I have a two year old female orange tabby that I bottle-raised that is very, very dear to me. Her name is Bitey. Why she is named this will be apparent.
My poor girl seems to have a sort of eating disorder - she’ll chew on all sorts of things. I actually got an answer to one of her weirdnesses on this board (sorry can’t search or I’d link to the thread). She licks and chews on plastic bags. But not just the bags, O no. She chews on everything: my vinyl blinds have teethmarks on them. She has shorn off drawstrings on numerous pair of sweatpants. Hairbrushes must be put away - she chews the bristles clean off. She knows how to get into the drawer where I keep my hair ties then promptly chews them into pieces. These strange habits of course make her throw up; I just witnessed her throw up 4 times the past hour until the culprit was finally revealed at the fourth upchuck. She had chewed a few hunks of raffia straw from a toy we got her (of the “fish pole toy” variety - if that matters).
I am going to get her checked for feline infectious peritonitis to be on the safe side, but every time she’s thrown up alot, we usually find an obvious irritant (a rubber band she got into, on one occasion). So what I want to know, basically, is how the hell do I keep Bitey from chewing on everything under the sun, short of putting her ina room with nothing in it but a litterbox and food? My two males btw engage in no such behavior.
You could put something repulsive on things that you especially don’t want her to chew.
My cat (Schnurri) is always curious to smell my lip balms and deoderants, and when he I let him, he jerks his head away in disgust. They smell good to me, but he has other opinions! Maybe if you have a perfume that you like, but Bitey (a cute name!) doesn’t, you could put a tiny bit on important things.
I haven’t tried that idea, s I don’t know if it’s good. I also don’t know if perfume would be harmless to her.
Maybe you could put pepper on some things. It should make her sneeze and hopefully stop her from chewing on those things.
Many cats have chewing/sucking issues, especially those who were weaned early or have security problems. Eponine was a really bad chewer and sucker when I first got her, and she still relapses sometimes when we’ve been gone for several days.
You can try bitter apple spray, but if the chewing is compulsive it may not stop her. You can try catproofing the house as much as possible (keep the hair ties in a small tin, tie blind cords up where she can’t get at them, etc.) You can also try taking her to a behaviorist.
Thanks for the advice Thylacinewas taken and CrazyCatLady . I will have to try things one at a time and see if I can get her to stop. She truly is a nutcase of cat.
FIP is a viral disease - not caused by ingesting something. I imagine the cat could get plain old peritonitis by perforating her stomach or intestine with something but not FIP.
Thanks missbunny . Yeah I am pretty sure anyways that she hasn’t got FIP - her coat is quite healthy and she is a very insanely active kitty. Think I am going to try a bitter apple spray like CCL said as soon as next payday kicks. I’ve been trying to keep things out of her reach and she hasn’t had any issues for a few days.
Does your cat by any chance, have some Siamese in her? Oriental cats can suffer a kind of OCD which leads to compulsive chewing and/or licking. While you’re at the vet you might discuss the possiblity of a mild sedative for your cat, it sometimes helps.
Otherwise you could try giving her something appropriate to chew on … will she eat raw chicken necks or wings? Good for her teeth and might give her something to chew on that won’t cause her harm. Or you could try small rawhide sticks or even large size dog kibble.
blackhobyah , as far as I know, she is not of siamese ancestry. I just picked her up as an abandoned kitten (she still had her placenta attached, which was very desiccated) and bottlefed her. She was very hard to wean as I didn’t have any other cats around to ‘teach’ her how. I’ve bottlefed other orphans sinced and they all weaned easily but she wouldn’t touch kitten mush til 12 weeks. So I figure she has an oral fixation from her troublesome time with the bottle. I haven’t tried to give her raw chicken or rawhide but that is a possibility I will also examine around payday 
Thanks for the info.
Since. Geez and I even previewed.