My cat threw up a kitchen towel. Did she eat more from the trash?

Oh no it's not good that Kitty ate that vomit! At most, I would expect that eating this vomit could cause some GI upset, causing her to vomit and/or have diarrhea. It's good that it doesn't look like she has eaten the plastic bag, and if she ate the bag, I would be concerned that the bag could cause a foreign body obstruction. Keep an eye on her for now, and if you see any vomiting or diarrhea, I can give you a home remedy to see if that helps her. I recommend withholding food for 12-24 hours, then feeding a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in her normal diet. If the vomiting continues in the absence of food, she vomits the bland diet, the diarrhea continues on the bland diet, she stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, she will need to see a vet right away. Good luck, I hope this helps!

She could have an intestinal obstruction or possibly just an upset stomach. She should be examined by a vet to determine if she has an obstruction and your vet can take an abdominal x-ray to evaluate. She would need surgery to remove the towel, if an obstruction is found. If your vet does not see evidence of an obstruction than he/she can prescribe medications to help treat the vomiting.

You are right to be concerned about an obstruction in the GI tract. It sounds as though Avalon may have eaten something she shouldn't have since you saw foreign material in the vomitus. The only way to know for sure is to take Avalon to your veterinarian for examination and probably they will recommend x-rays of the abdomen to look for signs of an obstruction. Since she is acting normal now, you can consider withholding food and water for the next 8-10 hours, if there is anymore vomiting during this time she should be seen. If no further vomiting, then start offering a small amount of water, if no vomiting overnight, then offer a small amount of food in the morning. If no further vomiting after several more hours then return to normal feeding routine.

Yes, this would not be uncommon but I would continue to monitor for any additional vomiting and for normal bowel motions for the next few days as a precaution in case not all was vomited up. Objects can stay in the stomach for months and do not always cause clinical signs (these are mostly related to actual obstruction of the GI tract so many small objects do not cause significant pain or vomiting if food can move around them)

Yes you always have to be worried with potential foreign body ingestions. Hair ties are pretty small so the chance that they can cause blockages are slim, but they can still get stuck in the intestines and cause problems There are two possibilities at this point: 1) There is another hair tie still in there ( this will take some deductive reasoning in your part) that is stuck. 2) All hair ties have been expelled and your pet now just has an upset stomach due to dietary indiscretion. The odds are good because it is very small and had no sharp edges. With small foreign bodies it is recommended feed the pet a bulking agent like 1/2-1 loaf of bread or canned food that will help bind any additional objects within the GI tract and potentially help expel them out of the system. Good luck with your kitty and I hope that things will progress uneventful in the next couple of days. - Dr.H

Once he threw up the balloon and the entire length of string, he should be fine. The offending foreign body has left his gastrointestinal system. However you should really check your house for any more items like that including string, as a linear foreign body (string causing an intestinal blockage) is a serious problem and would need surgery to remove. So since your kitty regurgitated the entire string and balloon he should be okay.

Poor Lota! This fabric craft ball could have been causing her vomiting, as it wouldn't be easy for her to pass through her GI system. Given that she is acting normal, I would continue to monitor for her now. You can feed her a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) in small amounts several times a day for a couple days, then slowly add back in her normal diet. If she starts vomiting again, becomes anorexic, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, I would have Lota seen by a vet immediately.