Why a length of string is not like other swallowed things
A small solid object often passes through a cat or comes back up. String behaves differently because of its length. One end can anchor — looped around the base of the tongue, caught at the stomach outlet, or held in the gut — while the intestine keeps trying to move the rest along. The gut bunches up on the fixed string like fabric gathering on a thread, and the taut strand can then saw through the intestinal wall. Vets call these linear foreign bodies, and ribbon, tinsel, thread, wool, and even long grass belong to the same risky family. The damage is internal and progressive, which is why a cat can look bright after the swallow and deteriorate later as the bunching tightens.
The rule about pulling, and its one narrow exception
If you see string trailing from her mouth or her rear, do not pull it. What looks like a loose end may be under tension from an anchor point you cannot see, and tugging turns you into the force doing the sawing. If a short piece is lying loose in her mouth and lifts away freely with no resistance at all, removing it is reasonable — but the instant you feel any tension, stop and leave it exactly as it is. Do not cut a trailing end short either, tempting as tidiness is. The visible end is information for the veterinarian about what went in and how much may remain, and a vet may use it in assessing her.
Signs that mean she needs the vet now
Call a veterinarian promptly after any known string swallow, and treat the following as urgent escalation if they appear: repeated vomiting or retching that produces nothing, refusal of food in a cat who normally eats, drooling, crying or growling when picked up, a hunched posture with a tense belly, straining in the litter tray, hiding, or a sudden flat lethargy. String visible at the rear combined with straining is a do-not-wait combination. Be honest with the vet about the material and length if you know it — sewing thread, gift ribbon, and tinsel behave the same dangerous way but the amount swallowed shapes their concern. Photograph what remains of the packet or spool if that helps estimate the missing length.
While you wait to be seen
Keep her indoors and observed, offer her normal food only if the vet advises it, and stop her playing with or chewing anything fibrous in the meantime. Note times: when she swallowed it, when she last ate, vomited, or passed anything, and whether any string has appeared. A simple written timeline handed over at the practice is genuinely useful and stops a stressed owner forgetting the sequence. Do not give anything intended to make her vomit or to speed her gut along. With linear material, speeding the gut's movement against an anchored strand is the opposite of help.
Clearing the house of the next strand
Work through her world at cat level afterwards: sewing kits closed, ribbon and gift wrap stored in drawers rather than on tables, tinsel off the tree entirely, hair ties in pots instead of on wrists and doorknobs, wool and yarn projects behind doors, and dangling blind and curtain cords shortened or tied up. Dental floss belongs in a lidded bin — it arrives pre-scented with mint and is exactly string-shaped. In a scare like this, having guidance beside the vet call steadies the observation work, and KinsLe offers that through Kimmy, its built-in assistant you can ask in the moment while what you note stays alongside her profile.