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Is this behavior normal?

Lindsay

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Romeo has started in the last two weeks to chew and suck on the tip of his tail. It is a bit unnerving for me when I catch him chewing on the tip of his tail and also sucking on it. I also noticed that he has what seems to be ghost stripes on the inside of his back legs, his front legs and tail. He also has a new fetish which I find a bit unnerving too. When I am preparing to do laundry he will go into the dirty laundry and pull out his bath hand towels that I use on the bottom of the tub during bath time to prevent him from slipping. Well once he has them pulled out and stinky from being previously wet and dried he will then go and roll around on them with a big smile on his face. He just has the look on his face like he is saying nananana momma look at what I am doing I am gonna stink so bad now that your going to have to give me another bath with an evil laugh under his breath.:LOL: He also drools when he sleeps. Romeo now has dark blotches on his neck face and stomach from his allergic reaction to Vanilla. Is his tail chewing and sucking normal?
 

Catzzzmeow

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We had a girl who who sucked on the tip of her tail when we first got her. We think she might have left her Mom too soon (we rescued her so we did not have full history) but eventually she just stopped after a few months. I would not worry. There are worse habits that is for sure. As far as the laundry. Might need to buy a hamper with a top on it :)
 

admin

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Romeo has started in the last two weeks to chew and suck on the tip of his tail. It is a bit unnerving for me when I catch him chewing on the tip of his tail and also sucking on it. I also noticed that he has what seems to be ghost stripes on the inside of his back legs, his front legs and tail. He also has a new fetish which I find a bit unnerving too. When I am preparing to do laundry he will go into the dirty laundry and pull out his bath hand towels that I use on the bottom of the tub during bath time to prevent him from slipping. Well once he has them pulled out and stinky from being previously wet and dried he will then go and roll around on them with a big smile on his face. He just has the look on his face like he is saying nananana momma look at what I am doing I am gonna stink so bad now that your going to have to give me another bath with an evil laugh under his breath.:LOL: He also drools when he sleeps. Romeo now has dark blotches on his neck face and stomach from his allergic reaction to Vanilla. Is his tail chewing and sucking normal?

Yes, as others have said - suckling can be a sign of leaving mommy too early. Was he 12-14 weeks of age when he left mom? They will usually grow out of this.
 

GoldHazel

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Romeo has started in the last two weeks to chew and suck on the tip of his tail. It is a bit unnerving for me when I catch him chewing on the tip of his tail and also sucking on it. I also noticed that he has what seems to be ghost stripes on the inside of his back legs, his front legs and tail. He also has a new fetish which I find a bit unnerving too. When I am preparing to do laundry he will go into the dirty laundry and pull out his bath hand towels that I use on the bottom of the tub during bath time to prevent him from slipping. Well once he has them pulled out and stinky from being previously wet and dried he will then go and roll around on them with a big smile on his face. He just has the look on his face like he is saying nananana momma look at what I am doing I am gonna stink so bad now that your going to have to give me another bath with an evil laugh under his breath.:LOL: He also drools when he sleeps. Romeo now has dark blotches on his neck face and stomach from his allergic reaction to Vanilla. Is his tail chewing and sucking normal?

My boys all suddenly started to chew on their tails when they were quite a few months old. I even took Liam to the vet because his tail looked blotchy to me. The vet thought it was some sort of skin infection and gave me an antibiotic ointment for him.
When Grayson was about that same age, his tail suddenly had some blotches on it and he also chewed his tail. THEN it hit me: This was the age when Liam started to get some fuzz on his tail. Now Grayson is getting fuzz on his tail. It must itch them. Sort of like when a shaven area of our body starts to grow back (nubs)...it can itch us too.
How old is your chewy tail baby?
By the way, two of my boys suck (not their tail though).
Try to keep his dirty, used towel away from him...or give him another bath if he loves it that much. :Wink2:
 

angela1974

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Totally Normal....Bella used to have hair on her tail and now it is completely gone. She nearly swallows her tail.....she constantly is chewing, sucking and licking all the time!
 

