Cardboard Eating Cat

[Tabbyboys]

hi
I have another question. Rocco was a stray we had brought inside. He is about 5 years old and just neutered last June. He is has been inside since. He hasn’t been at all interested in going back outside. For the most part he gets along good with Stewart our resident cat(another feral also about 5 years old). Anyways,he had this habit of chewing cardboard. He has demolished 2 cardboard scratchers. Also boxes. We had a few boxes in front of a chair he liked to scratch on underneath. There is always a pile of cardboard pieces on the floor. Thankfully,he doesn’t chew the chair!! Does anyone have any idea why he likes doing this? He reminds me of a dog with a bone. Is this bad for him?
Thanks for any help.
Barbara

 

[Tabbyboys]

Here is Rocco and Stewart. Rocco is on the left.

 

[rubysmama]

Awww... gorgeous kitties.

My family had a kitten that gnawed on a cardboard box when it was getting its adult teeth, but never had an adult cat with a chewing obsession. TCS does have this article on How To Stop Problem Chewing In Cats that might be helpful.

 

[ArtNJ]

I have one now that will chew tape whenever and cords when bored (although this seems to have stopped). I had one in the past that would eat plastic when hungry. I've not had a dedicated cardboard chewer, but supposedly that is another common one. Cat aren't dogs, but some do like to chew certain kinds of stuff.

As far as harmful, well probably not, but better safe than sorry. Get different scratchers and try to watch the cardboard boxes. I know cardboard is everywhere, had that problem with my plastic eater, and my tape chewer will often find tape that I didn't think of. But I'd definitely do the best you can to prevent it.

You can certainly try the stuff in the article rubysmama linked too, but I think sometimes these things are just stray habits, and you can eliminate them just by removing the temptation. It is obviously different if its something like electrical cords, but for something like cardboard, just attack the opportunity is my suggestion.

 

[Tabbyboys]

The main reason the boxes started by the chair was to keep him from scratching it plus Stewart liked hiding under them We used to have a blanket over it but he would pull that down. I have no idea how long he had been out or his background. At least he doesn’t chew anything else. I’ll have to think of something else by the chair.

 

[KarenKat]

Gohan is our chewer of tape, wires when he wants food (he knows we react to that), and he dabbles in cardboard. If he is bored and sitting in a box he will take some thoughtful nibbles. Anything crinkly, he loves when we finish off a Ritz cracker package. Recently we also noticed that he enjoys candy wrappers, with a preference for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Trin loves to chomp plastic and Velcro. He doesn’t eat it, but there are lots of rows of holes from his teeth.

My take is it seems common among cats to chew on things, and as long as they aren’t ingesting them it’s probably ok. You can try a scratching post by the table if the cardboard pieces bother you.

My ex-outdoor kitty does not chew on these items. We give her raw chicken necks which she enjoys, and I wonder if that satisfies the urge or if she just isn’t interested. Maybe try a raw chicken neck and see if he chews less?

 

[Tabbyboys]

It doesn’t bother me if he chews as long as it doesn’t hurt him. It bothers my husband sometimes other times it doesn’t. He just might like the raw chicken neck. He used to attack Stewart and bite his back. He has almost stopped that. I thought maybe he was stressed from being inside but he hasn’t shown any interest is going out.

 

[Kflowers]

If you want to return Stewart's hiding place to him, put the blanket back over the chair, but this time put it under the cushion instead of over it. Most chair cushions fit tightly into the seat and are heavy, which may keep him from pulling the blanket off the chair.

As for chewing cardboard, we never had a cat who did that. We did have a dog who ate cardboard paper tubes. It didn't seem to hurt him, I think dog stomach acid dissolved the cardboard. I know children eat paper and cardboard. I'd just keep an eye on kit and be sure he wasn't swallowing a lot, or getting blocked.

 

[Tabbyboys]

I would do that except it is a recliner and the cushion doesn’t come off thanks for the idea though

 

[Kflowers]

Is the cushion attached all the way around toward it's top surface or at the bottom? If it's toward the bottom of the cushion, put the blanket over the cushion leaving six inches lose on the sides and back, then take a dowel rod (cut to fit the cushion) and push it over the blanket between the cushion and the chair. This forces the blanket between the cushion and the chair and makes a sort of lock that is difficult for kitties to pull free.

This is based on assumptions as I've never taken a good look at recliner cushions, just thought, wow, that thing is pretty neat.

 

[Tabbyboys]

It is attached on the bottom but the back is opened the dowel rod might just work!

 

[Kflowers]

Get several of different thickness, then use the thickest that will fit. There's always a use for dowel rods.

 

[susanm9006]

Chewing and spitting out hunks of cardboard or paper is pretty common and I think it acts as kind of a stress reliever for some cats kind of like bubble wrap popping for people. As long as they don’t eat any of it it’s okay. My Willow loves to tear paper and strips off cardboard. It is kind of messy but otherwise I am fine with it. In the days of thick annual telephone books I use to leave an old one the floor and let the cats tear and scratch the pages to their hearts content. One of them would sit on top of it and just gently riffle the pages with her paws for long periods of time which seemed odd but apparently made her happy..