Why Does She Love Cobwebs?
 

My cat Buddha hunts cobwebs. (Not that they are hard to find around here!)
She eats them with great relish when she finds them. She patrols the house
and scoops them out from under dressers etc.

I have never seen a cat do this. What interests me is that I know that
spider webs (as many of you probably know, "cob" is an old English term for
spider) have anticoagulant or anti-clotting properties. I guess it has
something to do with the function they serve for the spider.

The interesting thing is that she has hyperthyroid (controlled with pills)
and some sort of heart condition that causes arythmia (controlled with a
beta blocker). The vet told me that hyper-T cats often "throw clots" as he
put it.

Though it seems a stretch, I wonder if this is a case of her craving what
she needs. Anyone else have a cobweb-eating cat?

Mary wrote:
snip

Though it seems a stretch, I wonder if this is a case of her craving what
she needs. Anyone else have a cobweb-eating cat?

Yup. My Tonk, Miri, eats cobwebs. She regularly checks out our unused
fireplace for them and does a very thorough cleaning job every few
days. At first I thought she was going in there to hunt for spiders,
but it is clear she's eating the cobwebs. Sure can't say why,
though...

dragon

in article , dragon at
wrote on 5/30/05 9:01AM:

Mary wrote:
snip

Though it seems a stretch, I wonder if this is a case of her craving what
she needs. Anyone else have a cobweb-eating cat?

Yup. My Tonk, Miri, eats cobwebs. She regularly checks out our unused
fireplace for them and does a very thorough cleaning job every few
days. At first I thought she was going in there to hunt for spiders,
but it is clear she's eating the cobwebs. Sure can't say why,
though...

dragon

Well, at least they are sterile.

"Mary" wrote in message
...
My cat Buddha hunts cobwebs. (Not that they are hard to find around here!)
She eats them with great relish when she finds them. She patrols the house
and scoops them out from under dressers etc.

I have never seen a cat do this. What interests me is that I know that
spider webs (as many of you probably know, "cob" is an old English term
for
spider) have anticoagulant or anti-clotting properties. I guess it has
something to do with the function they serve for the spider.

The interesting thing is that she has hyperthyroid (controlled with pills)
and some sort of heart condition that causes arythmia (controlled with a
beta blocker). The vet told me that hyper-T cats often "throw clots" as he
put it.

Though it seems a stretch, I wonder if this is a case of her craving what
she needs. Anyone else have a cobweb-eating cat?



OK, we may have had this discussion before, but aren't cobwebs webs of dust
that collect in corners, and are not made by spiders?

My Bartleby has a thing for dust. I haven't seen him eat a cobweb, but I
have seen him eat a dust bunny.

--
-Kelly

No but he used to eat the spiders, but spit out the legs!

"dragon" wrote in message
ups.com...
Mary wrote:
snip

Though it seems a stretch, I wonder if this is a case of her craving
what
she needs. Anyone else have a cobweb-eating cat?

Yup. My Tonk, Miri, eats cobwebs. She regularly checks out our unused
fireplace for them and does a very thorough cleaning job every few
days. At first I thought she was going in there to hunt for spiders,
but it is clear she's eating the cobwebs. Sure can't say why,
though...


It's good to know someone else's cat does this! I guess I need to
give her credit for all the dusting she is doing!

wrote in message
oups.com...
No but he used to eat the spiders, but spit out the legs!


ahhhhh hahahahahaha!! That is so disgusting! Was his Mama a praying mantis
or something? Actually, they don't spit out the legs, but they do eat them
first. I am afraid to let my girls have spiders, they might bite them!

"KellyH" wrote:

Though it seems a stretch, I wonder if this is a case of her craving
what
she needs. Anyone else have a cobweb-eating cat?



OK, we may have had this discussion before

I did ask this question once before! :)


, but aren't cobwebs webs of dust
that collect in corners, and are not made by spiders?

I call cob webs the things that look like "dust on a string." I think
most of them are abandoned spider webs that collect dust, and that
is where the "string" comes from, but I am not sure. Some of them
are definitely spider webs. In the fireplaces that we rarely use, in
the corners of shelves, underneath armoires and dressers.


My Bartleby has a thing for dust. I haven't seen him eat a cobweb, but I
have seen him eat a dust bunny.


Eyyuuuu! Does he hook them with his paws? That is what Buddha does.
But it is just the webby ones for her, not the Dust Rhinos way under the
beds that I only clean out every couple of months.

"Mary" wrote
Eyyuuuu! Does he hook them with his paws? That is what Buddha does.
But it is just the webby ones for her, not the Dust Rhinos way under the
beds that I only clean out every couple of months.


Yep, he does. He acts like they are prey. He's so fast about it, he has
them in his mouth before I can stop him.

--
-Kelly

Mary wrote:

Though it seems a stretch, I wonder if this is a case of her craving what
she needs. Anyone else have a cobweb-eating cat?

Kira does it. I too, thought she was going after spiders first, Then
realized she didn't care about the spider. If the web is occuipied,
they better get out of the way. She wants the web. And she acts like
they are quite tasty.