Chomp chomp

[owlmoose]

So Tori has taken to eating T's shoelaces.

I've never seen anything quite like it.




Not on any of the other shoes, just the athletic shoes. I don't know whether she's actually eating the shoelace bits or just gnawing through them, although I did find one shoelace end on the floor this morning. Something to worry about? Any way to stop it, other than storing the shoes out of her reach? It's not like they don't have enough toys, or that they don't like them. More fiber in her diet? Hmm.

She also gnawed through the wire on the Christmas lights that we'd had hanging off the mezzanine (while they were off, fortunately). I knew my instincts were right, that they weren't ready for a tree yet. Maybe in a few years.

Comments

I

[kunstarniki.livejournal.com]

Charity went through a period like that. She chewed the cord to my PS controller until I had to replace it. Also went after various electrical cords throughout the house. There was no dissuading her until she finally gave it up of her own accord. I have no idea why they do it - boredom? ;)

Re: I

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Cats just seem to fixate on things. Who knows why. Maybe it's boredom, or maybe (like anzubird once suggested, they're obeying messages beamed from the mothership. ;) We will probably never know.

[giandujabird.livejournal.com]

Wow. All four lace ends, too. Hunh. Crazeh kitteh!

String bad!

[i-iambe.livejournal.com]

Fortunately it's a short piece, but watch the string consumption very carefully. It can get caught up in their system and knot up places that shouldn't be knotted.

Yesterday I saw something hanging off Ed's face. I grabbed it and it turned out to be a thread running to a spool that had fallen on the floor. I pulled slowly and about ten feet of blue thread came out of my cat. The front, thank goodness. But it terrified me. I knew that she liked to chew up ponytail bands, but she always chewed them off in small pieces. I'd find a short wet black wormy looking thing on the floor and it would turn out to be the remains of a ponytail band. Ick.

Anyway, now that you know it's an issue for her, be very careful about any kind of string near her. Some cats don't have any interest in string. Quito doesn't care at all, but some cats like Ed get very into it and you have to watch out for rubber bands, tinsel, newspaper string, ribbons, threads...

Re: String bad!

[plantgirl.livejournal.com]

My sister's cat was desperately attracted to ribbon, particularly the thin ones you can curl, and would eat feet & feet of it whenever he could get ahold of it. To no good end, I tell you. Very messy.

My cats would play with string, but were never into eating it.

Re: String bad!

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know about the dangers of string and ribbon, and we try to keep them away from the cats as much as possible. The funny thing about this is that it's new, and sudden. I mean, she's lived with T's tennis shoes for over a year, why start destroying them now? Weird cats and their weird phases.

[anonamys.livejournal.com]

Have you tried getting kitty grass for her? I don't know if that would help, but maybe. (Of course, then they throw up the grass.)

Have you tried anything like Bitter Apple? I don't know if cats dislike Bitter Apple, but it's a common thing to use to keep dogs from chewing on things like cords. Ask at the pet store, they should be able to give you some idea of what might work for cats. YOu have to re-apply it often, but the idea is that it's an aversive enough flavor they stop trying to chew on whatever.

Also, I have a friend that has a bunny, and she bought these things to go on power cords that they can't chew through (or that at least take a lot longer?). If you can't break her of the habit and find she's chewing on power cords, this might keep things safer.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

We've tried cat grass and they like it okay, but they don't love it the way Nadia did. Actually we have a fairly fresh pot right now. Never tried Bitter Apple or any of it's relatives. It's a good thought though.

[anzubird.livejournal.com]

oh, that looks very familiar to me. Jazzi doesn't go for the showlaces, but any other piece of yarn or sting (the cords on hoodies are frequent victims)is dead meat if I leave it out in the open. and never, ever leave a pair of headphones where she can get to them... it took me six or seven pairs to learn that lesson.

She's also chewed on all the wires in the house and somehow managed not to get electrocuted, and has slowly been eating through the fringes on my favorite rug....

I've tried the bitter apple without much luck, and yelling at her when I see her doing it, but it is all fairly hopeless. I think she's a bit better about wires nw, but string is still hopeless

good luck!

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

They seem to have no interest in headphones, fortunately. I have heard stories of kittens being electrocuted by chewing on wires, but maybe adult cats are big enough that they're fairly safe?

Sorry about your rug. Isn't it funny that we give our cats all these toys and all this special food, but in the end nothing is tastier or more fascinating than common household objects...

[plantgirl.livejournal.com]

For some reason I like that photo far more than it probably deserves. It's partly your whole lj page - very clean looking. I like. Which style is it? I'm not happy with the one I'm currently using.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

It's Expressive: Carson Green. I like it, although it's not very customizable (I wish I could pump the font size up a few points, for one thing). Expressive comes in approximately a zillion variations, so you should be able to find one you like.