Woman Issues Warning After Vet Found '20 Hair Ties' in Her Cat's Stomach

A woman has voiced a warning to other cat owners, urging them to be wary of household objects that could cause serious harm to their pets.

Courtney Slean describes herself as a "cat mom of four" and takes pride in caring for the feline family that lives alongside her baby and toddler. Four years ago, Slean discovered that one of her cats, Milo, had been secretly running off with over 20 hair ties and swallowing them.

The owner said online that she was sharing the story now because "every time we see kitties on the internet playing with hair ties we can't help but think of this awful experience."

Slean told Newsweek: "He used to take the hair ties from the bathroom and play with them. We would later find them underneath the rug and in various other hiding spots around the house. Because of this, we never had any reason to believe that any were missing, or that he was eating them."

An X-ray for an unrelated health concern caught the "large amount of matter" in the cat's stomach.

"At that time, he had chronic nasal issues and was undergoing a scope at the specialty veterinary center to find out more about his problem," Slean said. "They called me after taking the X-ray and asked if I had fasted him as directed, and I told them that I did."

"A fasted cat's stomach should be empty, so this prompted them to look further. Upon investigation, they found that Milo's stomach was filled with hair ties, over 20 to be exact," she continued.

"They were able to remove the hair ties, and he had to stay overnight at the veterinary clinic so they could monitor him, but he has since made a full recovery. When I went to pick him up, the office showed me the bag of hair ties," she added.

Slean shared her story in a now-viral video, which has been viewed more than 4.9 million times since December 13, when it was first posted on Instagram. To date, more than 89,000 users have liked the post, while another 1,500 have left comments.

Viewers were shown the bag of over 20 hair ties, of different sizes and shapes, that Milo's vet identified.

"They were shocked that he never had a blockage or showed any symptoms of having that many hair ties in his stomach," Slean, who goes by @mommaandmeow on the platform, said in the post.

One user commented: "I completely stopped using those tiny hairs after my cat threw one up, a couple different times. I switched to the puffy 90's looking scrunchy. Also rubber bands are not allowed in my house for the same reason."

"My dog did the same thing! Once in a while we would see evidence of one in the yard but at some point she got a hold of a whole lot of them and caused a blockage that we had to have removed," another added. "It was really shocking."

"Thank you for sharing! I'm glad your kitty is okay," a commenter said.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our "Pet of the Week" lineup.