Eating plastic

The past 2 mornings I have woken up to hearing Whitey chewing on the plastic of the garbage bag.

Luckily I have the pet repellent and it works, but at 5 am he's right back at it.

I do feed him and I hate when he does it because I'm so nervous that he'll chew too large of a piece and get sick from it.

Any other thoughts? I'm also thinking about getting a new garbage can (one that is taller).

I have a trash can that I use to store the dog's food in, that has what look like 2 "handles" that lay flat in the top rim of the can, but actually hold the plastic bag so that none of it hangs out of the top of the can! They have a spring open top. I have 2 more smaller ones of these in my DD's bedroom and our bathroom, and I love them! I got mine from Walmart, but other places (Kmart, etc.) have them too, and you can get them short or tall, square or oval- pretty much whatever you want. Hope that helps!

Hmmm...thanks! There is a Kmart right around the corner from where I work. I'll check it out!

It is worrying when they do that! I also suggest a new rubbish bin where none of the plastic hangs out, as you are right if they ingest a large enough piece it could cause an obstruction. Radar is my plastic eater, we can't keep him off any type of plastic so the only really safe way of dealing with it is to make sure there is no way he can get any.

I have been wondering if playing with mylar krinkle balls as kittens makes cats want to chew plastic bags. Has anyone else had this experience? Two of my cats did play with those balls as kittens and they are the only cats I have that like to chew bags. I have thrown out all my krinkle balls. A wad of paper work just as well and is less of a threat to their health.

Originally Posted by lunasmom

The past 2 mornings I have woken up to hearing Whitey chewing on the plastic of the garbage bag.

Luckily I have the pet repellent and it works, but at 5 am he's right back at it.

I do feed him and I hate when he does it because I'm so nervous that he'll chew too large of a piece and get sick from it.

Any other thoughts? I'm also thinking about getting a new garbage can (one that is taller).

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I found a perfectly good ice chest at a garage sail (a large one) that I now use to keep the cat's dry food in because Persi was chewing through the sack the food came in. Persi also chews the plastic wrappers off of any kind of candy you leave laying around. And I now keep the simple plastic garbage bags we used to use in a metal trash can. When you own cats, ya gotta make some changes!

I have heard that the plastic bags from like walmart have fish oil in them and that is why some cats like them. Dont know for sure though.

Quite a lot of plastic has fish or whale oil in it, so it can be attractive to cats. The only thing is to use metal outer containers for everything.