. They are truly...
October 22nd, 2009
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My cat Ed shares my office and I should have known the strange noise was coming from him. But the sucking sound seemed so un-cat-like that I searched instead for quite awhile for a backed-up pipe or such. Imagine my surprise when I finally found him niched away in a cubby hole, sucking on a small blanket.
This was new behavior and I had to research it. Turns out cats sucking on cloth isn’t just annoying; it can indicate several things. First, if a cat is weaned too early, he may develop this habit. If he’s bored or stressed, that could lead to it. Or it could even signify a dietary insufficiency. Obviously, more exciting playtime could help as could a food change. Personally, I think Ed was: 1) complaining about the cutback in his food and 2) demanding an increase in adoration. Kelly is a dog columnist and pet writer. She lives in the Boston-area with her three pit bulls and one neurotic cat. |
I’ve never had a cat that sucked on fabric but I did have one that would start to nurse on my ear. I think she was weaned to early and it took a while to get her to stop because she would start after I was already asleep, so if i didn’t wake up right away she got away with doing it.
Pam – Yeah, I wondered about the weaning too early thing.
My little Suzee sucks on her arm! I found her, abandoned about 6 years ago…she was pregnant at the time..didn’t know that…plopped out two fabulous babies (Tobee and PoohBear) and of course, I kept them all! Suzee is paralyzed in her back legs for 4 years now; but we ‘help’ her with all her ‘duties’, etc. and love her to pieces. She still sucks her arm!….Her name at first..Suzee Sucker because she sucked her arm; but I just call her Suzee now..she’s precious!
My cats are doing the same! We took them when they were 8 weeks old. They got a nice soft blanket and I think they got an idea that blanket was their momma cat. By the way they suck only on that blanket. They are almost year old cats and I think they enjoy their bad habit. I don’t know if we should try to stop it or just let them do what they like…
Heather – It’s so wonderful that you take care of her instead of just giving up!
I don’t think sucking is a problem unless it’s obsessive or they’re wearing fur away. You can try something like Bitter Apple to stop it or launder your fabrics with something distasteful to them like citrus. So far, I just let Ed suck away.
I have a 7 year old female Siamese cat who loves to suck on and eat shoelaces and yarn. I read somewhere that the are known as “wool suckers”. She doesn’t do it as much now as she has aged, but it used to be a real problem and we had to keep anything stringlike out of her reach. I know that it is not good for their digestive system. (blockage!) She does have her favorite string that we allow her to play with when we can be on top of things to make sure she doesn’t begin eating it. She walks around the house dragging this long string and cries like a baby. In the summer time with the windows open, the neighbors can hear her and question us about the “baby crying”. She also loves soft cloth like chamois and will carry it around like it is her baby. She is neutered and never had any kittens of her own.
Our Ivan EATS fabric. This is called pica. It is thought to start as fabric-sucking. We never noticed him sucking, just chewing holes in cloth. Started at about age 1 year. He actually chews pieces of cloth off and swallows them. They are small enough that they pass through him, but once we figured out what he was doing, we started keeping all cloth out of his reach. Some cloth he won’t chew. He seems to prefer natural fibers, but also soft fibers. We had to repair or throw away many an article of clothing before we figured out how to keep him out of the closet (he was opening the doors himself!)! Now the house is pretty well Ivan-proof – the last things we got rid of were the cloth throw pillows on the leather couch. He chewed the corners off ALL of those pillows! (Doesn’t bother with leather, though). He also chews, but doesn’t swallow, his cardboard scratching pads. He’s been tested for deficiencies – he has none. The vet says about 5% of cats have pica, and it’s more prevalent among Siamese (he’s DSH but has a Siamese sounding voice, so maybe he’s got Siamese genes in there somewhere). I think experts consider it more a neurosis than an actual physical problem. Yep, that means we have a neurotic cat! But don’t we all?
my cat suck’s on certain clothes i wear as well. she usually does it when i am relaxing and it’s comforting to her because she purrrrs and closes her eyes and presses her paws against on each side of where she is sucking. you can here on sucking as well. it’s so cute!!!
Cats commonly lick plastic too, something about the texture and sensation…we had a plastic licker, loved the shower curtain. It can be quite dangerous and should be discouraged obvioulsy. To find out the real cause of the behavious, consult with a certified animal communicator like Thersa Wagner, you’ll learn so much about your beloved pal and their needs – it really works!
MY CALLIE SUCKS ON THE TAIL OF A STUFFED BEAR.. SHE HAS FOR AGES SHE IS 4 NOW AND I KNOW SHE WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE MOM PROBABLY A BIT EARLY. THOUGHT IT WAS A BIT WEIRD TILL I HEARD OF OTHER CATS THAT DO THE SAME THING.. MY OTHER CAT IS ALMOST THE SAME AGE AND SHE DOESNT DO THIS AND SHE WAS AWAY FROM HER MOM EARLY TOO..
Wow, it’s all so interesting! Thanks for the info about pica.
- K.
I used to have a cat that would suck on this one toy that I got from fair…real fur of some sort. It was a hoot & harmless
My cat is a bit strange. Lady likes chewing on plastic bags or any plastic that makes that crinkling and crunching noise! I think she just does it just for the noise effect. It does make me nervous so I make sure to keep all bags or wrappers picked up just in case she decides to take a chunk out. I saw the crinkle sacks in the pet store and thought it would be easy to make one for her. Maybe that would satisfy her making that crinkle noise!
I have a 3 yr. old male Maine coon cat, Harry.He has always sucked on my shirt when I lay down on the couch.I am the only one in the family he does this to.He was weaned at 7 wks with both of his brothers . They did not have this obsession.He gets really insistent about getting my shirt..I have no idea why he does this .I did think about his being weaned too young but the rest of the litter is fine.Guess i just got the baby in the litter..
Karen: Yeah, maybe it’s the sound she’s attracted to.
Autumn: Could it be the bits of Tostitos that have dropped on your shirt?
I have a three year old cat. His name is liitleshit. Ever since he’s been a kitten , he has been nursing on my left ear lobe. I asked the vet when will this stop? The vet told me he could stop or keep nursing for the rest of his life. I guess he thinks i’m his mother. Besides I don’t mind. Sometimes he leaves scabs on my ear. Anyway he is my LittleMan. Talk to ys later Tracey
Tracey:
I love names like that.
My husband named his cat Schmeckle, yiddish for a private part. 
- k.
When we were first married, the hubster and I adopted a kitten who would suck on his t-shirt no matter who was wearing it. ‘Nicky’ would leave wet spots where he did this. We thought it was cute, I think he was drooling before he latched on. I also think he looked forward to one of us wearing a t-shirt to bed so he could ‘nurse’ on whichever one of us was wearing it. He wouldn’t do it on the t-shirt alone, one of us had to be wearing it. I didn’t think it was harmful to either of us or to him, we just thought it was cute. He lived a long life with us, 17 years.