Why does my cat keep eating plastic? And is it dangerous?

[edam]

We have an eight month old kitten. He is v. v. cute but has this one habit that is very worrying. If he can find any way at all to get into the bin, or find some plastic someone has dropped, he pounces on it and eats it. He likes the kind of stuff they use in food packaging or for wrapping magazines.

Just caught him at it tonight, chased him round the dining table three times but he got away.

It cannot be good for him, can it? Last time he ended up racing around the house trying to get away from his own rear end, once the plastic had, ahem, worked its way through (i.e. was trailing out behind him leaving smears of poo everywhere). Will it do himic, some real damage? And what can we do to stop him?

Yes, it will do him some real damage and could very easily kill him.

Get a bin that he cannot get into.

Bugger. Being able to open every door in the house is impressive, being able to operate the lid on a Brabantia bin more problematic.

We turn our Brabantia bin to the wall to keep the puppy out of it - my other dogs never worked out that a swift tap with a paw would open it! Or you could try covering the lid of it with tin foil which - allegedly - cats hate to step on.

If you ever do see anything trailing out of his bum them don't be tempted to pull it out, as you can do heaps of internal damage.

You really do need to find a way to stop him though. Hard plastic can perforate his intestinal wall and lead to fatal peritonitis, and soft plastic can cause a blockage which, again, can be life threatening.

If he ever goes off his food, starts vomiting or has diarrhoea or is straining to poo then take him to your vet and explain about his history of eating plastic.

HTH

The reason he does it is because the sound of the plastic is like the crunch of a small animal's bones (sorry!). My cats are 9 years old and they still crunch on plastic wrappings and bags. They've never eaten them though. I guess you're just going to have to be really diligent...

My 2 nine year old cats also crunch on plastic bags (we had a thick, crackly Cath Kidston carrier someone had given us at Christmas with presents in, and they couldn't leave it alone)but don't eat it. I am glad someone has explained to me why they like it so much, makes total sense!

Eating non edible substances is called Pica if you want to google it. I'm reading Vicky Halls (cat behaviourist) who proposes some solutions.

Oh, I was under the impression that male cats especially like soft plastics as they contain hormone-mimicking chemicals as plastic softeners.

Queen maybe that's the case too? My female cat is worse for this than the male. But she also likes to lick the sticky stuff of sticky tape... My male cat licks the walls sometimes. I hope my DD doesn't end up the same

Although she did used to steal the cats' biscuits when she was a bit younger. I think that's why she's got such lovely hair!

Pets at home sell lots of crinkly toys - ours had some mice made out of the crinkly stuff with catnip inside and they loved them. Last time I was in, they had dangly thing that attached to the door with a sucker, and the 'arms' were made of the crinkly stuff, with feathers on the end.

They also do crinkly tunnels which ours go crazy for. Just watch when you walk past it, he'll dive out of the holes to attack you This one also looks good.

my 5 yr old cat eats leather and wires. very dangerous when plugged in of course but have phoned vets etc and they say there is nothing we can do as have tried loads of stuff, training sprays,making loads noises etc.. so to be honest my stubborn cat has won

Angel have you tried covering the wires in double-sided sticky tape? Sometimes that will put them off, as they don't like it when their tongue and fur gets stuck to it. It doesn't need to be on permanently, just until the cat gets the message. You can also wrap the wires loosely in tin foil, as cats hate that and (usually!) won't chew it, or coat the wires with soap or washing up liquid. Is the cat adverse to citrus (most cats are)? If so, you could rub some lemon oil on the wires, which will put her off and make everywhere smell nice! Or if the wires are running along the floor, some black pepper sprinkled along them can be a good deterrant.

As a final resort you can also get flexible trunking for cables to keep them tidy, which is quite good. It won't stop her, but she'll need to chew through it before getting to the wire iteself, so most cats will just give up, but if not at least it gives you time to stop her. This is the JML one, but you can get it cheaper. I think Poundland sometimes sells it.

Thanks for the top tips everyone. Sorry, have been away this weekend visiting my sister (and my cat's brother who lives with her).

Fascinating about the crunchy bone sound. That does make sense. Must get dh to actually put that cat flap in so kitten can get out whenever he wants to slaughter the local small animal population, rather than having to wait for us to open the window.

Odd thing is though, none of the other cats I have known and loved has ever done anything like it.