Licking the finish off of wooden furniture?

[cmshap]

My cat Willy has this incessant habit of licking varnish off of furniture. I attached a GIF, and a photo of him licking the arm of one of my chairs... see them as "before" and "after." He does this all the time, and I stop him when I am home, but he clearly does it when I'm out.

Does anybody have any idea why he might be doing this? Also, I have some mild concern it could be unhealthy, but he's been doing this for years and hasn't had any problems related to it, that I know of.

 

[2Cats4everLoved]

I’ve been looking into strange licking with my cat Fluffy. She was abandoned in my supermarket. She licks bags but very specific plastics and loves wood also. I’ve been looking into Pica related issues, but still researching.

how old is he?

 

[cmshap]

I’ve been looking into strange licking with my cat Fluffy. She was abandoned in my supermarket. She licks bags but very specific plastics and loves wood also. I’ve been looking into Pica related issues, but still researching.

how old is he?

He is about 9 years old. He was also abandoned at an early age... when I found him outside, he was a little younger than 1 year old.

He was sick with a bacterial respiratory infection, and was emaciated, almost starved to death. He is healthy now other than the recurring infection which I treat with zeniquin about once a year. It totally eliminates the symptoms but then they come back over time. He's otherwise healthy.

He is a scarfer. I always assumed it has to do with starving at a young age, so he scarfs all the food he can get as fast as possible. I don't know if any of that has to do with the licking, but it's a significant factor in his past.

 

[neely]

My cat Willy has this incessant habit of licking varnish off of furniture.

Do you know if it's polyurethane varnish? If so, it is non-toxic and usually safe compared to other materials. However, you could cover the piece of furniture to be safe and check with your vet the next time you bring him in.

 

[cmshap]

Do you know if it's polyurethane varnish? If so, it is non-toxic and usually safe compared to other materials. However, you could cover the piece of furniture to be safe and check with your vet the next time you bring him in.

I really have no idea. The furniture he licks has all been secondhand. But none of it is old enough to have lead paint, or anything like that. It's all from the last 15 years or so.

 

[Furballsmom]

I think I still would cover the furniture and have a blood test run at his next wellness check so that you and your vet have a benchmark to work from. Maybe an antique dealer or furniture maker could tell you for certain what the finish is and what was used for color.

From Sciencedirect.com
"Shellac is a resinous product obtained from the secretion of the female “lac bug” (Kerria lacca) on trees, mostly in the forests of India and Thailand. The dry flake processed shellac is dissolved in ethanol to obtain liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze, and wood finish."

There might be something useful here;
How to Keep Your Cat from Scarfing Down Their Food - TheCatSite

 

[2Cats4everLoved]

Please keep us posted on Willy. If you type Pica in the search, there are many threads regarding this type of behavior. I’m going to go down that rabbit hole. If I come across anything similar to your Willy, I’ll let you know.

 

[Mighty Orange]

Don't use tuna mix as your furniture polish.

 

[cmshap]

I think I still would cover the furniture and have a blood test run at his next wellness check so that you and your vet have a benchmark to work from.

That's good advice. In another thread I started, I learned he may be developing arthritis in his front feet, as he is getting old and was declawed by a previous person before I found him. I have a few issues to discuss with my vet next time I bring him in.

Please keep us posted on Willy. If you type Pica in the search, there are many threads regarding this type of behavior. I’m going to go down that rabbit hole. If I come across anything similar to your Willy, I’ll let you know.

Thank you, I would really appreciate any info you may find!

 

[iPappy]

IDK if they can check mineral levels or not, but I've read that this can sometimes point to a mineral deficiency (I am not a vet or a tech BTW!) I had a cat that would lick any kind of metal he could find, never chewed it, but he would obsessively lick it and he lived to be 15.
Mighty Orange a few years ago I read a small dab of olive oil could work in a pinch as furniture polish. Big mistake. I had a house full of cats AND dogs going around and weirdly licking the chair/table legs, the cabinets, etc. It was weird.

 

[cmshap]

IDK if they can check mineral levels or not, but I've read that this can sometimes point to a mineral deficiency (I am not a vet or a tech BTW!) I had a cat that would lick any kind of metal he could find, never chewed it, but he would obsessively lick it and he lived to be 15.
Mighty Orange a few years ago I read a small dab of olive oil could work in a pinch as furniture polish. Big mistake. I had a house full of cats AND dogs going around and weirdly licking the chair/table legs, the cabinets, etc. It was weird.

I wondered about something like that. I actually brought this up to a vet once, which I didn't mention yet. She is now retired, but started a cat-only vet office, called "The Cat Dr." (which is now being run by a new vet who bought the practice, and I also trust, but haven't spoken about this issue with yet).

The previous vet said it sounded more like an OCD-like thing than anything else. Or some kind of anxiety-related thing, most likely. Willy has had separation-anxiety issues since I have been working from home all the time since the start of COVID.

But when I discussed it previously, I didn't really emphasize the extent of it. The pictures I shared here clearly show he is doing it extensively. I feel like I made it sound more like he just sometimes licked things randomly.

 

[neely]

The previous vet said it sounded more like an OCD-like thing than anything else. Or some kind of anxiety-related thing, most likely. Willy has had separation-anxiety issues since I have been working from home all the time since the start of COVID.

I tend to agree with your previous vet. If sounds like it has become a fixed behavior and maybe a coping mechanism for him. This article provides a helpful explanation: Anxiety and Compulsive Disorders in Cats | PetMD

 

[cmshap]

I tend to agree with your previous vet. If sounds like it has become a fixed behavior and maybe a coping mechanism for him. This article provides a helpful explanation: Anxiety and Compulsive Disorders in Cats | PetMD

I read that article and it's really interesting. As I mentioned before, I have another thread in which I learned he may be developing arthritis. I noted this quote from the article right away:

"The behaviors may reinforce themselves due to the release of pain-relieving chemicals in the brain."

Aside from possible separation anxiety issues, I'm also wondering if pain is somehow related. He's been doing the licking for years, but not when he was younger. And he was declawed before I found him, so he may have had pain for longer than I realized.

 

[drustone]

This is what I found on quora: "Cats who lick obsessively at nonfood items, such as furniture, clothing, walls, plants or household objects, are exhibiting a form of pica. Pica develops when an animal craves the taste of nonfood items, and usually is indicative of a nutritional imbalance."

 

[cmshap]

This is what I found on quora: "Cats who lick obsessively at nonfood items, such as furniture, clothing, walls, plants or household objects, are exhibiting a form of pica. Pica develops when an animal craves the taste of nonfood items, and usually is indicative of a nutritional imbalance."

Thank you. I feel like there are a couple of possible explanations. One may be nutritional... and I'd be happy to list his food over the years, although he's actually been on prescription food by my vet who I trust (I mentioned my vet changed more recently, but my former vet really helped me give him the best care as he was recovering from being abandoned as a young cat). Another explanation is possibly behavioral/anxiety related.