Cat swallowed ribbon, what do to?

[SeattlePhotog]

My sister's cat died after eating a Christmas ribbon. The problem was, the intestines couldn't "pass it", so they just ended up crimping themselves into an inoperable knot. The convulsing action of the intestinal muscles essentially caused them to "crawl" up into a tiny ball along the length of the ribbon.

This is not to scare you...just to let you know that calling the vet would probably be warranted.