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My cat swallowed a euro coin. Is it toxic or will he pass it?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Maine Coon | Male | unneutered | 7 months and 5 days old | 9 lbs

Hi, I'm not sure but my cat maybe swallowed a coin. This happened about 4 hours ago and he still acts normal, no symptoms of metal poisoning. I looked up the coin to see what's been made of. It's a 10 cent euro coin. It says 4.10 gram in total weight which contains 89% of copper, 5% zinc, 5 aluminum and 1%tin. In just wandering if this would cause metal poisoning for my cat? He is about 5 kg so by the size I think he would be able to pass it if he did swallow only I'm worried about the toxicity.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Laura Johnson VMD

Veterinarian

Published on April 12th, 2018

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The easiest thing to do is make an appointment today with your vet and take one X-ray. If he ate the coin it will be very obvious. If there is not coin the worry is over! Its a bit rare for a cat to ingest a coin but anything is possible. In the US it is pennies that contain zinc which is toxic causing red blood cell destruction. The US penny contains much more zinc but it is all weigh based. It doesn't happen in 4 hours, it take more time than that. It is the slow release of the zinc over time from the gastric acid. Even if there isn't enough zinc in the 10 cent Euro it is almost 2 cm in diameter. That is big for a cat to pass. The safest thing is to confirm the actual presence of the coin. If it is present and Max was my cat I would get it out so I didn't have to worry. Have a great day!

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