Fish may be regretting this one

There was this cat toy, see? An orange pom-pom, maybe an inch in diameter, with an attached elastic coil that looked like a cloth-covered miniature Slinky. Total length maybe 3 inches, and the coil was under a half an inch in diameter. Said toy had been around the house since before Fish arrived and got played with fairly often, given that it lacked a bell. (Toys with bells are much more entertaining.) This cat toy was the right size to be carried around the house, and occasionally tossed in the air and pounced on.

Then one day last week, I found the orange pom-pom, bereft of its coiled tail, lying in the living room. The thought that the coil could have been eaten briefly crossed my mind, but was discarded as highly unlikely (even though I'm pretty sure Fish has eaten the toy-mouse tails that he has chewed off)--the coil was too big, not that chewable, etc. I was sure it would turn up in the next sweep for lost cat toys under the piano, sofas, and cabinets.

But today the truth came out, so to speak: the remains of the coil have been thrown up on the floor. It's in about 5 pieces, so I guess he chewed it into smaller pieces and swallowed each one. The good news is, a hairball was ejected with the fragments. The bad news is, I don't know if what got thrown up is all of the coil.

Fish is very subdued and was totally uninterested in supper (very unlike him). I'll just watch for now--if he's not feeling better tomorrow afternoon, I'll give the vet a call. Pity there's such a lag time between the bad behavior and the unpleasant consequences...