she chomps away at clothing

[lisajm]

She has this habit of chomping away at clothes, generally my clothes, and also towels. Basically anything that is made from fabric that is edable. What ever I do, she seems to find a way to munch on cloth. After a while she is throws up and I can tell she has eaten some type of cloth.

I'm baffled as to why she does this, can anyone give me advise as to how to stop or defer her from doing this?

 

[hissy]

Lisa, it could be that your cat has a serious deficiency (I probably spelled that wrong) and she needs to see a vet. The condition is known as pica and your vet can determine through a blood test what is wrong. Feed her good quality cat food in the meantime give her fiber as well, and get her to the vet!

 

[purrfectcatlove]

M.A. I was not able to spell that wort and so did not answer right away .

But I 2nd that , you need to get your cat checkt by a vet . Also try to hide everything what he may want to chew on in the mean time . I had a cat do that befor I new TCS and I think he died eating something being stuck in the belly . Maybe you need to look him in a place for a while where he cant chew anything till you go to the vet .But please see a vet with your cat .

 

[lisajm]

Thank you Hissy for your comments, I am taking my cat to the vets tonight and will let you know what the outcome is. I spoke to the vet at length on the phone, he has a cat that has the same habits; however he assures me that it has to do with stress. My cat is stressed because she cannot go out of the house, and is bored at home while I am at work. He informs me that there are no nutritious vitamins in bed sheets or any other material, and will not provide my cat with supplements she is lacking in her diet. In fact this kind of behaviour is not a rare, but unfortunately cannot be treated with a miracle cure. Vets are using Prozac in Europe and USA to help cats with their stress problem. My cat will be going for her yearly injection tonight, and I will keep you all posted with any news in case any cat owner is facing the same problems.

 

[hissy]

Lisa, here are some websites about it:

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

http://www.21cats.org/health/eatingbehaviors.html

Good luck, I hope the cat won't be affected to much by this behavior.