Cat ate my ammo?

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pewpewfever

pewpewfever

Member
Dec 28, 2018
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TX, United States
So my cat likes to bring its game inside through the doggy door and play with it. Mice, rats, voles, snakes, etc. Sometimes the game gets away. Today she took a very spunky mouse into my carpeted home office and played with it. Catch, release, repeat. It kept climbing up table legs and getting on my office equipment while I was trying to work, so I went and got my izh46m and some 8.44 g diablos. When I got back my cat ran out of the office and I found the mouse injured but alive and in obvious pain, so I put a couple of pellets into it. Then I went and got some paper towels and plastic bags, but when I got back my cat had swallowed it whole. Looking at the low pile beige carpet I see a couple of pellet size holes rimmed grey about the edges, so I think the pellets went through and lodged in the floor under the carpet. Otherwise, I’d be worried about my cat eating lead. Should I be worried? Thoughts?
 
customcutter said:
When we were kids 50-60 yrs ago we all ran around with pellets in our mouths for quick reloads. Probably several thousand over the years. There's nothing wrong with me...wrong with me...wrong with me.
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Yep... and during the Roman Empire they "flavored" their wine with lead. It was called Sapa.

"Sapa was produced by boiling unfermented grape juice in order to concentrate the natural sugars. The juice was reduced to a third of its original volume. When the juice was boiled in lead alloy kettles, this harmful element seeped into the drink. The ancient Romans used Sapa as a form of artificial sweetener, especially in wine. They eventually found a way to convert lead sugar into a crystalline form."

Perhaps the reason why the Roman Empire fell... (think about it...)

Whenever I handle lead with my bare hands, I wash them vigorously with soap and water several times immediately afterward. The best way to prevent lead contamination is probably to use tight fitting latex, nitrile rubber, polyvinyl chloride and neoprene gloves like those worn by a surgeon/doctor.

When I poured fishing jigs, I always did it next to a window with a fan blowing OUT to suck away the lead vapors and I still wasn't sure that was enough.

At the bare minimum, wash your hands vigorously with soap and water before you place them anywhere near your mouth or eyes or use them to eat or prepare anything you may eat. Do this EVERY time you handle lead. Even just a quick reload of your airgun magazine(s). The lead accumulates in your body organs, and especially your bones over time. So, over time, it WILL do MORE and more damage. Look it up... or look here.

You have been warned. (smile)
 
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Gerry52 said:
Sorry but cats don't swallow mice whole. I wouldn't be too worried if you can find the pellets that passed through unless they fragmented heavily.
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It was a fairly small mouse. She ate it in less than thirty seconds while I was out of the room, so I guessed she swallowed it whole, but IDK for sure. But I’ve watched her chew the head off a large rat and swallow the head whole, and the head was at least twice the size of that mouse. It happened about an hour after she ate the mouse, so she was still hungry.
 
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BackStop said:
Yep... and during the Roman Empire they "flavored" their wine with lead. It was called Sapa.

"Sapa was produced by boiling unfermented grape juice in order to concentrate the natural sugars. The juice was reduced to a third of its original volume. When the juice was boiled in lead alloy kettles, this harmful element seeped into the drink. The ancient Romans used Sapa as a form of artificial sweetener, especially in wine. They eventually found a way to convert lead sugar into a crystalline form."

Perhaps the reason why the Roman Empire fell... (think about it...)

Whenever I handle lead with my bare hands, I wash them vigorously with soap and water several times immediately afterward. The best way to prevent lead contamination is probably to use tight fitting latex, nitrile rubber, polyvinyl chloride and neoprene gloves like those worn by a surgeon/doctor.

When I poured fishing jigs, I always did it next to a window with a fan blowing OUT to suck away the lead vapors and I still wasn't sure that was enough.

At the bare minimum, wash your hands vigorously with soap and water before you place them anywhere near your mouth or eyes or use them to eat or prepare anything you may eat. Do this EVERY time you handle lead. Even just a quick reload of your airgun magazine(s). The lead accumulates in your body organs, and especially your bones over time. So, over time, it WILL do MORE and more damage. Look it up... or look here.

You have been warned. (smile)
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The amount of lead you COULD ingest from handling pellets is not even close to the amount the Romans would ingest....so using THAT as an example to compare to handling lead pellets is no where even close. Houses with copper water lines are soldered and up until 1986 they used lead solder...so any copper pipes soldered with lead solder will have microscopic particles of lead solder in it that you are drinking and bathing in, every time you run water thru them. Water is one of the purest solvents there is and pick up particles of whatever it runs thru. Are you scared to wash , bathe, or drink water in somewhere built BEFORE 1988? You would and will surely ingest water that would run they those pipes with microscopic particles of lead.. Like anything else , the government got involved and saved us from the ravages of drinking water going thru the copper water lines soldered with lead solder....in houses and commercial buildings built after 1988, called the Safe Water Drinking Act passed in 1986..IF those building them complied, which many didn't and the government was there to levy ridiculous fines on them. If it was that bad...most of us would be dead of lead poisoning already or dieing of lead poisoning...just from all the leaded water we have drank or bathed in, in our lifetimes. Just some more life saving legislation started in California by the Democratic Party. Google it.Proposition 65.
 
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I live near a community that manufactures glass. Since 1831. You've probably heard of it before. Tons of lead used in the process yet the people aren't dying and the kids aren't any more stupid than elsewhere. Most of the lead is inert or precautions are taken.

Not so sure about a lead ammo factory in some far off place where slaves are conscripted but even then the factory owners want to get as much work out of their people as possible.
 
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The Roman plumbing systems in the larger cities used underground lead piping to distribute water to the wealthier districts. Less well off people used well water. Roman rich ate what would today be considered unhealthy food for fats, oils, added sweeteners while the commons mainly ate whole grain breads and vegetables. Same situation in the middle ages too. Total opposite today, cheaper to eat processed/junk food, eating healthy costs a ton more.

Biggest source of lead exposure in shooting is smoke from detonation of the lead styphnate in the primer composition. The lead in the projectiles is comparatively zero impact, especially with FMJ.
 
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pewpewfever said:
My cat has been acting weird today. Loudly meowing and spitting up small amounts of clear liquid. She’s energetic though. Being way more affectionate than normal.
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My wife and I had ferrets for years and one indication of something wrong with a pet is an unexpected change in general behavior patterns. The clear spew and personality change? Might want to have her checked, hopefully nothing. Regards
 
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I would not worry one bit about the cat over one incident. If it made a habit of eating lead that would be another issue entirely.
9 lives - 1 = 8 lives. Cat is good to go for many more adventures.

I would put a stop to the cat bringing it’s trophies into the house. Rodents carry rabies, fleas, ticks etc
kitty eating lead would be the least of my concerns.
 
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badger5th said:
My wife and I had ferrets for years and one indication of something wrong with a pet is an unexpected change in general behavior patterns. The clear spew and personality change? Might want to have her checked, hopefully nothing. Regards
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She seems better now. The weather here just changed so it’s colder outside than inside the house most of the day. She’s been mostly outside the past six months. Now she’s inside again and adjusting to temps cooler than she’s used to. Also being around my dogs, who always used to get along with her but seem to have lost that affection for now. I think that’s probably it.
 
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