My cat is eating the dirt of my plants

Hi all, My cat has been eating the dirt in my potted plants lately.
Just taking big clumps and eating it and I can't seem to stop him. I'm
guessing he's either stressed or there's something missing in his diet.
Has anyone heard of this or had similar problems?
Thanks, Jacquie

I never had a cat eat potting soil but my Boots likes to dig in it so I got
a bag of small stones and poured them over the potting soil. He leaves them
alone.


wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all, My cat has been eating the dirt in my potted plants lately.
Just taking big clumps and eating it and I can't seem to stop him. I'm
guessing he's either stressed or there's something missing in his diet.
Has anyone heard of this or had similar problems?
Thanks, Jacquie

On Thu 19 May 2005 08:13:13p, wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav
roups.com):

Hi all, My cat has been eating the dirt in my potted plants
lately. Just taking big clumps and eating it and I can't seem to
stop him. I'm guessing he's either stressed or there's something
missing in his diet. Has anyone heard of this or had similar
problems? Thanks, Jacquie



I've read that cats will eat strange things when something is missing
in their diet, but I haven't heard of eating dirt. The act of eating
non-food items is called "pica". Here's an interesting article:
http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/home/beh...vior/pica.html

--
Cheryl

"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited
breath."
- W.C. Fields

wrote:
Hi all, My cat has been eating the dirt in my potted plants lately.
Just taking big clumps and eating it and I can't seem to stop him.
I'm
guessing he's either stressed or there's something missing in his
diet.
Has anyone heard of this or had similar problems?
Thanks, Jacquie

For a quick fix, and to blow the cats mind... why not put a layer of
cat food right on top the dirt.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all, My cat has been eating the dirt in my potted plants lately.
Just taking big clumps and eating it and I can't seem to stop him. I'm
guessing he's either stressed or there's something missing in his diet.
Has anyone heard of this or had similar problems?
Thanks, Jacquie


Sorry, I missed this post or I would have responded sooner. Get him to the
vet! He could be dangerously anemic! The vet will need to do bloodwork to
check this. Someone posted a while back about their cat licking pavement,
also a sign of anemia. The next time they posted, the cat was dead.

--
-Kelly

Hi Kelly, thank u for your post. I read something like that on here
yesturday about the pavement, licking concrete and cat litter, read
that it could mean anemia or calcium deficiency. I wish I would have
read that one earlier. My last cat just died in November was licking
pavement for 3 months. I asked the vet at the time and she said it was
just stress from our recent move into a new house. After I saw the vet
he died 5 days later of Anemia and FIV! I tell ya we gotta do our own
research vets and any doctors really don't know everything and a lot of
the times aren't willing to research or keep an open mind to our
suggestions.

So I was so concerned about my cat now. The vet said he's not anemic
and has no other advise. I think I need a new vet! I just did a search
and found it might be an ulcer, stomach acid problem too.
Thank you, I hope he'll be ok and it's not too late!
Much appreciated!
Jacquie & Simba

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Kelly, thank u for your post. I read something like that on here
yesturday about the pavement, licking concrete and cat litter, read
that it could mean anemia or calcium deficiency. I wish I would have
read that one earlier. My last cat just died in November was licking
pavement for 3 months. I asked the vet at the time and she said it was
just stress from our recent move into a new house. After I saw the vet
he died 5 days later of Anemia and FIV! I tell ya we gotta do our own
research vets and any doctors really don't know everything and a lot of
the times aren't willing to research or keep an open mind to our
suggestions.

So I was so concerned about my cat now. The vet said he's not anemic
and has no other advise. I think I need a new vet! I just did a search
and found it might be an ulcer, stomach acid problem too.
Thank you, I hope he'll be ok and it's not too late!
Much appreciated!
Jacquie & Simba


What area are you in? Maybe someone on here can reccomend a good vet. I'm
sorry about your last kitty and that the vet wasn't very helpful.

--
-Kelly

I'm in Canada, just north of Toronto in Ontario. Lots of vets but u can
never tell if they're good until you go there and it's so expensive for
the first visit!
I'm waiting for my cats blood results and then I'll see if she can
recommend a specialist, I just don't want to make her feel inadequate,
but it's my babies life on the line! I guess I'll have to think of how
I'll ask that.
Thanks, Jacquie

I have heard too, that this can be a symptom of anemia.

On Fri 20 May 2005 09:24:11a, wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav
roups.com):

My last cat just died in November was licking
pavement for 3 months. I asked the vet at the time and she said
it was just stress from our recent move into a new house. After
I saw the vet he died 5 days later of Anemia and FIV! I tell ya
we gotta do our own research vets and any doctors really don't
know everything and a lot of the times aren't willing to
research or keep an open mind to our suggestions.

You're so right. I had a vet that told me my IBD cat was just upset
by my being out late when he was hidden so hard that I couldn't
find him one friday night. He was seriously sick to his stomach and
that isn't because I was out late. Vet actually said that to me the
Sat morning I brought him in.


--
Cheryl

"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited
breath."
- W.C. Fields