Ribbon Warning!

[lauris]

Hi, this thread jumped out at me as I had a major crisis involving the ribbon they use to tie onto balloons. I have a Himalayan that chewed up a portion of this nylon thread and I had no idea. Well he soon began vomiting and there was some blood in the vomit, he was completely comatose acting and miserable. With vet visits, they determined that the intestines were not moving normally. Well to make a long story short, surgery was necessary and sure enough a chunk of nylon ribbon was extracted. Gizmo made a full recovery but it was a horrible experience and very costly. Now when I see those ribbons I race to throw them in the garbage if anyone ever brings a balloon or present with that sort of thread on it! I'm so glad you posted and started this thread. It's good to be aware of this life threatening hazard to cats.
-Lori

 

[emrldsky]

This holiday season I made sure to lecture my parents, new cat owners, on the dangers of ribbon and tinsel. My mom always put tinsel on the tree until I told her what could happen if one of her babies ate a piece. This year, she put up garland that had very short pieces on it. I was so proud of her for listening and putting the girls above her own decorating.

My own scare came about two weeks before my wedding last year. I was gluing ribbon on a basket for the bubbles (instead of rice or birdseed) and I wasn't watching the boys. Brandon saw Oscar chewing away at something and realized that it was one of the ribbons!

I felt so bad because I'm usually so careful. Luckily, he hadn't completely swallowed it (only partially because Brandon pulled it all out), but I watch that cat like a hawk. He also eats plastic.