Cat with Pica??

Hello,
My cat Woo has a nasty habit of eating non edible items. She eats carpet, wool (two of her favorites.) stuffing, dirt off the floor, plastic, hair, hair balls (from her fluffier sister) and any sort of dirt or particle on the floor.
I'm concerned for her health, she just won't stop eating things!! I've considered using a bitter spray like what they use to stop puppies from chewing, but I'm not sure if it'll help.
I'm worried she will eat something poisonous, choke or end up having surgery. She will throw up a hairball when she consumes fabrics like carpet and wool, but other items I find in her poo.
The only thing I could think to be causing this is maybe Pica. Please help us find a solution!

Please, I really need help with her..

There is an article on wool-sucking here on TCS which gives a little information, http://www.thecatsite.com/a/wool-sucking-cats but the most informative piece I have found has been this text on messybeast.com.   I hope this helps you as it sounds extremely stressful not knowing from one moment to the next what she might ingest and when she might get sick or need emergency vet care.

MServant said:

There is an article on wool-sucking here on TCS which gives a little information, http://www.thecatsite.com/a/wool-sucking-cats but the most informative piece I have found has been this text on messybeast.com.   I hope this helps you as it sounds extremely stressful not knowing from one moment to the next what she might ingest and when she might get sick or need emergency vet care.

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I've heard horror stories of cats ingesting things and had to have surgery to remove large pieces of intestines. She isn't wool sucking, my other cat does that, she's ingesting it and that's what worries me. I'll look through the articles you provided. Thank you very much for the help

A lot of the articles which talk about pica start off talking about the wool sucking and eating, possibly because that is often how it first presents and with some cats it is only the wool that they eat.  Hopefully the messybeast information will help you:  that is the most detailed and practical information I have seen.  It does sound like pica to me from what you have described, and the messybeast information gives quite good information which tries to understand the behaviour as well as offering ideas on altering it.

It is a worrying behaviour - I've never had a cat with pica but Mouse does have a curiousity and tendency to explore things with his mouth which has led to some not so healthy experiences - including chewing and swallowing more metalic gift ribbon than I would have liked and then sicking most of if back up, and the remains ending up in his litter tray.  I have no plants or flowers in my home as he will eat them too.  He managed to show me that gladioli are toxic when he was less than a year old by sneaking a good chew on a stem of those a friend bought for me....  he looked decidedly sedated and lopsided for a while.       Not only that but when I then put them in the bathroom he spent the next week frantically trying to break in so he could do the same thing all over again.     Thankfully he doesn't eat all his toys or the strings of fishing rod toys.   A previous cat of mine would eat fleece fabric like the fleece of the CatDancer charmer but not in big enough quantities for it to cause blockages as I kept it hidden away in a drawer when  not in use. 

Thank you guys both for the responses! Sorry for my delayed response, I totally forgot to check back here!
Happy I'm not the only one here with an "odd" cat. Happy your babies never had any problems with it!
Luci has gone to the vet and was given a clean bill of health. But her Pica is no better, she partakes in eating things that I cannot prevent! The carpet, window blinds, and most recently.. Her sister! (Don't worry just the fur). She also chews on walls, cardboard, table legs, dressers, TVs, laptop screens.. She doesn't eat these but she does enjoy gnawing. Her favorite pastime is sinking her teeth into cardboard boxes, she doesn't eat it so I allow this.
It's so frustrating and I worry about some of these things being harmful. I tried keeping her in a large dog crate at night but it hurts me seeing her in there so I let her out!

Thank you for the update, it is good to hear your cat is well.   A lot of chewing can be down to teething if they are under a year in age, but your troubles do sound much more challenging than this.  Very glad to hear it's only been her sister's fur that was eaten.    

If she does continue to eat all sorts of inapporpriate things as you describe, and not just chew it might be worth your using a large crate for her over night or short periods when you are not there so that you can give firm control over what toys she has in her environment, but see how things go.