If your cat chews, eats, or digs up problematic things

[Felinian]

Subtitle: The only truly safe reason to use tea tree oil with cats:

My orange mackerel tabby kitten has been the greatest "fur-ball of mischief" of any of the half dozen cats I've owned in the past - which were mostly "meezer" types: Siamese mixes, tabby-point Siamese, full-blooded blue-point Tonkinese - a most handsome cat with a doglike personality (he loved to play fetch and always met me eagerly at the door when I returned home), etc.

But my little orange Honey, a tiny terrorist invading my life (and heart) at this late stage, an imp who has amazingly weaponized cuteness, is not only usually an orange blur racing through the house playing with a half dozen cat-toys at once, but she has been the worst at digging up potted plants, chewing, and even eating, hazardous things that none of my other cats ever even touched!

Not only has this little gremlin chewed the dickens out of my phone charger plug, and dug up my 6-foot corn plant (dracaena), but she has chewed up entire pencils (!!), including the eraser and the metal band that holds it on the pencil - leaving just a gnarled fragment of a once unsharpened new pencil. A spritz of water from a spray bottle is only a deterrent for the moment, soon forgotten.

After she had eaten nearly a whole pencil the first time, the next afternoon her poop was quite obviously bloody. My 73-year-old self was exhausted from seasonal allergies and medications, but panic and adrenaline got me dressed and off to the vet with her. Then three x-rays later, the vet said that though what looked like wood fiber appeared throughout her large intestine, her small intestine was clear - and they could not detect any metal - saying it was hopefully excreted before the stool sample I brought. Then I had the fun (NOT!) of pilling a cat again - 2 metronidazole pills twice a day to prevent any sepsis. (What fun that was with a tiny tigress as strong as a pit bull and razor-sharp teeth!) Plus I was told to feed her as much as she will eat with lots of salt-free, wild-caught tuna juice to keep her fully hydrated until her stool was blood-free. (So she gets extra rewards while I get extra burdens...because of a damn pencil!) She turned out to be perfectly fine days later.

But she did it again!!! She not only wrecked my now plastic pencil but also found a new wooden pencil somewhere (I'd hidden all I could find) and demolished it, metal band and all!! Back on the same therapy as above (is she doing this for more tuna-soaked food?).

Anyhow, the one thing I discovered she HATES is the smell of tea tree oil, which I'm having to use for a toenail fungal infection. So I used an artist paintbrush to apply tea tree oil to all the metal bands of every pencil, sprinkled it into the repotted dracaena's soil, and "painted" every phone, camera, and USB plug I have with it.

And EUREKA!!! PROBLEM SOLVED!!! Now my little gremlin only needs to get within a foot of any "treated" object above before she instantly jumps away from it as if it were a blistering fire!!! She makes NO attempts whatsoever to lick, bite, or dig anywhere I've just lightly applied the tea tree oil! (NB: I do have to retreat with it every few days as the scent fades.)

Hope this helps anybody with a naughty chewer, eater, and digger of no-no objects!!

Felinian

She who weaponized cuteness:

 

[AbbysMom]

I'm very glad that this is working for you but I would never recommend tea tree oil for a cat under any circumstances. It can be fatal to cats and in my opinion just isn't worth the risk.

 

[Felinian]

Now my little gremlin only needs to get within a foot of any "treated" object above before she instantly jumps away from it as if it were a blistering fire!!! She makes NO attempts whatsoever to lick, bite, or dig anywhere I've just lightly applied the tea tree oil!

I'm very glad that this is working for you but I would never recommend tea tree oil for a cat under any circumstances. It can be fatal to cats and in my opinion just isn't worth the risk.

Please delete my thread. For every cat's protection, I would like to withdraw all recommendation of the use of tea tree oil for a problem like mine to any other cat owner. It solved a very upsetting, expensive problem for me (I've already spent over $500 in vet bills because of my little cat's intractable self-destructive behavior) and I was overly enthusiastic to share what instantly stopped that behavior which was already endangering her life.

In my defense, I have been a devoted, loving cat owner for decades, and my cats have all lived years longer than their expected life spans - as long as 23 years old. I am acutely aware that tea tree oil can be fatal to cats (hence, my subtitle at the beginning of my post). I would NEVER EVER administer it to nor apply it on my cat in any way!!!

The tea tree oil is not meant "for" her - it's highly effective repellent "to" her.

