Originally posted by KLEO:
I've read most of the stories about odd kitty cuisine including ice, broccoli, cucumbers, chips, ice cream, milk from the spoon, Wheaties, Jello, etc....

But what about rubber bands, cellophane wrapping, Q-tips and cotton balls?
Once this past Christmas I caught her with an icicle (tinsel) disappearing into her mouth, and no, I didn't get there in time, but apparently no harm done!

Luckily this isn't a steady habit, but it is quite disconcerting when it happens. I mean is she a cat or a goat? Or is she a cat pretending to be a goat, or what?

She loves to lick her feather-toys and I often wonder if--God love her--she's remembering past kittens of hers (We found each other at a shelter when she was about one year old, she's now 2 1/2). She also licks the cotton balls--as if there aren't enough problems with hairballs and such!

She's very finicky otherwise: she doesn't like cheese, haddock, certain types of her brand catfood, and I could go on.

It's not very worrisome at this stage, but I was wondering just how unusual it is????

Hi Kleo! My cats have been into all of those things at one time or other; they stopped being interested at about 3-4 years old. Except my 4-year old Tazzy loves q-tips, and my 10 year old Boinger still likes to eat plastic bags. All of those things are potentially dangerous, and I'm sure you know that dental floss is a major killer, but fortunately they seem to grow out of things in time.

When Boinger was a kitten, he would eat anything with fringe. One day I came home, and he had eaten the entire 2-inch fringe off a wool scarf (he was very particular, and would only indulge in natural fabrics). He would also steal my wool and cotton clothes out of the laundry basket, and drag them under the bed or into paper bags. He tried to eat the fringe off of an afghan, and would take the clothes off of my stuffed bear using his teeth! (He was my first kitten, and as I write this I'm slowly remembering why I swore off kittens after him; of course, I've had 4 since!) The worst was the day I came home and found tampons (unused!) unwrapped and strewn about my aparment--it turns out that the plumber was there that day; I never found out whether he was there before or after....

Sheesh, that Boinger was such a little devil. He would wake me up by standing on my neck and licking my eyelids until I screamed in pain!

The good thing is that he grew into a huge mushcat, who loves to be held, and who takes care of kittens better than most momcats. He loves to lick them and clean them and carry them around by the scruff of their necks. And when it's time for some loving, he thinks nothing of flinging his 16 pound body from the floor to your shoulder. He's a true lovekitty.

Sorry I digressed. I just love my furbabies!
They're better than t.v! Good luck with the weird eating of things....


[This message has been edited by Boingercat (edited August 22, 2000).]