[Demonskid]

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.'

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.

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

[Ashy]

Zeke looks like one of my cats ><

muffin eats random junk like that all the time and shes a skitzo, honestly i think we should just let them do it like kids chew their nails and then do at adulthood but we dont stop them :s

[Demonskid]

letting them continue could cause serious problems though =(

[Yokuutsu]

You can't watch a pet 24/7

But there are things to try. Like when they try to chew on something....distract with another chew toy and give a treat after/when they chew on something appropriate. Or a spray bottle though that may not deter an animal .-.

Or try to put some of the things out of reach of them (like behind a door or whatever)

[Demonskid]

being in a small apartment butting the garbage bags behind a door wouldn't work and water doesn't work on zeke. =(

with shortage of money more cat toys are also out of the question sadly =(

[littl3chocobo]

how cute, looks like my cat^^


actually pica is a people issue too, mostly in women and children it seems, there was a doctor whose proffesion was fishing out non-food items from the throats lungs and stomaches of people

it's an uncurable disorder in people but i don't know about pets

[Yokuutsu]

Find someone who still has teething rings, but their kid is no longer teething?

[Demonskid]

my only chance at that moved away xp

hopefully i can get the family friend to buy me some stuff for zeke today. he normally buys me games when he comes over but this month i am going for stuff for zeke

I'm gonna go for toys with cat nip.. he loves cat nip.. and hopefully i can get a catnip plant or something to grow

[Yokuutsu]

Cat nip is always good....since cats like it.

Oh...if you have tin foil....put it around things you don't want him to chew and the like? Cats normally don't like tin foil...or orange peels....I think.

And orange peels smell good too so if they don't work....your place will smell nice for awhile?

[littl3chocobo]

that is a bad idea, ripping out his insideds won't help him get over his eating issues, it'll just mean more vet visits

[Yokuutsu]

Cats hate the sound of tin foil.

The sound is the deterrent.

[littl3chocobo]

mine doesn't and if her cat really has pica then there is not enough foil on the roll to diswuade him

[Yokuutsu]

That's why it's a suggestion instead of a YOU MUST DO THIS THING!

There's a possibility it may work.....just with anything else. There's also a chance it won't....same with everything else.

[littl3chocobo]

i'd just she'd rather be safe, foil really can do a lot of damage, i have an american shorthair too and while he is not a plastic eater he has no issues against tin foil especially if there is something on the other side he really wants to eat if a woman will pucture her gut /knowing/ pins are unsafe what would a cat wit no grasp on the dangers be willing to injest?

[Demonskid]

Originally Posted by Yokuutsu

Cat nip is always good....since cats like it.

Oh...if you have tin foil....put it around things you don't want him to chew and the like? Cats normally don't like tin foil...or orange peels....I think.

And orange peels smell good too so if they don't work....your place will smell nice for awhile?

if i could put tin foil around the draw stings of a garbage bag or a thrown away wrapper i could.. xD

I might spray vinegar at the garbage bags and cans.. i know cats don't like that smell.. we use it to keep him away from the xmas tree.. totally forgot about it though :3 thanks

[Liena]

When my dog angel was alive, she did eat some of the bedbox that she chewed through. I got scared, but she was fine up until that dog/cat food poisoning. :(