Cat Obsessed With Paper Products.

[Frank123]

Anyone else's cat enjoy destroying paper products?
This is the fourth cat I've had, but I've never seen the behavior exhibited in the previous cats.
For some reason my cat, currently 11 months old, seems to enjoy tearing apart paper products. You name it, paper towels, napkins, newspapers, the receipt from the supermarket, etc. One time I made the mistake of putting the Sunday paper down on the table, stepped out of the living room for a moment and when I came back, one would think a ticker tape parade had passed through the room because the paper was nearly shredded into confetti.
We even have wallpaper starting to peel from the wall and she'll tear pieces of that off the wall.
One thing though, I know she's not eating the paper because she always spits it out.
I'm hoping this is a kitten thing and that eventually she'll get bored of it or outgrow it.

 

[susanm9006]

Pretty common kitten and cat obsession/hobby. Toilet paper and paper towel shredders, any kind of paper chew and spitters and one who spent hours peeling wallpaper off the bathroom walls. Since yours likes newspapers you can make her crinkle balls out of it which she can bat around before killing and destroying it.

 

[rubysmama]

I did a quick search and found this similar thread from 2008, so I think paper shredding is quite common.

Paper Shredding Kitten

 

[betsygee]

She may or may not grow out of it. Our cat Ozzy is almost 9 and he still loves paper products. He doesn't try to eat it, either. He just chews--cardboard, papers, paper towels, you name it.

He is not even allowed in our home office any more--DH got tired of trying to explain to his clients why their paperwork always had teeth marks.

 

[Pjg8r]

A roll of paper towels gets shredded right away. Alex uses it like a kickeroo toy. I admit when I buy a new 12 roll pack I put one in the bathroom sink for him.

 

[kissthisangel]

yeah both of mine do this, Charlie likes chewing cardboard, and Mojo likes the toilet roll.

 

[susanm9006]

With one of mine that could open doors and loved to destroy toilet paper, I resorted to setting out toilet paper rolls only when we had guests. Otherwise we used the cats shredded toilet paper from a decorative wicker basket.

 

[neely]

She may or may not grow out of it.

Our cat, Neely, inhaled paper products. Unfortunately she never outgrew it but fortunately she never ate the paper either. My daughter accidentally left paper bills, (money), out and she shredded that too. Perhaps you could try putting something on the paper that has an offensive odor to deter her.

 

[lakpdx]

Oh the shredding....and we aren't talking thin paper products like toilet paper or paper towels. My cats shreds thick cardboard boxes. She can blow thru an amazon box in an hour or so. I swear I can see the joy on her face--which is not what is on my face when I am cleaning up the aftermath. I'm just wondering if this is bad for her teeth. She bites, rips a piece off, and then spits it in a pile next her. I also work at home full time, and the battle is real. I've caught her dragging her paper prey off of my desk many times. I did worry about staples, but she's figured out they don't shred as nicely. Anyway....at the very least it's nice to know I'm not alone in my shredding dilemma.

 

[susanm9006]

Oh the shredding....and we aren't talking thin paper products like toilet paper or paper towels. My cats shreds thick cardboard boxes. She can blow thru an amazon box in an hour or so. I swear I can see the joy on her face--which is not what is on my face when I am cleaning up the aftermath. I'm just wondering if this is bad for her teeth. She bites, rips a piece off, and then spits it in a pile next her. I also work at home full time, and the battle is real. I've caught her dragging her paper prey off of my desk many times. I did worry about staples, but she's figured out they don't shred as nicely. Anyway....at the very least it's nice to know I'm not alone in my shredding dilemma.

Hard to find these days but I gave one of my cats a thick yellow page book and she spent many many happy hours rippling and tearing out pages. Messy yes, but it kept her occupied.

 

[betsygee]

Ozzy at work--this is what happened to a receipt I left out on the couch for five seconds.

 

[danteshuman]

For fun give cats a piece of tissue paper to destroy. For a mess give cats the new paper Easter basket filler.

 

[aliceneko]

Sounds quite common. Toffee and Fudge, Toffee in particular (who destroys anything in front of him), love shredding paper which is a habit they picked up when we first adopted them as they used to shred paper when they were stressed, but now they seem to do it whenever.