The $2,000 embroidery needle
(Cross-posted on our family blog, GimletBlog.)
As you know, my Ragdoll cat Nanaimo loves to spend time with me in the craft room. He can be a rascal, but most of the time he is happy to take a nap or have his fluffy tummy rubbed. Monday morning I was getting ready to do some stitching, but left the room “just for a moment” (okay, maybe for more than a moment). I heard a crash, ran back to the room and found Nanaimo had knocked my scissors and other things off the table … and the needle and thread I had set down were missing.
Nanaimo’s fondness for thread has been previously documented on the blog, but I spent over an hour crawling through all the downstairs rooms on hands and knees, hoping the needle would turn up, before admitting my suspicion and calling the veterinarian. The X-rays confirmed what I feared:
Click to enlarge. That's his microchip on his shoulder.
A variety of options for removing the needle were presented but none seemed to be as effective as surgery. With a heavy heart and light wallet we left Nanaimo at the veterinarian’s office to be operated on later that afternoon.
The veterinarian called us after the surgery to let us know that it went very well. The silk thread which had tempted Nanaimo in the first place (Caron Waterlilies; he couldn’t eat the cheap stuff, of course) had wrapped itself around the needle like a cocoon, preventing the needle from doing any damage to his insides, but also causing it to lodge tightly in his stomach, so surgery really was the only option after all. The next day, Kitty Grandma (my mom) and I visited the patient and collected the souvenir needle.
The needle’s eye snapped when I was trying to clean the “mass” (medical term for gross clump of goo and thread) off of it. It was a petite tapestry needle, size 28. I can also report that the “Pine Forest” shade of Waterlilies stays colorfast in liquid, at least in bodily fluids, but I don’t think you want to see the proof.
Nanaimo came home this morning with a row of stitches on his shaved tummy (which should help him stay cool this summer) and wearing a “cone of shame” to protect his stitches.
I’m so thankful that my dear kitty is going to be okay. It was a very fortunate chance that I immediately realized what had happened and acted on my instincts to take him to the vet, just in case. (Instead of wondering what was wrong several days later, when Nanaimo would have been in agony.) It’s also very fortunate that the thread wrapped so tightly around the needle, protecting him until the needle could be removed. But it was a stupid, and expensive, lesson to leave the craft room open and unsupervised when I should have known that Nanaimo might be tempted by the thread.
July 7th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I’m so glad that your kitty is okay! Luckily, my cat isn’t overly interested in my needlework, but I try not to tempt fate by leaving anything too accessible.
I haven’t commented before, but I discovered your blog through your lovely Jane Austen wallpaper — July is on my desktop right now — and am so in awe of your amazing needlework.
~ Kelly
July 15th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Thanks! I’m glad the wallpapers are being used.
My other cat isn’t interested in string at all; funny how they have different likes/dislikes. Nanaimo’s curiosity has cost him about three of his nine lives so far, I think. Before this, his most memorable incident was his National Lampoon-esque encounter with Christmas tree lights. (ZAP!!)
July 18th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Oh….my….gosh. I gotts say WHAT a little stinker! I’m glad that kitty is ok but WOW! I guess I have forgotten over the past 14 years what little curious things that they can be because Smokey Cat has not ever been tempted to get into my stitching stuff. I wonder if that is because he’s a guy? Poor little thing…collar of shame…LOL!