Shoe laces make the best kitten toys

The shelter I visit has a room set aside for kittens and pregnant moms.
There are four double stack cages along one wall a couple of chairs and some
climbing towers on the other. The staff usually lets one litter out to
runaround on the floor and on each visit I always spend some time playing
with whoever's turn it is to be out.
Several of the more active, and socialized kittens have discovered how much
fun shoelaces are! If I sit down, they come right up and begin pulling at my
laces. In only a mater of a couple of minutes they have both laces untied
and are busy pulling and batting at them.
Of course I try to pick one up to play with, but it dosn't last long. Kitten
has to get back to that shoelace.

Shoe laces do make some of the best kitten toys!

David Rorer

Shoe laces are fine IF they are on the shoes. They are dangerous if
not. A cat can swallow them and get an obstruction.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

On Aug 22, 5:14*am, (---MIKE---) wrote:
Shoe laces are fine IF they are on the shoes. *They are dangerous if
not. *A cat can swallow them and get an obstruction.

* * * * * * * * *
A cautionary tale to emphasize this point,,,,,,When we were getting
together all the new stuff for the Fabulous Furballs arrival I got a
packet of boot laces- when we got them home we left them in the
kitchen with food, water and litter and let them get round to coming
out and exploring in their own good time but I noticed the gate on the
cat carrier's hinges were a tad loose...so when the gate was up it
could easily fall down again- worried that their first encounter with
their new home might include a carrier gate hitting them I used the
boot laces to lie the gate to the handle so it couldn't crash down on
them..

We'd had them about a week or two when Dave phoned me at work in a
massive panic. He was sitting there when Dunzi came into the room and
he thought she had a klingon but on closer inspection it was in fact
the end of a bootlace literally hanging out of her posterior! Somehow
even through we thought we had put it out of reach after playing with
them with it, Dunzi had chewed it in half and swallowed half of it and
these were long boot laces indeed when Dave found the uneaten section
he realised Dunzi has just swallowed something longer than herself
including her tail.....

I rushed home ready to rush her to the vets but when I got home, I
found Dave carefully inspecting the contents of the litter tray..to
put it as nicely as one can (and that's not very nice) Dunzi had had a
long thin bowel movement, which when we carefully inspected it
contained the boot lace not even twisted in any way indeed I suspect
if we had washed it, it would have probably been perfectly usable but
we're not that desperate!

We've never since even kept a spare pair of laces in the house- I'm
the only one with lace up shoes (forced into something with a decent
heel and ankle support ever since the afore mentioned Dunzi tripped me
on the stairs over 2 years ago) and my laces stay in the shoes and if
they snap when I'm out then I'll buy a new pair and change them when
I'm out but I won't leave laces lying around anywhere

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

On Aug 22, 11:51*am, Lesley wrote:
On Aug 22, 5:14*am, (---MIKE---) wrote: Shoe laces are fine IF they are on the shoes. *They are dangerous if
not. *A cat can swallow them and get an obstruction.

* * * * * * * * *

A cautionary tale to emphasize this point,,,,,,When we were getting
together all the new stuff for the Fabulous Furballs arrival I got a
packet of boot laces- when we got them home we left them in the
kitchen with food, water and litter and let them get round to coming
out and exploring in their own good time but I noticed the gate on the
cat carrier's hinges were a tad loose...so when the gate was up it
could easily fall down again- worried that their first encounter with
their new home might include a carrier gate hitting them I used the
boot laces to lie the gate to the handle so it couldn't crash down on
them..

We'd had them about a week or two when Dave phoned me at work in a
massive panic. *He was sitting there when Dunzi came into the room and
he thought she had a klingon but on closer inspection it was in fact
the end of a bootlace literally hanging out of her posterior! *Somehow
even through we thought we had put it out of reach after playing with
them with it, Dunzi had chewed it in half and swallowed half of it and
these were long boot laces indeed when Dave found the uneaten section
he realised Dunzi has just swallowed something longer than herself
including her tail.....

I rushed home ready to rush her to the vets but when I got home, I
found Dave carefully inspecting the contents of the litter tray..to
put it as nicely as one can (and that's not very nice) Dunzi had had a
long thin bowel movement, which when we carefully inspected it
contained the boot lace not even twisted in any way indeed I suspect
if we had washed it, it would have probably been perfectly usable but
we're not that desperate!

We've never since even kept a spare pair of laces in the house- I'm
the only one with lace up shoes (forced into something with a decent
heel and ankle support ever since the afore mentioned Dunzi tripped me
on the stairs over 2 years ago) and my laces stay in the shoes and if
they snap when I'm out then I'll buy a new pair and change them when
I'm out but I won't leave laces lying around anywhere

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

OMG! I can imagine the panic!
We have lots of toys that are brought out for supervised play only,
then
put back up. Yarn balls, strings, anything with feathers. Although any
self-respecting hunting cat I'm sure eats feathers allt he time, it
would
be just my luck these spoiled critters would choke on them.

Sherry

Lesley" wrote in message
...
On Aug 22, 5:14 am, (---MIKE---) wrote:
Shoe laces are fine IF they are on the shoes. They are dangerous if
not. A cat can swallow them and get an obstruction.

snippage of example of dangers of string

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

==================
My most horrible worry is dental floss. DH is an awful slob and will throw
trash right on the floor rather than getting up to put it properly in the
trash behind a closed door. I worry that he'll floss his teeth and leave
the dental floss laying on the floor (the cats are fascinated by it and I
have to keep pushing them away when I floss).

