Training is a great way to build a bond with your cat while increasing her level of exercise. Spend more time playing with your cat to help keep her mind and body healthy.Ĭats may be more challenging to train than dogs, but with patience, persistence and a supply of tempting CANIDAE cat treats, you can teach them basic commands. Toys that allow her to investigate different textures, sounds, tastes and smells are ideal. Give her appropriate toys to play with to help satisfy her desire to attack things. The best way to prevent your cat from licking or chewing on plastic bags is to make sure she doesn’t have access to them. It could also result in suffocation if she gets wrapped up in a plastic bag.
Plastic can get caught in her throat, it can cause an obstruction in the GI tract, and can cause injury to the gums or other soft areas of the mouth. Licking or chewing plastic could also be your cat’s way of coping with something that’s bothering her.Īny type of plastic can be dangerous for your kitty if she ingests pieces of it. She could be dealing with a lack of physical and mental stimulation, dental disease, gastrointestinal issues, anxiety, stress, social issues with other family pets, noise phobia, and other medical conditions. There could be a medical reason your cat seeks out plastic. A curious kitten discovering that plastic is an entertaining “toy” to chew on might keep doing it as an adult just for the fun of it. Some cats just seem to enjoy licking or biting plastic. Some feline experts suspect that cats may be drawn to plastic because of the temperature of the plastic. It’s possible some cats lick plastic because they like the feel of it on their tongue. Licking the plastic could cause a flehmen response, and could also be why a cat will urinate on a plastic bag. It’s possible that cats detect a smell that mimics pheromones. Some plastics have other chemicals in them that have interesting smells which can attract cats. This gives plastic a smell that entices some cats to chew on or lick it. These compounds are fatty acids or a by-product of them.
Stearic acid ethyl ester is a class of organic compounds insoluble in water, but soluble in organic solvents. This acid is found in soaps, candles, cosmetics, oil pastels and plastics, and is used to soften rubber. Plastics are treated with stearates, a saturated fatty acid found in animal and vegetable fat. If you catch your cat licking a photograph, she could be drawn to it because gelatin is used in the photographic emulsion, which is a light-sensitive colloid consisting of silver halide crystals scattered in gelatin. The smell and taste of corn starch is something many cats seem to like. Some makers of plastic shopping bags have also started using biodegradable materials, including corn starch, to help keep plastic out of our environment and protect wildlife. Your kitty may think she’s found something good to eat and ingest some of the plastic if she chews on a bag.īiodegradable packing “peanuts” made from corn starch have been around for some time. Because a cat’s sense of smell is so keen, they can easily pick up food odors in the bags we bring our groceries home in sandwich bags also hold the smell of whatever was stored in them. The plastic used to make supermarket and sandwich bags is soft and porous, trapping food smells in them. It’s an enticing sound that may be activating your cat’s prey drive. The crinkly sound plastic makes when it is licked or chewed on isn’t exactly pleasing to our ears, but to our feline friends it can resemble critters scurrying around in leaves or through the grass. If your cat goes bonkers over plastic, here are six reasons that could be behind the behavior. But seeking out plastic grocery bags, straws, garbage bags, sandwich bags, cups or other plastic items to lick or chew on can be an indication of other issues besides pica. They are drawn to non-food items as a food source, including plastic. Some cats have an eating disorder called pica that causes them to eat strange things.