Cat Chewing on Cardboard

[MissyKitty445]

Our cat has recently started chewing the corners or lid flaps off any cardboard box in the house...we moved in last year (and embarrassingly) we still have boxes of stuff in our basement and some of our closets, every box has been chewed by him...I am concerned that it might be a sign of something more...how can we get him to stop...his food & water dishes are always filled, and he is quite a stocky cat...we in a small community surrounded by forest, and he gets outside frequently...

[happycats]

most of my cats oved to chew cardboard as well.
My one cat Boowee would chew up entire boxes, leaves cardboard confetti everywhere! They even chewed the corners of my photo albums.

to get them to stop, I made sure they had no access to the boxes I needed (for some of the stuff I have stored) and I would give them empty boxes to play with.

[kashtin's kin]

...we have 6 indoor cats, and while they all like to leave their 'mark' on the edges of boxes and such by rubbing their jaws/mouths, one of the younger cats (a male ex-feral) just LOVES to rip cardboard boxes apart. Sometimes it sounds like he's dismantling the house, it's so loud!

This cat and his sister have had boxes as toys since they were trapped and slowly became housecats; the female sometimes chews daintily on one, but it's her brother who is the real champ. I wondered if they were teething when they were younger, but I think it's just constructive aggression now?!

[kit1469]

i have no idea how to get ur kitty to stop chewing on the boxes .. but i can say this be thankfull its not ur furniture! my tom cat LOVES chewing on the corner of my coffee table

[growler~GateKeeper]

Does your cat have an indoor scratching post? perhaps this is what he needs

[JanM]

Originally Posted by growler

Does your cat have an indoor scratching post? perhaps this is what he needs

Shadow - bless his little heart - chews his indoor scratcher! It is cardboard on the outside with a cardboard insert that is what he is supposed to use to scratch. He does but then he sits down and chews the box! I have bits of cardboard all over the place

[growler~GateKeeper]

Duffy loves to scratch the heck outta her cardboard scratchie box, never chews it but she does rub her chin on it to scent mark cute but not like any other cat is gonna come in the apartment though

[Kristin7]

get rid of the boxes! Sorry, I couldn't resist.. I've been there, after I moved last time my boxes were around for a few years.. in fact, there are still some around.

My cats chew on boxes too, but not as much as yours. One of mine will shred paper, like a hamster. She thinks it is great fun and luckily hasn't ripped up anything important (yet). I can't suggest anything that might be wrong medically, could be yours just enjoys doing this.

[Stacer]

I wouldn't worry about it. Some cats are just chewers. My little female loves to chew on cardboard, ...on wood, on plastic, on cloth, on metal, on pretty much anything that gets near her mouth. I would even say to keep some cardboard around for him to chew so he doesn't move on to something that you don't want him to chew.

[CearaQC]

You said you moved, maybe it smells the odors from the old house?

[14+kitties]

I agree with everyone else. Cardboard chewing is not a big deal. My guys get boxes all the time to play with, hide in, chew, whatever. Keeps them happy.
And welcome to Pets.ca. When you can please post pics of the cardboard chewer.

[Love4himies]

My foster kittens loved to chew on cardboard, the momma, Sweet Pea likes to chew wood. Chewing cardboard is not going to hurt him, but can make a mess .

[MissyKitty445]

Thank you so much everyone...I feel relieved to know he's just bored, and nothing more is going on...we've always had cats, my last one was 15 when she died, she never did anything like that....I was just panicky I think...we'll get him some more toys that he can scratch and chew up, and some rubbermaid storage buckets for storing stuff, before we have cardboard confetti everywhere...hehehehe