MyJezebel

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Finn likes to chew the end of his tail and sometimes he sticks so much of it in his mouth that I don't know how he doesn't gag himself. Jezebel doesn't bother with her tail, but she loves to suck on my husband's ears and neck. She would do this to me too if I let her, but I don't.
 

GoldHazel

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Romeo has started in the last two weeks to chew and suck on the tip of his tail. It is a bit unnerving for me when I catch him chewing on the tip of his tail and also sucking on it. I also noticed that he has what seems to be ghost stripes on the inside of his back legs, his front legs and tail. He also has a new fetish which I find a bit unnerving too. When I am preparing to do laundry he will go into the dirty laundry and pull out his bath hand towels that I use on the bottom of the tub during bath time to prevent him from slipping. Well once he has them pulled out and stinky from being previously wet and dried he will then go and roll around on them with a big smile on his face. He just has the look on his face like he is saying nananana momma look at what I am doing I am gonna stink so bad now that your going to have to give me another bath with an evil laugh under his breath.:LOL: He also drools when he sleeps. Romeo now has dark blotches on his neck face and stomach from his allergic reaction to Vanilla. Is his tail chewing and sucking normal?

If it really is disturbing and you think something is wrong, you can always have two tests done by your vet.
1) have the stool checked for parasites as that could be a reason why a dog or cat chews or chases their tail.
2) have the vet scrape a small section of the tail and have it checked for parasites on the skin

Maybe this would give you peace of mind to find out if there is truly something wrong physically or if it's just an emotional thing.

Sucking seems to be quite common with the sphynx cats. I've gotten hairy cats at a much younger age and none of them ever sucked.

My Liam used to suck on his blanket before going to sleep until he was about 7 months old.

Grayson sucks on me and he will be a year old in July.

Simon sucks on me (but he's not even 6 months old yet). Recently he started to suck on himself.


The only time that Liam and Grayson ever chewed their tails was when they began to get fuzz on it. It appeared blotchy too back then.
 

Cally95

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I think for some cats it's a nervous energy that has to go somewhere. Not all, but some. Usually suckling or chewing is comforting and that's why they do it. I would just check and think about if anything has changed or something might be making him a bit anxious. Just a thought.
 

Lindsay

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Yes, as others have said - suckling can be a sign of leaving mommy too early. Was he 12-14 weeks of age when he left mom? They will usually grow out of this.

Well when I got him from the breeder he was 4 months old going on 5 months. His parents were there but were kept in separate rooms. I don't know what age his siblings and him were when they took them away from there mother and I don't know if that happened either. My guess is that it did happen from how he acted when I first got him.
 

elleinad8050

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Hipo used to do this when I first brought him home from the breeder, at 16 weeks. In fact, he chewed on it so much it became visibly bruised. After a couple months though, the habit kicked itself and he stopped it all together.
 

Lindsay

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My boys all suddenly started to chew on their tails when they were quite a few months old. I even took Liam to the vet because his tail looked blotchy to me. The vet thought it was some sort of skin infection and gave me an antibiotic ointment for him.
When Grayson was about that same age, his tail suddenly had some blotches on it and he also chewed his tail. THEN it hit me: This was the age when Liam started to get some fuzz on his tail. Now Grayson is getting fuzz on his tail. It must itch them. Sort of like when a shaven area of our body starts to grow back (nubs)...it can itch us too.
How old is your chewy tail baby?
By the way, two of my boys suck (not their tail though).
Try to keep his dirty, used towel away from him...or give him another bath if he loves it that much. :Wink2:

