Ming Poo's Ordeal

Our little Tonkinese cat, Ming Poo, has gotten herself in big trouble.  Yesterday she found one of my threaded needles on my magnetic pincushion.  She started trying to eat the thread.  When I saw her she had the thread and needle hanging out of her mouth with about 5 inches of thread attached.  The more I tried to catch her, the more she kept swallowing and the needle got closer and closer to her mouth.  She ran down the stairs, around the furniture, and I grabbed at her a few times, only to have her slip out of my grasp.  On the final grasp, the needle went down her throat.  I opened her mouth to see if I could see it, but it was gone.

I called the vet this morning and he told me to bring her right in.  He did an X-ray, and there it was, in her abdomen, assumedly in her intestine.  No choice, she had to have surgery.  He spent some time with me informing me of the various scenarios that might take place, but having the needle come out on its own wasn't a likely scenario.  I felt awful.  I tried advising him to keep her at his office and take another X-ray later on to see how it was progressing, but he said that wouldn't work, and if it perforated her intestines and a few days later she still had to have surgery, he'd send me to a specialist because it would involve lots of other issues.

He just called me, she's out of surgery and starting to wake up.  He located the needle in the intestine, but it wouldn't have made it to the next corner turn without becoming stuck.  It was turned with the pointed end facing out.  The needle was found without the thread, which may or may not cause another problem.  He will keep her for the afternoon and at 6:45 I have to go back and have her transferred next door to the Emergency 24-hour clinic for them to watch her overnight to see that she gets her pain medication, hydration, and see that she doesn't get tangled up in the tubing.

I feel really bad.  She's my little baby, even though she's 5 years old and 7.2 pounds.  Of all the cats, she's the one who doesn't go outside, for fear she would be eaten up or stolen.  She'll go up to anyone.  Needless to say, the vet bill is enormous.  I won't be asking to go on vacation this summer.