Some dogs and cats eat way more than just pet food, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance’s “60 Most Unusual Ingested Objects” for 2010. The list, which included oddities such as jellyfish, jumper cables and a rosary crucifix, was derived from the company’s nearly 2,000 foreign body ingestion claims for the year.

Some pets ate multiple unusual items, such as the one that ingested an estrogen patch and a make-up brush.

Socks, hand towels, sticks and rocks were among the more common foreign objects found in dogs and cats during the year, according to the Brea, Calif.-based company.

Collectively, VPI policyholders spent almost $3 million treating pets that ingested such foreign objects.

VPI’s 60 most unusual ingested objects, in random order, are:

1. jellyfish
2. glue
3. estrogen patch / make-up brush
4. tube of denture adhesive
5. dead poisoned vole
6. bikini
7. ink pen
8. plastic nose from teddy bear
9. magnetic purse clasps
10. baseball
11. glass Christmas ornament
12. hearing aid
13. bed sheet
14. box of pencils
15. popsicle stick
16. avocado pit
17. dental floss
18. coffee filter / coffee grounds
19. fishhook
20. pain relief tablet / B.B. pellet / highlighter
21. tent door
22. toy squeaker
23. watch
24. 16 steel wool pads
25. pseudoephedrine / sponge / snail poison / tampon
26. 20 cherry pits
27. light bulb
28. barbecue brush
29. Frisbee
30. jumper cables
31. razor blades
32. uncooked rice (1 pound)
33. wallpaper paste
34. squirrel
35. balloon ribbons
36. bird (whole)
37. butter / sand
38. deer antler (partial)
39. extension cord
40. leash / three sticks of butter
41. pin cushion
42. portion of wool rug
43. tobacco
44. TV remote control
45. 10 quarters / one penny / one Canadian coin / three arcade tokens
46. foot-long submarine sandwich
47. fire log
48. wooden toy train
49. pine cone
50. round chew bone (whole)
51. caulk
52. eye glasses
53. money (paper)
54. oil-soaked dirt
55. sand
56. rosary crucifix
57. 25 to 30 soiled diapers
58. bath bubble mix
59. bathtub cleaner / outdoor plants
60. duck bone

VPI noted that all pets made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements for eligible expenses.

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