Curiosity almost cost playful Sox an adorable kitten from Hanover Park his life when he accidentally swallowed a sharp sewing needle and thread on Monday, March 22.
You may think that this is a very unusual case but then you would be mistaken. There are two potentially dangerous foreign objects that cats enjoy playing with and sometimes end up swallowing (earplugs and needles).
Cats appear to be drawn to the smell of our ear wax and reportedly enjoy chewing on thin metallic objects that should never be left lying around.
Last night to the relief of everyone Sox managed to pass the needle and thread without causing any further injury to himself. The fact that the thread untangled itself from his intestines and sharp needle travelled through his little body without causing any intestinal lacerations to make him one very lucky cat!
Since the start of the National Lockdown, there has been a definite increase in the number of home enterprises. The cobwebs have been dusted off idle sewing machines and rusty tools replaced with shiny new equipment as many desperate South Africans turned their hobbies into income generators.
Dining room tables became work benches and garages swiftly converted into workshops in many instances without proper regard for health and safety regulations.
Our pets who are instinctively inquisitive took great interest in our new work-from-home lifestyle and keenly tested, tasted and played with much of what we left lying around.
This may explain why we have noticed an increase in the number of patients being admitted with potentially fatal linear foreign object ingestion and poisoning.
“Over the past few months, we have surgically extracted tennis balls, a variety of needles, ladies underwear, socks, mielie cobs, bones, cutlery and pieces of hardware from otherwise well cared for pets and treated an extraordinary number of animals for poisoning and are hopeful that this post will motivate everyone to ensure that their workspaces are safe”, says Allan from Animal Welfare Society.
Picture/s: Supplied