Vendetta against paper/cardboard

[malt]

My new kitty Toddy seems to have a vendetta against anything made of paper/cardboard. I've ad him for 3 weeks and in that time he's torn up a book, several loose pieces of paper, a carboard envelope, and annihilated 5 toilet rolls. Just now I caught him in my wardrobe chewing on a hole in the wall - the wall is lined with, you guessed it, some kind of cardboard! 

He's about 9-10 months old, seems to be in good health - very bright, alert, affectionate, playful, an exhausting amount of energy! So most likely it's just him getting bored or still learning what in the house is and isn't a toy. It's not a huge issue, it's not like I'm horribly frustrated, I just have to make sure to put important papers and books out of his reach. 

But I wanted to make sure that it was just him being a cheeky nugget and not indicative of anything serious! Especially in light of finding out my flatmate's cat has had gingivitis for a while now and we only noticed last week, I'm kind of paranoid about hidden health issues in my pets right now. 

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• malt
• Aug 22, 2015

Look at this. Thinks he's some kind of book critic. 

 

[jcat]

We've got a "cardboard addict" that goes through cardboard boxes and scratchers at an alarming rate, but it's better than him destroying tablecloths and shoes like he used to. :lol3: We say he's a Black Labrador puppy in disguise.

Quite a few of the cats and kittens at the shelter love to shred cardboard, too. Right now we've got three 3 -4-month-old ferals who need a new box every other day. It's normal behavior, and you just have to get used to shreds of cardboard decorating your home.

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• jcat
• Sep 18, 2013

 

[mservant]

Erm, I'm not so sure that chewing such precise corners off boxes is 'normal' @jcat  . 

  

     I've told so many people about that specialist chewing but I couldn't remember who did it - hah, Mogli!  

I too have a chewy beast @Malt, and Mouse loves book and magazine covers more than almost anything else - my important mail seems to be his favourite target. 

 

 

Sadly Mouse is not as organised in his chewing as Mogli (above) seems to be and his creations look more like Toddy's.    He has a strange ability to know which letters are most important and manages to paw and mouth them out of large piles of other stuff, and even paws open my purse to get at them when he sees me putting something 'interesting' in there.... Cardboard, paper, books, it's all instantly attracting to him.    I make sure no wrapping tape / string is left out as he chews and swallows those, but mostly the paper is disgarded and isn't dangerous for Mouse so I accept it as one of his entertainments.  I have to warn anyone visiting to make sure nothing of value is left out though - books, paperwork, passports etc.   A friend visiting me last week was woken up on her first night here by the sound of enthusiastic chewing as Mouse tried to demolish the Spanish study book she had brought with her!   Thankfully it was her own property and not borrowed from a library. 

Mouse did have terrible oral problems from when he was a kitten, and started to chew seriously from when he started teething and his mouth got more painful, but I don't think it always goes together.   Kittens chewing more when they are teething is pretty common though.   

I hope Toddy's chewing becomes slightly less prolific as he matures and teething comes to an end, but if not, make the most of your resident shredder and use junk mail and unwanted catalogues and magazines as cheep play material along with the usual boxes.