Wool Sucking???

[sirrahbed]

Lizzie (the sweet and innocent looking calico above) has always had a thing for tiny speaker wires. Hubby CANNOT leave them out or they are destroyed within a day. I wish I knew how many headphones she has ruined in the past two years

Then, she progressed to anything plastic....milk rings, plastic bags, bottle tops, flipflops, belts, etc.

Then it was larger cords.....phone cords in particular.

Today, she chewed through a mouse cord.

I am worried that she will discover ELECTRIC cords!! We have many of them hidden in conduit tubing but of course not all of them.

Does anyone have suggections as to how to discourage this chewing?? She has plenty of safe toys all through the house. I had read somewhere that cats do not like the taste of citrus so hubby has rubbed our many electric cords with some orange furniture oil that we had in the cabinet. He just did this today so it will take some time to see if it works.

Any other suggestions??? Thanks!!

[Edwina's Secretary]

Sorry I have no advise but I do have a question.....where did you get a two-headed cat?

[Freckles]

Two heads? That explains all the chewed wires!

[jazzcat]

I've used bitter apple to stop the cats from chewing on my gardenia plant. I had bought a bottle of it years ago to try to get Disney to stop chewing her feet. It helps but you will need to reapply it often.

Rocky is my plastic chewer here. He will eat any plastic bag he can find. I'm so afraid he will get a blockage from it because no matter how well we think we've disposed of or put away plastic bags he still finds them. My sister was here this weekend and couldn't believe he would do that. She asked if it could be due to a vitamin deficiency.

[Pam]

Two heads? That explains all the chewed wires!

Yep, while one's sleeping the other can be chewing!

I'm sorry but I don't have any suggestions. I never had a problem with wires, but Trevor loved to chew anything wicker and also chewed and bent my aluminum blinds and chewed the cords to them. Andy never chewed anything.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem. I hope that the citrus scent will help. When I first got Storm he used to use my speakers as a scratching post and I rubbed some orange peels on them but this didn't help. After I added Pepper to the mix he stopped doing it. I guess he was just bored or lonely. Maybe you can buy some wire protectors. I think you can buy them at any hardware store. I searched and hears a good link that I found: Wire Protectors. Good luck.

Lori, Sunny and Storm also love to chew on plastic bags. I think that a pet talker once said that they're made out of lard and that the animals can smell and taste this or something to this effect.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Onyx and Pandora both were wire chewers...Pandora responded to the spray bottle treatment but Onyx liked water so that didnt work. Onyx eventually hit a live wire and got shocked...Luckily I was home when he got it and was able to make sure he wasnt injured at all but it taught him not to mess with wires. I hope your little girl won't have to learn this lesson that way!

Try spray bottles or loud noises. Pandora is rather responsive to both, thankfully!

[sirrahbed]

Maybe you can buy some wire protectors. I think you can buy them at any hardware store. I searched and hears a good link that I found: Wire Protectors. Good luck.

Lori, Sunny and Storm also love to chew on plastic bags. I think that a pet talker once said that they're made out of lard and that the animals can smell and taste this or something to this effect.

That is a good site with pictures of the conduit, etc. I think I should just buy more of it and cover more wires. It looks just like the stuff I bought at Lowes - I found it with the electrical stuff - yes it does cover wires well and if I get more and get organized - it could still look nice (comes in ivory like my walls)

Lori - I will look for the bitter apple to try also - I googled and found it online at pet-related sites so maybe PetsMart? I had not heard of that before - thanks!! It sounds like something good to have around. Maybe smelling that will deter her from coming back to chew. edit - I guess you CAN find anything on eBay

It just seems weird that Lizzie has this urge to chew, but covering the wires may be the only solution. It is interesting to read about other cats that do this also - and YES plastic bags from the grocery store are probably the worst!! While I am putting away groceries, Lizzie will be up on the table and lick licking the sacks until I put them away. She DOES act like they are food and Tracy that thing about something in the material is interesting...the very small speaker wires are also irresistible to her and seems to have that certain odor that some plastics have....

My two headed kitty!! Yes, that pic is pretty funny and yes, with two heads she gets into double the trouble

[jazzcat]

KAK - I've not heard that about the bags being made with lard but that would explain a lot. How strange!

Debbie - I got the Bitter Apple at a pet store. I think I ordered my first bottle from Pets.com years ago before they went out of business. I miss that place and the hand puppet dog.

[elizabethann]

Boy, can I relate to this problem. Cosmo chewed my computer speaker wires. He also chews wood! He chews my cofee table, the wooden door knobs on my bedside table, the door knobs on my entertainment center and the he chews the fan (the plastic part that makes the fan stay in one place).

I actually got sick of using the Bitter Apple (kept running out) and he eventually would end up chewing again & again.

I've just come to realized that my house is for my animals and I'm just the maid.

Good luck (and funny about the 2 headed kitty).

[rg_girlca]

You've gotten a lot of good advice here Debbie and I just wanted to say that the picture of Lizzie is just too darn beautiful. Those eyes of hers could melt the coldest of hearts.

She is the most prettiest cat I have ever seen. She is so delicate looking.

[Cataholic]

Debbie, I can sympathize. Guster has chewed through at LEAST 6 sets of ear thingys for my cell phone. The sad thing is, it took me forever to figure out what was happening to them. At $29.99 a piece, ARGH. Anyhow, I re-homed Gus, and he is now Lillycat's problem. (which is a whole nother story).

[catfamily]

If you want...I can send you pictures of my whole entire house. (The wire areas).Me and Mike put those wire coverings from Lowes and Home Depot over EVERY single wire in our entire house.It took 2 weeks!!
Rufus and I think and a couple other kittens chewed up ALL our house phone wires and cell phone chargers AND computer wires while we were sleeping.It cost us a lot to get NEW stuff...But happy to have NEW stuff.LOL
Thank GOD noone got hurt.
I wasn't use to having kittens and forgot that they chew wires.Especially thin ones.
But since I'm not taking ANY more chances...we covered EVERYTHING.It's not as hard as it seeems.They look gaudy but after few days you really don't notice those big ugly black snake like coverings.LOL
I'm leaving them on for life.The only thing is...that you have to check where the wire is attached to the end where it plugs in.Sometimes you may need to add an extra quarter to an inch of covering on that area.Maybe add some black electrical tape.But not necessary.Good Luck Debbie.

[catmandu]

I have the wires bundled behind the Computer as I did want any of the Found Cats to have a shocking experience.

[sirrahbed]

I have been doing some reading and stumbled on something called Wool Sucking. This article sounds exactly like what my Lizzie does!! It even mentions that plastic bags and other products can contain the lard that Tracey mentioned - and that the smell attracts kitties.

Lizzie does suckle on fabric...we always call her fleece bed her "sucky" because she will lick it when she is very tired. She even suckles the air sometimes



The above article calls it a compulsive behavior. OK, so my little Lizzie has "issues"?? Oh, and she licks hair, too..


and plastic coated envelopes....


and on big sister Emily....



I had never read about this wool sucking behavior and it sounds like it is pretty common. They say it is probably related to her weaning from her momma and is something that sometimes does not go away.

I appreciate the help here I do think the best I can do is try to cover wires, try the bitter apple, etc. I sure don't want her to bite into a live cord

Johanna - Lizzie likes cellphone thingys too.

Lorraine thank you for your comment about my pretty girl - I do love those beautiful eyes.

Anyone else have a suckybaby??