Cat Dies After Accidentally Eating Disposable Plastic Glove In Philadelphia

A cat died after it accidentally ingested a disposable plastic glove in Philadelphia.

The cat, named Foxxy, was taken to an animal shelter in an emaciated and dehydrated state. When examined, the veterinarian discovered that the animal had a foreign object in its body.

They performed surgery on the cat and managed to locate and remove a plastic glove from Foxxy’s intestine. However the feline died. It was believed that the glove had been inside the cat’s body for several weeks which deteriorated its physical condition. It was not known when the incident happened.

On Monday (May 11), ACCT Philly, an animal shelter in Philadelphia, posted about the incident on Facebook.

“When Foxxy came to us, she was emaciated and dehydrated. Our medical director examined and suspected she had a foreign body obstruction. She was young and we were hopeful that with surgery, she'd bounce back. While she made it through surgery, she sadly didn't bounce back as we had hoped and passed away. This was a case that really hit our medical team hard given how young she was,” the post read.

The shelter management hoped that by sharing Foxxy’s story, they could prevent the death of other animals. The usage of gloves and facemasks have rapidly increased due to the coronavirus pandemic, hence, proper disposal of these objects is necessary to prevent such accidents.

“We want to take this somber moment to remind everyone out there, please dispose of your gloves, facemasks etc properly. Pets like Foxxy or wildlife may swallow them thinking that they are toys or food, and the very items meant to keep us safe, can be fatal to them if eaten,” the post read.

In a similar incident that took place last year, a baby sea turtle died hours after it washed up on a beach in Florida. When examined at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, it was found that the turtle, which was the size of a palm, had eaten 104 pieces of plastic from the ocean. An official mentioned that turtles die from indigestion of plastic pieces every year. Emily Mirowski, a sea turtle rehabilitation assistant stated that the problem will continue to exist until people learn to dispose of their plastic waste properly.