Swallowing sharp metal fragments (pencil eraser bands), electrical wiring, sharp pieces of plastic, splintery chunks of wood, graphite, and paint can also be fatal to a cat. And she was consuming all those (even bitten off her "safe" cat toys!). And blood was coming out in her stool. I was in constant fear of what she'd consume next, She was even finding pencils I had lost under furniture, and pulling out pencils and plastic pens I was using as placeholders in books. I was also having to disassemble and hide my electronics as well, at great inconvenience. I am at the poverty level and do not have the money to replace my old desktop computer with a wireless laptop and blue-tooth connections..

I tried hot sauces and other things that cats dislike - but in vain. The scents and bad tastes would not last. Tea tree oil completely stopped her from even getting near pencils, wiring, toothpicks (both plastic and wood), etc., for weeks. I watched her avoidant behavior very closely during these weeks to be sure she would not make even near attempts to approach the dangerous objects. She now avoids them all by a wide berth. She now devotes her craving to chew things to the expensive rawhide chew-sticks I've bought her.

I definitely plan to cease all use of tea tree oil once she is conditioned (which seems soon) not to chew wood, metal, plastic, and wires (which could electrocute her as well).

 

[epona]

When I had a chewer, I found Bitter Apple Spray to be an excellent deterrent - non-toxic and was recommended by my vet for exactly this use

 

[Hellenww]

Bitter Apple Spray to be an excellent deterrent

Our vet suggested it when Yoshi was licking his belly bald. He loved the stuff and licked the nozzle.

 

[Felinian]

When I had a chewer, I found Bitter Apple Spray to be an excellent deterrent - non-toxic and was recommended by my vet for exactly this use

THANK YOU, EPONA! That's exactly what I needed - an effective, non-toxic alternative!!!

But Hellen's Yoshi's behavior muddies the water, so to speak. Yoshi, a Japanese? The Japanese love wasabi, too, even though it blasts my head off.

There must be a lot of chewing felines out there right now. I've already called two specialty shops and they're sold out of non-toxic cat repellent sprays until next week's restocking. I have a few more numbers to call, though. First, my vet.

I really appreciate both of your comments!

Felinian

 

[Margot Lane]

…but why, why do they do it? Boredom? Chemical imbalance? A hunger for nutrients? Sheer curiousity?

 

[Kris107]

…but why, why do they do it? Boredom? Chemical imbalance? A hunger for nutrients? Sheer curiousity?

Could be a lot of reasons! I swear my young-ish cat just explores the world that way. She puts everything in her mouth. I had another cat where I thought it helped her anxiety/nervousness to chew. Then of course teething can be a factor.

 

[Felinian]

I'm back in a quandary: I bought Bitter YUCK!, a bitter apple spray supposedly safer for cats. (Other bitter apple sprays contain isopropyl alcohol. This doesn't.) Sampling just a tiny bit on my tongue before using it, I now believe that for the cats that find it nasty tasting (some really don't), it could well be a much greater punishment for them than the briefly repulsive odor of tea tree oil nearby..

Because the bitter apple spray is practically odorless, the chewing cat will not hesitate to take the sprayed object into its mouth to start chewing, only to be tortured for a very long time with the bitterest taste imaginable THAT JUST WON'T GO AWAY!!! I still have the most sickening, vile taste from it in my mouth that I can't get rid of. For some cats, this horrible taste may last longer than the desired association with what caused it in the first place.

It's a cruel experience. I speak from very personal experience at this very moment.

Meanwhile, my young cat is still steering quite clear of my dracaena, my USB cables, etc., which she has only smelled from a distance (but never touched now) and instantly recoiled simply from the odor - then gone on her playful way - hopefully conditioned, but not in any lingering torture...like what I'm now still suffering from this dab of bitter apple spray in my mouth.

I give up. It's either toxic or it's sensory torture or it doesn't work at all. Back to water spray bottle, offering chew-sticks, and obsessively locking everything up...

Well, she just now jumped up on top of my beautiful folding Chinese screen and knocked it over the coffee table...and ruined it...anybody want a cute little orange monster? I'm seriously considering taking her back to the rescue service where she was adopted...it will end up like that anyway because she's definitely going to outlive me.

 

[mani]

She's a kitten.. she will eventually outgrow this.
Most of us who have had kittens have had to kitten-proof the house.. it's quite a project, but it does save your stuff.
Please, rather than consider taking her back, consider trying to limit where she goes and work on keeping very precious things out of her way.

