cats + plastic bags

I'm not talking about shopping bags. I know cats can get in trouble with
those and I always put them away when I bring something home in one. I'm
talking about food stored in plastic bags. Isaac is insane over any food
product I stupidly leave out if it's in plastic. I'm not sure if he's
attracted to the plastic or the food inside. Probably both. I left the
last few slices of a loaf of bread out - he dragged it down, under the table
and was happily chewing through the bag when I caught him. He's gone after
some cookies a few times that came in a thin plastic container (the kind
that crush/break very easily). He never got into them because the container
makes so much noise and it's hard for him to get a grip on to drag under the
table.

He's gone after a bag of oat bran. English muffins - bread products seem to
be his favorite. A bag of dried beans. If he can drag it off the counter
it's fair game. Yesterday I went to The Container Store and bought a bunch
of different sized containers to store my bread and bulk food in. I have
very little storage space in my kitchen, so all of that was pretty much on
the counter. His favorite items I had been putting in the microwave, but
had to remove & replace them every time I used it. While putting everything
away last night I got to a bag of Splenda Blend (Splenda + regular sugar
mix) and found he had chewed through that bag, so I had to clean up little
white granules. That made me nervous, because of the Splenda. I doubt he
had more than a taste since there was no gaping holes in the bag, just small
ones from his teeth. When he gets bread he does eat it, though.

I still need to buy a few more containers. I have to admit that the counter
is much neater now and it's easier to find what I'm looking for. There are
no more plastic bags of food for Isaac to steal. I had a bag of dry cat
food in a large square Rubbermaid container a couple of weeks ago and he did
gnaw on that but wasn't able to get the lid off (although he punctured it a
few times), so now I'm only buying hard plastic, not soft.

--
Liz

One of my cats is crazy for chewing on plastic bags, whether they're
empty or full. Mostly he likes clear, crinkly plastic. I can;t figure
this out as he is healthy and eats and drinks normally. My other cat has
no interest whatsoever for plastic of any kind.

My cat is addicted to plastic bags too. They can even be the ones
that are covering you dry cleaning - not even a food issue. His mouth
was getting sores on it. So, I have kept the plastic bags away and no
more sores. Think it's an allergy.


P No Gree G O wrote:
One of my cats is crazy for chewing on plastic bags, whether they're
empty or full. Mostly he likes clear, crinkly plastic. I can;t figure
this out as he is healthy and eats and drinks normally. My other cat has
no interest whatsoever for plastic of any kind.

"Elizabeth Blake" wrote in message
et...
I'm not talking about shopping bags. I know cats can get in trouble with
those and I always put them away when I bring something home in one. I'm
talking about food stored in plastic bags. Isaac is insane over any food
product I stupidly leave out if it's in plastic. I'm not sure if he's
attracted to the plastic or the food inside. Probably both.


Decades of animal ownership has given me the neatest kitchen in the world.
Stuff gets put away pronto!


--
Toni
http://www.cearbhaill.com/rules.htm

"Toni" wrote in message
...

"Elizabeth Blake" wrote in message
et...
I'm not talking about shopping bags. I know cats can get in trouble with
those and I always put them away when I bring something home in one. I'm
talking about food stored in plastic bags. Isaac is insane over any food
product I stupidly leave out if it's in plastic. I'm not sure if he's
attracted to the plastic or the food inside. Probably both.


Decades of animal ownership has given me the neatest kitchen in the world.
Stuff gets put away pronto!


Phantom no matter what has to chew on plastic bags from the grocery store
won't chew on garbage bags only the ones from the stores

In article , 2¢
says...
"P No Gree G O" wrote in message
news
One of my cats is crazy for chewing on plastic bags, whether they're
empty or full. Mostly he likes clear, crinkly plastic. I can;t
figure
this out as he is healthy and eats and drinks normally. My other cat
has
no interest whatsoever for plastic of any kind.


My 9 year old male neuter named "Chewy" also loves those plastic bags
and also celophane. I'll watch as he leans over an empty plastic
grocery bag and slowly and meticulously gnaw away on the thing.
Chewing on this appetizer causes him to drool and copious puddle of
saliva on the bag. When I first noticed this, my first thought was
this simply had to be urine, - the volume!

I'm sure Chewy eventually swallows those little chewed bits of plastic
and I worry that it may be harmful to his health. Still, there's
little point in trying to keep the plastic away from him. A cat is
going to do what a cat likes to do whether he's "sharing" it with you
or going behind your back.



Cosimo rest his kitty soul was a plastic licker.

More than that - you know those huge paper bags you get from some
storer? He loved to crawl inside and then be spun around the room.
Imagine doing that with a cat that weighs close to 30 pounds.

I do miss that cat. But some of his behaviors have no transferred to the
two remaining cats. One trait is yowling when they can see the bottom of
the food bowl. It's not that they're starving - he just taught them that
the bottom of a food bowl wasn't a good thing to see.

"Toni" wrote in message
...

Decades of animal ownership has given me the neatest kitchen in the world.
Stuff gets put away pronto!

Early this morning I'm woken by the sound of little fangs gnawing through
plastic. Damn, what didn't I put away?! Turn on the lamp, get down on my
knees and peer under the bed (without putting on my glasses, or barely
opening my eyes). There's Isaac with something, and I manage to reach under
and snag it. A small bag of Cosmic Catnip, which he has chewed through,
scattering nip all over the place.

When I first got him I gave him catnip a couple of times and he didn't seem
interested but I guess he's over that. I'm not sure why the little dummy
brought the bag into the bedroom, where he would surely be caught. At least
it wasn't dragged onto the futon in the living room, one of his favorite
places to bring stolen goods.

Put him out of the bedroom, shut the door and went back to sleep. Swept up
all the catnip when I got out of bed.

--
Liz

"Elizabeth Blake" wrote in
et:

"Toni" wrote in message
...

Decades of animal ownership has given me the neatest kitchen in the
world. Stuff gets put away pronto!

Early this morning I'm woken by the sound of little fangs gnawing
through plastic. Damn, what didn't I put away?! Turn on the lamp,
get down on my knees and peer under the bed (without putting on my
glasses, or barely opening my eyes). There's Isaac with something,
and I manage to reach under and snag it. A small bag of Cosmic
Catnip, which he has chewed through, scattering nip all over the
place.

When I first got him I gave him catnip a couple of times and he didn't
seem interested but I guess he's over that. I'm not sure why the
little dummy brought the bag into the bedroom, where he would surely
be caught. At least it wasn't dragged onto the futon in the living
room, one of his favorite places to bring stolen goods.

Put him out of the bedroom, shut the door and went back to sleep.
Swept up all the catnip when I got out of bed.

--
Liz





I am pretty sure they like the feel of the plastic between their teeth.
Kind of soft but firm (heck, try it). Many years ago I had a cat who
seemed to like this also. He took it one step further; he would get his
head through the handle in the crocery store crinkley plastic bag and
just walk around for about an hour like that. I freed him up a few time
before realizing he was doing this intentionally (he looked so insulted
when I took the bag off his neck!). He looked so damn funny "wearing"
the bag but he seemd to think it was quite a prize. I put a latch on the
closet the bags were stored in because I still worried he would get
caught on something while I was out. I miss that goofy cat; I wished I
had let him play with his bags a little more.