Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

My 5-year-old Siberian cat has a very bad habit: he eats whatever he finds and seems to have a taste for non-food items. It started out with eating stuffed animals (plush toys, for those of you in the UK), usually chewing off their arms, feet, ears and faces. After putting those out of his reach, he started eating our clothing. When the clothing was removed from his path, he started eating other things like wires, blankets and sheets — and just about anything else he could get to. The more we take away, the more creative he gets.

His bizarre tastes have cost me thousands of dollars in vet bills — he ate a small magnet once, and he’s eaten fiberglass wire. I love him very much, and I’m afraid that one of these days he’s going to eat the wrong thing. Any ideas?

~ Sandy

Eating wires is one of the more distressing and dangerous forms of pica. Image courtesy of the Daily High Five

Siouxsie: It sounds like your cat is suffering from a condition called pica. Pica is defined as the act of eating non-food items.

Thomas: While habits like wool chewing and wool sucking are relatively common in cats, the actual act of compulsively eating inedible things … well, not so much.

Dahlia: Even vets aren’t entirely sure why cats eat things they’re not supposed to. But there are a few physical health conditions that seem to occur in cats with pica. Some forms of anemia, for example, may cause cats to eat non-food items to get the nutrients they need.

Siouxsie: Some vets have also suggested that the types of items cats eat can help reveal what vitamins and minerals are missing in their diets.

Thomas: Pica seems more common in cats with the feline leukemia virus  (FeLV)or the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and it can be triggered by conditions like diabetes.

Dahlia: We imagine your cat has been tested for FIV and FeLV and probably had a full blood workup recently. If this is the case and he has a clean bill of physical health, then it’s time to treat it as a behavioral problem.

Siouxsie: Cats that are highly stressed or anxious may use chewing behavior as a self-soothing technique.

Thomas: Pica is also pretty common in bored or lonely cats.

Dahlia: You can help ease his boredom by providing environmental enrichment: give him puzzle toys including things like rolling treat balls to keep him busy while you’re away at work. (If you do use a toy that dispenses treats, be sure to reduce the amount of food your cat gets at each feeding so he doesn’t become obese.)

Siouxsie: When you’re home, give him lots of interactive play time. Teaser toys are great for exercise and mental stimulation — and a tired cat is a non-destructive cat!

Thomas: If you see your cat acting as if he’s going to start chewing on something, use the teaser toy to distract him and redirect his behavior in a more acceptable direction.

Dahlia: When you’re not using the teaser toy, be sure to put it away in a place he can’t reach it. One of our cat friends, Pedro, recently ate all the fleece off his favorite teaser toy and had to be rushed to the vet to get it out of his stomach!

Siouxsie: Do your best to hide wires by using cord guards; keep your cell phone wires, headphones, USB cords and the like in a plastic storage container with a tight-closing lid; and use a non-toxic deterrent spray like bitter apple to make any exposed cords taste gross.

Thomas: Provide your cat with more appropriate things to chew on. There are actually chew toys made for cats, and these might prove to be safe alternatives.

Dahlia: Given the seriousness of your cat’s pica, we’d also recommend consulting a veterinary behaviorist. Ask your vet if he or she knows of any behaviorists in your area. But even if there are none, many will do phone consultations.

Siouxsie: The easiest way to find a well-qualified animal behaviorist is to search the member directories on the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants websites.

Thomas: Sometimes a short course of anti-anxiety medications can jump-start the rehabilitation and behavior modification process, but that’s best left to the discretion of your vet or the behaviorist you choose to work with.

Dahlia: Whatever you do, don’t give up hope if you don’t see results right away. Successful behavior modification takes a long time. After all, your kitty didn’t become such a crazy eater overnight, so it’s going to take a while to break the habit.

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

I just got a kitten three weeks ago. She’s normal in every way except that sometimes she will lay down and chew or suck on her tail. Apparently she likes it — she purrs while she does it and it puts her to sleep — but I’m a little worried about it. If I take her tail away from her mouth, she wakes up and looks everywhere for it. I’m a little lost, and I’d be grateful if you could tell me what to do about this.

~ Mariah

Tail sucking is unusual but it's generally not anything to worry about.

Siouxsie: Tail sucking is unusual, for sure, but there are plenty of cats that do it.

Thomas: Experts tend to think that the reason some cats suck on their tails is because they were weaned away from their mother’s milk too early, or because they were orphaned and didn’t have the chance to suckle on their mom at all.

Dahlia: Tail sucking provides a sense of security, just like regular nursing. You can tell it makes her happy because she purrs and relaxes into sleep while she’s nursing on her furry appendage.

Siouxsie: Your baby may get over her tail sucking behavior after a while, but it might stay with her for her entire life and manifest more often when she’s stressed.

Thomas: You don’t have to worry about your kitten’s tail sucking as long as she’s not doing it constantly and it’s not irritating her skin and causing sores to form.

