HELP! in case of near suffocation...

My friend just here a second ago told me that she found her cat earlier with its head inside a bag (somehow caught, but unsure how). She went to the cat to get the bag off and he took ran from her before she could get close enough. She said it took her about 5 or so minutes to get him to stay put to where she could remove the plastic bag from his head.

I am somewhat neurotic about my cats' wellbeing and health, always convinced they're sick or have an ailment (which I guess is good, since most people don't pay enough attention to that sort of thing). Anyways.... she said he's been acting funny and hiding from her.

I think he's in shock. If that is the case, what things would any cat owner be concerned about? Should she take him to the vet now or wait to see how he does?

He is probably just scared- the plastic bags make a noise as they run around with their head caught in it. I would put him in a dark room with some classical music playing softly, some nice meaty treats and fresh water and just leave him alone for a few hours.

This happened to one of my cats awhile back and he ran up and downstairs as we chased him trying to get this thing off him. Now I put all the plastic bags up and out of the way, or I cut off the handles and throw them away. The same goes with paper bags with handles. I tear the handles off before I let the cats play with the paper bags. I never let them play with the plastic ones though.

I had an email a bit ago from a lady who found her cat strangled when she got home from work. The woman had taken the cushions off the dining room chairs (they were slatted chairs) and taken the cushions in to be dry cleaned. The cat jumped on the chair, got his head caught between the slats and suffocated. You just never know with cats, you just do the best you can and keep your common sense about you.

Originally Posted by hissy

......or I cut off the handles and throw them away. The same goes with paper bags with handles.

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Wow... good idea!

Thanks for the one up MA. I have plastic bags with handles from my grocery store, in a low drawer. My kitties could get into them someday. They are going back to my store for recyling from now on.

Knowing how much cats like to play with bags, your story is a good lesson for us about how we need to keep watch and supervise them. I'm so glad it didn't turn out worse for you.