Cat eating litter

I noticed Tuxedo licking up litter out of the litterbox last week. Gary saw him eating it today. Today he keeps going back in there to eat more - we've chased him out of there six or seven times.

Guess the source of his UTIs isn't such a mystery (since he has no access to other food than his prescription food). I'm assuming litter would change his PH balance.

Anyway, a member of TCS informed me he probably has a dietary deficiency that is prompting him to do this, so we're calling the vet tomorrow.

BUT - we won't be awake to chase him out of the litterbox tonight. How bad for him is litter? Should we keep nightwatch? We don't have any boxes of it around here to read the labels! This is regular Tidy Cats Fresh Step litter (or something like that).

Would switching his brand or type of litter help?

I just went to the Tidycat site and it said if your cat is eating litter call your vet as it might be a underlining problem HTH

Laurie?

If you have newspaper, start shredding them into strips. Use them for litter until you talk to the vet. Usually it is a simple diet change to alter the behavior, but this poor boy has been under some stress lately and that could be a reaction to it as well. Use the strips of newspaper for your litter for now, just to be safe.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!

I have heard that rabbit pellets (food) work well for an alternate litter and absorb better than newspaper too.