Is Gorilla Glue (polyurethane adhesive) dangerous for cats?
No. Gorilla Glue and similar polyurethane adhesives expand massively on contact with moisture or stomach acid, forming a solid foreign body that often requires surgical removal. This is a genuine emergency.
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Key facts
- Verdict: No — dangerous to cats. Gorilla Glue (polyurethane adhesive) should never be given deliberately.
- Category: Chemical
- Onset: Signs can start within hours — see the full timeline below.
- If it's already happened: Call your vet now, or the Animal PoisonLine on 01202 509000 (24/7, charges apply) — see the emergency steps below.
If your cat has just eaten gorilla glue (polyurethane adhesive)
- Do not induce vomiting — the expanding foam can lodge in the oesophagus.
- Call your vet immediately — surgery is often required.
- Bring the glue packaging for identification.
What's the full picture?
The danger with expanding polyurethane adhesives — Gorilla Glue is the best-known brand, but any product described as a moisture-cured or expanding polyurethane glue works the same way — comes down to basic chemistry. These glues are designed to cure by reacting with moisture, which is exactly what they encounter the moment they enter a cat's mouth or stomach. Saliva and gastric fluid trigger the same expanding, foaming reaction the glue would undergo when used to bond damp wood or fill a gap, except now it's happening inside a stomach rather than on a workbench. The foam can expand to three or four times its original liquid volume within roughly 15 to 30 minutes, and it cures into a hard, dense, sponge-like mass rather than staying soft.
That cured mass is the core problem: it's too large to pass through the intestines and can't be brought back up by vomiting, because by the time symptoms prompt an owner to notice something's wrong, the glue has typically already set solid inside the stomach. Unlike many ingested foreign objects, which might pass with monitoring or be retrieved with an endoscope, a fully expanded and cured polyurethane glue mass usually requires surgery (a gastrotomy) to open the stomach and remove it directly, because it's too large and too firmly formed to extract any other way.
Cats are exposed less often than dogs, mainly because dogs are more likely to chew directly on a glue tube or bottle, but accidental exposure still happens in UK homes doing DIY, furniture repair, or craft projects. The realistic scenario for a cat is usually indirect: glue spilled or dripped onto a work surface or floor, a cat walking through it and getting it on their paws, and then licking their paws clean during normal grooming, which is enough to ingest a meaningful amount even without directly interacting with the tube itself. Curious cats investigating an open tube or bottle left unattended are also at risk of a more direct, larger exposure.
Because the glue expands progressively over the following hours rather than causing all its effects instantly, early signs can look deceptively mild — retching, drooling, or a slightly reduced appetite — before progressing to a visibly swollen, firm abdomen, persistent vomiting, and an inability to keep any food down as the expanding mass creates a full obstruction. This progression is why any known or suspected ingestion of expanding glue needs immediate veterinary attention rather than a wait-and-see approach, even if the cat initially seems only mildly off.
Symptoms to watch for
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Cat owner essentials
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Questions owners ask
My cat just licked a tiny bit off their paw — is that an emergency?
A trace amount licked off a paw is a lower-risk scenario than swallowing glue directly from a tube, but it's still worth calling your vet to describe exactly what happened, since even a small amount can expand once it reaches gastric moisture. Watch closely for any retching, drooling, or reduced appetite over the following several hours.
Why can't I make my cat vomit?
If the glue has already begun expanding, bringing it back up risks it lodging in the oesophagus on the way up, which is a more dangerous and harder-to-treat obstruction than one in the stomach. Vets will assess on a case-by-case basis whether inducing vomiting is appropriate depending on how much time has passed, so this decision should be made by a vet, not at home.
Is wood glue or superglue equally dangerous?
No, they're different risk profiles. Ordinary PVA wood glue is generally low-toxicity and doesn't expand, so accidental ingestion is usually a minor concern. Superglue (cyanoacrylate) can bond skin, fur, or tissue together on contact, causing a different kind of injury, but it doesn't expand into a large obstructing mass the way polyurethane glues do. Expanding polyurethane adhesives are specifically the highest-risk category here.
How is a glue obstruction treated?
Most cases are confirmed with an X-ray or ultrasound showing a solid mass in the stomach, followed by surgery to open the stomach and remove the cured glue directly, since it's usually too solid and too large to pass or retrieve any other way. Recovery from the surgery itself is generally good if the obstruction is caught and treated promptly, before it causes secondary complications such as a ruptured stomach wall.
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Related
Sources referenced for this guidance
- Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) — UK clinical toxicology reference used by vets
- International Cat Care — feline-specific clinical guidance
- BSAVA — British Small Animal Veterinary Association reference materials
- Merck Veterinary Manual — professional veterinary reference
About this guidance
Every entry on this site is compiled from published UK veterinary toxicology sources — International Cat Care, Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) references, RCVS-registered practice materials, and peer-reviewed feline medicine literature. Where the evidence is mixed, we err on the cautious side because cats are unusually sensitive to many common substances that are harmless to humans and even to dogs.
This is general information written for UK cat owners. It is not personalised veterinary advice for your specific cat, their age, weight, medical history, or the exact exposure you're dealing with. If your cat has eaten something or is unwell, call your vet first. The Animal PoisonLine on 01202 509000 is available 24/7 for a small fee and can tell you whether an emergency visit is needed.
Entries are reviewed and updated as new research emerges. Spotted an error? Let us know — corrections are investigated and applied within 24 hours. For more context on how we work, see about and our full disclaimer.
Last reviewed: · By the What Can My Cat Eat? editorial team