Cat licks plastic....alot, ideas?

[scarecrow5]

I am kinda new here, posted about my two cats and their new room mate Harley. 

Anyone know why or have experienced this.......Harley licks plastic....a lot.  Not like wal mart bag plastic, like the thick plastic they wrap cases of water bottles in, or like the thicker plastic they package underwear and bras in.  He will lick and lick and lick to no end......its random, and not constant like hours at a time....but randomly, Like this morning after he ate, he went over and licked the case of water (plastic around it) for 3-5 minutes and that was it.  This afternoon he wondered out and licked it a little bit and then walked on.  He may not do it for a day or so, but he just randomly does it.  Nothing is going on at the time, like stressors, just ate, its just there but it happens a lot. 

He's had a few issues in the past.  He was adopted from an animal shelter, and when he was taken home he pretty much self mutilated his neck by biting and digging around his neck tot he point where he bled and had to wear a color they use on dogs to keep him from getting to his neck.  He did this so much the hair around his neck is partially gone and never grew back the damage was so bad.  It came to the point where the vet said he either had to be super medicated all the time or have him declawed.  His owner had him declawed.  So not sure if this is a stress thing with him and the plastic, or maybe he's missing something in his diet?  He vomits sometimes after he eats.  We have him on Hills Science Diet sensitive stomach and he has been on that for the last year and a few months and that has helped a lot with his vomiting.  He used to do it daily or every other day, but now its gotten to where it may be once a week or once every couple weeks he vomits.  So that has been less of an issue.  We also recently found out he also has seizures.  So hes had a few issues in the past.  We don't know his history before he was adopted, God only knows what this poor little guy went thru before he was adopted.  He was a shy little guy off to himself when he was adopted.  We thing he is about 8 or 9. 

So any input on the plastic licking thing? 

 

[ritz]

Scarecrow 5,

Thank you for adopting Harley.  What a shame about him being declawed.  What type of seizures was Harley diagnosed with?

(I responded to your other email about your other cat and his behavior; FHS is thought by some vets to be a type of seizure.)

Not sure about the plastic, although some cats have a pica condition.  I've also read that plastic is made of a (very very) by-product of beef, so may be attracted to that.  He could also be bored. 

Regarding the other issues, Hills Science Diet sensitive stomach has a LOT of grains/carbohydrates, in particular rice, barley and oatmeal, and very little protein.  He may be missing some protein and allergic to anything from peas to barley.  Keep in mind that cats cannot process carbohydrates, they don't have the 'stomach' for it, so to speak.

I would first transition him to canned food or a better quality dry food (a oxymoron I know), with as little grain/carbs as possible, and limited ingredients.

Ritz is a pucker, always has been.  With Ritz it is generally because she has gone too long between meals (due to my work schedule, traffic, etc.) Any correlation between Harley vomiting and time between meals?

 

[catspaw66]

On the licking thing, some cats are just lickers. Sheba licks plastic, all the other cats, my arms and face and so on. If he starts eating it, then you have a problem.  The only thing I can think of would be it is calming to him. Maybe he is re-living his kittenhood. Maybe in his past, someone fed him on top of plastic. 

 

[scarecrow5]

Ritz.....he wasnt properly diagnosed, he had one then withing a two weeks....he had two in one day...when the second one happened....we rushed him to the emergency vet it was around 10 at night.....they did a complete blood work up on him and said what we are describing he was pretty sure he was having small siezures.  He said if they become more frequent and longer (his last 30 seconds to a min or two) then we can go in and start digging to find what kinds and proper medications etc.  So, so far since that night, a month ago, he has had two more total that we have seen, 

Two things.....one...what kind of food have you found that has what you described in your post....we have been thinking about switching food anyway, all my cats currently eat science diet sensative stomach.  I have researched some, and of course there is good and bad reviews on all types, I guess its a matter of opinon...however, I also read where alot had been recalled and cats have died as a result of getting sick from the food they ate.  I was recently researching blue buffalo.  Do you have an opinion on what kinds of food is best with low grains.  They do eat can food, but the three cats split a small can of the fancy feast in the am....it is just sort of a breakfast treat for them all. 

Now here is the kicker......I posted about my Abby having the twitches you responded to on the other post.  Well....last night (tuesday) Harley all the sudden started twitching twice as much and twice as bad as abby,....to the point where sometimes he really freaks out and violently licks himself and bites as his paws.  Abby does it very mild compaired to this. I looked up cats with FHS on youtube and the couple i watched was doing behaviors just like Harley.....very violent licks in 40-50% if the episodes.  You mentioned that some vets seem to think FHS is some sort of siezures.  He has done it all day today and did it all night last night.  I am going to try and get him into the vet tomorrow morning or afternoon and see what can be done about it.  I called the vet to ask about testing for FHS and they said there is no test per say but they can diagnose and medicate if needed by their behavior witness.  But thought that was weird I just asked about Abby and you pointed out the FHS and his behavior is almost exact to those I seen videos of....and it just started last night. 

Paula

 

[scarecrow5]

Catspaw....thankfully he hasn't tried to eat it yet.  Never thought of the "memory" of it may be where he was fed before.  I guess there isn't any harm in it.  He definitely doesn't eat it at least. 

 

[deecee]

My cat is a plastic addict. I have pica myself and crave ice cubes (from anemia and the lack of iron in my blood), and I really think he craves plastic. LOL He loves rubbing his mouth against it and then making a chewing motion like he's chewing a piece of gum. He doesn't lick it though, just rubs the inside of his mouth and teeth against it. I worried about it when he came to us and I read that a lot of cats do this because they like the texture or the smell of the plastic. So I stopped worrying about him. I just laugh at him now. Although he does hate the sound of the bag when I crunch it up. He runs away fast but as soon as the noise stops, he comes back for another rub.

