Vomiting, hacking up, gagging (no spoon, lol), throwing up plastic!

[Sanctuarie]

My boy has a thing for plastic. If he sees it, he goes straight for it, and starts chewing it up... and if I catch him, he's like "Stuart", he gets it all in his mouth & swallows it as quick as he can! You'd think he'd drop it, but no - he downs it.
I try to make sure we never leave anything plastic around, but sometimes he finds it, and if it's small enough, he will eat it! Plastic candy wrappers, clear plastic tape, plastic bag pieces, anything plastic that he can chew & swallow, he will. And hours later, I hear him throwing up - after eating something plastic he will usually have about 3 or 4 "vomiting episodes", and usually the first or second will have the plastic that he swallowed, followed by about 2 or 3 more that are just clear foamy liquid....
I have never seen him do it, but he must go into the trash, because it just happened again last night, and theres no way I left anything out!!
I've never seen him poop plastic, but he does throw it up at least 2x-4x a month or so.
And another weird bad habit he has - no matter how many saucers & glasses of water I leave out for him, he will go to the sink when he sees it full with soapy soaking pans, and drink the soapy water.... Then again, 2 or 3 vomiting episodes, clear or beige-ish foamy liquid. So we try not to leave things soaking in the sink, and/or keep him locked out of the kitchen. He used to drink out of the toilet as well - but now I think we're all "trained" to keep the lid closed.
You would think after vomiting the plastic up so many times, it would turn him off to eating it - but he still does!
Is there something lacking in his diet, or some reason he has such a yearning for plastic?
And soapy dishwater?
And how do I get him to stop? Usually it's 2-4x a month, but it's been the last 3 days in a row! And I feel so bad for him throwing up like that, it seems like it would be so painful, is it? Is it bad for them to hack stuff up? Does it hurt them?
Help...?

 

[Sanctuarie]

Oh - and let me add - he doesn't act even the slightest bit sick, he is as bright, happy & playful as always!

 

[Gullivers Keeper]

Our black and white DSH is the same way, if there is plastic anywhere he will find it. Then he eats it and throws it up, or poops it out... You'd think after 11 years he'd learn it's no good, but no he just keeps on keepin on... I have no advice, we just do like you do and try to always keep plastic put away.

 

[Sianne_and_Alice]

That's really werid. I wish I knew what to advise but I have no idea. Maybe get trash cans with lids and those little foot levers? So he can't get into them. And maybe get a screen to cover the sink in case someone forgets and leaves dishes in the sink?

 

[sphynxluvr]

I dont know if it's true since I never researched it myself, but I heard that Plastic has petroleum in it and Kitties like it cause it gets them HIGH kinda like catnip! My kids all go for plastic, so we do our best to keep in away, which is almost impossible because it's EVERYWHERE!!! Good luck! and if anyone has time to do the digging I would love to know if this is fact or fiction.

As for your water problem..... I read that cats taste water differently every time they drink. That is why they like to drink water from many different locations. I solved my problem with a drinking fountain. The kids just love lapping the water from the spout. I also keep a dish by their food, and they love to drink from our glasses when they're full of water, we dont mind sharing.

Hope this helps!
=^..^=

 

[TotenEngel]

Our black and white DSH is the same way, if there is plastic anywhere he will find it. Then he eats it and throws it up, or poops it out... You'd think after 11 years he'd learn it's no good, but no he just keeps on keepin on... I have no advice, we just do like you do and try to always keep plastic put away.

How bizarre! Our black/white DSH has a thing about crinkly plastic - biscuit/sweet wrappers etc, usually he just chews on them but ocassionally he ends up running round the house with bits of plastic hanging out of his butt!! Thats the point I remind the husband that Laz is HIS cat

 

[Gullivers Keeper]

How bizarre! Our black/white DSH has a thing about crinkly plastic - biscuit/sweet wrappers etc, usually he just chews on them but ocassionally he ends up running round the house with bits of plastic hanging out of his butt!! Thats the point I remind the husband that Laz is HIS cat

Sevi is HIS CAT, he had him when we met

 

[TotenEngel]

When I moved in with hubby he'd not really ever had pets before so suddenly being surrounded by them (I had 3 at the time!) was a bit of an experience for him!!! Obviously though, they were all very much mummys boys! So, for his 30th with no clue what to get him, we ended up with Lazarus (the first zombie!) Generally they are all OUR cats but whenever theres bits of plastic hanging from his bum that need to be pulled out, it reverts back to his cat lol

 

[NakedNinja]

I just spent over $2,000 at the emergency vet having ribbon, easter grass and thread removed from my big orange tabby's intestines. It's a weird habit, but it can kill them if they get a blockage from it.

