Dangers of yarn and string to cats

[misty8723]

I was looking at the TCS Facebook page and saw a picture of someone playing with their cat with yarn. Pictures like that freak me out. I see it all the time on the knitting/crochet FB groups I'm in. I keep trying to educate people (as I was educated), so here are a few articles that I think every cat owner should read.

5 Cat Toy Alternatives to Dangerous Things Your Cat Wants to Play With | PetMD

Quote from that article:
String and Yarn
Unfortunately, a cat playing with yarn is not a safe activity. If ingested, yarn, string and ribbon can become wrapped around the intestine, causing life-threatening complications. Instead, offer kitty-safe alternatives that satisfy her yarn cravings, such as the Moody Pet Fling-Ama-String cat toy.

Should Your Cat Be Playing With Yarn? Find Out If It's Safe

The Dangers of Yarn For Your Cat

If I'm working on something and have to get up even for a minute, I take the yarn with me or put it away in a drawer. Especially since I have a cat who is fascinated by yarn and one time grabbed the end and ran off with it. I just got lucky I saw him do it. So just everyone please be careful. If you do see string or yarn hanging from a cat's mouth, DO NOT PULL IT. It could be wrapped around their intestines and you could cause great harm or even death by pulling on it. Take them immediately to a vet and let them handle it.

If you got this far, thank you for reading it. I think its as extremely important thing that everyone should be aware of.

 

[Antonio65]

We have just recently had a thread about a cat who ate a string attached to a toy, and luckily he passed it.

My younger cat, Freya, has already eaten my eyeglasses string, and two rubber bands, and all of them were passed in the following days. I already removed all strings, tails, and any other appendixes from my cats' toys.

 

[Alldara]

It's very important to always supervise your cat with any toy with any string, and put it away in something they can't break into once finished.

My friend had one of those door hanging ones that turned in to an emergency vet visit.

That being said, I have 100% played with string with my cats. It goes in a shut drawer when finished and all yarn is safely stored in a bin. We always cut hanging toys off tents and things too, unless we are storing them away when we aren't around.

Slightly off topic, slightly not: I really worry about those toys with the silicone tails and such these days. On the adopters group from the cat rescue there's been two cats bite off a peice and need surgery to remove it.

 

[susanm9006]

Agree, these are so dangerous. The thing is the cat doesn’t intend to eat them but once any of these are in their mouth the barbs in their tongues prevent them from spitting them out so they keep swallowing and in minutes can swallow huge amounts.

 

[lollie]

I worry about dental floss more than anything because it is so slick. I am super careful about disposing of it, maybe even a little paranoid.

 

[Alldara]

I worry about dental floss more than anything because it is so slick. I am super careful about disposing of it, maybe even a little paranoid.

Same!

 

[susanm9006]

Actually I think the most dangerous is a needle and thread. The thread gets swallowed and the needle follows. They can get stuck in the roof of their mouth or into their stomach with the thread. Always an emergency even if it is a tiny bit of thread.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

And left-over thread is a real danger. I do quite a bit of hand and machine sewing, and every time I clip off thread, I cut it into pieces no more than one inch in length, and those placed in a jar with a screw-top. Spools and bobbins are kept in a box with clamps, so that no nosey paws can get to them. ALL pins are sunk deep into a pin cushion, needles are in Altoids boxes.