Expert: Karen Craft - 9/10/2009

Question
Hello,

I have a 5 year old female burmese mix cat who I found and adopted when she was only a few weeks old. She has always been the most people friendly cat I have ever known, and has been pretty vocal from too. She was spayed at about 8 months old.

Since a young age she has had a biting, chewing, gnawing obsession that seems to be getting worse. It started with chewing her tail, this has never stopped and over the years she has chewed her tail to a point, it is a lighter color than the rest of her fur. Over time the chewing progressed to other hard objects like shoes and even some rot iron chair bars! She also has developed an affinity for q-tips. She will get on the bathroom counters and look for them, she will knock over the trash can and look for them also! She has swallowed several and passed them all out seemingly ok. She has also always been a complete scavenger. She will go through the trash no matter what we do with it or how we try to keep her out!

She was strictly an indoor cat for years, but about 2 years ago we moved into a very large house with roomates and she began getting outside. We recently (about 5 months ago) moved into a much smaller house and have kept her inside since.

She seemed OK with the move at first, but lately seems to be acting out terribly, I'm not sure what the cause is! She is in our face every minute when trying to cook or eat especially, she will steal the food in front of you, from your plate. The tail biting has become beyond obsessive. If she catches sight of her tail she immediately starts the chewing ritual. She has lost weight, but still has her insatiable appetite. She has begun crying loudly for no apparant reason. I can't tell if she's wanting to go outside or if it's for food or if she's in pain. I changed her food a couple months ago and wonder if she's not liking the new food and not eating? She got out a few days ago and I chased her til she ran under the neighbor's front porch. She crawled under there and cried loudly while staring at me, almost growling some. Was she saying leave me alone I want to be outside?

I know I need to take her to the vet, but her behavior is still normal. My husband has been out of work for quite a while and we can't afford to take a cat with behavior problems to the vet for no reason. I am not being an irresponsible pet owner, I will take her I just cannot immediately, and in the mean time I am worried and she is driving me insane!

Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Answer
Hi Michelle,

There are many medical reasons that can be the cause of all these behaviors. A trip to the vet will narrow them down. I can give you a rundown of what may be the problem. An allergic reaction is the number one reason most chewing problems at the tail. It can be from fleas, mites or food. Have you tried Revolution for cats on her? This will help if it is a flea or mite problem. You may not see them but they can be there. Since she is after food a lot it could be what she is eating. Here's a good link about cat nutrition. http://catinfo.org/index.htm

It could be a fungal problem. Your vet will be able to tell if it is that. The eating a lot and howling and losing weight could be signs that it is a thyroid problem. Again your vet will help with that. You might want to get some bitter apple spray for the Q-tips. Hopefully she won't go after them when she gets a taste of that stuff.

You need to keep her in. She may want to go out but it is safer for her to be inside. If the vet rules out most of these things and it turns out to be an Obsessive/Compulsive behavior there are medications for this. Good luck and I hope this helped.

Ciao, Karen