Would a visit to the Doctor have saved the old woman from death?

Question

You know the old woman who swallowed a fly? Then swallowed a spider to catch the fly, a bird to catch the spider, a cat to catch the bird, a dog to catch the cat, a goat to catch the dog, a cow to catch the goat, and a finally a horse to catch the cow all of which, of course, ultimately led to her untimely death.


Do you have any strong opinions as to whether she should have consulted a Doctor before taking this rather alternative approach to self-medication?

Does anyone actually know what the cause of death was?

Answer 1

It was alimentory, my dear Watson.

Answer 2

Assuming that she was in otherwise good physical health, she would eat untill she could not hold any more food. Then she would expell any more than her stomach could hold. Also, all of these creatures are eaten regularly in different cultures worldwide. So she really would not have put herself in too much peril.
I'd have forced her to drink a quart of laxatives, and chained her to a tree in the yard untill the defenseless fly was once again free to fly about and spread the infections and deseases that they carry. Either that , or strap her down and set the bug zapper on her belly untill i was absolutely sure the fly was dead or I got really bored.
Since she sent them in on a mission, they must have still been alive, so I'd say she died of injuries recieved while trying to eat the cat.

Prove or disprove my theory and send me a pic of you stuffing a whole live cat in your mouth. Cats, not kittens, and they have to be all the way in your mouth. You both have to live through it. I'm at yahoo.com.

Answer 3

The song says perhaps she'll die. So I don't think she did die. I think if her mouth was big enough to swallow them then it was big enough to vomit them out. That spider was awfully wriggly. Plus I think she had a mental health problem and lived on a therapeutic farm where she had access to a variety of animals who possibly would like to eat each other. So she would have had some sort of psychiatric nurse to help her or call the crash team.

Answer 4

In my medical opinion I believe cause of death was explosion secondary to over-consumption of farmyard animals. If she had come to me after swallowing the fly, I could have advised her against this ridiculous course of action, and simply have sucked it out with my Dyson which would have been much more sensible.

(I was joking, honest, before anyone reports me to the General Medical Council...)

Answer 5

I don't think she died! Or at least the song didn't say anything other than 'Perhaps she'll die!' Bet she had terrible stomach ache!
She probably did not have the money to visit a Physician anyway! They were very rare in her day and not very good!

Answer 6

I am not sure of the cause of death but I think it may have been some sort of throat infection because I understand she was very hoarse at the end

Answer 7

Asphyxiation

Answer 8

she wasnt an old woman ! she was a pig and she died of salmanilla

Answer 9

she wasn't an old woman, she was a zoo

Answer 10

I don't think she would have lived from eating all that crap.