Licking plastic

[Peanut44]

Hello everyone, my first post! My little cat Martha - a four-year-old Maine Coon - loves licking plastic. My concern is it’s some chemical in the plastic that might be harmful. Does anyone know if this is the case?

[Ruth B]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm certainly no expert except for having a cat for about 15 years with a love of licking and chewing plastic. Even though there are a lot of different plastics out there, I don't believe there are any chemicals in the plastic itself which would prove harmful. The main dangers I know of are from what the plastic contained, or from ingesting it. Make sure that any packaging that contained anything harmful is disposed of in a place where cats can't get at it, which is a sensible precaution anyway. As far as ingesting goes the worst normal scenario caused by the plastic itself is that it will clog up a cats stomach leading to an expensive operation.

i quickly noticed that Tiggy, my own cat, would chew thin plastic, such as that that magazines get delivered in, and would end up eating the corners off them, however she would only lick and occasionally chew the heavier duty plastic bags, not actually eating them but leaving teeth mark in them. Like an addict if there isn't one easily available she will start to hunt one down, and with all the plastic around today it is almost impossible to make sure that there isn't something she can get to as she is quite able to open cupboard doors. In the end i decided the best option was to actually leave clean, heavy duty bags where she could get to them. Fortunately it has been enough to satisfy her cravings and limit the risks involved. It may not have been the ideal solution but sometimes we have to accept that we just do the best we can.

Hopefully Martha can be weaned off the plastic, but if not, controlling what she has access to is the best option.

Just of note, Tiggy is female, we had a cat when i was a child who loved plastic and was female, and Martha is female, I am starting to think it might be a female trait.

[Mayday21]

Hi Ruth & Peanut my Mr TC has a fettish for the thin plastic bags you put veggies in from the shop. The other morning on doing trays noticed something green in his, he always does stools on newspaper put down in the storage box I put the tray in, on checking it was part of a green plastic bag I’d left in the sink. This morning he was at the bag potatoes are in. They’re now in the fridge & I’ll check his stools tomorrow. So it’s a male thing too!! Vivian

[nikki888]

Hello!
I am not an expert, but we had once 8 cats in the same time, and they all were very lively ones
I do not think that chewing or licking some plastic could cause any harm, but if the cat swallows it, that is not good for the stomach on the long run. But once in a while it can happen. Keep your eye on the cat and try to stop it, to be on the safe side.
[Link to joke website removed by forum admin]
Cheers!