Suebee, I'm sorry to hear about Bess' accident. Why did you husband want to put her to sleep? I'm sure she was 100 times better off in your caring hands than at the hospital.
3 weeks after we adopted our first cat, we bought one of those long ribbon-like fleece toys. Less than 1/2 hour after I read this instructions (yes, I did!) which said that the cat should not be left unattended with the toy, something happened and I went to resolve it. 2 minutes later, Daniella had eaten about 8" of the fleece.
$2000 later, we had a healthy cat. But it sure taught me a lesson. Now I look at everything with a "how can the cats get into trouble" eye. I don't always anticipate everything but do try.