He is 7 1/2 months old. He has been getting worse with his anxiety and the Feliway Does NOT Work . He is tearing up my electrical cords and furniture. He begs for table food and tries to take it at his own. He jumps on people's backs and shoulders. I have scratches all over my back from this. He is running none stop like he is running a marathon all day. HE is a pain in the butt to get to cooperate to clean his ears, nails and nail beds, to clip his nails, to put medicine in his ears. He is a total nightmare with this stuff and I am at my breaking point with it. Something has got to happen to stop this disruptive and distructive behavior of his. Something also has to happen to help his anxiety also. He goes back to the vet on saturday for his ear recheck and I am going to have a serious talk about these issues with my vet then. I hate to medicate him for his anxiety but at this point I feel like there is no other option. Yes it is really that bad. my brother has a sphynx and she is no where near as bad as he is even though yes she is 5 months old but even when he was five months old he was bad.
 

GoldHazel

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He is 7 1/2 months old. He has been getting worse with his anxiety and the Feliway Does NOT Work . He is tearing up my electrical cords and furniture. He begs for table food and tries to take it at his own. He jumps on people's backs and shoulders. I have scratches all over my back from this. He is running none stop like he is running a marathon all day. HE is a pain in the butt to get to cooperate to clean his ears, nails and nail beds, to clip his nails, to put medicine in his ears. He is a total nightmare with this stuff and I am at my breaking point with it. Something has got to happen to stop this disruptive and distructive behavior of his. Something also has to happen to help his anxiety also. He goes back to the vet on saturday for his ear recheck and I am going to have a serious talk about these issues with my vet then. I hate to medicate him for his anxiety but at this point I feel like there is no other option. Yes it is really that bad. my brother has a sphynx and she is no where near as bad as he is even though yes she is 5 months old but even when he was five months old he was bad.

I'm not sure about this, but is he neutered? My boys were at their craziest just prior to neutering them.
Tearing up your electrical cords is not a good thing. There are products out there to "contain" them. See if you can get something like this:
Cable Management Kit - Cable Covers

As far as tearing up furniture, that's not good either. Do you have any scratching posts for him? I found that the taller the scratching post, the happier my cats were to use it and that made me happier because they weren't ruining my furniture anymore. I have a few scratching posts, but my favorite tall one is upstairs and downstairs. Here it is:
Go Pet Club 35-Inch High Cat Tree Scratching Post | Overstock.com
It comes in two different colors and I HIGHLY suggest this product. It has helped here soooo much.
I have also purchased cat nip spray from PetCo and I spray it on the scratching post when I first got it especially. Then you literally have to be a "social director" and bring them over to where you want them to scratch. Pick up their arms and make a "scratching motion" on the post. They are smart, they'll catch on right away.
They actually calm down when swaddled tightly like a baby. The only way that I can do their nails...and I mean everything from cleaning their paws, nails and nail beds to cutting their nails is when I swaddle them in a good size towel. This way you can have his nails short enough and even filed so that you don't get scratched up all day long when he jumps on you, etc.
I don't have to do that when I clean their ears or anything else, but I'll suggest that you swaddle him to do all these necessary tasks. He just doesn't have a choice since you have to do these things.
During your meals, put him away in another room.
You must try your best to remain calm and there is no need to stress over the things that you can fix in a moment. Just eat your meals stress-free by putting him away in another room. Eat in peace.
You do know that he will feed off of your stress? If you are calm and don't stress out when he acts out, it's better for both of you. If you are going to yell at him and get all nervous when let's say you have to do his nails for example, he isn't going to calm down and behave.
I honestly would hold off on asking your vet for medication for him. He is way too young and still full of so much energy. Please try not to do that to him.
I tell everyone that is expecting a baby, going to get a puppy or even a kitten, "BE CONSISTANT, HAVE A ROUTINE for them, BE CALM, AND MOST OF ALL...BE PATIENT!"
Just think of this as a phase he's going through and I'm sure it won't last.
When you say that he's got a lot of anxiety, what exactly do you mean? Does he jump and get very scared at the sound of something loud for example? If so, does he recover quickly afterwards? What exactly do you mean?
I really want to help you. I know that these problems can most probably be worked out and you can enjoy your sphynx. It really sounds like you are both feeding off of each other's negative energies and stressing out. There is an answer or solution to a lot of these problems. Give my suggestions a try, ask me more questions, try to be calm around him, put him in another room during your meals, swaddle him to clean him up, etc. I'm going to help you as much as I can. If not, I guess I'll have to take him off your hands. LOL
 

