Why does my cat eat clean toilet tissue and lick plastic bags?

Answer 1

My cat has licked plastic bags since she was a kitten!!! She is 10 years old now, in very good health, and I don't know why she does it. She also used to lick the tops of my roommate's empty beer bottles when she was a kitten. I always thought my cat was the only one who did this...so I am glad to hear about other cats that do the same thing.

In fact, when she starts licking a plastic bag (usually from Wal-Mart or the grocery store), she will NOT stop until I have to physically remove her from the area of the bag. No amount of yelling at her to stop will get her to stop. I especially hate it when she does it in the middle of the night (obviously). Damn, I hate getting out of bed to get her to stop! The noise is SO darn annoying.....eeek.

Of course, I could just NOT leave plastic bags around, and I really try not too, but there are times when I forget or just got done shopping and she is at the bag before I had a chance to put it away.

Weird, right?

By the way, she is definitely not bored, we play with her all the time, and as I said got a perfect bill of health at her last yearly vet exam. And again, she has done this her whole life.

The toilet tissue part I can't be much help on because she doesn't do much of anything with that, although my 1 year old male likes to tear up the bags of toilet tissue and shred them. My 10 year old did like to unroll the toilet paper while it was on the roll when she was a kitten. That behavior didn't go on for very long though....

Good luck!! Cats can just do strange things sometimes, and this is probably one of them.

Answer 2

Hi Glenna-Rae...It's not unusual for some cats to have a tendency towards certain items such as plastic bags (the crinkly sounds it makes), easy to shred toilet tissue, chewing on rubber things and/or paper boxes. They like how the texture feels in their mouths. However it's best to be mindful and supervise their inappropriate desires just in case of accidental ingestion the items. Ideally, pastic bags should be put away if your cat later decides it would be something worth beyond licking like ...eating--ingesting this could create some medical problems which is expensive to later treat.

Consider offering a safe kitty toy with similar texture in place of the tissue and plastic items so that they learn to enjoy playing these instead.

Answer 3

It's impossible to know why cats do some of these things. Like many Siamese, my girl cat loves soap, which I keep out of her reach because her soap-licking orgies used to be followed by throwing up. She also loves anything with vanilla in it and occasionally gets a teaspoonful of vanilla tapioca pudding as a treat.
Who can say why she likes these things?

The plastic bags are probably harmless; the toilet tissue could cause intestinal obstructions. It's possible the cat is trying to get some roughage; you might offer him/her some catnip or get one of those little pre-planted pots of grass available at PetSmart, and see if the cat will nibble the greenery and satisfy the urge that way.

Answer 4

These are both signs of a bored cat. There are many cats that do both of these behaviors. You need to spend more time playing with your cat. Hide food around the house to keep your cat "hunting". Get some new toys and rotate them. The eating toilet paper probably isn't too bad for the cat but if it ate part of a plastic bag it could kill him/her. A good rule of thumb is you should spend an hour a day actively playing with your cat and provide plenty of stimulation.

Answer 5

I feel, your cat licks the plasic bags, because of the 'odors' from the grocery store (*if, indeed, that's where the bags, may come from).

Your cat, may have, at one time, licked the T.P., accidentally,and 'liked' the way it tasted, as has now developed a strange craving for it?

Cats Do Strange Things!!!

Answer 6

Cats love to play with a nice fresh roll of toilet paper. Bags crinkle and they just love it.

Just being a cat.

Answer 7

my cats hate plastic bags. u know wut the funnest thing to do is? take a plastic bag, put the little hole part or wutever it is around the neck (dont wrry, it wont choke them.) and then shake the bag. it will scare them and they will take off running! one of my cats dove behind the washer maching and got stuck upsidedown! i had to pull him up by the tail (poor kitty) but it was funny!!!!!! try it anyone!!!

Answer 8

There is NO diabetes or other health concern. It's just one of those strange things cats do.

Answer 9

Because they can. There is no reason for why cats do certain things. They just do,

Answer 10

Your cat has issues!