12-12-2006, 12:39 AM
Back in 1994 while we were living in Oman, our cat swallowed a foot long thread with a needle attached, thread first. We saw him take the thread in his mouth and tried to grab it before it went down but were not fast enough. I held him and wife put her fingers in his mouth and down his throat to get it and ended up with some pretty bad punctures.
It happened on a Wednesday, the day before the weekend in the Muslim world, so we rushed him to the only public vet in the Muscat area. It turned out that the only vet in Oman with X-Ray capability was the Sultan's vet. The public vet arranged a referral for us to take our cat to the Sultan's vet, a Brit, and sedated the cat to keep him from moving around over the weekend. It was quite an experience for wife as she had to have papers to present to the Sultan's Royal Guard, who had rifles and bands of ammunition slung over their shoulders, in order to enter the compound which is where the Sultan kept his stable of Arabian horses.
The Sultan's vet kept the cat for a few days to see if he would pass the needle and thread. When it did not come out on its own they operated and removed the needle and thread.
This was the second time our cat cheated death by ingesting something he should not have. A few years before, I found a small soft plastic dragon with small protrusions all over it, which had been dropped by trick or treaters. A few days later, we noticed that our cat (the same one) was gagging and spitting up blood and had not had a bowel movement in quite a while. We took him to the vet who did not seem concerned, explaining that it was not unusual for a cat to be constipated and to spit up blood. Not finding that acceptable, we went to another vet who had earlier treated another cat for feline leukemia and had impressed us as being very capable. He X-Rayed the cat and noticed some strange shadows in the intestines. He operated and removed several solidified, rough pieces of plastic dragon. Apparently after the soft plastic was swallowed it hardened when it became immersed in stomach acid. He would have died without the surgery.
When the cat was treated for swallowing the needle and thread, the Sultan's vet told us the real danger was not the needle but the thread which could have become wrapped around in his intestines and become difficult if not impossible to remove. You need to get your cat to the vet without delay. Good luck to you and the cat.
It happened on a Wednesday, the day before the weekend in the Muslim world, so we rushed him to the only public vet in the Muscat area. It turned out that the only vet in Oman with X-Ray capability was the Sultan's vet. The public vet arranged a referral for us to take our cat to the Sultan's vet, a Brit, and sedated the cat to keep him from moving around over the weekend. It was quite an experience for wife as she had to have papers to present to the Sultan's Royal Guard, who had rifles and bands of ammunition slung over their shoulders, in order to enter the compound which is where the Sultan kept his stable of Arabian horses.
The Sultan's vet kept the cat for a few days to see if he would pass the needle and thread. When it did not come out on its own they operated and removed the needle and thread.
This was the second time our cat cheated death by ingesting something he should not have. A few years before, I found a small soft plastic dragon with small protrusions all over it, which had been dropped by trick or treaters. A few days later, we noticed that our cat (the same one) was gagging and spitting up blood and had not had a bowel movement in quite a while. We took him to the vet who did not seem concerned, explaining that it was not unusual for a cat to be constipated and to spit up blood. Not finding that acceptable, we went to another vet who had earlier treated another cat for feline leukemia and had impressed us as being very capable. He X-Rayed the cat and noticed some strange shadows in the intestines. He operated and removed several solidified, rough pieces of plastic dragon. Apparently after the soft plastic was swallowed it hardened when it became immersed in stomach acid. He would have died without the surgery.
When the cat was treated for swallowing the needle and thread, the Sultan's vet told us the real danger was not the needle but the thread which could have become wrapped around in his intestines and become difficult if not impossible to remove. You need to get your cat to the vet without delay. Good luck to you and the cat.
