While I was flipping through one of the 'Cat Fancy' magazines that came in the mail an article caught my eye. It's title was "What are you Eating?" It talked about an eating disorder cats have.
Scan of the article
The article made me think of my own cat, Zeke. He is ALWAYS eating plastic, and if he can, cotton.
Most people think that something like this is cute, but is in fact very dangerous to the animal.
The plastic he eats varies from the handles off the garbage bags, plastic wrappers he pulls out of the trash, and scotch/packaging tape. The cotton he eats is the cotton off of Qu-tips. We haven't had cotton balls since before we had him but I am sure he'd eat those too. I know it's not a "He doesn't have food" thing because after he eats some of his food, he goes to the cases of spring water and eat the plastic that holds the bottles into the box.
According to the article and research I have done, my cat has the disorder known as 'Pica.'
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Arnold Plotnick MS, DVM, ACVIM, ABVP
“Pica” (pronounced “PIE-kuh”) is the voluntary ingestion of non-edible materials. The term comes from the Latin word “magpie”, because magpies are said to eat almost anything. Pica accounts for approximately 2.5% of abnormal behaviors in the domestic cat. The etiology of true pica is not known, although mineral deficiencies or psychological disturbances are often blamed.
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The best course of action is take Zeke to a vet and/or an Animal Behaviorist. Doing that costs money, money that I don't have. Which is really frustrating.
Other articles I've read helps give idea's and ways to get the cat from stop eating non-nutritional food, that is if the condition is behavioral and not medical. A medical condition that causes this could be fatal if left untreated. a behavioral condition, while fatal if left alone, can be treated by giving the pet attention, new and tastier things to chew on, and doing your best by keeping the things they chew on away from them.
My only hope for Zeke is that it is a behavioral problem, seeing as he doesn't seem to have other symptoms. Most of his actions show that he is attention seeking. I hope that this is all it is and will do my best to give him more attention then I normally do.
Tips are really helpful. You can also post about your own pet if it has or had a disorder. I hope that your pet's disorder was treated and fixed.
a Pic of Zeke for those who wish to know what he looks like.
American Shorthair