When Honeybun eats glue - and other odd things kitties do

[doomsdave]

Caught her in the act, a few inches from me this morning. She really loves the glue on transparent packing tape, and licks it rather feverishly.

Kinda freaky.

I took it away and put it in a drawer.

Do your kitties do weird stuff like this? Please share!

 

[Caspers Human]

I used to have a cat that liked to lick the emulsion from photographic paper.

When I was in college, I took a course in photography. I had one of my projects laid out on a table to finish drying before I turned the pictures in the next day. I woke up in the morning to find that my cat had licked the emulsion from about half of a sheet of photographic paper. Half the page was licked clean! Totally blank! I didn't have time to go back to the photo lab to make a new print so I had to turn it in the way it was. The teacher saw what the cat had done and burst out laughing! He said that his cat did the same thing!

As it turns out, many types of photographic paper are made from fish gelatin. Since we all know that cats like the taste of fish, it's easy to understand why cats might be attracted to it. Since then, I have always kept my photography stuff locked in my basement darkroom where the cats can't go.

When it comes to cats licking adhesive tape, I don't know why cats might like it. It must be because of what the adhesive is made from because our eldest, Casper, does the same thing.

Whether it be licking tape or photographic paper, I've never had one of my cats get sick from it. It's probably none too good for them but I suppose, if they don't get too much, it won't hurt.

Still... Whenever I catch one of my cats licking or trying to eat something like that, I take it away from them just in case.

 

[artiemom]

I think it is a form of PICA.. Where they lick, have a fetish for a foreign substance. In both my guy's case it is/was plastic. Any plastic which was/is left out, is automatically, licked, and immediately swallowed. It can be dangerous.

Geoffrey swallows plastic bags whole... and then vomits it up. He also loves adhesives. I have to be extra careful around here. No plastic of any type. When he is nauseous, he will automatically search for plastic to lick; even the water repellent shower curtain!

Good Luck!

 

[FeebysOwner]

A previous cat of mine liked to chew on rubber bands, never ate one because after I figured it out, there were no rubber bands left out anywhere she could get to. My current cat, Feeby, liked to lick and chew on metal (think rings on a purse, mostly), and plastic bags. Of course, she couldn't eat the metals, and she really didn't eat the plastic bags either, but both have been removed from her access anyway. She also loved to chew on ribbons from gift packages - those are also tossed as soon as I have one.

Oh, yeah, I forgot. She also used to chew on plastic sticks and straws. She stopped herself from doing that after she gagged a couple of times. Never bit them into pieces, but just gagged on the ends of a whole stick/straw.

 

[Kris107]

I've had several who like tape. Tape never works as any sort of deterrent for me because they just rip it off and chew/lick it!