Dahlia: Do keep an eye on her litterbox behavior and make sure she’s pooping normally. If she acts like she’s got an upset stomach — say, maybe her appetite is a bit “off” or she’s throwing up — she may have a hairball. Usually an over-the-counter remedy like Petromalt or Laxatone will help the hairball move smoothly through her system and get her feeling up to par again.

Siouxsie: Do check the skin on the end of her tail every day, just to make sure she’s not developing sores. With constant aggravation and sucking, these wounds could become infected pretty quickly. If her sucking gets to the point where she’s self-injuring, your vet may have some ideas about how you can keep her from going to town on her tail, at least until the wound is healed.

Thomas: We don’t think you should try and stop your baby from nursing on her tail unless the licking and sucking reaches that self-mutilation level.

Dahlia: You might want to thank your lucky stars that she’s chosen to suck on her tail rather than on your blankets or clothes. Some cats are prone to “wool-sucking” behavior, in which they suck, chew, and even eat fabric! This behavior is more common in Siamese and other Oriental breeds, but it can happen in ordinary mixed-breed cats too.

Siouxsie: If you notice that the nursing behavior seems to be escalating, your kitten may be reacting to stress in her environment. Take steps to address that stress, perhaps through bringing pheromone diffusers into your home, ensuring that she has enough horizontal and vertical territory, and introducing new pets or people slowly and carefully.

Thomas: The bottom line is that as long as your baby girl is happy and healthy, we really don’t think you have to worry about her silly but oh-so-cute habit.

Dahlia: As a testimony to just how common tail-sucking is, there are dozens of videos online showing cats of all sizes, types and ages enjoying a good, sloppy nursing session with the tip of their tails. Here’s one that we thought was especially cute:

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

My 8-month-old cat has eaten polymer clay a whole half including plastic! Is polymer clay toxic to a cat? How can I keep her from eating clay and all kinds of other non-food stuff including wires, shoe laces, plastic, paint brush tips, junk on the floor, bird food, fish food, paper, potato chips, and crackers? Help!

~ Christina

Siouxsie: Polymer clay is made of polyvinyl chloride (a form of plastic) and phthalates, chemicals designed to make the plastic flexible and workable. Phthalates have been under scrutiny for some time due to concerns about toxicity.

Thomas: However, after a 2002 study by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group made it public that the phthalates used in those clays at the time were potentially toxic, manufacturers started using different and supposedly safer phthalates or non-phthalate plasticizers.

Dahlia: Our research indicated that there’s no need to panic if your pet eats a small amount of the stuff, but “a half” is quite a lot for a small cat. Although we’re pretty sure she’s not going to get poisoned by the stuff, it may block her intestines.

Siouxsie: Watch her litterbox carefully, and you’ll probably see evidence that your (hopefully very bright-colored) clay is coming out. If she doesn’t have a bowel movement for more than a day, give your vet a call, explain what happened, and ask if you should bring her in.

Thomas: As for all the other things your cat is eating — is she actually eating them or just chewing on them? If she’s eating things like shoelaces and wires, this could be very serious, as they could cause her intestines to get twisted up or, in the case of wires, actually puncture her digestive tract.

Dahlia: If she’s chewing on these things, it’s more of a pain in the butt than an actual hazard, except in the case of wires. If she chews through a wire that’s plugged in, she could electrocute herself and/or cause a serious fire hazard.

Siouxsie: The first step to take in curing any chewer is what we call “lead them not into temptation.” That means you need to put anything she chews on or eats in a place she can’t reach it.

Thomas: Keep your potato chips and crackers, paint brushes, fish food and bird food in drawers or cabinets. Keep your floor clean so she doesn’t eat or chew junk. If she tips over the garbage can to get to tasty morsels, invest in a heavier can, preferably with a lid that you operate with a foot pedal.

Dahlia: Wires should be kept neatly organized and tucked away from Kitty’s reach. You can use cable organizers and cable covers for places where wires run along the floors. These products are available at office supply and home supply stores.

Siouxsie: Consider using a bitter anti-chew spray on wires. We’ve heard mixed reviews about how effective these products are, but it can’t hurt to try.

Thomas: The next step is to make her environment more stimulating. Get her some toys. Most cat toys are safe to chew, and you can make them more tempting by rubbing them with, or “marinating” them in high-quality catnip.

Dahlia: When we say “high-quality catnip,” we don’t mean the stuff commonly found in catnip toys at pet stores and supermarkets. We mean go to your health food store and buy catnip in bulk. There are also companies and independent craftspeople that sell toys and more toys and still more toys made with high-quality catnip.

Siouxsie: After you’ve hidden away the things you don’t want your cat to chew and brought in some awesome toys to stimulate her mind, the next step in training is redirection.

Thomas: Redirection is basically distracting your cat with something more fun. To do this, you’ll need to get a few toys that you can use to play with your cat. The old “cat fishing pole” is a great standby. You can buy one or make one yourself with a dowel or twig and some strong twine or string with some rags knotted at the bottom.

