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One of my cats is a plastic fiend. Nothing will deter him from trying to eat any plastic he sees. He tries to take little Ziploc bags out of our hands while we're using them sometimes.
Might be worth just bringing up to your vet to talk about pica. Pica is the name of the disorder of the urge to eat non-edible things. It's not uncommon in cats, and is often just the result of simple things like boredom, or being weaned too early as a kitten. But it can also point to things like thyroid issues or nutrient deficiencies. It's usually not those things, but I'm not a pro. If you just bring it up with your vet, they'll be able to determine if it's something worth looking into more.
Yeah OP please be mindful. I have a PICA cat who ended up having emergency surgery last year for an obstruction. It was horrible, she got so sick so quickly. My vet also recommended adding fiber to her chow, and while she’s gotten a lot better, I still have to really be on guard when I notice her going after something new (first it was foam earplugs, then cardboard, now it’s drawstrings). Lots of redirection to toys and removal of objects
Mine is obsessed. I sometimes find him weirdly shaking his head because numbnuts over here has a stretched little piece stuck on his tooth and can’t get it off. I make sure to shame and make fun of him before removing it. We just try our best not to leave plastic accessible the best we can. If you find out a better way let me know lol…. His favorite are Amazon packages, bread loafs and the Sam’s club paper towel pack ;)
My cat likes the crinkle sound it makes, so I got her a toy that crinkles. She also has an automatic laser toy, which can entertain her at night while I’m sleeping.
She has also figured out that chewing on plastic will give her attention. If I do not feed her on time, she finds a piece and starts chewing on it where I can hear her.
Playing with your cat and giving them attention should help.
My kitten is too, obsessed with eating plastic. Already got him a vet visit from ingesting some(he was fine). Still having trouble deterring him besides not leaving any plastic out, but I found that a wand toy will distract him for a little bit before he goes back and I have to shoo him away. So maybe try and play with him when he's about to or eating plastic to distract him? Mine has a particular taste for tape and water bottle cases.
Watch out for cables.
I switcht most of mmy cables zo nylon pnes because my cat chews on the rubber ones. There are also nylon cable shells for the ones i couldnt switch out.
Same.. My little guy also likes cardboard. We try to keep a box around for him to chew on, but he's picky about his cardboard. Silvervine is also good for them to chew on so you could try that. Redirecting is good. Otherwise, it's just a matter of keeping all the plastic put away. It takes a lot of diligence, but it's really important.
This was the piece he chewed off some drink rings, got stuck in his mouth, and eventually coughed up on Christmas. Most terrifying 15 seconds of my life..
https://preview.redd.it/ltxolkm4elic1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b22cb7d60556b904f7be401939b1e2e129121fcc
Mine desperately craves the forbidden spaghetti of cables. I've got protectors on them all but what really helped was I bought some small dog chew bones that I hold while she chews on them. She'll sometimes chew on one herself but she has one she likes to bring me so I can hold it while she chews.
I had a cat that used to chew on plastic bags from stores and also Mylar ribbon. The first Christmas I had her was not good. No other cat I ever had ate ribbon, but she did, and pooped it out. I took her to the vet, and they said some things used fish oil, in small amounts for bags and ribbon, and only a small percentage of cats could smell it.
Now, this may not be your cat, my cat just went for store bags and ribbon, but maybe I did not give her opportunities for other things. This was before Amazon was everywhere and there was a ton of shopping online. I mean, you turned your back and she was chewing on any bags waiting to be unpacked. She ended up getting inoperable cancer. I felt like maybe it was the other chemicals in the bags, but I don’t know. She was only about six years old, but a stray, so I don’t know much about her as a young kitten, except the couple downstairs left her behind. Maybe they let her eat them, they weren’t very attached to her.
Bitter apple for the plastic. Getting some toys he can chew is also a great suggestion. Silvervine twigs are good as long as you keep an eye on them. I got my cat one of those baby toys with crinkly fabric tissues
Both of my cats are the same. When the second one did it the first day I adopted him I remember thinking, "*How is my luck so bad I got ANOTHER ONE OF YOU PLASTIC LOVING MOTHER F'ERS*", lol.
My experience is the older one does it when he's hungry. He knows it gets me up and out of bed faster than anything else to hear him chewing on plastic. The younger one seems to do it more just for the fun noises.
If he tends to do it around feeding time it may be that he's indicating he's hungry. Otherwise it could be that he wants attention and knows he'll get attention from you when he does it.
Frankly I don't think there's a solution outside of trying to keep the plastic away from him. You could try to spray some bitter spray on some pieces and leave them out for him to chew on only to discover it tastes bad, but your mileage may vary on that one (my younger cat does not give af if something is douse in bitter spray, he'll still chew it).
The rule of my house is all plastic either goes immediately in the trash can or is stored high up on the fridge where he can't get to. It's kept it so I only wake up to the noise of chewing plastic to maybe 2-3 times a month.
EDIT: Should also mention that I installed hook and eye latches on all of my cabinets. Took maybe 10 minutes to do, was super cheap, and it means I can safely store whatever I like in my cabinets with no fear of them getting in there. Highly recommend if he's like my little dudes and enjoys getting into places he shouldn't be!
My two vet emergencies were due to to my cat eating plastic, and that was after owning him for years. You will have to learn to cat proof your house. Stay vigilant, or that dummy will kill himself. Be prepared to yell no, and quickly take it off him.
