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Our kitty, Mallory, age 3, is a very lovey, petite house cat. We got her at 8 weeks of age and she was always chewing on our fingers or necklaces or pens. Cute eh? A couple of years later, she got very sick - near death - and when we took her to the ER vet, they found several circles on an abdominal scan. She had eaten several hair ties. We immediately said yes to surgery. That night she developed an infection and had to have yet another surgery. $3,000 and lots of tears later, she is confined to 2 very large rooms with her sister and those rooms are hair-tie-free, etc. We do random shakedowns for "contraband." Anything that she could chew on or eat was thrown out or put away. Present day: We've been letting her out in the rest of the house more (when we are around) but she has managed to chew off two cords to custom blinds in our house. Quick fix though: we put all the blind cords up where she can't get to them. Now, she's chewing electrical cords. I've started unplugging things when I know I won't be in the two rooms with her. What else can I do? We've given her toys that are made for chewing and encourage chewing. She still chews other stuff. We've given her catnip plants to chew. She still chews other poo poo. She has tons of toys, her sister, me, my husband and lots of love. I don't know what else to do for her but chewing electrical cords is obviously really bad.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:17
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| # ? May 14, 2024 10:15 |
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Have you tried bitter sprays to discourage her?
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Mar 3, 2015 02:44
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I've had the same problem for going on 7 years now, the same $3000 surgery just over a year ago (nothing was found, he'd just broken his internal organs) and the same situation of a confined cat. Fortunately he's very obedient and also very clingy so he has no great objection to having to stay in the same room as us. I literally watch him for most my waking hours, and if we go out he has to be in the one plastic free room full of cat furniture. With mine it seems to be a combination of extreme greed and need for stimulation, you can't play with a cat all the time so I bought him a kitten friend and that's solved the problem for the time being because the kitten is incredibly interesting to him. Here's the facts on this cat so you can make any possible comparisons: He spent time homeless on the street, I think for a couple of weeks until I moved next door to the guy who kicked him out. I think he probably had pica before this though because... He's had this surgery twice. The guy who kicked him out clearly paid for the surgery previously. That just boggles my mind, but the old surgery scar was definitely there and pointed out by my vet, and only one other owner was recorded on his chip data history. So the guy who threw him out previously paid thousands to keep him alive. Maybe he threw him out knowing he would easily latch on to some other poor sucker. The pica did not show up until about 6 months after I took him in, so maybe I was the interesting new friend that distracted him from it? God I hope not, I can't get new kittens every 6 months. He is ridiculously friendly. He is also ridiculously dependent. When he was still an outdoor cat, he would follow me to the store and stand outside waiting for me, then follow me all the way back home. He plays like a kitten and adult cats won't play with him and generally don't like him. He LOVES other cats. He also has zero territorial instincts. Why protect your home from other cats if the other cats are all you want to have in your home? I think his brain is broken in some way to be honest (he probably has a magical cat version of autism which makes them hyper enthusiastically friendly instead of aloof) but I'm very glad of one thing - he does not chew electrical cables. He prefers anything small he can fit inside his mouth, or plastic bags. I don't have a great deal of advice beyond having to sit with your cat and watch her whenever possible and have one very entertaining cat room. The very entertaining cat room is my bedroom. There's a cat tree in it, various safe cat toys and now a big cat playpen taking up most of the floor. There is nothing in here to eat - or so I thought til a cat poo appeared in the litter tray yesterday composed mostly of carpet fibers. There is only a very thin line of carpet going around the room, I covered the rest with those mdf slot together floorboards. I have no idea when he chewed carpet, so I'm guessing on "when I was asleep." Try electronic toys, those lasted a short time with us til he figured out they are not real. Honestly these cats might just be hyper intelligent and in need of constant stimulation, couple that with extreme appetite and you don't have a great recipe for success. Maybe drugs would help, I will ask my vet about it if pica returns despite the presence of the very fascinating kitten. KEEP HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND SYRINGE FEEDERS IN YOUR HOUSE. It might save you another $3000. Google its use as an emetic and ask your vet if it's ok to use in case of emergency. It was an emergency vet who told me about it. This should only be used if what they ate can be easily vomited up, so find an emergency vet who won't mind giving advice over the phone at late hours so if you see your cat eat something bad, you can then ask if it's safe to use. Warning - hydrogen peroxide is traumatic, probably moreso to the mental health of the owner than the stomach of the cat. It will make your cat ill for a fair few hours, and require lots of water before they can eat again without throwing up. I'm probably not going to use it again, I used it once and it was terrifying and I lost a nights sleep hovering over him. One other recommendation I have, is use a diet pet food in a fairly hard to get place, like in an activity feeder. Make this available as well as the regular diet. My cat is not really *supposed* to have diet kibble because he's on urinary supplement diet for life, but you manage what you need to manage for an easy time of it. I can't free feed my cat, free feeding would definitely cure his pica but he'd end up severely overweight. Sing like a girl fucked around with this message at 11:00 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 03:16
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Retro Access posted:stuff drat! Thanks! I'll keep you updated.
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Mar 3, 2015 23:06
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My girl Frenzy has pica, and it hasn't even resulted in surgery Thank God. She ate my Lady Gaga Headphones which I couldn't afford to replace, and she's eaten countless phone chargers, but we got some Bitter Apple spray and she seems to have stopped with the cables. She still eats rubber bands and can smell them in my handbag, however she chews them up into iddy bitty pieces, so I should be safe. I hope that Mallory gets tired of it!
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Mar 3, 2015 23:58
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| # ? May 14, 2024 10:15 |
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My jerk Mulder has pica. The worst bit is my bedroom door won't close so I have no way to keep him out of it while I'm gone. At night I have to barricade myself in or he will come eat my hair. MY HAIR. He has tons of toys and a playmate so I have no idea why he does this. And yeah, he's a cord fiend too. Last week it was the cords to both my PC speakers. He made sure to eat through both of them.
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Mar 4, 2015 07:30
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