In this type of pica, affected cats seem to get immense pleasure from chewing their item of choice and often behavioural advice is needed to break the habitīehavioural causes - stress/anxiety, boredom, learned behaviour- for example if the owner laughs or fusses the cat for picking up certain items this may reinforce the behaviour. This can be called ‘wool eating’ as often these breeds chew and swallow woollen fabrics. Causes of pica in petsĮstablishing the cause of pica in your individual cat can be difficult, but the below list suggests some of the possible triggers:īreed related - oriental breeds such as Tonkinese, Siamese or Burmese are more known for exhibiting this type of behaviour.
See our article on gastro-intestinal foreign bodies for more on this topic. It becomes a problem when it’s repeated and compulsive, and it can lead to obstructions in the gut. Most kittens will grow out of this behaviour as they mature but sometimes it becomes well established in adulthood. Some of this behaviour can be considered normal, for example kittens will often put things in their mouth they shouldn’t and often chew things when they are young as part of exploring the world they live in, and this can lead to them swallowing items. You can read more about pica in dogs here.
This is much less common in cats than dogs which tend to be much more fussy about what they consume.
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