What about the cat that eats other things besides food?

© Copyright© 1998 By Diana Guerrero

Appetite is one of the biggest drives that an animal can have. What about your animal, what kind of drive does it have? Does it eat heartily or just everything it sees? Perhaps it ingests odd objects, just chews, or perhaps knaws holes in blankets, sweaters or other items. What does it me when your pet is insatiable? Is there anything you can do? That is what this article is about.

Most people are not aware of what is normal or what is abnormal for animals. What the normal pet owner learns is through experience, suggestions from others, advise from various animal professionals, through reading, or perhaps through advertising. There sometimes are different reasons as to what and how animals will eat. Let’s look at a few food related problems that can happen in the lives of some pets.

Survival and maintenance are the normal motives for consumption of food items. Animals that consume normal diets in adequate quantities will live longer and healthier lives. They will have sleek bodies, healthy clean coats, good teeth and gums, nice breath, and many other such signs of well-being.

In other cases, the animals might have excessive amounts of treats, rich foods, or other diets that are not beneficial to their longevity. This leads to allergies, and other problems that effect the skin, coat, and dental health. Sometimes this will result in problems with pancreatitis, obesity, and other complications that create trouble.

Animals also can show abnormal behavior through knawing on unusual items. This type of behavior is not the normal kitten type exploratory mouthing, it is different. The problem found in felines is commonly called wool sucking or wool chewing. This is thought to be rooted into early kittenhood and many times other behavior such as drooling, kneading, and purring accompany this pattern.

Another predicament is when they actually eat odd objects, this is called pica. Many an animal is rushed to the emergency veterinary clinic for extraction of these strange items. Sometimes the extraction results turn up nylons, underwear, toys and other such strange stuff. Nothing is safe when this type of cat is out and about.

Abnormal behavior can stem from a variety of areas. If you have an animal that exhibits abnormal eating behavior, you should seek help right away. You need to get the help from the right sources. The three animal professionals you might want to see are the veterinarian, the animal nutritionist, and the animal behaviorist.

Most behavior consultants will have you schedule an appointment to see your veterinarian before they will see you. This appointment is important since the purpose is to rule out any veterinary medical complications that may be the underlying problem showing up in abnormal behavior. In addition to testing or a regular check up most will note that medications or recent medical procedures can sometimes trigger changes in behavior. A good behaviorist will consider this before composing a programming to modify or extinguish the behavior.

Many times there will be a problem that stems from a nutritional source. An animal might not be getting the right diet or adequate nutrients, or perhaps it cannot absorb them. Usually the behavior clue is that after an animal eats their food it will search out and eat other types of objects.

Those things might be more fibrous and can include plants, wood, and other articles. Many times the animal will cry or beg for more food, and if it does eat more, many times it can do so without gaining any weight. In addition, elimination quantity and frequency is higher than normal. Although I have not seen a feline case of coprophagy, many canines will engage in the behavior of consuming their own feces when their is a nutritional problem. A nutritionist is the specialist to see here if you suspect nutritional related challenges.

Sometimes the problem will stem from early kittenhood. Leaving the litter prematurely seems to be the cause of wool sucking and chewing in many of the oriental breeds of cats. (The Burmese, Himalayan, and Siamese seem to be the most common with this problem.) These breeds appear to need several weeks longer with the queen and litter to avoid exhibiting this problem.

Other factors play a role too; the size of the litter and milk produced from the queen can effect this type of behavior; genetic predisposition may lend to it; accidental reinforcement from the owners can escalate it; and too little mental stimulation and physical activity can also be components.

Addressing any behavior problem takes time. Once the cause of the problem is pinpointed a successful program is possible in most cases. Remember, it is always best to start working on a problem immediately.

Unfortunately the longer a behavior problem exists, the longer it will take to eliminate. This is because each day that passes allows the pattern to become stronger. The longer you wait to take action means that you will have to untrain habits and retrain new ones. If you take prompt action in most cases you only have to train new habits.

Most problems of this sort can be addressed but may need a multi-tiered approach. Combinations of different tactics, combined with training aids, behavior modification, nutritional, and activity levels usually can help such situations in as little as eight weeks.

You should remember that each case and each individual animal is different. The important thing to remember is to get help if you need it. In rare cases changes can be seen almost immediately, while others will take much longer. Keep your cool and get help if you are experiencing these types of problems. Consistent and persistent effort will pay off in making your home and pet happy and harmonious.