Cats in the Sewing Room: A Public Service Announcement

I get it, I really do.  Sewing, and especially costuming, results in lots of little ends and pieces of stuff strewn around your sewing space. Who wants to be constantly stopping to clean it all up when you could be sewing?  It's easier and some would say more efficient to leave it all till the end of the project and then do one massive cleanup.

Unless, that is, you share your sewing space with cats. Cats like to play with that stuff, and often, playing with it leads to eating it.  If your cat swallows string, thread, ribbon, or the like, that is a veterinary emergency. Untended, it can be fatal.  At best, it will be expensive.

A week ago, Nicola Teslacat started vomiting frequently. We took him to the vet for an exam, hydration, and tests. They told us to take him home and monitor him. We did, but he looked miserable and refused to eat or drink.

After several more appointments and stays for hydration, X-rays revealed a wad of something, probably of a stringy metallic nature,  in his intestines.  We tried waiting 24 hours and x-raying again to see if it would move through on its own, but the answer was no, so this afternoon, Nicky had surgery.

GROSSNESS ALERT!*

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Here's what they took out:

That's the remains of a length of gold wired ribbon, along with some bits of plastic.  It was firmly wedged in. Because of it, he hasn't eaten or drunk anything in six days. He would not have survived without the surgery.  

The final price of this adventure: over $3000.  

So please, clean up as you go, and keep all tempting materials in closed containers where the cats can't get at them.