Oh no, eating litter

I kept finding pieces of litter on Popsie's nose today. I hoped it was just from him sniffing around in his box but I just saw him eating his litter. I'm aware that this could be from anemia. I just checked his gums and they are pink but I'm still going to get him into the vet. Has anyone else had experience with CRF cats eating their litter?

I would want to actually see him eating the litter before going too far into diagnosis mode...'might be due to his "nosing around" in there!

And, if you have a corn litter product, he might have been "munching"!

All that said, if you check the Symptoms and Treatments page on Helen's site, you'll see that eating (clay) litter can also be a sign of a calcium imbalance.

Wasn't there a question about his calcium levels (earlier this year/late last year) when you were posting to the CRF list? I think you were using lactulose for his constipation and when the calcium level issue arose, I gave you this reference from Helen's site:
"Some people have found that using lactulose to control constipation has led to hypercalcaemia in their cats. You may therefore wish to avoid this treatment if your cat already has hypercalcaemia, and consider alternative treatments if your cat has developed hypercalcaemia since beginning lactulose."

My suggestion was that you speak to the Vet about using an alternate, maybe Miralax, if my memory is accurate...

Are you still using lactulose?

Was his calcium level high on the last bloodwork?

Stripe did that when she had Crf and Coco did it when she had severe Anemia. Thats why I do not use Clumping litter. The vet told me why they were doing it but I forget because it was years ago.

Originally Posted by BLAISE

I would want to actually see him eating the litter before going too far into diagnosis mode...'might be due to his "nosing around" in there!

Click to expand...

Blaise, the OP said she did see him eating the litter.

OK, yesterday I had poured a different brand of litter in his box, that's when he started eating it. I removed the litter and put in non clumping because if he's going to eat litter clumping is the worst kind. He didn't eat the non clumping. Today I went back to his old clumping litter and he hasn't eaten any. So I think it had something to do with that one brand. I couldn't get an appointment with the vet until Monday so I'll see how things go over the weekend. He has no other symptoms of anemia. I still might take him in Monday because he needs his BUN and CREA checked anyway.

http://www.fleascontrol.com/cat-eating-litter.htm This link as info for you. Stripe did it because the Crf.
Coco was because she had Fia at the time.
I hope his tests are better next time he geoes.