 

[Norachan]

Felinian I also used to have a Kitten of Mass Destruction who shredded curtains, smashed cups and vases and even bit chunks out of my cacti. They do grow out of it, I promise you.

It`s perfectly acceptable to keep kittens confined to one room if you don`t want to pack everything precious away. Just give her plenty of playtime, a toy like Da Bird works well, and let her out into the rest of the house when she`s calmed down enough to relax with you.

 

[Felinian]

mani and Norachan

It has been 18 years since I had a kitten (my late, beloved Tonkinese, Hermes). Difference being, when he came into my home at about 6-weeks old, he already had a willingly adoptive mommy cat waiting for him here - a silver three-year-old maternal Snowshoe named Phoebe, who herself had been such a very gentle, very serious, well-behaved kitten.

Phoebe made the wild little Hermes her own, raising him with a loving but surprisingly "iron" paw - constantly playing with him, but firmly disciplining his overly rough or destructive behavior as only a mother cat can. I never realized until now how blessed I was to have her there at that particular time. I didn't have to do any disciplining! His "grandma" cat (14 yo), my gorgeous Delphy (whom I adopted as an adult), quietly disliked him and had no motherly patience with his very annoying antics at all, slapping him silly from time to time.

In short, I realize I have never had to raise a "kitten of mass destruction" (I love that expression - it certainly fits Honey and Hermes the kitten) by myself at all, though I've had cats for over three decades!

Your encouraging remarks have helped me get some perspective and reassurance, as well as a whole new appreciation and deeper love for my cats of long ago. Sincere thanks to you both.

Felinian

PS: I'm keeping the little orange gremlin. Figure it's my karma - my first time to do-it-myself. I do love her.

 

[Kflowers]

I'm fairly sensitive to smells and find the bitter apple has a sharp unpleasant smell to it. It's possible the smell is more apparent to your cat than to you. However, for chewing on stuff I used pepper sauce, like you put on food. Spread on the object with a q-tip or artist's paint brush. I used the red version so I could see what I'd already covered. This worked well with wires for us. Note, my sister had a cat that like tabasco sauce. Nothing is perfect.

 

[Felinian]

Thanks, K. You're so right that "nothing is perfect". It seems not only cats but also humans can have very different reactions to each deterrent we try.

I personally find the odor of "Bitter YUCK!" (for cats, without isopropyl alcohol but with the same bittering ingredient as Bitter Apples - denatonium benzoate) to be faintly sweet! And my kitten also eagerly sniffs the open bottle (without my letting her contact the actual liquid). So its odor for both my cat and me is no deterrent at all.

BUT, as I described earlier, I personally found the bitter taste of the liquid itself to be horribly unpleasant, and worse, that taste torture lasted for hours and could not be gotten rid of by anything - it just had to "wear off".

I would never put my kitten through that kind of torture, no matter what she chewed up in the house.

She also seems unperturbed by hot sauce. I've use two brands of "extra hot" tabasco to no avail.

The high-risk use of foul-smelling tea tree oil in tiny quantities has fortunately conditioned her not to approach the big houseplant pot, pencils, and critical electronics - without her ever wanting or trying to make any oral contact. (Oh, I watched her constantly to make sure she never tried to make contact with the treated objects). I just happened to be very lucky that this worked on the major stuff for us. But with the real potential for toxicity, I don't recommend this. I have not re-applied tea tree oil to anything.

What is working for the remaining "no-no's" now is a "back to bare basics" - vigilant use of a plain water spray bottle with a few very loud scolding words. Then when my little gremlin has darted away, seeking her out to pick her up and tell her what a good girl she is and rewarding her with some tuna juice (which she craves). This takes constant vigilance - which as a retiree I'm lucky to have the time for - and it will often cause gritting of the teeth and tightening of the neck muscles...and possibly a small shot of liquor. But it's working for me and my little "kitten of mass destruction" with no more risk of toxicity nor hours of taste bud torture.

 

[Kflowers]

Since electrical cords can be a life and death matter, you might consider buying the casings, coverings for cords. I've put the click to the page on Amazon with some scroll down before you decide I've lost my mind. We didn't have such when we had kittens but were planning on doing major duct tape things if the pepper sauce didn't work. Duct tape works, but will take the paint off the walls. Still, what's a little paint when we're talking saving a kitten from herself?

We had several kittens at once constant vigilance wasn't possible since they would go four ways at the same time. Best of luck to both of you. Forgot to add, I never tried the bitter apple taste since the smell was so bad to me.

