Why does my cat eat carpet?

Question

He's 5 years old but I've only had him a couple of months. He has plenty of food but has this bad habit of trying to eat anything string-like. He goes around the edge of the carpet trying to pull out the binding mesh, I've stopped him from nearly swallowing a plastic-coated wire fastener and failed to stop him from eating a piece of tinsel which came out the other end. Is it a natural instinct to help digestion? I heard cats eat grass for this reason, but my pus is a house cat.

Answer 1

You are right to worry about this it's unhealthy for your poor cat to eat the rug unfortunately he doesn't know this.  I have a friend who's cat used to eat thread and it got twisted up in the intestines and ending up costing her about $400 dollars in x-rays and medication to solve the problem.  

I have a similar situation with one of my cats which enjoys trying to eat my hair while I am sleeping.  

Luckily for you you can actually prevent your cat from eating the rug.  Try spraying the carpet with a spray that repels cats, you can usually find one in pet stores. Also plant a little bed of cat grass inside for your cat so that it has something to chew on and every time you catch him trying to eat your carpet substitute a different toy for it.  It should slowly wean him off tearing your carpet apart.

Answer 2

your cat is on a suicide mission

Answer 3

I know exactly were your coming from mate I had the same problem with my little sis cat!

You could try using double sided tape to tape down tin foil where he normally bites the carpet. Cats usually don't like the sensation or sound of tin foil and they don't like to chew on it either. A shaker can (fill a pop can with a few pennies, once it is clean and dry of course, place tape over the opening) will deter him, cats don't like loud noises typically. I would also try getting him scratch posts that he can chew on and put catnip on them to attract him to those areas. Place treats and catnip on things that he is allowed to chew and he should get the hint between shaker cans and tin foil. The other thing that you can try is called a scat mat, it sends a mild static electric charge when touched...There are other things that can help as well, there are motion activated compressed air gizmos sold in pet stores that will send a blast of compressed air which sounds like a hiss. My advice on that one is unless there is nobody home much of the time, just stick with the cans of compressed air that you can purchase at any office supply store for fairly cheap. Cats are known for being repelled by citrus fruit, lemons, limes, grapefruit, etc...You could try placing extracts of those fruits or even peelings from them at various spots on the carpet and since the carpet will absorb the scent the cat should stop. Between deterring your cat from the carpet that you don't want him to chew and the scratch posts and chew toys that you do want her to chew with attractions like treats and catnip he will likely decide that chewing the carpet isn't worth the trouble.

I hope that this answers your question.

Answer 4

your cat might be teething or you dont feed him enuf if you feed him the wet cat food try dry cat food

Answer 5

lol. ur pus. lololololol. lmao. lololololololol.

its a natural thing. i dont think its for the digestion. if anything, it would probably make it worse.  

Answer 6

When you say house cat, do you mean that he never goes outside?  There is a condition known as Pica which is the craving to eat non-food items.  Pregnant women often experience these cravings, but Oriental breeds of cat and some that live indoors only can develop this condition.  Often it's wool or fabric they like to eat, which obviously can be dangerous for them as they risk intestinal blockages.  Don't be tempted to punish your cat when you catch him in the act of eating these items, otherwise he may just resort to doing it when you are not around.  It's better to try to distract him with toys etc.

The web site below has an article entitled "Cats that eat strange things like cardboard" which has lots of information and advice on Pica that you may find helpful.

http://www.celiahaddon.co.uk/pet%20probl...

Answer 7

hang loads of daglystring everywhere with little toys attached and he may chew these instead jus try 2 distract him/her

Answer 8

LOLOLOLOL

wow you couldn't have asked that ANY BETTER.

Anyway, more seriously is that your cat is eating weird things. Cats do that. It could be a boredom issue, buy him more toys, get him catnip stuff, really occupy his time as much as you can. Chewing on stuff and trying to eat it is something a lot of animals do when bored.

While doing that buy something like bitter apple (almost sure it works for cats too) and spry it on places he hits. Like the carpet. LOL

Everytime you catch him doing it, just spray it.

Answer 9

he eats carpet because he is a cat thats just his behaviour ask a vet what you can do to discourage him my cat is the same he pulles the dam rugs to pieces and eats string too

Answer 10

Maybe he likes chewing? I don't think it will affect him much.

Answer 11

Yes, grass is good for cats. Don't let your cat eat too much because they can vomit which is okay. Cats like to play with things like strings.