Cat eats plastic and drinks out of the toilet

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Be honest , you have just homed two hoodlums 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I did read once that sometimes animal fats are used in the manufacture of plastic and that's why cats like to lick it.  Don't know whether that's true and whether it still applies today, but a lot of cats do seem to like licking plastic.

Mosi just likes anything plastic of foil, so that includes tiny pieces where I've ripped open a bag of something and not noticed a piece lying around.  Last week he found a small piece of a chocolate bar wrapper (which must have been there for ages because I've not eaten chocolate for weeks).  Fortunately I noticed and managed to get it off him before he swallowed it.  A couple of times I've seen him swallow something like that only to vomit it up almost immediately.  And with the amount of wet food we get through here, I have to be very careful when I open a pouch that the torn of piece goes straight in the bin or Mosi will find them and try to eat them    I don't think it's stress related as Mosi is the least stressed cat I've ever met!

[berties mum]

None of mine eats plastic, but Bertie eats cardboard, Bella eats paper and Minnie eats hair off my hairbrush ... no such thing as a sane cat 

[lucy]

Xanthe chews plastic given half a chance (not that she is given that chance!) , I'm not convinced by the stress argument either. Lots of cat toys have that crinkling sounding stuff (presumably to attract cats), I think it is more a new sound / texture to explore.

[Harna]

I'm interested in the notion that it might be a stress problem - why does your vet think this? Because he (your cat) is a pure-breed???

If plastic-licking *is* down to stress, then my new cat has, apparently, been stressed since he was first born, pretty much! The RSPCA know his full history and plastic-licking is well documented in the notes from his previous owner. Yes, he has recently had a change in circumstances and 10 days in a cattery before coming to live with us, but to say he is stressed . . . . well, he is currently lying splurged out on his back, purring fit to bust, right next to our existing cat whom he hadn't even met before Tuesday!!! He doesn't *seem* stressed to me . .. . . just a little bit bonkers! 


As an aside, these two new cats seem to be *obsessed* with the bath. They will happily sleep in it during the day when it is empty but both of them (one yesterday, one today) have jumped into it when someone has been in there, taking a bath! Both times, they have just stood in the water - and it's not as if they didn't realise there was water in the bath; the taps were running! I was more worried they might get scalded. After yesterday, we kept the bathroom door closed but we found out today that they know how to open doors . . .  . . . . . so it looks like we are going to have to start locking the door before turning on the taps!

[swampmaxmum]

My Max eats/chews plastic, especially supermarket bags or the noisy kind of hard plastic that certain products are packaged in. We are ultra careful but he still finds it sometimes and has vomited up a twisted mess more than once causing me palpitations. I tried water spray (no good). He knows it's forbidden, but he continues as it's clearly such an unmissable experience  . I go up to him, yelling or saying NOOO and he flattens his ears and keeps on chewing. I think it's a stress release mechanism (why he's stressed is a bit of a mystery) and he likes the noise. I'm relieved that it seems to be a common enough problem, as I thought he was the only plastic fetishist in town!
If anyone has found a solution, I'd love to hear it. My vet claims it's yet another pedigree cat highly-strung thing  which I don't buy. Pity they don't have kitty wallets cos we could now charge them 5p a bag to offset their carbon pawprint 

[blackcat]

I hope you weren't insinuating I might have some less innocent rubber items around the house!!!! 

moi?

[Harna]

OOOOOHHHHHH YES!  A BIG TIME rubber fetish!!! 

Let me clarify - last Hallo'ween, my daughter had some of those little rubbery spiders and bug. Like jelly sweets in texture but made of black rubbery plastic. 'Noosh found one and spent about 3 hours carrying it around in her mouth, wailing. We had to take it off her. She reacts to it in the same way as she would catnip - rolls on it, etc etc etc. We have to ration them all now - one of them lives on a high mantlepiece and if we say to her "Noosh! Where's Bugly??"  she runs over to the mantlepiece and looks up expectedly!

I also bought my husband a guitar stand for Christmas and it has rubber encased feet. She rolls and rolls and rolls around on them, emitting a little mewling sound. . . . . most odd. 

I hope you weren't insinuating I might have some less innocent rubber items around the house!!!! 

[blackcat]

anoosh has a rubber fetish??!!

[Harna]

I've just adopted two huge new red Persians from the RSPCA. One of them, Alfie, has a thing for plastic - he doesn't eat it, but he loves to lick it. Plastic bags are not a huge problem as we use cloth bags for groceries, etc, but I have noticed he likes licking the plastic wallets that you slip A4 paper in to protect it.

Another one of our cats, Anoosh, loves anything rubber.

And a previous cat, Marble, used to plant her head into leather shoes as soon as they had been removed by their wearer!

So, we are pretty used to weird (cat  ) fetishes in our house!!! 

