As an animal lover I don't like to read unhappy stories about pets but it is vitally important that you know what letting your cats play with plastic bags or leaving plastic bags out in the open, can cause. I feel I have a moral obligation to try and educate as many people as I can about the hazards of ordinary plastic bags. Here is my story.
I had a wonderful cat by the name of Cleo. For some reason my cats always loved to sleep and lay on plastic bags so when I did my grocery shopping I would often leave a few out for them to have fun in. Cleo in particular used to curl up inside the bag and sleep. Sometimes she would play with the other cats through he hole(handle). She loved sitting inside and peeking out of the hole. Now I always made a few snips and little holes so they couldn't suffocate. I thought it was so cute I even have pictures of her doing it.
One day I came home from work and Cleo was no where to be found. I looked high and low and finally discovered her under my bed when. I got her out, she had a plastic shopping bag wrapped around her middle. Now this may be a little difficult to envision but I'll try my best to describe it. The bag was the regular grocery type that has a hole cut out to put your hands in the carry. Her head was just the right size to poke in and out of the hole. It looked like she had put her head through the hole and then stepped on the body of the bag, pulling it further down her neck, until she couldn't get it off.
During the day, while I was at work, she must have continued trying to get out of it, all the time making it go further down her body until it was pulled down as far as her middle. The damn thing was so tight around her middle that I had to pry it off and cut it with scissors. I have no idea how long she must have run around with the bag hanging off of her and terrorized. My precious Cleo went insane. I had to have her put to sleep.
You won't see a plastic bag anywhere in my place now. I get groceries of course but those bags are immediately put in a cupboard. I won't even leave one on the counter for a minute. I don't like distressing stories and I'm sorry if this has upset anyone but I felt I had to warn everyone of this particular hazard and I hope now that you know about it, you will tell anyone else who may let their cats play with plastic bags.
