This was one of the worst cat behavior problems I had ever encountered, from Sharon in Canada:
My cat Tom is eating our clothes and shoes.
He came to us as a kitty, we had a 13 year old Jack Russell and they were good friends, well the Tom thought so, good ole Chip the Jack Russell tolerated getting his ears washed on a regular basis. He started almost immediately eating shoe laces and then elastic bands for the new paper in the morning went missing. Then he started getting into the laundry and eat anything that had some elastic to it, bra strap tank top straps and so on.
Now he just eats anything from the dish cloth in the kitchen sink to the tea towels, terry towels in the bathroom and face cloths he loves, he has also eaten huge holes in sweat shirts, tee shirts and last week he got into my closet and demolish over $400 of sweaters. He has chewed I don’t know how many pairs of shoes, he eats the whole straps and chews the backs and heals, well he will chew and eat just about anything.
We have had him at the vet and they put him on Prozac which just made him spacey and a little scary and he still chewed.
We got him a cat friend when Chip died and he didn’t care too much for her so our son took her to live with him.
He eats a can of wet food a day, also has some crunchies to chomp on. He like to also crunch on dog milk bones when he get into the cupboard and helps himself to the dog treats that I have for my sons dog when he comes to visit.
He doesn’t chew the curtains in the house or the furniture, or the cushions on the couch. He did once chew a throw that I had on the back of the couch though. And he did once chew through a pillow case on the bed but has never chewed the bed linen or duvet.
I just don’t know what to do with him. He is a very loving cat and he adores me, follows me everywhere. He is a large ginger tom — fixed — he has a very long tail. After he has chewed some thing he acts quite weird and almost has a bit of an evil look about him, but it doesn’t last long.
If you have any suggestions, I would be most grateful
So I turned to Dear Sally (Bahner) the Official Cat Behavior Consultant on CAT CHAT® and here were her suggestions:
First, are they locking up all the “chewables”? Might be hard to get into that habit, but it sounds as if they haven’t been doing that.
Of course his behavior sounds like OCD (and Spirit Essence has an OCD remedy, but Tom might be beyond that…), but I’m wondering if there isn’t some kind of nutritional deficiency. Having blood work done might reveal something.
What kind of canned food are they feeding — maybe upgrade to a higher quality, lower carbohydrate brand?
How about trying some raw chicken/cornish game hen necks to chew on, maybe some wings. (Remember that cooked bones splinter.) Or some chunks of raw meat? Might redirect Tom’s need to chew.
Re: giving him medication, the pharmaceutical that the AAFP (American Association of Feline Practitioners, the cats-only vets) recommends Clomicalm (Clomipramine) for OCD-type/ritualistic behaviors. It takes 5 to 7 days for the initial effect and 3 to 5 weeks for long-term effects. I think some vets prescribe a one size fits all recommendation for drug use.
Then, just to cover all bases with my experts, I turned to Jackson Galaxy, who is a cat behavior consultant and the owner of Spirit Essences, which I call “emotion potions” and are based on Bach flower remedies to deal with cat, dog and horse emotional issues. And Jackson wrote:
This sounds to me like a Pica variation — when cats will chew on or eat certain items. This one with Tom is pretty serious.
Quickie solutions?
1) Keep all elastics, etc out of reach. It calls for creativity, consistency and patience, but it’s better than surgically fishing a bra strap out from around the intestinal tract.
2) They have stumbled on one solution that has helped many a Pica cat — crunchies. Put SMALL bowls around, in places like in front of the closet, etc where the cat has gotten into the most trouble. It satisfies his chewing need. Also try something like the small sized Buster Cube, which will occupy the mind and satisfy the crunching need at the same time.
3) Other than that, we get into the land of a more personalized consultation, which of course I’d be happy to help with. I can make a Spirit Essence tailored just to him. Oh, and of course there is always the Spirit Essence called Obsession Remedy!
Jackson Galaxy | Cat Behavior Consultant
Phone | (310) 376-6616
Fax | (310) 318-0711
E-mail | jackson[at]jacksongalaxy[dot]com
