Help! My cat eats wood!

[michmere]

My 2-yr-old mixed breed, neutered male, Bogey loves to chew on plastic, metal and wood. Plastic and metal don't seem to be a problem as he never swallows them, but he has found a way to get inside the box spring of my bed and looks to have been chewing the unfinished wood beams. One of the reasons I believe this to be the case is that he has recently vomited several times and I noticed what looked to be intact splinters in the vomit, plus he has on two occassions defecated in rooms other than where his pan is.

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so what advice can you give? I have already sealed up the box spring so he can no longer get inside to chew, but I am worried about the effects it may have on his intestines, stomach, and/or esophogus.

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Michelle

[4 feline house]

Here's a link that might be helpful:
http://www.cyberpet.com/cybercat/articles/health/catfoods.htm

And another:
http://www.vetinfo.com/catchew.html#Chewing behavior - generalized pica

I tried many search engines using various key words - "feline pica", "cat pica" and "pica in cats", etc, but this is all I could find. Evidently not enough people have this problem with their cats! I didn't try just plain "pica" since this is also very common in people, and I was afraid I would have to weed through too many misses. Hope these help.

[This message has been edited by 4 feline house (edited March 30, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by 4 feline house (edited March 30, 2001).]

[michmere]

Thanks for the info. I have already looked at vetinfo, but I'll be sure to look at cyberpet and let you know if I find anything.



Originally posted by 4 feline house:
Here's a link that might be helpful:
http://www.cyberpet.com/cybercat/articles/health/catfoods.htm

And another:
http://www.vetinfo.com/catchew.html#Chewing behavior - generalized pica

I tried many search engines using various key words - "feline pica", "cat pica" and "pica in cats", etc, but this is all I could find. Evidently not enough people have this problem with their cats! I didn't try just plain "pica" since this is also very common in people, and I was afraid I would have to weed through too many misses. Hope these help.

[This message has been edited by 4 feline house (edited March 30, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by 4 feline house (edited March 30, 2001).]

[Smallfrygrl28]

your cat wants something to chew on! give your cat kitty candy or something cewy like that. this might help, because kitty food that is chewy tastes better than wood! you can buy these things at pet stores, and no, i have never had this problem, but i know enough about cats. Maybe you are feeding your cat food tat is to soft! They try to contol thier teeth! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif



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B) Becca

[michmere]

Thanks for your advice, Becca. I actually feed my cat crunchy Science Diet Food, chewy "Fishy's" treats, and "Tuna for Cats" so I don't think it's a matter of food texture. He's just weird! :P I seem to have been able to stop him by blocking him from getting into the box spring. I just hope he doesn't try to chew up any other wooden items!

[bahhbra1]

I just read your article on your cat eating your wooden bed frame. I have 2 cats, sisters same age, same food, same treats, same attention. Yet, one eats the corners or my bureaus, picture frames, drawers, pencils, end tables and any other little wood item she can get her teeth around. She is more destructive than then all four of my animals were.

I have a vet appt. next week and will ask, but the census seems to be, lack of attention or vitamin definciancy. Or as stated, texture. She eats well and often and has many treats to revert to if need be, so I'm not sure why she is still doing it. she is 2 and it just started about 6 months ago.

Is this detrimental to her health? I haven't seen any problems arising from it yet and no noticible splinters in stool or vomit.

Any suggestions?

[Catty1]

Definitely the nutrient idea seems like a good one...would be interesting to know what you find out.

Also, I have recently seen completely digestible soy chews that are for dental health - but they look like little rawhide treats/sticks! Yet they are not.

Might be worth a try.

Catty1

[nscarlson]

My 5 year old spayed female dsh eats plastic bags and wrappers and the shower curtain. Occasionally she will eat foil wrappers and styrofoam. I don't know why she does this, other than she is neurotic. I have also had problems with her urinating in places other than the litter box (including on the vet and in the carrier on the way to the vet's to check for a uti). I have tried amitryptilene (Elavil) which caused her to hide under the chair and not come out (very unusual behavior for her) and fluoxitene (Prozac) which she promptly threw up every time I gave it to her. I have talked to the vet about it because she has recently had small amounts of blood in her vomit along with whatever she has eaten and thrown up. The vet said she may have given herself an ulcer and to give her 1/4 tablet of Tagamet. I haven't tried this yet, but she hasn't been vomiting lately. I try to keep everything that she might eat out of reach, but she still seems to find things that I (or more often my husband) have overlooked.

In addition to my pica cat, I have a second cat, neutered male, approx. 5 years old, unrelated, who licks the shower curtain, plastic grocery bags and garbage bags, and himself when you pet him. Maybe they are just nuts because they have such easy lives!

[Catty1]

Maybe trying Feliway or another 'cat calmer' might be worth a try.

Good luck!

Catty1

[alexandra]

One of my cats eats elastic, rubber hoses, plastic carrier bags and her favourite, sellotape! She used to eat paper and cardboard, but seems to have gone off these. That was a nightmare as when she was a kitten, she used to climb up the backs of drawers and get into drawers from the back and eat photos and important documents. As both her and her brother can open doors, nothing was sacred wherever you put it! Her brother sometimes eats fluff and licks the carpet. As he is incapable of coughing up his own hairballs, he also has to have a laxative. They also used shred the curtains a lot (still do occasionally), and Smokey is so strong he used to pull the curtain rails straight out through the plaster. They have also destroyed a computor, a telephone, a mobile phone charger, a leather suite and 3 dining chairs. They are little monsters, but would not change them for the world, except perhaps the plastic and sellotape eating, as that does worry me. Believe me, you are not alone.....

