For example, you can remove all of the objects that your cat seems to be unnaturally interested in nibbling on and provide her with plenty of treats and cat toys that are safer. Treating this complication can be difficult, but it mostly involves performing several modifications on the cat’s living environment. Finally, sometimes pica shows up unexpectedly and for no apparent reason, in which case it goes by the name of ‘idiopathic pica’. If the kitten was weaned too early, pica can be a way of trying to recover the nutrients that she didn’t get the chance to get from milk. And that’s what happens to our feline friends. While humans don’t usually suffer from this problem, we can develop a form to an extent - if we have vitamin or mineral deficiencies or if we don’t get enough fiber in our diet, we’ll feel hungry all the time. In terms of health problems, pica is more common in animals that suffer from anemia, diabetes, dental disease, hyperthyroidism, and FIV.Ĭats that aren’t fed the right diet, especially kittens, can develop pica early on. Cats that are stressed or just bored might develop pica. There are medical causes of pica in cats, but there are also behavioral disorders that can lead to the phenomenon. If your cat has pica and constantly eats stuff that shouldn’t be a part of her diet, she could develop certain digestive issues, in which case you might notice the following symptoms: RELATED: What is Dexamethasone Used For in Cats? Needless to say, the paper can have a negative impact on her digestion, and usually, in about 10-15 minutes, she ends up vomiting. My own cat sometimes chews on napkins, if I don’t pay attention and leave any within her reach. The most reliable way of diagnosing a cat with pica is to actually see it happen. If your cat is affectionate and loves to spend time next to you when you’re home, the behavior might happen when you’re not there. Pica is in fact more likely to affect animals that are left alone for many hours in a day or those that have gone through a traumatic or stressful event (such as moving home).Ĭatching your cat in the act of chewing on something that she isn’t supposed to can actually be pretty challenging. Some of the typical items that cats with pica chew on are bedding materials, clothes, sheets, yarn, electrical cords, and plants.Ĭats can chew on these things both because they are curious, but it also happens when they don’t get the diet they need and when they get severely bored. Several cat breeds show a higher risk of pica syndrome and cross-bred cats can produce such cats.Pica disease in cats combines a variety of manifestations, but almost always involves chewing or eating things that are inedible to cats. Your cat might be showing pica symptoms simply because it has gotten the genes of a pica cat. Extreme stress, lack of attention, separation anxiety, unregulated behavior, noise exposure, re-location, etc. Your cat may tend to chew on random things in a learned pattern just to satisfy their primal urges or meet their stimulation needs as they get bored easily. In such a case, cats tend to eat plants, litter, or anything that gives them good taste or smell. Insufficiency of the cat meal in delivering essential nutrients to the cat can lead it to search for them in other items that can even be non-edible and this behavior turns into becoming the pica disorder later. have been usually associated with pica in cats. Health conditions like diabetes, brain tumors, anemia, feline immunodeficiency virus, leukemia, etc. Medical problemsĪny medical issue with the cat can be the primary reason behind the pica syndrome getting triggered and then continuing into becoming a disorder. It is difficult to pinpoint the source of the mental short-circuiting that happens in the pica cats but several factors have been pointed out by different pet experts.
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