Safe leather or wire for cat to chew?

[MissPurryJess]

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my cats are both chewers. From what I can gather they have pica, which isn't uncommon, but they chew very different things. Daisy chews plastic/tape/paper/carpet, and Fitz chews leather/cords/wires. With Daisy it's relatively easy to prevent her from chewing things, as we don't leave any plastic/paper/tape out that she can get to. As far as the carpet, our current home is rented and the carpet is AWFUL and CHEAP and she'll pull it up in the corner and chew on it, and then I'll find a little puddle of barf with carpet bits in it, find the pulled-up carpet, and try to fix it.

But with Fitzy - it's an issue to hide all the cords in the house. We've done a pretty good job, but in our living room there's still 3 cords he has access too, and we don't have much of a choice since we have limited outlets in here. We keep the cords covered with this:



But it's not a deterrent - he loves chewing on the covers. We don't have any dangling wires, all cords have been consolidated and covered, but it doesn't matter - he still ruins them. He ate through the cable for my laptop charger. He gets in this weird trance state and does it - like he'll be on our laps, all curled up and happy and purring, and suddenly he'll jump down and stumble over to the wall and start chewing on the cord and the plug. It's like he's in a trance - so weird. We've had him checked out, his teeth, his blood work, x-rays and exams and all that, and he's fine. He's done this for a long time - it's nothing new. And I don't think it's boredom, because he'll do it when we're petting him or loving him. It seriously mystifies me.

SO! The other day I was at my wits end and I had this epiphany - chewing on foil isn't pleasant. So on a whim I covered all of the cords he has access to with strips of tinfoil. IT WORKED! Neither he nor his sister will chew on the wires now - they want to, they try to, but they won't actually do it. So this is good news.

Now he's just acting upset when he gets into a cord-chewing mood. He walks around the room pacing back and forth, in his trance-like state, and since there's nothing to chew on, he just sort of stands there. I try to distract him with cuddles or toys, he's not really interested. This afternoon there was an incident near the basement door - he pooped in front of the basement door. Now I don't know why - there are a few reasons this may have happened (it's possible someone was in his bathroom at the time) - and I know I'm projecting, but what if he's angry about the lack of cords to chew on? I know this sounds ridiculous - just an idea.

So my question is - what can I give him to chew? My husband gave me an old leather belt and some old cords - they're in the "donation" box in our basement, so if he decides to destroy them, it's fine. I gave him a leather belt to play with for a minute and he WENT TO TOWN on that thing. Gnawing on it, biting it, etc. And then I realized this may be a bad idea - considering it's a cheap leather belt made in China, and who knows what kinds of chemicals they use to tan the leather? Do you guys think the leather is a bad idea? And would an old cord be any better? That's still plastic - I mean he can't really hurt himself on it because it's not plugged in, but it's still not a cat toy. I'm not sure what to do - I want to give him something safe to chew on that he'll enjoy.

Any help is appreciated. I'm really glad I found a solution to him chewing up the wires we have plugged in (yay tinfoil! ), but I'd like to give him a safe alternative.

[marko]

Hmmm very good question actually.

If the cat likes wires - would a piece of wire not connected to anything be a terrible playtoy?

I do NOT know the answer to that question, just throwing out there to see if it has any merit.

If the wire is too big for the cat to swallow, and you know your cat won't swallow it, would chewing on it in and of itslef present a danger?

[MissPurryJess]

Originally Posted by marko

Hmmm very good question actually.

If the cat likes wires - would a piece of wire not connected to anything be a terrible playtoy?

I do NOT know the answer to that question, just throwing out there to see if it has any merit.

If the wire is too big for the cat to swallow, and you know your cat won't swallow it, would chewing on it in and of itslef present a danger?

Exactly - I'm just concerned that there's something potentially toxic in the wire coating or something like that. I'd like to know the same about a leather belt - the leather is shiny on one side and rough and kind of nubby (almost suede-like) on the other side. I'd only allow him to play with either thing while supervised - but if they're toxic than I need to come up with a safe alternative.

[Barkingdog]

Originally Posted by MissPurryJess

Exactly - I'm just concerned that there's something potentially toxic in the wire coating or something like that. I'd like to know the same about a leather belt - the leather is shiny on one side and rough and kind of nubby (almost suede-like) on the other side. I'd only allow him to play with either thing while supervised - but if they're toxic than I need to come up with a safe alternative.

I would not let a cat chew on leather or wire. A cat could choke on a piece of leather and it could also be toxic to your cat. The cat could hurt it mouth or gum chewing on wire and this would teaching your cat that is OK to chew on cords and wire.

[marko]

Just like my brother and sister (when they were babies) sucked on Tupperware container lids and other plastic objects (and lead painted toys that are now known carcinogens) when I was a kid and never died.....

I might assume that unconnected wires "might" be the same sort of thing for a cat. And if I had money to wager in a fake bet, I'd wager that sucking on a plastic wire in and of itself won't decrease a cat's lifespan. I do not know this to be true, but in a fake bet that's how I'd wager.

Yes of course it's possible that a cat will swallow a plastic wire so yes it's safest to say "No". No equals zero risk. No is always safest.

Obviously nobody wants to give bad advice and nobody wants another pet to suffer... But if you know your cat won't swallow a wire in the same way that you know it won't swallow a rock, personally I see no issue here so long as the wire itself won't make you sick by chewing on it.

