Cat Litter?

[happycat]

For some odd reason, the room Kirby is in always has pieces of cat liter in the carpet. Don't ask me how it got there, haha, but he always manages to find a piece. (yes, i have vacuumed it up plenty of times but they always find a way in)
He ate, or chewed, a piece today. Its natural, no-fumes clay cat litter. Is that okay?

 

[SilverSage]

I would be concerned with him ingesting clay, and I suggest you call a vet and ask. It is most likely better than if he had eaten the normal kind, but that is honestly just a guess.

 

[happycat]

I would be concerned with him ingesting clay, and I suggest you call a vet and ask. It is most likely better than if he had eaten the normal kind, but that is honestly just a guess.

I'm just wondering, but why would you be concerned? I mean, obviously I'm concerned, but I actually think its fine. The only ingredient is Fullers Earth. It is a natural, absorbent clay. It was a small, hard piece. I read in one place that fullers earth can be used in birds cages. If he's okay this many hours later, do you think thats fine?

 

[Dinosrawr]

I would be concerned if he was constantly consuming it for fear of compaction. Otherwise, one small piece shouldn't be overly dangerous, but I would still monitor him and make sure his poops are okay too.

 

[lucy1]

I'm not one to go rushing to the vets every time my bird does something weird (we'd end up living there!) but I would agree with silver sage on this occasion- not saying rush him to the vets but I would want advice from an expert.

The clay won't be toxic, the issue would be that it clumps. You say he's eaten a hard lump of absorbant clay- that's going to absorb moisture inside him and clump and 'set' inside him. Whilst it is only a small piece he has eaten, he's only a little bird and it's relative. If he has chewed it then it will be broken up and will reclump inside him and can cause all sorts of problems, which could take days to show symptoms. My mum had a cat die from a few mouthfuls of cat litter which clumped inside him Most likely Kirby will be fine, but not a risk I would take for the sake of a phonecall...

 

[happycat]

I'm not one to go rushing to the vets every time my bird does something weird (we'd end up living there!) but I would agree with silver sage on this occasion- not saying rush him to the vets but I would want advice from an expert.

The clay won't be toxic, the issue would be that it clumps. You say he's eaten a hard lump of absorbant clay- that's going to absorb moisture inside him and clump and 'set' inside him. Whilst it is only a small piece he has eaten, he's only a little bird and it's relative. If he has chewed it then it will be broken up and will reclump inside him and can cause all sorts of problems, which could take days to show symptoms. My mum had a cat die from a few mouthfuls of cat litter which clumped inside him Most likely Kirby will be fine, but not a risk I would take for the sake of a phonecall...

So I can wait till tomorrow to call?