but since they are all in there together now I don't
have any idea which one. The vet said that if she doesn't go by friday
he wants to put her to sleep unless we know that the latex teat will
dissolve and clear the blockage in the intestine on its own. I don't
have any idea how to reach the manufacturer (I think it is a british or
australian product and I am in Israel) and so was hoping someone else
might have knowledge or information about this.


Gail כתב:
Bring her to a vet.
Gail
"Yaeli" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have been hand-rearing a set of 3 feral kittens whose mother died.
The kittens are now 3 weeks old. I had been using a syringe to feed
them formula with until I found a baby animal feeding kit with bottle
and replaceable latex teats. One of the kittens however instead of
suckling from the teat began to chew on it and when I attempted to take
the bottle from her she clamped down on the shaft of it hard enough to
sever it and swallowed it. I am very worried that this could cause an
intestinal blockage. She has not had a bowel movement since ingesting
the nipple (nearly 3 days ago). Does anyone know if the teats made on
these small animal feeding bottles are made to dissolve if ingested?
my vet never heard of this happening before and we are both at our wits
end. If it caused a blockage she will have to be put to sleep because
she is too small to survive surgery. If the nipple is made to dissolve
and pass through the system if ingested however then it is just a
matter of wait and see and the blockage will clear. Does anyone have
any information or experience with this? I'm really frightened for
her.

I would not put her to sleep unless you are sure she is in pain and cannot
be helped. Keep us posted.
Gail
"Yaeli" wrote in message
ps.com...
Gail, she has been to the vet twice, once this morning and then again
this evening. In the morning the vet gave her a lot of laxative by
mouth. He also gave her littermate some (though much less) laxative as
he has also been constipated. When i got her home, a few hours later
she projectile vomited more liquid than I new a small cat could
contain. I immediatley took her back and he gave her an enema --but
nothing came out immediately. I had been keeping her in a separate
carrier so I could see if she were using the bathroom between
feedings/rectal stimulation but the vet wanted her back with the others
as he said seeing a littermate "go" or smelling the result will
sometimes stimulate a kitten to do it on their own. One of the kittens
did go copiously but since they are all in there together now I don't
have any idea which one. The vet said that if she doesn't go by friday
he wants to put her to sleep unless we know that the latex teat will
dissolve and clear the blockage in the intestine on its own. I don't
have any idea how to reach the manufacturer (I think it is a british or
australian product and I am in Israel) and so was hoping someone else
might have knowledge or information about this.


Gail ???:
Bring her to a vet.
Gail
"Yaeli" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have been hand-rearing a set of 3 feral kittens whose mother died.
The kittens are now 3 weeks old. I had been using a syringe to feed
them formula with until I found a baby animal feeding kit with bottle
and replaceable latex teats. One of the kittens however instead of
suckling from the teat began to chew on it and when I attempted to take
the bottle from her she clamped down on the shaft of it hard enough to
sever it and swallowed it. I am very worried that this could cause an
intestinal blockage. She has not had a bowel movement since ingesting
the nipple (nearly 3 days ago). Does anyone know if the teats made on
these small animal feeding bottles are made to dissolve if ingested?
my vet never heard of this happening before and we are both at our wits
end. If it caused a blockage she will have to be put to sleep because
she is too small to survive surgery. If the nipple is made to dissolve
and pass through the system if ingested however then it is just a
matter of wait and see and the blockage will clear. Does anyone have
any information or experience with this? I'm really frightened for
her.

Yaeli wrote:
Gail, she has been to the vet twice, once this morning and then again
this evening. In the morning the vet gave her a lot of laxative by
mouth. He also gave her littermate some (though much less) laxative as
he has also been constipated. When i got her home, a few hours later
she projectile vomited more liquid than I new a small cat could
contain. I immediatley took her back and he gave her an enema --but
nothing came out immediately. I had been keeping her in a separate
carrier so I could see if she were using the bathroom between
feedings/rectal stimulation but the vet wanted her back with the others
as he said seeing a littermate "go" or smelling the result will
sometimes stimulate a kitten to do it on their own. One of the kittens
did go copiously but since they are all in there together now I don't
have any idea which one. The vet said that if she doesn't go by friday
he wants to put her to sleep unless we know that the latex teat will
dissolve and clear the blockage in the intestine on its own. I don't
have any idea how to reach the manufacturer (I think it is a british or
australian product and I am in Israel) and so was hoping someone else
might have knowledge or information about this.


I would not put her to sleep at this point - unless she is obviously in
pain or discomfort. Enemas can be repeated for a while without harm. The
only way you are going to be able to tell if she is going is to separate
her from the other kittens and give her her own box. Also you can try
stimulating her to go by gently massaging her back end with a warm
washcloth. How big was the piece of latex she swallowed?

Yaeli,

What happened to the kitten? Did they have to operate to remove it?

Hope she's okay,

Rhonda

Yaeli wrote:

Gail, she has been to the vet twice, once this morning and then again
this evening. In the morning the vet gave her a lot of laxative by
mouth. He also gave her littermate some (though much less) laxative as
he has also been constipated. When i got her home, a few hours later
she projectile vomited more liquid than I new a small cat could
contain. I immediatley took her back and he gave her an enema --but
nothing came out immediately. I had been keeping her in a separate
carrier so I could see if she were using the bathroom between
feedings/rectal stimulation but the vet wanted her back with the others
as he said seeing a littermate "go" or smelling the result will
sometimes stimulate a kitten to do it on their own. One of the kittens
did go copiously but since they are all in there together now I don't
have any idea which one. The vet said that if she doesn't go by friday
he wants to put her to sleep unless we know that the latex teat will
dissolve and clear the blockage in the intestine on its own. I don't
have any idea how to reach the manufacturer (I think it is a british or
australian product and I am in Israel) and so was hoping someone else
might have knowledge or information about this.

Rhonda wrote:
Yaeli,

What happened to the kitten? Did they have to operate to remove it?

Hope she's okay,

Rhonda

I'd love to know what happened to the poor kitten, too, but sometimes
the OP never comes back...sigh. I hope she survived, too, instead of
being euthanized which is what it sounds like the vet wanted to do.

Candace

I agree, Candace. I hope they did euthanize the kitten and that she's OK.
Gail
"Candace" wrote in message
oups.com...
Rhonda wrote:
Yaeli,

What happened to the kitten? Did they have to operate to remove it?

Hope she's okay,

Rhonda

I'd love to know what happened to the poor kitten, too, but sometimes
the OP never comes back...sigh. I hope she survived, too, instead of
being euthanized which is what it sounds like the vet wanted to do.

Candace