Biting on cardboard boxes

I leave out cardboard boxes and egg containers for the kitties to play with. Their idea of playing is to shred the boxes with their teeth. As far as I can tell, they are not eating the boxes. Is this safe? And is it okay behavorially? Can it be a good outlet for their biting ways? Or should I discourage it?

This is one of Maia's self entertaining habits! She loves to play with boxes as well and if I'm not playing with her or she is bored, she shreds them up! She also shreds paper, especially things I show interest in, like my printing paper or a book, have to hide them from her . As long as they aren't eating it, I think it's just a way to drain excess energy and attract attention....no harm in that

My two rascals play and destroy boxes all the time, they dont eat it, just make such a mess haha

Perfectly normal... safe and cheap toy too!

My cats all love to play,destroy and chew on cardboard boxes too

Lucy does the exact same thing with cardboard or any paper. She doesn't eat it, just leaves globs of wet paper products all over!

Okay, good to hear!

Bella does this too. Any box that I leave out will have hundreds of tooth holes by the end of the day . I figure it might help clean her teeth and I've never seen her eat it.

My cat likes to jump into boxes and hide in them so she can jump out when somebody comes by her.

Originally Posted by carolinalima

Perfectly normal... safe and cheap toy too!

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The best cheap toy is the safely tab on plastic milk bottles.

Just throw it and the cat will play with it for hours.

I almost think it's an instinct that helps them keep their teeth sharp. Tinker does it. but if she finds any clear plastic she'll gnaw it to death.

Oh, and lately she's gotten into the trash in the bathroom and plays with the q-tips, which is nasty, so i have to hide them.

kids!

Yes, Dory is addicted to plastic bags too! I come home with groceries and she's rubbing her face against and gnawing the bags...

Shareena sits in the box, pulls bits off the edge with her teeth and then spits them out. I saw her one time with a piece of cardboard stuck on the back of her tongue. She was digging it out with a claw. Fortunately I hadn't trimmed her claws recently so she was able to hook it and pull it out of her mouth. She immediately went back to destroying the box.

Haha Simon's been chewing up the box we brought him home in for a couple months (haven't had him that long) and as long as he's not eating it I don't mind. He did the same thing with his scratching post for awhile (it's just textured cardboard) until he realized it was satisfying to scratch more than bite.

The box is nearly unrecognizable and it's shoved under my bed so it's out of the way..the amount of cardboard under there is.....amazing.