Cat Licking Material And Wood

[kathyfrank]

My sweet Moe has had an issue for a long time, and I was wondering if any of the cat experts on this site may be able to enlighten me. Moe has been licking weird things for many years. It is occasional, so it is not a significant issue or one that I think may be severe pica. I used to catch him licking weird things, like my purse, or the drapes. I'd see this maybe once a month. Now I notice it on my bed. He always sleeps with me, and will lay on my arm. If I have lotion on my hands and arms he wants to lick it all off. I won't let him do that, so then he stretches his head to reach the headboard and starts licking that. In the morning (when he is like this) he will sometimes start licking the bedspread. It seems as though he gets into licking moods. Much of the time he is not like this, but then he will get into this licking mood and then he wants to do all of the bed licking (headboard and comforter). I don't see him licking anything else - just these things. I've asked a vet and she didn't know. His bloodwork is fine. I know this because he has IBD so I have him in the vet for checkups now and then. Other than the IBD he is healthy and happy. I'm wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this.

 

[Sonatine]

I'm not 100% sure about cats since mine doesn't do it, but in the past I've had dogs that would lick carpet/whatever surface was closest. The vet dismissed it as a mild anxiety related behavior, but since the dogs were otherwise well adjusted beyond occasionally having a hankering for licking the carpet, we didn't worry too much about it and they were generally healthy and happy.

That said, if someone else actually has experience with an actual cat, that might be more helpful!

 

[babiesmom5]

I think there is a connection between this licking of non-food items and IBD.

In my experience with 5 IBD kitties, they all do it to one degree or another. I think it is a response to a sense of inflammation or irritation in the GI tract.

I have had cats chew blankets, bedspreads, silk plants, plastic, you name it. In fact it was blanket chewing that first alerted me to something being wrong. Sure enough...this blanket chewing cat ingested fibers which was a severe irritant to his GI tract.

I have noticed that this licking/chewing behavior decreases or stops when the cat is put on steroids for the IBD.

I would work closely with your vet in getting the IBD under control. This is the key to stopping the licking.

 

[UnderneathTheStars]

I had no idea it could be a symptom of IBD. None of my cats show symptoms of IBD but all three of my persian cats lick random materials. Cookie loves to lick paper, and Sangria and Mochi love plastic and shower curtains. It might just be a behavioral thing.

 

[Etarre]

Gwen was obsessed with licking plastic bag handles. I'm not sure what she liked so much about them. She also liked to lick the condensation off of glasses and glass water bottles, but that seems less weird. She did have a fountain and all the clean water she wanted to drink, but I think it helped cool her down better.

I had a dog who used to love lotion. She would creep up to me under the table and lick my legs when I was eating dinner if I had lotion on them. It didn't seem to matter what scent/type the lotion was. I had to stop her from licking sunblock off me, and that couldn't have tasted good!

 

[neely]

I thought this thread on TCS might provide a little insight for you as well as give you some links about pica in cats:
Cat Eating Plastic

Also this article on anxiety and compulsive behaviors in cats:
Anxiety and Compulsive Disorders in Cats | petMD

Best of luck with your sweet cat, Moe. Please keep us posted on his progress.

 

[sdkfjlasdf]

I think there is a connection between this licking of non-food items and IBD.

In my experience with 5 IBD kitties, they all do it to one degree or another. I think it is a response to a sense of inflammation or irritation in the GI tract.

I have had cats chew blankets, bedspreads, silk plants, plastic, you name it. In fact it was blanket chewing that first alerted me to something being wrong. Sure enough...this blanket chewing cat ingested fibers which was a severe irritant to his GI tract.

I have noticed that this licking/chewing behavior decreases or stops when the cat is put on steroids for the IBD.

I would work closely with your vet in getting the IBD under control. This is the key to stopping the licking.

My gosh... my cat recently just started licking the floor for no good reason. And a few days ago she puked up a piece of plastic that was not noticed under a box. A little worried here.

 

[sdkfjlasdf]

I had no idea it could be a symptom of IBD. None of my cats show symptoms of IBD but all three of my persian cats lick random materials. Cookie loves to lick paper, and Sangria and Mochi love plastic and shower curtains. It might just be a behavioral thing.

I hope so too. My cat licks the floor but she's always been a strange one. Never liked her water bowl and would splash it all over the place before licking the water on the floor. This is kind of gross but maybe sweat is on the floor, so she's licking it (eww). Either way it's a recent thing. Hopefully it's not IBS or anything... :/

 

[kathyfrank]

Wow! I feel this is more common than I thought. Up until now, I thought Moe was very, very unique in his licking behavior. I also had no idea about a IBD link. I did ask the vet once a long time ago, and she wasn't sure. His bloodwork and everything else has always been good, and the only thing she asked was how he was licking. She wanted to know if his eyes were closed and he was entranced or if it was more of a nervous licking. I guess that would go along with either anxiety or a sort of pica thing. Its so random. For example, he hasn't done it for about a week that I know of, and last night he wanted to lick my arms again when I was trying to sleep, and then today I saw him licking the refrigerator! He certainly didn't seem to be licking the fridge like he was anxious or anything, just kind of like it was a lolly pop. Its so crazy. I'm going to check out the articles neely posted. I'm wondering though, if it was a pica thing, wouldn't any deficiencies show up in bloodwork? For example low iron etc.?

 

[kathyfrank]

Gwen was obsessed with licking plastic bag handles. I'm not sure what she liked so much about them. She also liked to lick the condensation off of glasses and glass water bottles, but that seems less weird. She did have a fountain and all the clean water she wanted to drink, but I think it helped cool her down better.

I had a dog who used to love lotion. She would creep up to me under the table and lick my legs when I was eating dinner if I had lotion on them. It didn't seem to matter what scent/type the lotion was. I had to stop her from licking sunblock off me, and that couldn't have tasted good!

Moe also likes lotion, and I also feel that can't be good to ingest. He always wants to lick it at night when I am in bed, and I feel bad shooing him off of me when he wants to snuggle (and lick unfortunately). I think he really looks forward to bedtime. When it is 'that time' he actually comes and sits in front of me in the living room, basically telling me that it is time for bed - LOL