Amazon.com : covers for electrical cords

 

[Norachan]

What is working for the remaining "no-no's" now is a "back to bare basics" - vigilant use of a plain water spray bottle with a few very loud scolding words.

I have 13 cats at the moment, between 2 and 14 years of age. They`re all trained to stop whatever they`re doing and move away when I click my fingers. You can clicker train animals to associate the sound of a clicker with good behavior, but what worked best for me was clicking my fingers when they did anything I didn`t want them to do.

I don`t like spray bottles for two reasons. First, if they`re doing something you don`t want them to do you have to go and find the spray bottle and spray them, by which time they may have already moved onto something else so no lesson is learnt. Second, I use other things in spray bottles; cleaning products, anti-fungal sprays for my plants and things like that. I think it`s confusing for them to hear a spray and it sometimes mean they`ve done something wrong and at other times it doesn`t. Plus I don`t want them to freak out every time I spray something.

My sister trains dogs and she says that there`s no point having a word that means don`t, you`ve got to have a sound that is easily distinguishable from other words. She makes a Psssst sound at her dogs when they do something they`re not supposed to. Clicking my fingers works for me because it`s a sound unlike any other and the cats all know it means stop.

 

[Felinian]

I have 13 cats at the moment, between 2 and 14 years of age. They`re all trained to stop whatever they`re doing and move away when I click my fingers.

That's a LOT of cats! You have my admiration for handling that many felines of different ages! The most I have had at once is three. Unfortunately, I have arthritis in my fingers and snapping my fingers is a bit painful. Besides I wouldn't know how to condition my kitten to cease and desist with a snap or a click, as it simply attracts her attention for a second and nothing more.

I don`t like spray bottles for two reasons. First, if they`re doing something you don`t want them to do you have to go and find the spray bottle and spray them, by which time they may have already moved onto something else so no lesson is learnt.

As we have been finding here, different things work with our different cats - apparently no one answer for everyone. First, you're totally right about a time lag being confusing and non-productive for correcting a cat's behavior. I don't have this particular problem. Long ago, I bought small "decorator" water sprayers for each room to be "at the ready" for immediate response to "naughty" behavior. (It takes repeated misdeeds and sprays for the conditioning to finally stick in little Honey's stubborn brain.)

Second, I use other things in spray bottles; cleaning products, anti-fungal sprays for my plants and things like that. I think it`s confusing for them to hear a spray and it sometimes mean they`ve done something wrong and at other times it doesn`t. Plus I don`t want them to freak out every time I spray something.

Again, different cats, different results. In order to check out the valid consideration about the sound of spraying, I picked up the sprayer on my desk and sprayed it several times at an angle several feet to one side of my kitten on the floor, who was playing toss-and-attack with one of her many toys. She briefly looked up at the spraying sound, and feeling no moisture, quickly returned to her mauling the poor toy, completely unperturbed.

But THEN, she got bored with the toy and decided to crawl behind my computer desk where she could potentially wreak all sorts of havoc. A short little spritz directly at her back (and I made sure she had not bitten into any wiring yet) made her immediately shoot out from behind the desk and run to the sofa to lick the light moisture off. I didn't even utter a single sound. And she did not return to her precarious investigation. And I pushed the desk more tightly against the wall. I do need to apply K Kflowers ' suggestions regarding insulating electrical wiring - that is probably the most dangerous concern of all.

Thus, for my Honey, it is the moisture itself, not the sound of the spray, that works on her. I feel fortunate that so far I haven't had any complications with this harmless method of discipline.

As for stopping bad behavior if the sprayer isn't handy, one loud stern NO! seems to do the trick now as she matures (which I was always reinforcing with a spray of water). She stops what she's doing and then comes up and rubs against my legs to make sure things are still okay between us. And of course, they are.

 

[Alldara]

I found the wire cases quite helpful.

Then I also began giving the dry food in puzzles and the like. Keeps them busy.

I found rotating toys works well and Cat TV also.

As for the smell, I had to treat my plants for some aphids. I used a natural way where you simmer a hot habenaro pepper and then strain the water and spray it on the plant....well the cats don't bug that plant anymore. I did have to rehome one plant though. Magnus wouldn't stop digging in it and I gave up. Rocks around the base of the soil worked fine otherwise. Spray outside if you do this.

Peppers themselves are toxic but they aren't getting the crystals from this method so a small taste was okay safety wise in our home.