'Incredibly lucky' Malton cat recovers after eating 43 hairbands

A large mass of tangled hair ties was spotted on an X-ray of Tiger's stomach

A cat which swallowed 43 hairbands it had taken from its owners has made a full recovery after emergency surgery.

Tiger, an eight-year-old tortoiseshell, is thought to have been eating the elastic bands for months at her home in Malton, North Yorkshire.

Owner Rebecca and her daughters, Chloe and Charlotte, did not know their pet had been taking the hair ties until Tiger started to be sick.

Vet Sarah Ford warned that hairbands were "clearly very tempting" to cats.

Tiger's owner Rebecca said she was shocked to find out how many hair ties her pet had eaten

Tiger was given anti-sickness medication but vets said she later "passed two hair bands in her poo and started being sick again".

An X-ray at Minster Vets' practice in York revealed a mysterious mass in Tiger's stomach, which required emergency surgery.

Clinical director Dr Ford said she was "stunned" to discover the mass was made up of hair ties.

"I once had a case of a cat eating 10 hair ties but I couldn't believe it when we counted 43," she said.

"They were all tangled and knotted together so had created a big clump, and her stomach was so full there was hardly room for anything else."

She said Tiger was "incredibly lucky" because if the hairbands had caused a blockage in her intestine it would have been "extremely serious".

Tiger has made a full recovery after emergency surgery

Dr Ford urged cat owners to keep hair bobbles, hair ties and ribbons away from cats "as they are clearly very tempting to play with, chew and swallow".

Rebecca said: "It was such a shock when we found out how many she had eaten, and the girls were distraught while she was in hospital.

"She is a very special part of the family and we are now obsessed with tidying hair bands away and making sure they are well out of her reach."

Vets removed 43 elastic hairbands from Tiger's stomach