He always threw up whenever he ate and he is VERY skinny. I finally came across Meow Mix Hairball Control and thankfully it has worked for him. He now only pukes once in a while compared to every time he ate. He is still very skinny though but the vet said he is very healthy and some cats are just skinny like people. I don't know if the vomiting is from too much hair in his stomach or not but at least he only vomits on average twice a month now. Eating grass does it to him so he isn't allowed to eat grass either. I thought cat grass would be good for him and he LOVES it but every time he pukes.

Since it is a dry food, I give him tuna about once or twice a week because his skin gets dry. He is a picky eater but does like ham, chicken, and fish as long as my husband cooks it. He gags at my cooking - the brat!  Tuna has helped a lot with his skin. He was actually pulling out his hair on his back before the tuna twice a week.

I adopted my cat when my daughter moved back home with him and then moved out again leaving him behind. She got him from a friend who found him wandering around the neighborhood. His family moved out leaving him behind. I believe he was about two years old at that time. I should mention that I don't think he was intentionally left, I think while they were moving their things out, he escaped and they couldn't find him when it was time to go. He was neutered, healthy, very social and loving. Therefore, we don't know anything about his life before he was taken in before about age 2.

I don't think that he has a disease, suffered from neglect, or anything that is wrong with him. I think my cat just enjoys getting his plastic fix. Good luck with Harley.

 

[ritz]

I'm glad you're taking Harley to the vet.  What you described about Harley's behavior does not seem like FHS because of the severity and duration, it could be related to the seizures which have escalated.  I think he needs a full work up, including the obvious like blood work, and perhaps a referral to a neurologist.

Your vet is right--the diagnosis of FHS is more a diagnosis of exclusion:  if blood work/x-rays/MRIs/etc are negative, then chances are the symptoms point to FHS.  The reason some vets/researchers think FHS is a type of seizure disorder is because for severe cases, anti-seizure medications are prescribed and seem to work (case by case situation).

Here is a thread about a cat with severe FHS. 

Regarding food, the less ingredients the better.  Canned food, not dry.

Cats can be allergic to anything from carrageenan (an additive) to brewers yeast, to chicken and fish. Cats can also be allergic to something in the environment (air fresheners, cleaning supplies). 

Look for grain free/limited ingredient canned food.  Most dry food have tons of by-products and chemicals and very little protein (such as the science diet your vet recommended, perhaps because (1) he sells it at his vet practice and (2) the only nutrition course he received in vet school was 'taught' by Science Diet)).  Try EVO, Merrick, Wellness, Nature's Variety; you could try mixing some of the Fancy Feast* with the EVO to get them use to the new food.

* FF classic isn't a horrible food for the price, but avoid fish if possible.  Some canned food called 'chicken' (or beef) has fish in it.

Let us know how it goes at the vets.

 

[catspaw66]

Catspaw....thankfully he hasn't tried to eat it yet.  Never thought of the "memory" of it may be where he was fed before.  I guess there isn't any harm in it.  He definitely doesn't eat it at least. 

Neither does Sheba, she just licks it and then carefully uses her canines to punch holes in it.  She really likes the thick part above the zip lock on baggies.

 

[scarecrow5]

Well Ritz, all.  We took Harley to the vet this afternoon.  I explained how he seems to be acting like a FHS diagnosed cat.  She really wasn't interested in what I had to say about the FHS.  She looked at his skin and eliminated fleas and bugs, but said his skin was a little red.  We discussed his history and told her about the seizures etc.  She seems to think it is allergies.  She said with what I told her and given his history (him tearing the fur from his neck (Ritz if you missed that part, it was under the cat intro post that I posted when I first joined) .  I asked her if she wanted to see the video of what he does, recorded a few episodes so we could explain better to the vet what he was doing.  She said she didn't want to see them.  So we talked more about it being "allergies"  She said she would give him a cortazone shot and see if that helps but she didn't think so.  I asked her repeatedly why the sudden outburst and why is it so bad if its just allergies, why has he just now started this?  She said no one knows why we have allergy outburst...it can be the air, the weather etc. then went on to tell me she has random outburst herself.  So....ok....duh.  Anyways....he has never done this before like this, they just started Tuesday night.  She gave him a cortisone shot and said lets see from there, there really isn't much they can do else wise.  We talked about his seizures etc, and she said at this point, as mild as they are, there is no need for medication because sometimes the medication can open new problems.  So we are just going to monitor that.  This is what they did with Harley when he was ripping at his neck , several trials and shots later, they ended up saying last option we can declaw him so he stops.  So shot later, we came home.

So my room mate and I was talking about him and what could have possibly changed since Tuesday IF IF IF it is allergies, what could have triggered it.  We remembered Sunday we bought him a new cat bed, its more of a pillow, and he started laying on that some starting Monday a day before the episodes.  Also, that Monday, we put a collar on him for about 45 min -an hour.  Just to see how he wold react to it (this is what started his tearing at his neck about 5 years ago when she adopted him).  He seemed ok with the collar but of course we took it off we didn't want to leave it on him since he wasn't used to them.  It didn't seem to bother him.  So if this an allergy thing, maybe one of those two things triggered his behavior.  I dint know.  We are going to watch him this weekend.  We took the pillow away and gave him back his old bed.  If he isn't any better by Sat or Monday at the latest, I am going to take him to my vet.  (we took him to my room mates vet since they had his history from when he was adopted etc ). 

 

[scarecrow5]

Oh and also, when he was having seizures...he had two in a row on a sat we took him to the ER vet...when we was there, they did a complete blood work panel up on him and said he was perfectly healthy in all the blood work.  Said all looked good.  Hes a big boy too, he weighed almost 15 lbs .