gross little story about shindy

Most of you have heard the tale of Shindy the kitten getting really ill, going to the vet, creating a stumper for the vet, staying overnight for observation and getting hydrated via I.V. and then returning home ... to eventually pass a shoelace, explaining the cause of the whole incident. The vet informed me that she could have died, not only from dehydration at not being able to keep anything down, but due to intestinal bunching or some such.

Since then, I am vigilant about keeping shoelaces, rubber bands, string, twine and other such objects in cat proof places. I also tell all my guests and cat sitters about this rule. Eight years of success!

Most of you also know that Shindy's favorite toy, when I lived in Ithaca, was the "string", which was actually a shoelace given to me by my dear friend Heidi. Shindy would follow the string anywhere, any time. I kept it tied to a strut on the leg of the kitchen table when it wasn't in use, so she could play with it on her own, if she wanted.

Unfortunately, when I gave away the table before I moved out west, I forgot about the string. So it was back to twist-ties ... which she doesn't eat, for some reason.

Here in California, I got a couple of packages shipped to me with plastic strapping. Turns out plastic strapping is just as appealing to my little tortie as the string. There are lengths of it lying around my apartment here, ready for play action. Sometimes Shindy will sort of push a length along with her head, which is super cute. It also means "don't you want to play with me? now now now now now now now now now?"

Well, I bought something or other that had one of those thin hard plastic one use straps (you thread the 1/16" strap through the little box and tighten it and you can't loosen it). I cut off the strap, and Shindy was interested in it, and it seemed like a safe enough toy. Very similar to a fully plastic twist tie, but made of harder plastic, and a bit thicker. She played with it on and off for months.

This morning, I discovered a lovely hairball, placed for once in a location where I would see it easily, and NOT on a carpet. It seemed to have a shoelace in it. But no, it was the black plastic tie thingy. And I remembered I *thought* she might have been swallowing it one day when I looked up, but it was too late for me to do anything about it.

Cat: older, but not any wiser.
Owner: further cat-proofing vigilance indicated.