I worry about needles, pins, and thread. Our two older cats aren't interested, but our younger cat, a Siamese named Holly, loves thread and yarn. I try hard to keep it put away, but I'm sure there have been times when she's swallowed some. I don't think she's swallowed a needle yet, but I worry.
However, our Pekingese, Sammy, (his pic is my avatar) is the worst. He was terrible when he was a puppy. He would eat ANYTHING! I wasn't sewing then, thank goodness, because I'm sure he would have scarfed down some needles and tons of thread. He loved crayons and we often found colorful "presents" in the yard. In fact, he still likes them. My granddaughters have been good about keeping them off the floor, but they spilled some the other day and Sammy ate a few before we got them picked up. He also liked earplugs, the kind that are attached together with a narrow band. My husband often wore them home from work, but was rarely able to take them back. For some reason, he didn't want to wash them, then wear them again, after we found them in the yard. And if someone dropped a coin, they couldn't pick it up fast enough to beat Sammy. He ate coins constantly. He was sort of like a bank, except he ended up doing the depositing. :mrgreen:
It's a miracle Sammy lived through his puppyhood. We've never had to take him to the vet for anything he ate; he must have an excellent digestive system. Sometimes he did have tummy aches, but they always passed when, well, when whatever he ate did. I thought he'd outgrown his indiscriminate eating days, but recently he's been reverting to them. One evening a few weeks ago, he suddenly started running around the living room, grabbing Barbie shoes and taking them to his bed to eat. My granddaughters had been visiting earlier and spilled the Barbie clothes container, then had to leave before they got everything picked up. I guess Sammy just couldn't resist. Needless to say, I quickly picked everything up.
Then last night, two band-aids fell off my finger. I have a cut on one of my fingers and it's too big for one band-aid, so I had to use two to cover it. I noticed they were getting a little loose, then suddenly they just slipped off my finger onto the floor and guess who was right there and gobbled them down quick as could be. I was reaching down to pick them up, but he was much faster than me. Two large band-aids! So far he seems fine, but I'll feel better when we find them in the yard.
Oh, and I almost forgot the mouse he took away from one of our cats a few weeks ago. She must have caught it outside and I didn't notice it when I let her in. I was walking out of the kitchen when I heard her squeal and hiss, then suddenly Sammy came running into the dining room with a live mouse in his mouth. Oh my, it was so gross. I thought about trying to get it out of his mouth, but when he started crunching and munching I turned chicken and went into the bathroom and shut the door. When I came back out, there was no trace of the mouse and Sammy was laying on his bed with a very satisfied look on his face. Sort of smug, like a cat. Evidently his little tummy got filled up, because he didn't eat anything else for a few days.
He's an old doggy now; he turned 10 in March. I don't know why he's suddenly started eating everything in sight again, but I'm being extra careful not to let things fall on the floor. Well, except for errant band-aids and such. And I really hope none of the cats bring any more mice in the house!
Sandy