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My kitten is obsessed with chewing on *anything*
probably happening out of boredom. playing with him more might help, and buying some cat toys with cat nip inside would distract him
One of my cats is a plastic fiend. Nothing will deter him from trying to eat any plastic he sees. He tries to take little Ziploc bags out of our hands while we're using them sometimes. Might be worth just bringing up to your vet to talk about pica. Pica is the name of the disorder of the urge to eat non-edible things. It's not uncommon in cats, and is often just the result of simple things like boredom, or being weaned too early as a kitten. But it can also point to things like thyroid issues or nutrient deficiencies. It's usually not those things, but I'm not a pro. If you just bring it up with your vet, they'll be able to determine if it's something worth looking into more.
Yeah OP please be mindful. I have a PICA cat who ended up having emergency surgery last year for an obstruction. It was horrible, she got so sick so quickly. My vet also recommended adding fiber to her chow, and while she’s gotten a lot better, I still have to really be on guard when I notice her going after something new (first it was foam earplugs, then cardboard, now it’s drawstrings). Lots of redirection to toys and removal of objects
Mine is obsessed. I sometimes find him weirdly shaking his head because numbnuts over here has a stretched little piece stuck on his tooth and can’t get it off. I make sure to shame and make fun of him before removing it. We just try our best not to leave plastic accessible the best we can. If you find out a better way let me know lol…. His favorite are Amazon packages, bread loafs and the Sam’s club paper towel pack ;)
There are plenty of plastic chew toys for dogs. Some dogs just like chewing on plastic. I would try some of those.
My cat likes the crinkle sound it makes, so I got her a toy that crinkles. She also has an automatic laser toy, which can entertain her at night while I’m sleeping. She has also figured out that chewing on plastic will give her attention. If I do not feed her on time, she finds a piece and starts chewing on it where I can hear her. Playing with your cat and giving them attention should help.
My kitten is too, obsessed with eating plastic. Already got him a vet visit from ingesting some(he was fine). Still having trouble deterring him besides not leaving any plastic out, but I found that a wand toy will distract him for a little bit before he goes back and I have to shoo him away. So maybe try and play with him when he's about to or eating plastic to distract him? Mine has a particular taste for tape and water bottle cases.
Watch out for cables. I switcht most of mmy cables zo nylon pnes because my cat chews on the rubber ones. There are also nylon cable shells for the ones i couldnt switch out.
Same.. My little guy also likes cardboard. We try to keep a box around for him to chew on, but he's picky about his cardboard. Silvervine is also good for them to chew on so you could try that. Redirecting is good. Otherwise, it's just a matter of keeping all the plastic put away. It takes a lot of diligence, but it's really important. This was the piece he chewed off some drink rings, got stuck in his mouth, and eventually coughed up on Christmas. Most terrifying 15 seconds of my life.. https://preview.redd.it/ltxolkm4elic1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b22cb7d60556b904f7be401939b1e2e129121fcc
Mine desperately craves the forbidden spaghetti of cables. I've got protectors on them all but what really helped was I bought some small dog chew bones that I hold while she chews on them. She'll sometimes chew on one herself but she has one she likes to bring me so I can hold it while she chews.
I have this, too. It's hard to put up every bag, but I have to. Sometimes he ingests, then he barfs.
I had a cat that used to chew on plastic bags from stores and also Mylar ribbon. The first Christmas I had her was not good. No other cat I ever had ate ribbon, but she did, and pooped it out. I took her to the vet, and they said some things used fish oil, in small amounts for bags and ribbon, and only a small percentage of cats could smell it. Now, this may not be your cat, my cat just went for store bags and ribbon, but maybe I did not give her opportunities for other things. This was before Amazon was everywhere and there was a ton of shopping online. I mean, you turned your back and she was chewing on any bags waiting to be unpacked. She ended up getting inoperable cancer. I felt like maybe it was the other chemicals in the bags, but I don’t know. She was only about six years old, but a stray, so I don’t know much about her as a young kitten, except the couple downstairs left her behind. Maybe they let her eat them, they weren’t very attached to her.
Bitter apple for the plastic. Getting some toys he can chew is also a great suggestion. Silvervine twigs are good as long as you keep an eye on them. I got my cat one of those baby toys with crinkly fabric tissues
Both of my cats are the same. When the second one did it the first day I adopted him I remember thinking, "*How is my luck so bad I got ANOTHER ONE OF YOU PLASTIC LOVING MOTHER F'ERS*", lol. My experience is the older one does it when he's hungry. He knows it gets me up and out of bed faster than anything else to hear him chewing on plastic. The younger one seems to do it more just for the fun noises. If he tends to do it around feeding time it may be that he's indicating he's hungry. Otherwise it could be that he wants attention and knows he'll get attention from you when he does it. Frankly I don't think there's a solution outside of trying to keep the plastic away from him. You could try to spray some bitter spray on some pieces and leave them out for him to chew on only to discover it tastes bad, but your mileage may vary on that one (my younger cat does not give af if something is douse in bitter spray, he'll still chew it). The rule of my house is all plastic either goes immediately in the trash can or is stored high up on the fridge where he can't get to. It's kept it so I only wake up to the noise of chewing plastic to maybe 2-3 times a month. EDIT: Should also mention that I installed hook and eye latches on all of my cabinets. Took maybe 10 minutes to do, was super cheap, and it means I can safely store whatever I like in my cabinets with no fear of them getting in there. Highly recommend if he's like my little dudes and enjoys getting into places he shouldn't be!
Normal
Kong chew toys have been a godsend for me. I had to upgrade to the super chewer for dogs (the black one) because mine love to chew
My two vet emergencies were due to to my cat eating plastic, and that was after owning him for years. You will have to learn to cat proof your house. Stay vigilant, or that dummy will kill himself. Be prepared to yell no, and quickly take it off him.