Chewing Dilemma- PLEASE HELP!!

[Desert Arabian]

We are having a major issue in the chewing department with our little puppy Sammy. He is chewing on anything and everything. He is destroying a lot of items in our house, and he shows no signs of stopping- it is getting worse. Just the other day I had to pull a thumbtack out of his mouth, which he had pulled out of the corkboard and was gnawing on.

Today my mom discovered our bathroom faucet completely chewed and scratched up.


It's kind of hard to get a good picture of that, since the faucet is rather shiny. Basically, all the horizontal lines that you can see aren't supposed to be there. I also discovered that he started on the bathtub faucet handle.

He also chewed up our USB cord for the digital camera, thank the Lord I found him on time and took it away. He had pulled it out of the little area where we kept it. It still works-phew!

There is one particular item he chewed up that made me FURIOUS when I discovered it. I mean I was so mad, I couldn't even look at him, touch him, be near him, nothing- which is pretty severe seeing how he is Sammy, my little muffin. That item is my yellow Labrador Retriever statue that my mom gave me for Christmas last year, it cost her a pretty penny too ($75). Oh boy, let's not talk about that anymore- I am still upset about that.


He has also chewed open every single bag of cat and dog food (for the rats) bags we have ever bought. He would paw open the pantry door, if it wasn't closed tight, and go into the pantry!!! I will be sitting in the other room watching T.V. and hear food containers come crashing down and bags being krinkled- to find Sammy in the pantry!! Mom set a bag of cat food down for 5 seconds, and in 1.5 seconds there was an orange sized hole in the bag, and Sam had his head shoved in the bag eating the kibble. Here is a picture of the Natural Balance dog food bag:


The food has been placed far out of Sam's reach...at least for now...but knowing Sam, he will get to it again.

What can we do to stop this little monster from chewing us out of house and home- he is worse than a darn beaver!! I don't think we could use any of that bitter apple spray...the house would have to be dowsed with it using a fire hose. I understand he has to chew because he is teething, but how can we get him to chew on designated chewing objects instead of our house and household goods!?!?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

~YLL (and ACGAS too)

* He also chews on our ANKLES

[catnapper]

You have a busy little beaver there!

I'm trying to remmeber Nicki's chewing stage - she also chewed everything. One time we went out and came home to her having shred the foot stool in the livingroom. It was an antique and apparently stuffed with hay. Hay was EVERYWHERE. Then I walked into the other room to find that she tore apart my sewing box - pins and needles everywhere. We had a literal needle in a haystack. LOL... funny now, but I wanted to kill my love then!

Gosh, all I can remember is that we went through a TON of pigs ears and it was about the time I started walking 2-3 miles a day with her... and I made a quick pace. It helped get a lot of her boundless energy out. She's too old now to enjoy anything longer than a mile now .

Are all of her baby teeth out? Is there some sort of doggy anbesol to help with the teething pain? Just a thought.

[rg_girlca]

Wow, you do have a real dilemma.
Do you put him in a crate when you are not home?

I don't have much advice to give you as I have never had to go through this myself. The only thing I could think off is maybe you could put up a baby gate to keep him in the same room as you so you could keep and eye on him.

I'm truly wishing you the best of luck with your little Sammy and hope someone can give you a good solution to your problem.

[Desert Arabian]

LOL! Sammy is a kitten!!! I call him a puppy because he acts nothing like a kitten, but acts like a nawty little puppy. LOL, sorry for the mix up!!

[cubby31682]

I have never had this problem. I have no clue what advice to give. Since it's a cat maybe others will have some ideas. Good luck. I think you might need it at this point.

Katie

[Soledad]

You should definitely get him defanged.

[catnapper]

Hmmm, I guess pigs ears and long walks won't help you. Yes, Pouncer chews, but not to the extent you're describing. He does gnaw on my fingers and people have mentioned trying to get him to switch to a stuffed toy or blanket. Perhaps your "puppy" just wants something familiar and soothing to chew on, and he's in search of that perfect something.

I was wondering how a puppy got up onto the sink & counter! Duuuhhhhh.

[emily_the_spoiled]

I had a similar problem with Tanner when he was teething (although he didn't chew any of my art work). I did a couple of things that seemed to help (a little). First of all I bought a baby teething ring (plastic with no filling). The ring had different textures on it and he seemed to like it. The other thing was that I played with him regularily using an old oven mitt. That way he could "attack and chew" without serious harm to my hand.

Good luck with Sammy, but I will tell you that he will eventually grow out of this. I know that probably isn't much consolation right now.

[Desert Arabian]

Originally posted by emily_the_spoiled
Good luck with Sammy, but I will tell you that he will eventually grow out of this. I know that probably isn't much consolation right now.

Yes, that is true. I was asking so if he doesn't stop we know what do you. Knowing Sammy I can def. see him doing this until he dies...

[Desert Arabian]

Originally posted by Soledad
You should definitely get him defanged.

LOL!! No, its more like de-molared...because he chews on everything really hard with his back molars more than his front teeth.

And we thought we could have to worry about him SCRATCHING everything up...he rarely scratches at all *knocks on wood*.

LOL..silly Sammy!!

[Miss Meow]

Put all things you don't want chewed out of his reach ... oh hang on, he's a cat and has access to everything in the house! Sorry, a lame attempt at dog humour ...

Mini is a bit like that, but he keeps his chewing to cardboard boxes, my clothes and library books with an interesting smell. Are you able to restrict him to only part of the house when you're not able to watch him? Does he like chewy things like cardboard or toy mice to try distracting him? God, that's a tough one!

[Desert Arabian]

Originally posted by Miss Meow
Does he like chewy things like cardboard or toy mice to try distracting him?

Yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh....he does love toy mice. Another problem, to add to the 9865 other ones, is that ANYTHING Sam can get his paws on becomes a toy to him. We could restrict him to one room, but he would chew on the stuff IN the room. We can't put him in a crate, that is just a wee bit cruel for a kitty...but I think we just might have to...



Sam is worse than a puppy!!

[rg_girlca]

Oh my God YLL, I thought you were talking about a puppy LOL. That's too funny.

Okay lets start from scratch.

Since this is a KITTEN, have you tried confining him in a room when you are out, spraying him with water when you catch him chewing?
When he starts to bite the ankles, push him away and give him a very firm NO and then give him one of his toys.
I've had a few chewing problems with my kitties but not to that extent. Poor you. I have also used an old oven mitt with my kitties and it worked like a charm. Got them all pumped up and then slept for hours.

Again, YLL, good luck with Sammy, the KITTEN.

[NoahsMommy]

Our youngest cats are chewers too. In fact...we had to stop buying those toys that hang from strings because Noah would run over and break them as soon as he could!!

I think Sammy will get over his "teething" phase later. But for now, just do what we do...don't have anything around that he can chew. I know its annoying...but that's kind of the only way if he's doing it while you aren't around.

We cannot leave anything out or the cats will "taste" it. The kittens have left teeth marks in my new Harry Potter hard cover #5. Must taste pretty good!

We have a goose that you dress up for the holidays and the kittens like licking and biting that as well....

Sillies!!

[Miss Meow]

How about a slightly used and chewed door snake??? I could mail it! It's the only thing our puppies chew for more than five seconds at a time.