How do I stop my cat from chewing through cords???

Question

My female cat is three years old. I adopted her when she was ten weeks old. As a kitten she chewed through EVERY cord she came across. Telephone cords, cell phone chargers, two-way radio chargers, mice, etc. (while they were plugged in). I know she was shocked once but didn't seem to phase her. I used "Apple Bitter" but it didn't work. It seemed to have subsided for a year and a half but now she has started up again. She is costing us a lot of money in electronics (upwards of $500... today it was a external cd drive). We have recently tried tabasco sauce and "Bitter Yuck" but, obviously, it hasn't worked. Any suggestions? It's an annoying and EXPENSIVE habit for her to have!

We did "inherit" a new cat in the past 6 months (that she hates). She's definitely not neglected and she does get disciplined. Problem is that we rarely catch her in the act. I've heard that disciplining an animal after the fact doesn't help because they don't know what they're being disciplined for (other than what they're doing at that exact moment). Oh yeah... and the cords that she chews through are normally plugged in since they NEED to be. :)

Answer 1

Wow, that is an expensive habit.

She might be doing this because:

1. There has been an increase in stress in her life and she deals with the stress through compulsive behavior.

2. She might actually be hungry, is lacking nutrients or fiber in her diet.

The best thing is to put them somewhere that she can't get to them. Whenever possible, stick them into a cord keeper type device that makes it much harder for her to get to.

She might just like the feel of the plastic covering so I would get her several of the soft plastic lids from milk jugs and see if those can help with her cravings. As long as she isn't eating things then they should be ok for her to play with.

She should also benefit from increased play. Play is a distraction and it makes her feel better from the exercise. You can also add cat grass or lettuce to her diet to give her more fiber and interest.

The cable zippers work especially if you have lots of cords from your pc running behind your desk:

http://www.metpet.com/Reference/House/Reduce%20Cord%20Clutter.htm

Answer 2

I know this may not be easy, but wherever possible you need to deny her access to those items that she's chewing. Buy some cable trunking so that you can safely store cables. For items that you cannot store away, put eucalyptus or menthol oil on them. Cats hate the smell. You can also leave "bait" pieces of cable on which a few drops of menthol or oil of eucalyptus have been rubbed, this deterrent will often reform the most ardent chewers. Sometimes denial for a couple of weeks causes the behaviour to stop.

Shouting or squirting water at her when you catch her in the act, isn't advised as you may just find she resorts to chewing these items in secret or when you are not there. If you do catch her, try to divert her attention by playing with her.

If it's the chewing sensation that she enjoys, then try providing her with tough chunks of meat to eat. This means she will have to spend more time focused on eating her dinner.

Cats often resort to this kind of behaviour due to boredom or stress. Are your cats allowed outside at all? If not, would you consider allowing her outside for brief periods under supervision, or would she walk on a harness? Being allowed outside would stimulate her mentally and take the focus off your home as the centre for activity. It's a shame that she hasn't accepted the new cat as having a feline companion to play with is ofen helpful in breaking this kind of habit. I don't know how recently you got the other cat or how they were introduced, but you might have to consider separating and re-introducing them to see if you can help them get along better. The web article below will tell you how to do this.

http://www.tulsa-animalshelter.org/tips/intro%20cat.htm

It might also be worth investing in Feliway (either the spray or plug-in diffuser version) as the pheromones are said to be soothing to cats.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Look in the grocery store in the cleaning section and look for a product that is made from orange oil. Cats don't like oranges and if you spray the cords with it, it should stop her. The only other thing I know of that cats hate is acetone nail polish remover. They hate the smell of that, but that could harm your cords or your carpet. Has anything changed in your household that may have upset her and made her start again? Does she have toys she can play with and chew on?

I have a former cord-chewer and amazingly, she never chewed on cords that were plugged in. She also chewed shoe strings. I'm not sure why she stopped, but I sure hope she doesn't start again.

Good luck. I hope you get her stopped before she gets hurt.

Answer 4

Oh hun. I know exactly what you are going through. My old puppy chewed through 12 lamps and 2 alarm clocks within a month. He also chewed through my phone charger, I got another one and within 5 minutes that one was chewed through too! I invested in some rubber wire covers- they sell them at places like Walmart and Target. They are thick rubber that you can place the wires in and it'll be especially hard for a cat to chew through. My dog never chewed through a cord again! Plus, it is important to cover the cords because the poor cat could get hurt eventually- go buy some of the rubber cord covers and you'll never have the problem again.

Answer 5

It most likely is a phase, but not a nice one at that. For more robust cords, you can coat them with a product called Bitter Apple, sold in many pet stores. But for light wires like used in chargers, that becomes inconvenient since you are handling the wires, etc. So it often comes down to keeping the wires out of reach (not easy with a cat that jumps everywhere) or you may find light weight plastic spirals that you can wrap around the cord. Often called wire minders or cable management sets or plastic coils.

Answer 6

You can get some of that "coiled" cord, like they use on some telephones, and run the electric cords through that....just gather the cords together and coil the new one around the bunched ones. Then the cat can't get to the electric cords. I've use this for years, and it does work! They get frustrated, but finally leave them alone. I don't know how many you'd need, but sometimes you can find old ones, or buy new ones at radio shack or even your grocery store. Good luck.......

Answer 7

Your cats habbits are common but hard to stop. At the first sign of this you should have taught her not to. For ex; have a stern voice towords her when she starts biting it or even aprouching the cord. But now that she is three years old it will be harder to make this hobby die. Just stay stern with her if she bites the cord and show it to her if she bites thorugh it again and give her some kind of detention to her. Show her the chewed cord everyday and she'll understand sooner or later.

Answer 8

Umm... it's a losing battle.
I have a cat with the same problem
We've tried a lot of different things, including tabasco and citrus scents.
Nothing really seems to work.
We talked to the vet, and they didn't have many helpful things either.
Just try to keep things out of reach, ours seems to be slowly growing out of it, so we just hope one day she'll be over it.

Until then, learn how to reconnect chewed wires (it works sometimes, and is really pretty easy) and pray for the best.

Good luck

Answer 9

Try orange peels squirt the orange oil out of the peel and cats hate that. Fortunately my cat doesn't do much of anything but I know that cats hate any citrus smell from fruit. Lemons limes, orange. Rub the oil from the rind on the cord. It is natural and smells good to us just not to cats.

Good luck,
I hope this is one you haven't already tried

Answer 10

If she stopped and has started back again, most likely there's a health problem, she's feeling neglected and does it to regain your attention, or she's feeling a new stress. Evaluate your household - any new pets? babies? a recent move? new furniture? Cats don't usually like change of any kind in their environment. If there have been no changes, take her to the vet; she may have an undiagnosed health problem such as diabetes.
To show her the behavior is bad, every time you see her doing it you can spray her in the face with a can of air spray ( like you use to clean computers) - they HATE that.
Good luck!