Dahlia: Keep your interactive toy with you and whenever you see your cat going for a forbidden chewy thing, pull it out and start playing with her. As soon as she sees that tempting toy, she’ll forget about chewing those wires or shoelaces!

Siouxsie: Be sure to put any string toys away when you’re not using them: Not only is this vital for the “lead them not into temptation” factor, but you’ll avoid the risk that she’ll ingest some part of the toy and get sick.

Thomas: If you’re “crafty,” and from your letter it sounds like you sure are, check out this WikiHow entry on making cat toys for some more inexpensive but really fun and intellectually stimulating cat toys.

Dahlia: Good luck, Christina. Please let us know how things turn out!

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

My 3-year-old cat has been chronically chewing her tail for two years. Initially the vet said the chewing was due to allergies and treated her with steroid injections. Now he says she has so much nerve damage in her tail she has little sensation, only tingling. He said the only option is to remove her tail, because she’ll continue to chew it due to the nerve damage. Please, do you have any other suggestions?

~Lee

Siouxsie: Although tail chewing can be caused by allergies, this behavior can be a symptom of a few other conditions. Because of the chronic nature and the severity of your cat’s condition, we think you and your vet might look into the possibility of feline hyperesthesia syndrome (FHS).

Thomas: Hyperesthesia means “abnormally increased sensitivity of the skin.” FHS is more common in Oriental breed cats (Siamese, Abyssinian, and the like) and Oriental breed mixes.

Dahlia: FHS generally manifests itself in cats between the ages of 1 and 4 years.

Siouxsie: Some vets believe feline hyperesthesia syndrome may be a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder that begins as a reaction to stress and anxiety in the cat’s life.

Thomas: Others believe FHS is a form of seizure disorder because of the symptoms that precede an episode of self-mutilation including hallucinating, yowling, skin rippling, running and jumping, and muscle twitching.

Dahlia: Cats with FHS may show strange behaviors if touched, such as tail chasing or biting at the tail, flank and sides, to the point of self-directed aggression.

Siouxsie: FHS can cause extreme self-mutilation such as biting, licking, chewing, and plucking of the hair, primarily on the back and the tail.

Thomas: This illness is usually a “diagnosis of exclusion,” meaning that your vet has to rule out any other physical illnesses that could cause this behavior. These other illnesses include allergies, skin diseases or external parasites (some cats react very strongly to flea bites, for example), and internal problems like back pain, arthritis, spinal problems, muscle diseases, nutritional deficiencies (particularly the B vitamin thiamine, which is very important to a healthy nervous system), or problems with the thyroid, kidneys or liver.

Dahlia: We don’t know if your vet has tested for any of these other conditions or simply treated your cat’s tail chewing as allergies. If your kitty hasn’t been tested for these conditions, it might be a good idea to do so.

Siouxsie: In any case, because your cat’s tail is now so damaged that her nerve function is compromised, we do think the only viable treatment is to amputate the tail. If you don’t do this, she will continue to chew her tail, and the behavior may even increase because of the constant tingling sensations she feels.

Thomas: Cats generally recover and adapt very well to amputations. They don’t have the same kind of psychological issues humans do when they lose a limb. In fact, your cat will probably be quite relieved to be free of her pain and discomfort.

Dahlia: There are some breeds of cats that naturally have very short or nonexistent tails, such as the Japanese Bobtail and the Manx.

Siouxsie: Mama knows another cat that lost her tail due to an accident. She’s quite happy and doesn’t mind the absence of her tail at all.

Thomas: In any case, if your cat does have feline hyperesthesia syndrome, it’s possible that the behavior may continue even after the tail is removed.

Dahlia: If this is the case, your vet may choose to treat her symptoms with anti-anxiety drugs such as clomipramine or fluoxetine (Prozac). These medications can reduce the psychological triggers that cause self-mutilation behavior.

Siouxsie: If these medications don’t work, your vet may try anti-seizure drugs like phenobarbitol.

Thomas: The good news is that there are some things you can do at home to help minimize your cat’s self-mutilation. We recommend these steps even if your cat does stop self-mutilating after her tail has been amputated.

Dahlia: First, provide the highest-quality nutrition you can afford. Give her several small meals a day to reduce her food anxiety.

Siouxsie: Take some time each day to have a couple of really good aerobic play sessions with a feather wand or a “thing on a string” toy. Exercise can help to control depression and anxiety because of the endorphins released during exercise.  It also helps your cat to use her natural hunting instincts so that they won’t be redirected toward parts of her body such as her tail.

Thomas: Make life more interesting for your cat by spending more quality time with her. Make her environment more cat-friendly by providing a three-dimensional environment with a variety of perches and maybe even a cat tree.

Dahlia: So, Lee, even though it looks as though your cat is going to need to have her tail amputated, we hope we’ve provided you with some ideas for helping her to enjoy her life even more once her condition is under control and she’s no longer feeling that constant discomfort fromher damaged tail. Please let us know how things turn out.