For me that's the only unresolved issue and because I do not know the answer it's safer for me as well to say No it's better if you do not allow this.
.... and it might be difficult for anyone to give you a "yes it's okay" answer because anything is possible, anything can possibly kill another creature and litigation is everywhere.

[MissPurryJess]

Thanks marko - I completely understand what you're saying. For now I'm going to let him chew on the leather belt when I'm holding it, so I can watch and make sure he doesn't bite off a piece. And I'm going to look for a leather cat toy at the pet food store - I know they have kitty-safe leather toys there for them, that's probably safest.

[Barkingdog]

Originally Posted by marko

Just like my brother and sister (when they were babies) sucked on Tupperware container lids and other plastic objects (and lead painted toys that are now known carcinogens) when I was a kid and never died.....

I might assume that unconnected wires "might" be the same sort of thing for a cat. And if I had money to wager in a fake bet, I'd wager that sucking on a plastic wire in and of itself won't decrease a cat's lifespan. I do not know this to be true, but in a fake bet that's how I'd wager.

Yes of course it's possible that a cat will swallow a plastic wire so yes it's safest to say "No". No equals zero risk. No is always safest.

Obviously nobody wants to give bad advice and nobody wants another pet to suffer... But if you know your cat won't swallow a wire in the same way that you know it won't swallow a rock, personally I see no issue here so long as the wire itself won't make you sick by chewing on it.

For me that's the only unresolved issue and because I do not know the answer it's safer for me as well to say No it's better if you do not allow this.
.... and it might be difficult for anyone to give you a "yes it's okay" answer because anything is possible, anything can possibly kill another creature and litigation is everywhere.

I heard of kids that had health issues from eating lead paint. I knew some parents that had a child that was sick and it took awhile to realize the child been eating lead paint. I am talking about the wire could be sharp and the cat could hurt it mouth or gums or get lead poisoning. My dad had cut his leg on wire and he got lead poisoning from it. He had a red line going up his leg and if he had not gotten to the DR. in time he would had dies.

[Barkingdog]

Originally Posted by MissPurryJess

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my cats are both chewers. From what I can gather they have pica, which isn't uncommon, but they chew very different things. Daisy chews plastic/tape/paper/carpet, and Fitz chews leather/cords/wires. With Daisy it's relatively easy to prevent her from chewing things, as we don't leave any plastic/paper/tape out that she can get to. As far as the carpet, our current home is rented and the carpet is AWFUL and CHEAP and she'll pull it up in the corner and chew on it, and then I'll find a little puddle of barf with carpet bits in it, find the pulled-up carpet, and try to fix it.

But with Fitzy - it's an issue to hide all the cords in the house. We've done a pretty good job, but in our living room there's still 3 cords he has access too, and we don't have much of a choice since we have limited outlets in here. We keep the cords covered with this:



But it's not a deterrent - he loves chewing on the covers. We don't have any dangling wires, all cords have been consolidated and covered, but it doesn't matter - he still ruins them. He ate through the cable for my laptop charger. He gets in this weird trance state and does it - like he'll be on our laps, all curled up and happy and purring, and suddenly he'll jump down and stumble over to the wall and start chewing on the cord and the plug. It's like he's in a trance - so weird. We've had him checked out, his teeth, his blood work, x-rays and exams and all that, and he's fine. He's done this for a long time - it's nothing new. And I don't think it's boredom, because he'll do it when we're petting him or loving him. It seriously mystifies me.

SO! The other day I was at my wits end and I had this epiphany - chewing on foil isn't pleasant. So on a whim I covered all of the cords he has access to with strips of tinfoil. IT WORKED! Neither he nor his sister will chew on the wires now - they want to, they try to, but they won't actually do it. So this is good news.

Now he's just acting upset when he gets into a cord-chewing mood. He walks around the room pacing back and forth, in his trance-like state, and since there's nothing to chew on, he just sort of stands there. I try to distract him with cuddles or toys, he's not really interested. This afternoon there was an incident near the basement door - he pooped in front of the basement door. Now I don't know why - there are a few reasons this may have happened (it's possible someone was in his bathroom at the time) - and I know I'm projecting, but what if he's angry about the lack of cords to chew on? I know this sounds ridiculous - just an idea.

So my question is - what can I give him to chew? My husband gave me an old leather belt and some old cords - they're in the "donation" box in our basement, so if he decides to destroy them, it's fine. I gave him a leather belt to play with for a minute and he WENT TO TOWN on that thing. Gnawing on it, biting it, etc. And then I realized this may be a bad idea - considering it's a cheap leather belt made in China, and who knows what kinds of chemicals they use to tan the leather? Do you guys think the leather is a bad idea? And would an old cord be any better? That's still plastic - I mean he can't really hurt himself on it because it's not plugged in, but it's still not a cat toy. I'm not sure what to do - I want to give him something safe to chew on that he'll enjoy.

Any help is appreciated. I'm really glad I found a solution to him chewing up the wires we have plugged in (yay tinfoil! ), but I'd like to give him a safe alternative.

I just found this web site for cats , it has a lot of tips for cats. And it tell how to give cat a CPR if they do bite on a live cord

http://www.cat-health-detective.com/...alth-blog.html