My cat, Menchi, had a theory. She thought it would be a fun idea to swallow a string. Why eat plain old boring cat food when you can slurp up a string? In theory, it would be a lot of fun.

But reality had different ideas. Reality meant vomiting, loss of appetite, increasing weakness and almost death. She was rushed to the animal hospital and I was told that she needed surgery – which would cost at least $3,500 and probably more. With surgery, she would have a good chance of survival. Otherwise, her odds were less than 10%. When I opted out of surgery for financial reasons, they offered immediate euthanasia. I opted out of that too. Less than 10% is still better than 0%. I reckoned I’d give her a shot at life.

The very next day she started improving and now she’s practically back to her old self. I told her, “Menchi, it’s good to have you back – but you’re an idiot for swallowing a string!”

Be careful what you leave laying around if you have pets that don’t fully understand string theory. You could end up coughing up a lot of money. Don’t always take what the vet says at face value. A Jewish sage once said, “This too shall pass.” Indeed.

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