[critters]

One of my cats eats elastic, rubber hoses, plastic carrier bags and her favourite, sellotape! She used to eat paper and cardboard, but seems to have gone off these. That was a nightmare as when she was a kitten, she used to climb up the backs of drawers and get into drawers from the back and eat photos and important documents. As both her and her brother can open doors, nothing was sacred wherever you put it! Her brother sometimes eats fluff and licks the carpet. As he is incapable of coughing up his own hairballs, he also has to have a laxative. They also used shred the curtains a lot (still do occasionally), and Smokey is so strong he used to pull the curtain rails straight out through the plaster. They have also destroyed a computor, a telephone, a mobile phone charger, a leather suite and 3 dining chairs. They are little monsters, but would not change them for the world, except perhaps the plastic and sellotape eating, as that does worry me. Believe me, you are not alone..... *looks around to see if there's another human here* LOL, I thought I was the only one with such awful little monsters!! I have those that eat and/or shred cardboard, paper, plastic, and wires (no wood eaters at the moment). With mine, it's the mouthy ones, the ones that enjoy biting and licking stuff. Somehow, nobody's ever been electrocuted or otherwise damaged in any way, although, like you say, they've destroyed TONS of stuff!!

[Catlady711]

I have to be very careful what is laying around in my house. Most of my kitties seem to like chewing on things they shouldn't. Bear has an addiction to Q-tips and cardboard he will even tip over trash cans looking for them, Pooky goes for anything plastic (straws, bags, plastic silverwear etc.), Dusty goes only for paper clips and rubber bands, Cami will go for anything smelling remotely like human food, Jack is my good boy and doesn't seem to be addicted to anything weird. :) As you can imagine I have to keep stuff put away and closed up, I even had to buy all different trash cans with lids, but even at that, the foot peddle can in the bathroom, Bear has figured out how to open!! He weighs 16-17 lbs so he just sits on the peddle and POOF the can is open, so now we have to throw all Q-tips in a different can that he hasn't figured out how to open.....yet. :p

[MajesticCollies]

Your cat doesn't look like this does it? Just kidding, I haven't any answer for you but hope you find a way to cure your problem. They say cats do the darndest things.

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m298/majesticcollies/ATT1319.jpg

[Lizzie]

Pica in cats is very worrying and frustrating. Shahdee had it and had a passion for fibreglass insulation among other things. Since I had a new house that wasn't as well built as it should have been, she was forever finding her way inside the chimney, under the bottom of built-in cupboards,etc. and eating the insulation left there. I was forever blocking off places and using a flashlight looking for tiny openings and bits of insulation sticking out of strange places, but she'd find places that I hadn't. I was sure she would shred her insides from the fibreglass, let alone her lungs when she threw it up, but she lived to 17 and died of kidney failure. She was an extremely neurotic cat and the very worst cat I've had to give sub-q fluids to - in fact it proved impossible to give them routinely.

She also completely confounded me by eating my bra and camisole straps. I'll never forget getting out my very best I.Magnin black lace teddy, an unusually extravagant gift to myself, from a closed drawer and realising that it no longer had straps. I was so confused that I kept turning it inside out looking for them, since it didn't make any sense. Then I kept finding pieces of bra strap in cat vomit. I had to put child locks on all drawers and cupboards. Then she started on wool blankets and sweaters, always eating out the middle of one so that it was hard or impossible to repair.

[Rebecca0630]

My cat does this too. It started a while back when I had some photos sitting out on my desk in one of those picture holders where you just poke the photo in it and it's not in a frame. She chewed up 4 of my pictures and on one of them she chewed all the corners off of it. I had to stop putting photos in it. Then she started chewing the corner of a wooden picture from on my desk and clawing my door and tearing pieces of wood off it and chewing them. Now she's started chewing on the corner of the coffee table and other wood furniture. She also chews up our plants, but lately she has stopped doing that and has stuck to the wood.
It's really odd though because sometimes she'll be chewing on the corner of the coffee table and then start rubbing her head all over it. Crazy cat. lol She has Purina cat food that's the hard pieces as well as treats. So, I have no idea why she's been doing this.

[ladonna benes]

My huge tabby who was about 20 lbs. became very ill last week and we took him in to vet who xrayed him and found he has blockages from the wood and hay. He is one sick cat now...can't eat, we have to give him fluids at home. Mick is his name, and he has always eaten wood a little bit, chews on leather 'shoes', now chews on dog bones but what broke the camel's back was the addition of hay from our chin's cage. Just bits of hay but enough to clog him up. I'm hoping he will be fine but this little adventure is a costly one. I've had cats all my life and never had a wood eating, hay eating one until Mick. Mick is 10yrs. old. Yes, it sounds like pica but is there anything additive that we can give him to break this unhealthy habit??? thanks for your post...I had to go on a search to find out if other feline folk relate.

[Catty1]

The only thing I have ever heard about cats eating unusual stuff is that something may be missing from their diet.

[bahhbra1]

My Louise is now 4 and still chews on wood occassionally. I have switched to only hard cat treats and feed her 1/4 of her daily food, 4 times a day. This seems to have helped alot. I feed them science diet adult indoor cat food and purina urinary tract dry food mixed with a little fancy feast wet food. I think she is getting enough nutrients and hard texture in her diet to not go for the wood corners....although, if I miss a feeding time by more then an hour, she will let me know by scratching the cabinet door and if I'm not paying attention, she will start knawing on something wood that is very near by me to let me know. Pretty smart of her actually....Her sister Thelma, just sits and stares at me until I'm uncomfortable enough to realize she's hungry....you know that "glare"......LOL

Good luck to all still having an issue, especially with splinters, vomit and blood. I'd try more frequent small, dry food feedings to see h ow that works, if not, maybe some paxil.....it worked for my friends cat.....B:)