Help! Kitten eating the blinds

SueLinda

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jul 12, 2024
Messages
578
Purraise
1,714
Location
FL
Penguin is eating the blinds. I came home and saw what he did to them. I found the missing pieces on floor but what really concerns me is finding the little pieces on the floor. I have the marker next to them for scale. I don't know if he actually swallowed any . I'm going to call the vet first thing in the morning. He's acting fine, has zoomies as I type this....
I'm in an apartment and there isn't a string to pull to raise the blinds. I'm going to tie them up with shoe strings or something.
Is there any thing I can spray on the blinds that is safe for a Penguin but will deter him? (insert face palm here)
Also, can anyone recommend a good chew toy? I've tried the mini red ring and chew sticks but he's not impressed....
Screenshot 2025-01-24 221316.png Screenshot 2025-01-24 221339.png
 
Last edited:

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
25,296
Purraise
39,745
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Hi. Blind material is usually pretty stiff, so I am hoping that while Penguin might be able to bite them off, chewing them or swallowing them would be a bigger challenge, up to and including cutting up his mouth or even his throat. If that had happened, I suspect you might also have found saliva mixed with some of them, where he spit them out when trying to eat them. He could have also broken them into pieces while swiping at them too. He may be just going after the blinds in order to try to look out the window. However, there looks like there should be more pieces on the ground - did you take a pic of all of them, or is that all that was there?

If he is acting perfectly normal, odds are in your favor he didn't try to eat or actually swallow any of the pieces. You could also check his mouth for any type of small cuts. But, it is a good idea to call the vet anyway, and keep an eye on him in the meantime.

For now, when you are not home, I would place him in a single room, and remove the blinds in there altogether. You can always use sheets or blankets/towels to cover the windows. And, tie up the ones in the other rooms as you suggested, until you can replace them all with some other window treatment.

I don't think you will find anything to spray or coat them with that will deter him from going after the blinds. Perhaps others might have some ideas about that.

I hope he is OK. Let us know how he is doing tomorrow, and what the vet had to say.
 
Last edited:

Kris107

Cat mom, cat foster mom
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Mar 6, 2023
Messages
1,626
Purraise
3,686
I have a pretty vigorous chewer and I use scorpion Tabasco on stuff. I will occasionally have to recoat, but works well. It could stain white plastic though... I've heard citrus can work, but as that's pretty acidic, I'd worry if it would do something to plastic. I have metal blinds - maybe could replace?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

SueLinda

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jul 12, 2024
Messages
578
Purraise
1,714
Location
FL
Hi. Blind material is usually pretty stiff, so I am hoping that while Penguin might be able to bite them off, chewing them or swallowing them would be a bigger challenge, up to and including cutting up his mouth or even his throat. If that had happened, I suspect you might also have found saliva mixed with some of them, where he spit them out when trying to eat them. He could have also broken them into pieces while swiping at them too. He may be just going after the blinds in order to try to look out the window. However, there looks like there should be more pieces on the ground - did you take a pic of all of them, or is that all that was there?

If he is acting perfectly normal, odds are in your favor he didn't try to eat or actually swallow any of the pieces. You could also check his mouth for any type of small cuts. But, it is a good idea to call the vet anyway, and keep an eye on him in the meantime.

For now, when you are not home, I would place him in a single room, and remove the blinds in there altogether. You can always use sheets or blankets/towels to cover the windows. And, tie up the ones in the other rooms as you suggested, until you can replace them all with some other window treatment.

I don't think you will find anything to spray or coat them with that will deter him from going after the blinds. Perhaps others might have some ideas about that.

I hope he is OK. Let us know how he is doing tomorrow, and what the vet had to say.
Thank you! Will do. :) So far this morning he's inhaling his food as usual and running around chasing Rhett.
 

neely

May the purr be with you
Veteran
Joined
Dec 22, 2005
Messages
21,601
Purraise
54,485
Are your blinds in or near the kitchen because they can absorb cooking smells? If so, this may be what's attracting Rhett to them. Window shades are relatively inexpensive if you want something reasonable to replace the blinds.
 
Last edited:
Top