Only one of my cats likes to come into my sewing room. She is only allowed in there when I am there. I have my serger stored under my sewing table. I was distracted on the computer and I heard her cough several times. She had started swallowing the thread from my serger! I was able to pull it gently out of her throat and she had a big wad in there. I watch her really close now!
One of our shepherds that we lost last year to cancer, Zeuss, would come in and lie on the floor when I was sewing. Never thought anything of it until he was outside having trouble doing his business. He had swallowed fabric scraps and was having trouble eliminating them. It was a stressful incident for both of us as I had to "assist" him. I made sure that I kept my scraps up off the floor after that.
My MIL cross stitches. She dropped her needle one day and her Cavalier King Charles swallowed it up quicker than she could get to it. That surgery cost her $2500!
So glad to know that your kitty is okay and yes, it does hurt the pocket book when something like this happens to our furry loved ones.