cat chewing on everything

Meant to include this with my other post about my cat Isaac. He loves to
chew on stuff. Plastic is his favorite, but he also enjoys laying on my
desk, eyeing the pencil cup, and picking out what pen/pencil/penlight or
other object he wants to gnaw on. He has taken to shredding any paper
towels or tissues I leave out, but will not take fresh ones himself. He
leaves the tissue box along but will happily chew up any I have slightly
used and left on my desk. If any object he finds has any protrusions, he
will try to chew it.

Do they make chew toys/treats for cats like they do for dogs? He's not too
interested in shredding his soft toys, he seems to prefer something hard to
gnaw on.

--
Liz

Elizabeth Blake wrote:

Meant to include this with my other post about my cat Isaac. He loves to
chew on stuff. Plastic is his favorite, but he also enjoys laying on my
desk, eyeing the pencil cup, and picking out what pen/pencil/penlight or
other object he wants to gnaw on. He has taken to shredding any paper
towels or tissues I leave out, but will not take fresh ones himself. He
leaves the tissue box along but will happily chew up any I have slightly
used and left on my desk. If any object he finds has any protrusions, he
will try to chew it.

Do they make chew toys/treats for cats like they do for dogs? He's not too
interested in shredding his soft toys, he seems to prefer something hard to
gnaw on.

--
Liz

Shredding used napkins is a common cat behavior. My cat does it all
the time. As for why used, rather than fresh, the used probably have a
smell to them. My cat loves attacking the roll of paper towels and
shredding the whole thing. Who knows why.

There are tons of toys for cats, though I'm not specifically
remembering chew toys. I would imagine you're cats chewing on it just
because it rolls and he's considering it to be a toy. Buy him some
balls - he may not chew on them, but he'll probably put them in his
mouth to carry off somewhere.

"quentin" wrote in message
oups.com...
Shredding used napkins is a common cat behavior. My cat does it all
the time. As for why used, rather than fresh, the used probably have a
smell to them. My cat loves attacking the roll of paper towels and
shredding the whole thing. Who knows why.

I figured he might smell food on napkins or paper towels, but not tissues!
He leaves the toilet paper on the roll alone and a couple of times he's
attacked a roll of paper twoels if I left it where he had access. Normally
he leaves them alone while on the roll.


There are tons of toys for cats, though I'm not specifically
remembering chew toys. I would imagine you're cats chewing on it just
because it rolls and he's considering it to be a toy. Buy him some
balls - he may not chew on them, but he'll probably put them in his
mouth to carry off somewhere.

He's got loads of toys. Rosie The Flat Rat (a flat rabbit fur/leather
mouse) is his absolute favorite, and he's got about 10 of them somewhere...
He's got balls that he will pick up in his mouth to carry around, then he'll
drop it and start batting/flipping it around. I bought him some expensive
little toy that, to my disbelief, is part of a series of cat toys with age
recommendations on them! Like they do for children. They had them for baby
kittens, older kittens, all ages etc. The one I got (all ages) was made for
easy carrying in the mouth. That's missing right now and will eventually
surface when I check under the furniture/stove/fridge.

I was thinking more of something like a Nylabone that they have for dogs, or
those dog bones made from cornstarch. Another thing he does is chew on
clothes/blankets which I'd like to discourage.

--
Liz

I just posted a message last week about my cat, Ernie, who chews on
everything too. He particularly likes hard plastic or rubber items, wood
and shoe laces. He doesn't eat what he chews, only chews on it. Someone
posted that this is an obsessive-compulsive behavior that may need to be
treated with anti-depressants. I don't think I want to go that route. I
have found a couple of cat toys that claim they are for chewing and, while
Ernie likes to play with these toys, he doesn't really chew on them. I just
try to keep the things that he likes to chew on away from him and I hope he
grows out of it.

Sue

"Elizabeth Blake" wrote in message
...
Meant to include this with my other post about my cat Isaac. He loves to
chew on stuff. Plastic is his favorite, but he also enjoys laying on my
desk, eyeing the pencil cup, and picking out what pen/pencil/penlight or
other object he wants to gnaw on. He has taken to shredding any paper
towels or tissues I leave out, but will not take fresh ones himself. He
leaves the tissue box along but will happily chew up any I have slightly
used and left on my desk. If any object he finds has any protrusions, he
will try to chew it.

Do they make chew toys/treats for cats like they do for dogs? He's not
too
interested in shredding his soft toys, he seems to prefer something hard
to
gnaw on.

--
Liz

"blkcatgal" wrote in message
. ..
I just posted a message last week about my cat, Ernie, who chews on
everything too. He particularly likes hard plastic or rubber items, wood
and shoe laces. He doesn't eat what he chews, only chews on it. Someone
posted that this is an obsessive-compulsive behavior that may need to be
treated with anti-depressants. I don't think I want to go that route. I
have found a couple of cat toys that claim they are for chewing and, while
Ernie likes to play with these toys, he doesn't really chew on them. I
just try to keep the things that he likes to chew on away from him and I
hope he grows out of it.

Sue

How old is Ernie? I adopted Isaac in April and they said he was around 1
1/2 years old when they took him in a month prior.

I wouldn't medicate Isaac either. I just have to make sure I leave nothing
in plastic bags because he will steal and shred them. Not only the bags,
but whatever is inside. And if what's inside is edible, he'll eat it (or at
least taste it to see if he likes it). Right now the pens/pencils in the
cup on my desk are his favorite. He'll jump up to be with me while I'm at
the computer, and casually lean over and start to gnaw.

A little fish toy I bught recently (made by Petstages) claimed it was for
chewing but he really doesn't care for it. It's not even one of his
favorite to bat around. I'll check the pet store for different toys this
weekend, because he could use some new ones.