Gary will eat ANYTHING stringy or made of thin "cellophane" plastic, like candy wrappers, etc.

It's weird, but it can also be deadly. Be extremely vigilant about keeping those things out of kitty's reach or you could end up with a big surgery and a nasty vet bill.

 

[lawgrl]

I've read that cats (and dogs) can have a form a pica which manifests itself in the compulsive eating of objects or items that are non-nutritive, like rocks, hair elastics, or plastic (usually they just pick one type of thing to eat). So, maybe that's what's going on with your boy, with the plastic anyway (the dish and toilet water sounds like more of a normal kitty bad habit! Choppy does love a drink from his "porcelain fountain" if we forget to put the lid down, lol!)

From what I read there's no real treatment or fix, other than what you've been doing by trying to keep those kind of items away from him and him away from problem areas...I know that there are some SL members who work at vet's offices and they probably know more about it.

I do know that plastic is very dangerous for cats to ingest (like NakedNinja posted) as it can cause blockages that can require expensive therapy or be fatal if not caught quick enough.

I'd say you're probably just going to have to continue being super diligent about keeping plastic out of his reach...they are sneaky little buggers, though!

 

[admin]

Hi Sanctuarie and sorry to hear of your problem! Yes, Lawgrl is right there is a disorder called “Pica” pronounced “PIE-kuh” (very rare) it is the voluntary ingestion of non-edible materials. The term comes from the Latin word “magpie," because magpies are said to eat almost anything. Pica accounts for a small percentage of abnormal behaviors in domesticated cats. The real reason of why cats acquire this disorder is not known, although mineral deficiencies or psychological disturbances are sometimes blamed. It's also been said that the cat is missing something in their diet. Some have even said it is the rendered animal fat or fish oils used in plastics that they are attracted to. And others think it may because it smell like food. The best thing to do is try to keep plastic away and safe. Simple things like getting a trash can he cannot get into. How about some new toys with cat nip and a member said a water fountain. They also have the "pet grass" for chewing in pet stores. Hope this helps!

 

[TotenEngel]

Out of interest... when pregnant women get craving for wierd food stuffs its also considered to be a Pica! I have an album by a band called Pica entitled 'The doctors ate the medicine' bought it on a whim at £2 but its also actually quite good!!
Also, here, it is pronounced Pea-kah

 

[marlene]

I hope your little boy passes his item and gets over his weird appetite. Eating plastic can be very dangerous, poor little guy. And stressful on his humans too!

 

[ckutkuhn7]

I've had several kitties who attempt at eating walls. Weird huh. At my old house a few years ago we had that fiber board on the walls that looked like planked wood. Not sure of what its called but my DSH would naw on the corners of one wall that was missing the door frame board...annoying! I ended up covering it with duct tape to keep the kitties from nibbeling it.

Here at this house we have the same issue. Our landlord is a true loser, we've already replaced the carpet and painted every wall in this house before we moved in because the house was so disgusting...he agreed to put in the door frame boards and has yet to do it and in our bedroom the dry wall is exposed. I've been keeping it covered with duct tape because sure enough Snuffie and SoBe found it and started eating the freaking wall!

You have to replace the tape every few weeks or so as they work it away from the wall but its a temporary fix. I don't plan on living here forever so I'm done trying to fix this place.

 

[MissMySphynxBoys]

I'm certain Gleek would eat crinkly cellophane if he had the chance. He can't seem to resist the allure of the sound and the feel of biting it with his teeth.

One of my DSH likes to chew on cardboard. At first I thought it was because we have a couple of those cardboard scratching pads and assumed it was infused with catnip, but I caught her trying to eat a smashed down box in our recycling bin yesterday.