Again, not a sheepie problem, but a cat problem!
BUT, one of my cats is being a major pest (not the leaper). MY cat Lenny has always been a chewer. We has to cat-proof all the wires in the house because he would chew through them. He's always had a fetish for shoes and shoelaces, as well as drawstrings. Plant stalks and leaves. All obvious cat-enticing objects. But as time goes on he chews more and more things. About 1-2 months ago I had a skirt that I decided not to wear that day and I left it laid out on the bed. I came home and Lenny had chewed through it (nothing dangly on it). Then, I left my wool gloves on the table by the door and he chewed through the fingers. We had a blanket on the couch and he chewed a hole right through the center of the blanket. Then yesterday, I had my (new) wool gloves by the front door, only left there long enough to let Barney out and I came back and one was missing. Found it and Lenny upstairs on the bookcase, with 3 fingers gone already. Can anyone help me? The vet has no idea. He is healthy and besides the escalation in chewing (or maybe that it is just more valuable or less obvious objects) his behavior hasn't changed or anything as far as I can tell... |
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| Wool chewing is quite common in cats, no one has found a cause for it yet, but most agree it escalates with stress or anxiety.
The only thing you can really do is keep wool stuff out of his reach, since it can cause serious intestinal obstructions. Some have used rescue remedy with some success, for cats it is best to put a few drops in their water daily for anxiety. I had a siamese who was an awful wool chewer, nothing was safe from her. She did it till the day she died though, at the age of 17. |
| Stacey, would you recommend I put it in the water, even though that water is shared by the other cat? |
Oh, and this is the troublemaker...
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| It wouldn't hurt... |
He is a very handsome boy, I love the big lion-like noses on cats like that  |
One other thing you might try... although it is a little hard to get a hold of- clove oil. Cats hate hate hate clove oil, and will not put anything in their mouths that has been scented with it. I think it works under the same principal as hot pepper spray, except cloves tend to be more pleasant to humans than hot peppers!!! If you can find some, you can mix a little with water in a spray bottle lightly spray the items with the mixture. That is if you don't mind smelling of cloves  It is hard to get a hold of- but you could try a local co-op, natural food store, or a local gift shop that sells potpourri and scented oils. This is a "hot" oil though, so you wouldn't want to put it undiluted on your skin, as it could cause a rash. Good luck with your chewer.
Karen |
| I love the smell of cloves |
| It sounds like obsessive compulsive behavior to me. One of our Siamese cats is going through treatment right now for similar behavior. Our holistic veterinarian put him on a homeopathic remedy (hypericum perforatum 200c). It seems to be helping although he's only been taking the stuff for a week.
From what I understand, there are various treatments that may be available that can lessen your cat's desire to chew wool. However, I agree that in the short term, attempting to prevent your cat from getting to the wool may be your best bet. Good Luck Jennifer, Baxter, Cassiopia and Sharkey |
| We've pretty much cat-proofed our house as much as we can, but there is always something that he seems to find that we didn't think about. Someone suggested Bitter apple spray (which he have because Barney likes to chew his paws, but he likes the taste of the spray too so we just had the bottle sitting around), so I sprayed the Christmas tree with that last night and I also went to PetSmart and bought one of those toys that you hang from a door and it has a mouse on a bungee cord (they had one before, but they went a little wild with it and it eventually broke) and I sprayed the bungee cord with bitter apple so that he wouldn't just chew through it (hopefully). I'm also going to try and spend more time with him so he'll have more positive time with me (not that I don't already spend positive time with him)...So, we'll see! |
| Hi,
Well "Trouble maker" is sure a good looking cat! I was sure I had posted a response on your question before ..but perhaps I need more sleep these days and just thought I had. Have you had kitty checked for any dental problems. Seems many of our aged dogs and cats develop tooth decay, absesses, cracked teeth..ect.. Old Blue (and boy do I feel quilty about this!) Once had an absess that caused his cheek to swell and ewww it was horrible as he developed what looked like a hole in his cheek. Emergency surgery was performed and the culprit turned out to be an absess tooth. I hadn't noticed anything unusual previous to that episode. Yup feel really quilty about that. Then again, Blue is the kind of dog that always inhaled his food. He's also part Lab and they have a tendency to drool a lot (when food is present) so that didn't tip me off either which is another indicator in both felines and canine's that they may have a dental problem as well as excessive chewing. Turns out the abesess must have been painful and had no where to go and thus caused the swelling in his check. Then Mama Kat whom I adopted from the shelter as she was considered "unadoptable" due to her needing dental surgery - turned out she had two absessed teeth and two others which were worn down. She constantly left teeth marks in cardboard, letters, books and other items. Almost like a baby when it's teething. She still does it a little bit even after the surgery but no where near the extent she did before. Anyhow just thought I'd mention it as some cats do have the chewing of objects due to stress and other times it may be that their teeth are bothering them. Best to check it out. Good Luck Pats for the "Trouble-maker" 
Marianne and the boys |
| Well, things seem to be a little better. I sprayed the Christmas tree with Bitter Apple and practically the whole house! And, thankfully unlike Barney, Lenny doesn't like the taste and makes the funniest faces when he tastes it. I bought him some little dehydrated shrimp treats and a new toy that hangs from the door (sprayed the bungee part of it so he won't chew it off) to hopefully occupy his time more and it all seems to be working. Nothing major was chewed this weekend. And he slept with me last night, which is a good sign. He jumps up to come see me, but then when he sees his sister already there, he turns right around. He likes alone time, not shared time. I checked his mouth and it seems fine and he's only 2 so it wouldn't be age-related. I'll keep everyone updated and if anyone has more ideas, keep 'em coming! |
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