Lindsay

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I'm not sure about this, but is he neutered? My boys were at their craziest just prior to neutering them.
Tearing up your electrical cords is not a good thing. There are products out there to "contain" them. See if you can get something like this:
Cable Management Kit - Cable Covers

As far as tearing up furniture, that's not good either. Do you have any scratching posts for him? I found that the taller the scratching post, the happier my cats were to use it and that made me happier because they weren't ruining my furniture anymore. I have a few scratching posts, but my favorite tall one is upstairs and downstairs. Here it is:
Go Pet Club 35-Inch High Cat Tree Scratching Post | Overstock.com
It comes in two different colors and I HIGHLY suggest this product. It has helped here soooo much.
I have also purchased cat nip spray from PetCo and I spray it on the scratching post when I first got it especially. Then you literally have to be a "social director" and bring them over to where you want them to scratch. Pick up their arms and make a "scratching motion" on the post. They are smart, they'll catch on right away.
They actually calm down when swaddled tightly like a baby. The only way that I can do their nails...and I mean everything from cleaning their paws, nails and nail beds to cutting their nails is when I swaddle them in a good size towel. This way you can have his nails short enough and even filed so that you don't get scratched up all day long when he jumps on you, etc.
I don't have to do that when I clean their ears or anything else, but I'll suggest that you swaddle him to do all these necessary tasks. He just doesn't have a choice since you have to do these things.
During your meals, put him away in another room.
You must try your best to remain calm and there is no need to stress over the things that you can fix in a moment. Just eat your meals stress-free by putting him away in another room. Eat in peace.
You do know that he will feed off of your stress? If you are calm and don't stress out when he acts out, it's better for both of you. If you are going to yell at him and get all nervous when let's say you have to do his nails for example, he isn't going to calm down and behave.
I honestly would hold off on asking your vet for medication for him. He is way too young and still full of so much energy. Please try not to do that to him.
I tell everyone that is expecting a baby, going to get a puppy or even a kitten, "BE CONSISTANT, HAVE A ROUTINE for them, BE CALM, AND MOST OF ALL...BE PATIENT!"
Just think of this as a phase he's going through and I'm sure it won't last.
When you say that he's got a lot of anxiety, what exactly do you mean? Does he jump and get very scared at the sound of something loud for example? If so, does he recover quickly afterwards? What exactly do you mean?
I really want to help you. I know that these problems can most probably be worked out and you can enjoy your sphynx. It really sounds like you are both feeding off of each other's negative energies and stressing out. There is an answer or solution to a lot of these problems. Give my suggestions a try, ask me more questions, try to be calm around him, put him in another room during your meals, swaddle him to clean him up, etc. I'm going to help you as much as I can. If not, I guess I'll have to take him off your hands. LOL

He has two scratching things and he uses them but also uses the furniture also still. It is hard to explain his anxiety. It is so bad. The vet has noticed it and commented on it. That is another reason why he can no longer have NAIL CAPS on his front nails. They made his anxiety worse but at this point he may have to wear them to protect my expensive furniture. He freaked out on me when I was taking my bath earlier when I got home from work. He was literally crying very loudly and running in and out of the bathroom and kept sitting on the toilet or edge of the tub crying loudly at me. Swaddling him does not help with anything it makes him freak out and aggravates his anxiety to extreme amounts. He also can not be locked in a room since he also freaks out and screams and scratches at the door and carpet. He also can not be around Dogs due to his anxiety. His anxiety issues comes from the breeder's dog biting him twice and from the dog (Chinese Crested) biting the tip of his brother's tail off also and from them locking their pets in rooms. They had no freedom.
 

