Cat ripping up rug to play with/chew on

[kimawalter]

Hi! I adopted a female kitten in July (she's now about nine months old) and she has developed a habit of pulling up pieces of our rug. It's a wool rug but she's not interested in the wool, just the synthetic ribbony longer threads in the rug that stick out to create the rug's design. She mostly just plays with the pieces like a toy by tossing them around, and we have unfortunately encouraged this by playing fetch with her using the pieces she brings us because we thought it was a pretty harmless behavior. But recently I noticed she has 1. pulled out an excessive amount of pieces so that there's a bald spot and she seems to be just making a pile of them and 2. started chewing on them and at least once swallowed about a quarter-inch long piece of it.

The context: She's a shelter kitty who probably was weaned to early as she arrived at the shelter as a young kitten without her mom, and she has a compulsion/habit of licking us and purring. We have a six-month-old boy kitten we adopted right after her. They play on and off all day. She uses her scratching posts (and occasionally forgets that the couch is off limits, but she's usually pretty good about that). We play interactively with both kittens and have window perches for them, etc.

 

[kimawalter]

Oops that posted before I was done. To add: We've tried using a citrusy deterrent spray but it doesn't seem to work longer than a couple hours maybe. Does anyone have tips for stopping the behavior? And should we be worried that swallowing the threads/ribbon pieces is harmful to her? Thanks!

 

[orientalslave]

My guess is she is bored and making a game to amuse herself.  Try distraction - offer a fun game when she starts chewing.  Obviously don't play with her with any bits she has pulled off or anything like them.

 

[missymotus]

If it's a rug can't you just move it? Easier than her swallowing thread and requiring emergency vet treatment. 

 

[kimawalter]

Well, the rug is basically the carpet for the whole room -- huge rug -- so we hadn't even considered moving it. But we have rolled it up for storage at least until she's a bit older and will also play more with her so she gets used to other games (can't ever hurt to have more play time right?). Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[cattree]

I would say that she is probably bored and needs some other type of stimulation .. try getting her some safe cat toys like balls.. or things to occupy her...

 

[gregorywalter]

The carpet chewing is not about hunger, it's probably about boredom or behavior disorder. Spray Cayenne pepper powder on the rugs or carpet. Bring her some toys to play with.

 

[stephanietx]

Cats also scratch like that to mark territory.  Go to the home improvement store and get some carpet scraps and put on the floor for her to scratch on.  When you see her scratching inappropriately, move her to one of the appropriate scratching areas and praise her.