--
Liz

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 02:14:49 GMT, "Elizabeth Blake"
wrote:


"blkcatgal" wrote in message
...
I just posted a message last week about my cat, Ernie, who chews on
everything too. He particularly likes hard plastic or rubber items, wood
and shoe laces. He doesn't eat what he chews, only chews on it. Someone
posted that this is an obsessive-compulsive behavior that may need to be
treated with anti-depressants. I don't think I want to go that route. I
have found a couple of cat toys that claim they are for chewing and, while
Ernie likes to play with these toys, he doesn't really chew on them. I
just try to keep the things that he likes to chew on away from him and I
hope he grows out of it.

Sue

How old is Ernie? I adopted Isaac in April and they said he was around 1
1/2 years old when they took him in a month prior.

I wouldn't medicate Isaac either. I just have to make sure I leave nothing
in plastic bags because he will steal and shred them. Not only the bags,
but whatever is inside. And if what's inside is edible, he'll eat it (or at
least taste it to see if he likes it). Right now the pens/pencils in the
cup on my desk are his favorite. He'll jump up to be with me while I'm at
the computer, and casually lean over and start to gnaw.

A little fish toy I bught recently (made by Petstages) claimed it was for
chewing but he really doesn't care for it. It's not even one of his
favorite to bat around. I'll check the pet store for different toys this
weekend, because he could use some new ones.

Did you try catnip toys?

Ernie was about 8 months old when I adopted him and he is about 1 year old
now. I have the Petstages fish toy....that's the one I was referring to
that is supposedly for chewing. Ernie plays with it but doesn't chew it.
He does like to chew other catnip toys, though. He destroyed one toy in
about 5 minutes.....chewed huge holes in it until all the stuffing and
catnip fell out. Like I said, I try to keep things that he likes to chew on
away from him and I hope he grows out of it.

I have read most of your posts about Isaac and it amazes me how similar our
stories are about our cats.

Sue

"Elizabeth Blake" wrote in message
ink.net...

"blkcatgal" wrote in message
. ..
I just posted a message last week about my cat, Ernie, who chews on
everything too. He particularly likes hard plastic or rubber items, wood
and shoe laces. He doesn't eat what he chews, only chews on it. Someone
posted that this is an obsessive-compulsive behavior that may need to be
treated with anti-depressants. I don't think I want to go that route. I
have found a couple of cat toys that claim they are for chewing and, while
Ernie likes to play with these toys, he doesn't really chew on them. I
just try to keep the things that he likes to chew on away from him and I
hope he grows out of it.

Sue

How old is Ernie? I adopted Isaac in April and they said he was around 1
1/2 years old when they took him in a month prior.

I wouldn't medicate Isaac either. I just have to make sure I leave
nothing in plastic bags because he will steal and shred them. Not only
the bags, but whatever is inside. And if what's inside is edible, he'll
eat it (or at least taste it to see if he likes it). Right now the
pens/pencils in the cup on my desk are his favorite. He'll jump up to be
with me while I'm at the computer, and casually lean over and start to
gnaw.

A little fish toy I bught recently (made by Petstages) claimed it was for
chewing but he really doesn't care for it. It's not even one of his
favorite to bat around. I'll check the pet store for different toys this
weekend, because he could use some new ones.

--
Liz

The phenomenon is called pica. I attach a couple of links, but others are
right, the answer is in stimulation and redirection; allowing Isaac to
exhibit natural behaviour in other words. If you can arrange safe access to
the outdoors, such as catproof fencing, it will make a world of difference to
your cat and take his focus off you.

http://www.johnburns.co.uk/Cats/fabric_eating.htm


Elizabeth Blake wrote:
Meant to include this with my other post about my cat Isaac. He loves to
chew on stuff. Plastic is his favorite, but he also enjoys laying on my
desk, eyeing the pencil cup, and picking out what pen/pencil/penlight or
other object he wants to gnaw on. He has taken to shredding any paper
towels or tissues I leave out, but will not take fresh ones himself. He
leaves the tissue box along but will happily chew up any I have slightly
used and left on my desk. If any object he finds has any protrusions, he
will try to chew it.

Do they make chew toys/treats for cats like they do for dogs? He's not too
interested in shredding his soft toys, he seems to prefer something hard to
gnaw on.

--
Liz

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200607/1

Elizabeth Blake wrote:
Meant to include this

Beth, you just need to cat proof stuff

put your pencils in the desk etc..

sooner or later your cat will run out of indigenous things to chew on
and turn to things you provide

later

"blkcatgal" wrote in message
...
Ernie was about 8 months old when I adopted him and he is about 1 year old
now. I have the Petstages fish toy....that's the one I was referring to
that is supposedly for chewing. Ernie plays with it but doesn't chew it.
He does like to chew other catnip toys, though. He destroyed one toy in
about 5 minutes.....chewed huge holes in it until all the stuffing and
catnip fell out. Like I said, I try to keep things that he likes to chew
on away from him and I hope he grows out of it.

I have read most of your posts about Isaac and it amazes me how similar
our stories are about our cats.

Sue

I also have the Petstages fish. He does not chew on it and doesn't even
care to toss it around much. He's got several mice that he much prefers.
He doesn't really destroy his toys, though. I guess stuff that he likes he
prefers to keep whole. It's only my stuff he likes to destroy. Last year I
bought something called Pawbreakers for the cats at work. It's a small,
hard ball of catnip. The catnip is held together by some type of food
starch/glue. The cat can play with it, and also eat it. I have to remember
to look for one of those for Isaac. The bad thing about them is they're a
ball, so they roll, and I live in an apartment with a downstairs neighbor.

--
Liz