The bag licker and the paper eater

[fenix]

I am the proud petnof two crazed cats... each with their own annoying idiocincracy - HELP!

First there is Beast a 5 year old male black cat who has a fetish for grocery bags. It doesn't seem to matter what was in them originally, he has to lick them... for up to an hour if left to his pleasure he will lay on one edge of the bag while licking away on the other.

Not to be topped by the "Old Man", my 3 year old Russian Blue mix loves paper, he doesn't just nibble the corners or go for the scented inks, he eats entire sheets of paper. His true passion however seems to be Avery Laser labels. His label addiction is so bad that he has taken to nosing the top off of the box and pulling sheets out... or knawing on them while still in the box (more than once I have gone pulled a half eaten sheet out of a box).

THey have a feeder with a constant supply of dry food so hunger shouldn't be an issue.

Anyone know how to combat these annoying habits?

 

[hissy]

First off........Beautiful cats! Many of the manufacturers of the plastic grocery bags use fish oil to process the plastic. Cats find this highly tempting and I have learned to keep all the plastic bags away from my cats. I had one kitty that quit licking the bags and began to eat one! Expensive surgery had to be performed, so now I have a bag holder that is up a few feet from the floor and all the bags go in there immediately.

As far as your paper eater goes, that one is a new one for me. I have some that love to shred paper, but not eat it. Perhaps someone else has something more to add.

 

[krazy kat2]

Fred and Georgia both like to snack on paper. I hasn't hurt either of them, so besides the mess, I don't have a problem with them doing it occasionally. Hissy is right about the plastic bags. They can be dangerous for cats. I guess you will have to make it harder for them to get to the paper and plastic. Your babies are beautiful. Is Beast huge or is the old man just a small cat? I love a huge cat! Welcome to TCS!

 

[fenix]

The plastic bags have been stuffed in a drawer (they both open cabinets regularly) - thanks for the heads up on that one. And both of the boys are preening with joy over the compliments (just what we all dream of - cats with even more inflated egos ).

As for the size - Beast truly is huge, but that pic was taken when Salvaje was just a few months old. Now they are both huge. Beast is the fat happy cat, Salvaje is long lean mean hunting machine. They are about the same height and length, but Beast is twice as wide as Salvaje. Somewhere I have a pic of them in their morning catfight ritual (lots of boxing, chasing, stalking, and sliding out on hardwood floors) I'll post it if I can find it. In the meantime - here is Salvaje doing his best Gargoyle impression.

 

[valanhb]

Gosh your boys are just gorgeous!!

My Trent likes to gnaw and shred paper, but he doesn't usually eat it. I would think that especially the labels could pose a health risk to Salvaje, with the possibility of blockage. Perhaps you could try putting the paper in a rubbermaid container that snaps shut so he at least doesn't have free reign with it.

They really should invent digestible cat paper for all of us....

 

[okeefecl]

Is it true that plastic bags contain fish oil? I have heard that they are made of petroleum products only and don't contain fish oil, due to the fact that so many people have allergies to seafood.

Whether or not they contain fish oil, Ivo likes licking plastic bags, too. I use paper/plastic bag combo for garbage bags, and store them in another combo. One day, when I had gotten a new storage bag, Ivo spent about 10 minutes licking it. I thought that there was something that I had bought that she was attracted to. But, I still have the same storage bag and she still licks it.