A cat's tongue is covered with tiny inward facing spikes (the better for
those perfect little predator to strip the meat off the bones of their
prey). Once they get something on their tongue, it is almost impossible for
them to "spit it out" again because their teeth and tongue are fashioned to
force things in instead of our. I've seen our cats making a gagging motion
and pawing at their mouth when trying to get a piece of lint or something
off their tongues and they always end up just swallowing it before I can
jump up and get it out for them).

Dental floss could end up twisting their intestines into knots and then
start slicing through as food builds up the blockage until they're in shreds
and the cat is dead from internal bleeding or peritonitis.

OK, so I'm a world-class worrier - I learned at the knee of the best, my
mother who went SOOOOO far beyond the "don't run with scissors"
"what-could-happen" worrier. ;?


--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See our clowder at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

See the RPCA FAQ site, by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.com/rpcablog/

On Aug 22, 10:48*am, Sherry wrote:

OMG! I can imagine the panic!

Yep once again the cat was great for lowering my blood pressure but
only after she'd raised it

We have lots of toys that are brought out for supervised play only,
then
put back up. Yarn balls, strings, anything with feathers.

Same here through we have to watch out for Sarsi who can open drawers
etc. Still all she does is pat you on the knee and you look down and
there she is with her fether onna stick in her mouth and a hopeful
expression. Oddly although we've brought several of these toys her
personal favourite is one we got her ages ago...like before Dave went
into hospital, it no longer has feathers on it it's just a bit of
string on a stick! But it's her favourite just like she loves her old
Santa toy and pays little attention to a newer but identical Santa toy
we brought her

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

The laces - if you read the story carefully - were and remained on my shoes.
At no time were the kittens allowed to play with them unsupervised.

David Rorer
"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
Shoe laces are fine IF they are on the shoes. They are dangerous if
not. A cat can swallow them and get an obstruction.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

"David Rorer" wrote in message
...
The laces - if you read the story carefully - were and remained on my
shoes.
At no time were the kittens allowed to play with them unsupervised.

Yes, of course they were, I didn't get think that they weren't from your
post. And I did think about the possibility of you taking our replies as
chiding - it was definitely not chiding you. It's just that a couple of us
here have had close calls with different types of string accidents with our
kits and it's sort of just a knee-jerk reaction.

Now, damn, my mind is still fogged - who was it whose cat got tangled in a
stringed toy or mini-blinds and, if s/he had not gotten instant help could
have killed her/himself?

LOL, whenever even one of us old farts posts a picture of a new cat tree
with a stringed toy hanging from it we hear a warning (for which I am
grateful and glad because it *is* a reminder to us old farts and possibly a
life saver for a new master).

Please forgive us old worry-warts. It was a nice tale about kittens and we
always, *ALWAYS* welcome those.

And I don't think I've "met" you yet, are you new here to the group or have
I just been too fogged to see you post before?

If so, welcome to the group and I wish I had been more gracious in my first
post to yours. Again please accept my apologies.

So tell us David, do you have any masters? If so, details and preferably
pics please? ;

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See our clowder at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

See the RPCA FAQ site, by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.com/rpcablog/

David Rorer wrote:
The laces - if you read the story carefully - were and remained on my shoes.
At no time were the kittens allowed to play with them unsupervised.

David Rorer


This group is notorious for taking a subject and running with it. Mike
pointed out that loose laces are not good kitty food, not that you were
negligent in caring with your kittens. Please hang in there and cut us
some slack.

Pam S.

"Lesley" wrote in message
...
On Aug 22, 5:14 am, (---MIKE---) wrote:
Shoe laces are fine IF they are on the shoes. They are dangerous if
not. A cat can swallow them and get an obstruction.


A cautionary tale to emphasize this point,,,,,,When we were getting
together all the new stuff for the Fabulous Furballs arrival I got a
packet of boot laces- when we got them home we left them in the
kitchen with food, water and litter and let them get round to coming
out and exploring in their own good time but I noticed the gate on the
cat carrier's hinges were a tad loose...so when the gate was up it
could easily fall down again- worried that their first encounter with
their new home might include a carrier gate hitting them I used the
boot laces to lie the gate to the handle so it couldn't crash down on
them..

We'd had them about a week or two when Dave phoned me at work in a
massive panic. He was sitting there when Dunzi came into the room and
he thought she had a klingon but on closer inspection it was in fact
the end of a bootlace literally hanging out of her posterior! Somehow
even through we thought we had put it out of reach after playing with
them with it, Dunzi had chewed it in half and swallowed half of it and
these were long boot laces indeed when Dave found the uneaten section
he realised Dunzi has just swallowed something longer than herself
including her tail.....

I rushed home ready to rush her to the vets but when I got home, I
found Dave carefully inspecting the contents of the litter tray..to
put it as nicely as one can (and that's not very nice) Dunzi had had a
long thin bowel movement, which when we carefully inspected it
contained the boot lace not even twisted in any way indeed I suspect
if we had washed it, it would have probably been perfectly usable but
we're not that desperate!

We've never since even kept a spare pair of laces in the house- I'm
the only one with lace up shoes (forced into something with a decent
heel and ankle support ever since the afore mentioned Dunzi tripped me
on the stairs over 2 years ago) and my laces stay in the shoes and if
they snap when I'm out then I'll buy a new pair and change them when
I'm out but I won't leave laces lying around anywhere

Lesley


*****************

Words of wisdom, Lesley. Laces may make wonderful toys but if a cat injests
them (or any sort of filament or wire) it can wreak havoc. I don't let
Persia anywhere near things like that. The blinds on the windows have cords
to pull them up or let them down. John sometimes chastises me for not
letting Persia bat at them and chew on them when the cords are dangling.
"Let her play!" It's doubtful she could eat the cords but if she did... I
err on the side of caution and tuck them out of sight so she's not tempted.

Jill