Can you help me with a piece of veterinary trivia

[Dr Lee]

I recently had a case of a cat who swallowed sewing thread and needed surgery - poor cat had the sewing thread wrapped around the tongue and it reached all the way to the colon with all of the small intestines not only being bunched up but also being sawed through. The patient is now recovering well - after 5 enterotomy sites and a gastrotomy site. Pet and owner are happy.

Now for the question I hope someone can help me with.

I remember from veterinary school that there is a compound in many sewing threads that keeps the thread smooth and enhances handling. I remember that this compound smells and tastes good to cats - one of the reasons cats eat sewing thread. I have looked through several books and posted the question on a veterinary forum - no one remembers this or the name of the compound. Does anyone know the name of this compound? This piece of information is literally keeping me up at night (yes, not an interesting life I lead, I know. Can anyone help me get some sleep here?)

Thanks.

[14+kitties]

Is it beeswax you are thinking of by chance?

http://www.taunton.com/besewstylish/...nTermsSIP4.pdf

First column, fifth one down.

[breeze]

I found this site about a chemical that is used on cotton thread. wouldn't let me copy and paste

http://www.swicofil.com/thread.html

mostly people use a 100% polyseter thread on regular sewing machines and for hand sewing.

hope this helps

[Dr Lee]

Thanks guys. Maybe it was residual xylene? gives me something to go on. Maybe it was a compound "back in the day" too that no longer applies. Thanks