See pics, found this thing well healed in my cat’s tail. Came out with no resistance and no bleeding. Looks like a tip to something, but not sure. Cat is less than 6 months old. Thoughts? The grooves you see are from my pliers. It’s hollow and seems to be aluminum or some other soft metal.

Edit:

Looks like this is pretty unanimously solved. Bit of backstory (not that you asked)- neighbor got got 2 kittens in May/June for his daughter. They’re freaking adorable so whenever they wandered over to our house, we gave them lots of attention. They had been spending more and more time camped out on our porch furniture in the past month and then I found this just today. I’m going to talk to the guy and see what’s up.

I’m concerned they are only interested in animals while they’re small and cute because last year they had a young dog that’s no longer there, this is the second pair of kittens they’ve had this year (one of the first pair I still see sulking around at night, but I’m pretty sure it’s feral now. No idea what happened to number 2), and now they have a new puppy again.

Thanks all!

Minor second edit: I made a mistake about their pets. The first dog mentioned above was actually the house next to the neighbors in question. Those neighbors had moved, which is why the dog is no longer here.

      • remotelove@lemmy.caEnglish
        65·
        1 year ago

        Air gun pellets are almost always lead. While steel pellets absolutely do exist, they are much less common. Steel tipped lead pellets are a little more common.

        The tarnish and the way the pellet is deformed very much points to lead in this case.

  • ricecake@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    113·
    1 year ago

    Someone definitely shot the poor beastie with a pellet gun. It’s good you got it out.
    It would definitely be good to make sure they’re an indoor cat, since someone is willing to hurt cats and you don’t want them to get another chance.

  • Fracturedfox@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
    401·
    1 year ago

    Looks like this is pretty unanimously solved. Bit of backstory (not that you asked)- neighbor got got 2 kittens in May/June for his daughter. They’re freaking adorable so whenever they wandered over to our house, we gave them lots of attention. They had been spending more and more time camped out on our porch furniture in the past month and then I found this just today. I’m going to talk to the guy and see what’s up. I’m concerned they are only interested in animals while they’re small and cute because last year they had a young dog that’s no longer there, this is the second pair of kittens they’ve had this year (one of the first pair I still see sulking around at night, but I’m pretty sure it’s feral now. No idea what happened to number 2), and now they have a new puppy again.

    Thanks all!

    • fishos@lemmy.worldEnglish
      601·
      1 year ago

      Please send an anonymous report to animal control. The circumstances sound suspicious with the neighbor. At the very least, adopting animals and then neglecting them(like the now feral cat), is animal adandonment/neglect. They should be prevented from adopting further animals even if that’s all they are doing. The animals deserve a caring home. In addition, torturing small animals is a common and huge red flag. If they only like things when they’re small and cute, what happens when their daughter grows up? I know this sounds extreme and I don’t have all the facts, but how else would you view “they keep getting new animals, neglecting them, they “disappear”, and more appear to continue the cycle. Oh and I found a pellet in one of them”??? File an anonymous report so that hopefully someone can look into this make sure everything is on the up and up.

      • Fracturedfox@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
        10·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, I’ll figure out if that’s a county police thing or specifically animal control. We live out in the middle of almost-nowhere, so I’ll start with county police.

  • Pat_RiotEnglish
    8·
    1 year ago

    That’s an air rifle pellet. You have a bastard in your neighborhood.

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.worldEnglish
      61·
      1 year ago

      To be the Devil’s advocate, pet cats allowed to roam are a pain in the ass to neighbors. One tried to kill my pet parrot on my property, and if I had an air rifle, he’d have taken an ass full or worse. Keep your pet on your property and off mine, it’s pretty simple

        • fishos@lemmy.worldEnglish
          171·
          1 year ago

          Yes, but specifically, this is a pellet, not a BB. Due to their shape, pellets typically have a faster speed and greater penetration. Pellets are also not used for “play fights”. You won’t find an airsoft sport rifle that will because it is incredibly dangerous. This wasn’t just someone with a Daisy. It moves this from “kid being irresponsible with a toy” to more likely “someone malicious actively trying to cause harm”.

          • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
            32·
            1 year ago

            If we want to get as technical as possible, the comment at the top said “bullet from a BB gun” so that still could be true lol.

            • oddspinnaker@lemm.eeEnglish
              21·
              1 year ago

              And is most likely correct, since it always seemed the most common pellet guns are pellet/BB air rifles

            • fishos@lemmy.worldEnglish
              44·
              1 year ago

              Except it’s not a BB. It’s a pellet. BBs are round. Pellets are shaped like this.

              This sub is called “what is this thing?”. Not “what could this thing have come from”. We’re identifying the object, not what kind of rifle it could have come from.

              If you really want to be technical.

              • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
                22·
                1 year ago

                Never said it was a BB, never saying you said it was a BB, just a funny observation based on the exact wording of the top comment in this chain lol.