Boonecat

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I've heard its normal behavior. Some Sphynx even suck their own bellies or other Sphynx bellies.
 

GoldHazel

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He has two scratching things and he uses them but also uses the furniture also still. It is hard to explain his anxiety. It is so bad. The vet has noticed it and commented on it. That is another reason why he can no longer have NAIL CAPS on his front nails. They made his anxiety worse but at this point he may have to wear them to protect my expensive furniture. He freaked out on me when I was taking my bath earlier when I got home from work. He was literally crying very loudly and running in and out of the bathroom and kept sitting on the toilet or edge of the tub crying loudly at me. Swaddling him does not help with anything it makes him freak out and aggravates his anxiety to extreme amounts. He also can not be locked in a room since he also freaks out and screams and scratches at the door and carpet. He also can not be around Dogs due to his anxiety. His anxiety issues comes from the breeder's dog biting him twice and from the dog (Chinese Crested) biting the tip of his brother's tail off also and from them locking their pets in rooms. They had no freedom.

OMG, thanks for explaining his anxiety in more detail (and the reasons why). Now I have an understanding. Wow, I can't believe that the breeder allowed their dog to be so close to the kittens under the circumstances that it wan't a pleasant dog. I can't believe that it bit off the tip of a kitten's tail. Unreal!

Can you get some good suggestions from Jackson Galaxy's web site?
 

Lindsay

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OMG, thanks for explaining his anxiety in more detail (and the reasons why). Now I have an understanding. Wow, I can't believe that the breeder allowed their dog to be so close to the kittens under the circumstances that it wan't a pleasant dog. I can't believe that it bit off the tip of a kitten's tail. Unreal!

Can you get some good suggestions from Jackson Galaxy's web site?

I never heard of that website, but will check it out. Romeo has also been very restless the past two nights which happens once a month now. He vomited this morning and it was just stomach fluid. Thank god he already has a Vet appointment today for his recheck on his ear yeast infection that has not fully cleared up yet from what I have seen this morning. I am still to this day very angry with the breeder for how she cared for her pets and the kittens. Her house was also filthy. He always stays close to me as well. He is very attached to me and gets upset when I leave the apartment and take baths and showers. He will actually check on me when I am taking my shower by taking his paw using it has a hand and he will pull the shower curtain back and poke his head in to make sure I am okay. His anxiety is beginning to worry me since everything I have tried so far has failed. I am being patient with him but with my kids coming for the summer I am running out of time to stop his naughty behavior. He also has a habit of pulling on my bra and cami straps and slapping my back with them to wake me up or to get my attention. :Shok::Dizzy::LOL:
 

Lindsay

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I never heard of that website, but will check it out. Romeo has also been very restless the past two nights which happens once a month now. He vomited this morning and it was just stomach fluid. Thank god he already has a Vet appointment today for his recheck on his ear yeast infection that has not fully cleared up yet from what I have seen this morning. I am still to this day very angry with the breeder for how she cared for her pets and the kittens. Her house was also filthy. He always stays close to me as well. He is very attached to me and gets upset when I leave the apartment and take baths and showers. He will actually check on me when I am taking my shower by taking his paw using it has a hand and he will pull the shower curtain back and poke his head in to make sure I am okay. His anxiety is beginning to worry me since everything I have tried so far has failed. I am being patient with him but with my kids coming for the summer I am running out of time to stop his naughty behavior. He also has a habit of pulling on my bra and cami straps and slapping my back with them to wake me up or to get my attention. :Shok::Dizzy::LOL:

He is also Neutered and when that was done it made his behavior get ten times worse. I was like OMG what happened to him he has turned into a total little TERROR.
 
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