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Plastic bags, Desensitize or Ignore

post #1 of 11
2/11/11 at 4:40am
Thread Starter 
Whenever I bring something home, Buttercup and Wesley would be so excited, and would immediately dig through whatever I brought back.

I know not to leave plastic bags out, but I was just unloading the stuff real quick while I was there to supervise.

Well, Wesley stuck his head through a hand-hole, got stuck, and went running with it dragging behind him with a can of whipcream still in the bag clanking around.

I got it off him as soon as I caught him, consoled him, but still today two weeks later if he hears or sees me carrying bags in he runs to the office and hides behind the couch and only slinks out ten mins later.

Question:
Should I cut the handles off a plastic bag and leave it out for him so he can realize its not the anti-christ, or just ignore the issue?
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post #2 of 11
2/11/11 at 6:05am
I would advise to cut off the plastic handles, put them down on the floor and watch how your kitty reacts. And you yourself act like it's no big deal.
I have had plastic bags on the floor, handles cut off, for about 10 months, almost since I fostered/adopted Ritz, and she likes the sound they make when she pounces on them. She likes to bury her nose in them too
Then last month I thoughtlessly left a plastic bag on the sofa with a carton of eggs in it. Went outside to get more groceries; came inside to find white stuff on the rug, yellow stuff on the wall, scrammed eggs by the patio door, and no Ritz. Turned out she lost a battle with the eggs and plastic, and a nail in the process. Freaked her out.
A month later if she sees and/or hears me carry plastic bags she runs into the other room. And looks very warily, scared, at plastic bags up high, like on a counter top or on top of a table. That said, she still has no fear of plastic bags if they are the floor.
Let me know what happens.
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post #3 of 11
2/11/11 at 6:57am
Thread Starter 
OK, I just didn't know if it was an exercise in futility and stress out the guy to no avail.

Will try it.

Cats sometimes... I tell ya. This morning Wesley knocked a funnel off the kitchen table and they poofed up at each other as if they had to fear attack but then chilled out like "oh yeah, I forgot you're my best friend and sibling". *facepalm*
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post #4 of 11
2/11/11 at 4:05pm
Are plastic bags a toy when you're around or something? If not, it seems like it's a good thing that he won't go near potentially dangerous plastic bags. That way, if you do happen to forget to remove a bag from an area, he won't go near it and risk suffocating himself or swallowing plastic. Really, it sounds like Wesley is helping you with your job . As cat owners, we all protect our cats from potentially harmful elements in our homes (i.e. no sharp things on the floor, no plants, no cleaners lying about), so when the cat is the one avoiding a potential hazard, I don't see any harm in it.

Also, I think you would teach him that bags are less dangerous than they really are if you cut the handles, since he would start to think all bags have their handles cut. You would either have to cut the handles off of every bag you bring into the house from here until the day Wesley goes to the RB, or risk him being overconfident and unprepared when a bag turns out to have intact handles.
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post #5 of 11
2/11/11 at 4:11pm
It depends what your cats do with them... If that is the only problem, then yes, cut the handles and leave them around... Maybe in a corner, he will get used to it. The same thing happened to my Lucky, and she freaked - we nearly had a bad accident with her, as she was going to fall off our wall shelf head first in a wooden furniture...
I can't have plastic bags around for another reason entirely - Bugsy thinks it is a delicious snack! Yep, he eats them! So, I my house, plastic bags are a big no no
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post #6 of 11
2/11/11 at 4:27pm
Actually it might be a good thing that he's afraid of plastic bags now. Lynxx used to eat them! Drove us nuts after shopping, always making sure the plastic bags were thrown away, where he couldn't get at them.
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post #7 of 11
2/11/11 at 4:38pm
Thread Starter 
I had already put it out, but he just stayed out of the room.

I suppose when grocery shopping I could just ask for paper from now on. They do like playing w/ the paper bags.
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post #8 of 11
2/11/11 at 8:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
I had already put it out, but he just stayed out of the room.

I suppose when grocery shopping I could just ask for paper from now on. They do like playing w/ the paper bags.
That was going to be my suggestion. Better for the environment too.
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post #9 of 11
2/11/11 at 9:06pm
I would just ignore and not make an issue out of it. It really doesn't matter if kitty like plastic bags or not. Either way they are not toys and I would never leave them on the floor for them to play in.
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post #10 of 11
2/12/11 at 12:55pm
The less a cat fears, typically, the calmer and more well-adjusted (i.e. happier) the cat is. For that reason, I would casually just leave a plastic bag here or there in the house - without the handles, of course - and begin offering treats in the same room as the bag... slowly working my way nearer to the bag. I'd pick them up at night, though, as you don't want either of the cats to begin eating them. Repeat until the fear is gone.

That said, there are reasons not to use plastic bags at all, so it could be a toss up for you. Me, I use plastic bags for litter disposal so I handle them often enough that I would not want my kitties afraid of them.

AC
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post #11 of 11
2/14/11 at 7:30am
Yes, Ritz is afraid of plastic bags ONLY when someone is carrying them inside the house and/or they are left on top of the kitchen countertop or on the floor. She runs and hides until I've unpacked the groceries.
She had a bad experience with a plastic bag about six weeks ago (carton of eggs + paw in plastic bag = one lost nail).
She is fine with plastic bags on the floor, without handles of course. And they are incorporated into our playtime together. She's made no attempt to go into any of my kitchen cabinets.
The less the cat fears, the happier a cat is--generally speaking. Of course I want/need her to be afraid of certain things, like electrical cords, my outdoor patio with a 50 foot drop to the ground, raisins, small spaces where she can get to but I can't. And I take preventive, preemptive actions, to make sure she's protected from those.
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