Cats enamored with linear objects

Well, my Oliver, who my mother refers to as the "million dollar cat" because of all the emergency vet visits we've had to make in his 3 short years of life thus far (2 bad respiratory infections, 1 almost-fractured paw, 1 allergic reaction to a vaccination, and now 2 linear objects), was up to his usual tricks this Tuesday night.

I had just returned from vacation and had an open suitcase with a few pieces of clothing in it on our bedroom floor. One piece was a shirt with thin "wrap" ties...which, apparently, taste good to kitties! He chewed them OFF of the shirt (which, of course, is now ruined...)

About a year ago he ate a ribbon, and we had to have the exploratory surgery (about $2000 when all was said and done)

This time we were luckier, as he passed it all on his own, and is doing just fine now, bounding around like a maniac.

My question is this: I try my best to keep anything swallow-able out of his reach...but we all know that it's darn near impossible to keep the house 100% kitty proof.
So, is there something I can give him that will satisfy this urge to eat linear objects? I've thought about maybe giving him a piece of whole wheat spaghetti every once in awhile to chase around (I mentioned this to my husband and he thought I was nuts!)
I have a professor (I'm in grad school) who said he feeds his cats cat grass and it seems to keep them from chewing innapropriate things.

Oliver also "licks" fabric--I have a winter jacket that he will lick for half an hour at a time...so I'm guessing he has some sort of kitty oral fixation!

Just thought maybe you all might have some ideas....

I have on idea on the "linear objects" but Sasha does lick his bumble bees for a long time, and they are flannel covered. One thought is to tie a treat to a long string and pull it - so he knows that when YOU do it, it's ok.

It sounds like your cat has Pica- here are some websites on it
http://www.vetinfo.com/catchew.html

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/pica.htm

I have an EATER too Marsh will eat anything off the floor, and i mean anything. He'll sniff, and the next second, I'll see him chow down something, of course, I'm always too late in getting it out of his mouth

Of course, the last scare he gave me is when he ate a long piece of string. i was terrified, because i tried to pull it out of his throat, but it went down. THANKFULLY, i think he passed it OK, because he didn't have any complications.

I just learned to live with it, and make sure to never leave anything out he could eat

Sounds like Meish too. Anything stringy ends up in the litter box. I've had many a sleepless night worrying about what she recently ingested. I've just had to make a concious effort to do a sweep of the rooms and vac. the rugs a lot more frequently.

Meish also likes licking things like the carpet, blankets, glass.... my big toe.... I think she smells where a treat was before and thinks there is something left. She eats the cardboard that she is able to rip from her cardboard scratcher too... You'd think we don't feed her or something...

i dont know if this will help .. but i used to get real raw bones from the grocery store for our dog .. and sometimes our cats would try and chew on them as well .. of course Sampson would have none of that .. and usually told them that was his bone.. but maybe that could be an option..