[claws n purrs]

My first cat, Carrie, used to lick the handles of plastic bags but didn't have any particular liking of any other plastics. Never did figure out why!   

The younger cats don't drink out of the toilet but do prefer drinking water from a tap rather than the bowlful I provide for them every day. 

Dee

[Natik]

I tried for a while to spray him with water when he was eating it but its hard to have the water bottle ready for the exact moment i catch him eating plastic. I guess i have to be just really carefull not to leave anything lying about. 

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Natik - yup, my Katie is reeeeeally into eating plastic. I've gotten used to it now and am just really careful about now leaving anything around that she might be tempted to eat. We got her when she was five so I don't know whether it's something she's always done???!!!

I guess i've always just thought it was another mad cat thing we have to cope with!

I feed her dried food and wet for a treat. Has anyone managed to find a way to stop them doing it?

[Natik]

Snap lol

One of mine do this dont know why though? He will also drink rain water from a bucket in the back garden, I have seen a couple of mine do that.

Whats you kits names?

Their names are hugo and calie

[Dark Moon]

Only one of mine is really 'into' plastic. She doesn't eat it but will chew it to a pulp!

As for drinking..........  don't get me started...........  But yes, snow melt puddles, rain barrels, the sink (of course)..... 

[ccmacey]

Snap lol

One of mine do this dont know why though? He will also drink rain water from a bucket in the back garden, I have seen a couple of mine do that.

Whats you kits names?

[dolcetta46]

Don't think mine have ever attempted to drink from the loo though -

You must count them in as one of your blessings, imagine what sort of mess they would create with all that fur drenched in loo water!!

[Gillian Harvey]

Gypsy will try a fish anything plastic out of the wastepaper bin - like the plastic wrapping from greeting cards etc - and Joe will chew at plastic carrier bags! Don't think mine have ever attempted to drink from the loo though - but they will drink from the dirtiest water outside rather than their nice clean water bowls inside LOL! 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Mosi eats plastic.  I just try to keep it out of his way.  If he finds small pieces of plastic like a little piece of a packet from tearing it open, he'll try to eat it.  I have to be ever vigilent!

Years ago I heard about a cat belonging to a friend's parents who drowned in the toilet, so got into the habit of putting the toilet lid down before I even got my boys.  It's such an ingrained habit now that I don't think I could remember to leave it up even if I wanted to.  It's not a great idea to let them drink out of the toilet because of the chemical residues from cleaning products.

[Natik]

I feed them wet food...the purina gourmet perle pouches and dry food like the royal canin maine coon biscuits and the purina pro plan biscuits..so he should get plenty of good nutrition. He is now 2 years old and he is doing this since he was a kitten. And he knows exactly he shouldnt do that as he runs away chewing plastic when he sees me or he steals it and eats it somewhere in a corner where nobody sees him...its crazy not long ago he swallowed a long bit of plastic ribbon (i was packing presents) and i had to pull it out his throat...i dont know how he could even swallow such a looong bit. 

[dolcetta46]

Sounds like you got a soulmate of Oliver in your household...  He does have a huge interest in the loo, and we had to force ourselves to pick up the habit of closing the lid each time.  He is often with me when I have to go, and it is a race between us as I stand up and close the lid before he can stick his head in, even before flushing   these days I found a solution though, I turn the water on the bidet, he gets distracted to the newly tinkling water so I can do my finishing bit with a little more calm.

The plastic eating thing is also a concern of ours, not that he particularly likes anything plastic but he is such a little piggy he may inhale anything that comes his way before he realises what he is eating.  He does like to play with plastic objects like a candy wrapper or short cable covering (looking like a piece of coloured bucatini) and gleefully chew on them, but when he does I have to be nearby and monitor closely to make sure he is not going to actually eat it.

[blackcat]

drinking out of the toilet is just one of the fairly idiosyncratic things some cats do. As long as the toilet has been flushed I would not be too fussed. Although, if you are the conscientious type it can be solved by leaving the lid down (a bit of a non-starter in my house, I would add). As for the plastic consumption, you are right to be concerned. But it may suggest that your babe either has not enough chewy stuff in its diet or possibly has a nutrient deficiency. Is the food you are using a full diet food, or a supplementary food?

Also, how old is your cat and how long has it been doing this?

[Natik]

I have the problem with my cat eating plastic 
He eats plastic bags, any packaging made of plastic and im scared that he will end up sick. I have to check the full house for items made of plastic left lying about, because he searches and steals any plastic items. The vet said its normal for puppies to do that but she never heard of a cat doing it. Does anyone of you have or had the same problem? He also keeps drinking out of the toilet even if he has plenty fresh water standing in the kitchen. I think this cat is crazy lol  but sometimes it can really get dangerous.