Ebby gave me a scare! Advice please.

[ChrisH]

Ebby was not/is not her usual self this morning, hard to explain really?anyway, I noticed that her favourite mousie was missing...

...after reading on pet talk about how kitties have swallowed things, I sort of panicked a bit. Searched around, couldn?t find it, took Bob on his walk, searched again, no luck, ate breakfast, searched again?found it!! You can guess how relieved I was!
I looked at it and saw it was ripped a bit so I pulled back the covering and inside it there is a hard block of plastic (see the picture attachment for an idea of what I mean.)

Question (and I really would value everyone?s advice on this)
This mousie is Ebb?s favourite, she really loves it, I was thinking of sewing it back up and in fact, the plan was to get her a couple more, one grey one and one white, when I go into town. I am not sure now. What do you all think?

Chris

[Barbara]

Yeah, this is the standard mousie around here too. Tigris rips the fur off and then he's no longer interested. I throw them away and buy new ones. Up to now he never ate anything of the fur.

Inky Pinky loves those mice !! She has tons of it !! Every time I notice one of the furries is about to "die" , it goes into the bin !!!

[sasvermont]

I dog sat a rather large doggie several months ago, and he tore apart all the large mice, exposing the plastic. My cat(s) liked the pelts as well as the plastic part, so I let them play with both - twice the amount of toys. I guess lots would depend on what Ebby likes to eat! Sounds as though some cats will eat anything!

I think you should watch to see if Ebby starts to chew on the plastic and if she consumes it, I would snatch it away. It's your call. To be safe, remove the torn parts and invest your extra cash in a cat toy manufacting company.

[neko1]

Originally posted by Barbara
Yeah, this is the standard mousie around here too. Tigris rips the fur off and then he's no longer interested. I throw them away and buy new ones. Up to now he never ate anything of the fur.

That's the way my cats are too, and I also throw them away at that point.

[Pam]

Occasionally Bella will get one of the mousies (Andy is the only one who really plays with them) and 'skin' it. At that point I just throw away the plastic remains because Andy doesn't seem to enjoy them without their fur. I am glad Ebby didn't eat anything she shouldn't have. They sure can make a kitty mommy worry can't they.

[smokey the elder]

Some cats don't play with it after it's been de-furred. But others think it's just broken in.

[jenluckenbach]

Sterling (of course) eats the tails right off these mice. A practice he nolonger gets the chance to do. But when they get in that condition I throw them away, just in case. But I think as long as they are still whole, they are fairly safe.

[gini]

To be on the safe side, I would throw it away. Ebby could find a "new best friend" when you buy her some new mousies.

If it isn't totally destroyed, you could sew it up for her.

I know, Efrat's thread has us all on the very cautious side. What a story!

[boscibo]

I throw them away if the fur starts coming off - Hanna's ususally get wet though, she likes putting them in water. I have started to take the tails off right away too, because they are disappearing, and I suspect Hanna is eating the tails - I found one in a pile of puke. Other missing tails I haven't found. They come off easily, and she still likes the tailless mice.

I did buy her a larger fur toy (the weezil) and the fur came off - I did glue that back on.

[ChrisH]

Thanks everyone. I think I will throw that one away and buy her a couple more when I go into town later in the week. She has other mousies but of a different type, she does play with them now and then but she seems to really love this one, don`t know why.


We will see if she feels the same about the new ones.
Once again everyone, thanks for your help!

Chris

[lynnestankard]

if Ebby doesn't take to the new mousie straight away Chris - try putting new mousie in a polybag with a fair sprinkle of catnip and wait for an hour or so before offering the 'baited' mouse - I bet she'll absolutley adore it. That's the way I get round ours having a new toy and showing no interest!!

Lynne

[gini]

Lynne, what a good idea! I have a drawer full that Rascal won't touch - most are Christmas presents to him from friends.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Chris, I'm so glad that Ebby didn't eat any part of the mouse. When my cats tear their mice up, I also throw them away. I had some old socks with some catnip in them and Sunny managed to tear right through the sock to eat the catnip. Well I had to throw that away too.

[aly]

I pull the tails off the new ones right away too because naughty Shiloh chews them off and tries to eat them. My dogs are guilty of skinning a LOT of her mice. At one point we had a mousie graveyard and the death toll was 25. It got too depressing after that so I started throwing them away :P

I am not buying anymore mice however, since I found out they are made from bunny fur