# Why does my cat lick plastic bags?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-cat-lick-plastic-bags/190914>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 25, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-cat-lick-plastic-bags/190914 "2003-07-25T16:47:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-cat-lick-plastic-bags/190914/1 "2003-07-25T16:47:24Z")

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I have an adult male cat who absolutely loves to lick plastic bags. He can sit there for minutes on end just licking away. Now, I know that plastic doesn’t occur naturally in the wild, and I can’t imagine it containing some nutrient my cat may be deprived of (besides, he only licks it and doesn’t chew on it). And I always thought (perhaps incorrectly) that plastic has neither an odor or a taste, so I can’t imagine what would be attracting him to it.

I have searched the Internet and discovered that mine is not the only cat that does this, but nobody seems to have a definitive answer as to why. A few “ask the veterinarian” web sites include this question, but the answer given is basically “nobody knows.”

I did find one forum [here](http://cd1190.phpwebhosting.com/phorum/read.php?f=5&i=203&t=203) where some people theorized that plastic bags have some sort of plasticizing agent that gives off some sort of odor that some cats are attracted to, and one person even claimed that this plasticizing agent was once used as an ingredient in a popular cat treat, but nobody was able to provide a cite or name the alleged ingredient.

And so, I turn to the geniuses here at the Straight Dope. Why _do_ cats (mine, at least) lick plastic bags?

Regards,

Barry

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**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-cat-lick-plastic-bags/190914/2 "2003-07-25T16:56:02Z")

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There was a thread on this not long ago. [Here it is.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3342034#post3342034)

I remembered the thread because one of my cats does this too.

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**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-cat-lick-plastic-bags/190914/3 "2003-07-25T17:04:24Z")

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Missed that one, obviously. Thanks for the link.

If any moderators are paying attention, feel free to close this thread…

Barry