Cat eating & pooping hair

James&Taki

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My kitten likes to play with my hair - on rare occassions they will bat at the hair on my head, but the vast majority of their hair-eating is with hair that's on the floor (I tend to shed a lot). I don't think it's pica, I think it's more likely a situation where they just think it's fun to play with and think of it as prey, so after batting it around, they eat it. At first I wasn't very concerned because they seemed to have no trouble passing it (at least from what I saw scooping their litter box...), but lately I've been finding poop outside their litter box regularly. Always on the litter mat, so I knew they were trying to get it in the box but couldn't for some reason. Today I saw them pooping, and as they walked out of their litter box, a string of poop followed, strung along by a hair. It didn't travel far before falling off, but the litter mat poop makes a lot more sense now!

What do I do? Should I just get a bigger litter mat (to make sure the poop falls onto the litter mat, not the floor) and just clean it every time this happens? Do I need to wear a hairnet? Or shave my head? Or just wait for them to grow out of it?

I already clean my floors regularly, it's just hard to keep up with how much my hair tends to shed. If anyone has any advice, I really appreciate it : )
 

ArtNJ

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Well, eating stuff on the floor they shouldn't is a cat thing, and I'm not sure it can be fixed. So yes, the solution is probably more on the human side, although hopefully not as drastic as what you proposed. How about just using a little more hair-styling/hold product during the day, so the hair only falls out in the shower or on the dresser?
 

rubysmama

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My only suggestion would be to sweep/vacuum the floors more often, but you mention you already clean the floors regularly.

Have you talked to your hair stylist about your hair loss? It's normal, of course, to lose some hair every day, but it sounds like your hair loss might be more than average.
 
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James&Taki

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My only suggestion would be to sweep/vacuum the floors more often, but you mention you already clean the floors regularly.

Have you talked to your hair stylist about your hair loss? It's normal, of course, to lose some hair every day, but it sounds like your hair loss might be more than average.
I don't think it's more than a healthy amount, I just have thick hair lol! I think I'll get it cut shorter (I'm due for a trim anyways) and see if that helps (shorter hair = less likely to trail?).

Well, eating stuff on the floor they shouldn't is a cat thing, and I'm not sure it can be fixed. So yes, the solution is probably more on the human side, although hopefully not as drastic as what you proposed. How about just using a little more hair-styling/hold product during the day, so the hair only falls out in the shower or on the dresser?
I don't tend to use hair styling products, but maybe I could wear hats in the colder months to limit the shedding... honestly a little embarrased I didn't think of that earlier!
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi! I don't have thick hair but my sister does - her salon routinely thins it out when she get a trim (and, she also keeps her hair long). She has throw rugs down where she typically brushes her hair, and can then use her hand (or a lint roller - even a hand vacuum) to remove the hair from the rugs. Doing so has helped her immensely in keeping hair off the floor.
 
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James&Taki

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Hi! I don't have thick hair but my sister does - her salon routinely thins it out when she get a trim (and, she also keeps her hair long). She has throw rugs down where she typically brushes her hair, and can then use her hand (or a lint roller - even a hand vacuum) to remove the hair from the rugs. Doing so has helped her immensely in keeping hair off the floor.
Oh that's brilliant! I'll try to set something like that up : )
 

rubysmama

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I don't think it's more than a healthy amount, I just have thick hair lol! I think I'll get it cut shorter (I'm due for a trim anyways) and see if that helps (shorter hair = less likely to trail?).
Shorter hair should help. And hopefully once your kitten is older, she'll get over the eating part of playing with hair.
 

Azazel

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I always keep my hair tied up when I’m in the house and vacuum areas that my cats frequent daily.
 
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