Chewing plastic.

My new cat is obsessed with plastic. All plastic, and form. Right now she is across the room trying to chew on the printer. While that is very cute, it is a bit of trouble.

She chews up all electrical cords within reach, and of course plastic wrapping if she can find it. She doesn't like any toys that aren't made of plastic.

I have heard that this kind of behavior may be indicative of a deficiency in the cat's diet.
How can I get her to stop? How can I tell if she is missing something?

How old is your kitty? Mine was 9 yrs. old when she started acting like yours, crazy for plastic, always looking for plastic. Mostly every morning
she had a grumbling stomach and I have since learned thay a lot of plastic
is made from animal fats and thats the attraction. She also started to have
loose stools and brought her to the vet. It turned out she had severe
hyperthyroidism. I would check her for hyperthyroidism with a T-4 blood
test. Just a thought, if it's not strictly a behaviour problem.

Hope That Helps
Gingerpye

she's 2 and was just recently checked out for everything before I adopted her.

I did know about the animal fat thing, but I thought it was mostly in plastic bags. Maybe not?

Its starting to be a problem though. I can't hide to cords to all of my things.

I've heard that tabasco sauce can be a good deterrent to divert them away from wires and stuff, but I don't really think it's feasable to put it on everything, including your printer!

Is she digesting the plastic bags or just gnawing on them?

Glad she"s healthy! Maybe she just needs some interactive toys, like the
Panic Mouse, etc. or maybe another kitty friend. Hope it's just a phase she's
going through.

It's wonderful that you adopted her.

She's just chewing them from what I can tell. I generally get her away and distract her pretty fast. She does have another kitty to play with and lots of kitty toys.. I think its the tortitude

Willow was a chewer (still is really) and I bought him one of those large cotton dog bones (almost as big as him)

Whenever he would go to chew on something he shouldn't, I redirected him onto the bone and played for a while! Now he tends to go over to the bone when he wants to chew or bite - although he will have an occasional go on a wire if it gets near his mouth.

I did try Bitter Bite, but that didn't really seem to help at all

Sorry to bring this back up, but I really need some help.
I can't have any kind of plastic exposed anywhere in my house, or she will chew it. She will get into teh cabinets and pull out plastic wrapped items. She'll chew on any cord anywhere.

I'm sort of at the end of my rope here.
I'm hoping maybe I can give her something appropriate to chew on, but I don't know what it might be. It is simply not an option to put bitter apple or tabasco on everything plastic in my house.

Assuming there's nothing going on physically, have you asked your vet for suggestions of appropriate chew toys?

What about a plastic nyla-bone that's made for dogs? Just a thought...

Good luck!

Wow! The nyla-bone is a great thought!

My dogs always loved those, and I think Tak would probably munch one too! Great suggestion.

I'll see if I can find a small one.
the only ones I've ever seen would be too large for her to play with.

thanks though!

Carl loves to try to put anything in his mouth... I think it's b/c he's a Taurean.

Granny's Bitter Apple.

It's a bitter spray that I used to get him to stop chewing on cables and plants. It's completely safe for cats and dogs and is a GREAT deterrant! You can buy it (or a similar product) for less than $9 CAD at any good pet store.

I tried the nylabone thing today, she sorta liked it.
I'm trying to stick it in her mouth whenever she goes after the computer cord and it seems to be working.

However, she doesnt stick with it for long.

Originally Posted by Malakaiii

Wow! The nyla-bone is a great thought!

My dogs always loved those, and I think Tak would probably munch one too! Great suggestion.

Click to expand...

This is great for a cat also. Skittles has a wishbone Nylebone and she carries it around. I also bought bitter apple today for the puppy and it does work.

I'm trying her with rawhide too.
You have no idea how irritating of a problem this is.
She's destroyed two computer cords and is working on the ethernet cord. How nice of her.

AND she only does it when I'm home.

Originally Posted by eupnea

I'm trying her with rawhide too.
You have no idea how irritating of a problem this is.
She's destroyed two computer cords and is working on the ethernet cord. How nice of her.

AND she only does it when I'm home.

Click to expand...

You have to let her sit in your lap and read all or post so she knows how important the site is to you as her mommy

GAHHHHHH it doesn't work anymore.
She's attacking the printer, dragging the paper out of the tray so she can chew on it.
Chewing computer.
Chewing anything she can get.

Could this be an anxiety thing? i'm at the end of my rope here, and she certainly doesn't understand what I'm doing when I say no and try to redirect her to a toy.

Originally Posted by eupnea

GAHHHHHH it doesn't work anymore.
She's attacking the printer, dragging the paper out of the tray so she can chew on it.
Chewing computer.
Chewing anything she can get.

Could this be an anxiety thing? i'm at the end of my rope here, and she certainly doesn't understand what I'm doing when I say no and try to redirect her to a toy.

Click to expand...

It could be. She does it only when you are home. Could be a way to get attention. Like kids do negative is better then no attention.