What's With A Cat Eating Plastic?

United States
October 31, 2009 9:04pm CST
I have a beautiful six-year-old female tabby who has some strange eating behavior. She loves to eat plastic although it will make her throw up. I do my best to keep as much plastic out of the house as possible. Luckily I'm very environmentally conscious so I try to use canvas bags and don't take plastic when I'm shopping. My precious kitty still manages to find some plastic so she can purge herself. She's an indoor cat and only eats one type/brand of dry cat food. Has anyone else ever had a cat do this?
9 responses
• United States
2 Nov 09
I have had many cats do this...there can be a number of reasons. Some cats like the feel of certain plastics. For example, one of my mom's cats will eat thin plastic bags, and ONLY thin plastic bags. She doesn't like hard plastic, thicker plastic bags, etc. Also, some plastics are produced using animal fats as a bind. Some cats may be able to sense this and chew the plastic because of the animal fat's presence. Some plastics that use animal fats as a binder often are bread bags and other plastics that encase foods. There may be other reasons...those are the only two I know. I discourage plastic eating for the kits in my household...but, like you, plastic is rare as I also use the reusable bags. My eldest boy still happens to find the bread of the counter and chews on the end of it...
• United States
2 Nov 09
Yes, I had read that the animal fats in some plastics are attractive to some cats. As much as I dislike plastic I still find it hard to keep it totally out of my apartment...like you said, bread bags, etc.
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
1 Nov 09
And here i thought i was the only one with crazy cats. We have a cat that would also love to chew on plastic. All it has to be a lollipop wrapper and the cat is after it. When i catch her, i try to get the plastic away from her and throw it away. I wonder what cats think plastic is anyway!
• United States
2 Nov 09
Yeah, mine loves candy and lollipop wrappers.
@snowy22315 (180699)
• United States
1 Nov 09
I havent heard about that one although cats often will eat streamers or ribbon or something that appeals to them like that. my sister's cat ended up having an operation because he ate so much ribbon. It was really touch and o for awhile.
• United States
1 Nov 09
Oh, how scary.
@jesssp (2712)
• Canada
3 Nov 09
My cat is a plastic fanatic. If she hears plastic crinkle she comes running. She doesn't usually eat it, I think she just likes to chew on it - it must feel good on her teeth or gums.
@trisha27 (3494)
• United States
3 Nov 09
Wow, that is interesting that your cat goes around eating plastic. That is something that I have never heard of. I would also think that would be dangerous right. My cat though goes around eating paper. She loves paper. I have to keep her away from paper otherwise she will make a meal out of paper.
@Linz1368 (13)
1 Nov 09
I have a rather large fat black 15yr old tom cat Sooty, who I'm glad to say has never eaten plastic!! He will however eat anything left over from butter, mayo, tuna & sweetcorm sandwich filler to Branston Pickle!! I love him heaps but he is such a guts sometimes!
• United States
1 Nov 09
Sounds like yours is quite the foodie! It's funny but, other than plastic, mine is extremely particular. The only thing she will eat is her cat food. She won't eat any other kind of food, canned food, etc. She won't even eat fish. Strange cat but I love her to pieces. I want to thank everyone who responded to my problem. Writing it down and talking it over with ya'll helped me to see that I did have a problem that I needed to try to solve. I'm beginning to be more aware of the power of MyLot and MyLot friends.
@Aurone (4755)
• United States
1 Nov 09
My indoor kitties don't eat plastic but they like to lick plastic. Don't know what it is. So I don't know why they do it. But growing some grass for your indoor kitty is always a good idea. They do need to purge the hairballs they sometimes get.
@solared (1207)
• United States
1 Nov 09
Cats do lots of strange things, why wouldn't they eat plastic they sure like to chew on electrical cords from my experience.
@EdTv00 (298)
• United States
2 Nov 09
This is very strange because my always does this. Every time I go grocery shopping and buy bottled water, he likes to chew on the plastic. I think its because it feels good when they bite on it, it so is weird but funny at the same time haha.