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My 4-week-old kitten swallowed a latex nipple tip. What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 1 month old

My four week old kitten just ate a tip to a latex nipple and I'm scared it's going to kill her what do I do?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on November 18th, 2017

I certainly understand being worried about Keanu! If the piece she ate was small, then more than likely it will pass without problem. You can try to help her pass it along by giving her some chicken baby meat with no onion or garlic in it. It may give her a bit of diarrhea, but it should be fine. Keep an eye on her feces to make sure she passes it. It can take up to 72 hours for it to pass, and if you don't see it after this time, I would have her seen by a vet. If she stops eating, starts vomiting, has severe diarrhea, and/or becomes very lethargic, have her seen by a vet right away. At four weeks old, she is now old enough to be weaned onto kitten food, especially since she is chewing on the tip of latex nipples. To help her wean and to get used to dry food, I would soak a high quality kitten formulated dry food in warm water until soft. Then mix that with kitten formula such as KMR to make a mush the consistency of oatmeal. Over the next two weeks, gradually increase the amount of dry kitten food and decrease the amount of water and KMR you use until she is eating the dry kitten food only. I hope this helps!

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