Cat suddenly eating kitty litter?

[chrissyk]

Our cat that had surgery nearly 2 weeks ago is suddenly trying to eat kitty litter in the past 2 days We are very worried. Our vet doesn't seem to have an answer for us about this. Because it can be dangerous for cats to eat clay litter, we bought something called "Swheat" litter today (made from wheat). Well, he tried to eat that too At least that's not dangerous like the clay litter, but still...what is going on? He would NEVER do this if he was acting like his normal self. I can't find any information on the internet either, except that cats that eat litter have "pica" and that it may be a sign of illness. I thought that it was a very bad sign if a cat started eating kitty litter, but maybe I imagined having read that somewhere. Does anyone know anything about this? We're very worried about him, and we wonder if the surgery really messed him up or something

Side note - the surgeon gave him a shot of steroids 4 days ago during a follow-up visit. Could that have caused this?

 

[SueM in MN]

I've heard of dogs eating cat litter (and especially the "cat goodies" that are contained in the cat litter), but I've never heard of cats doing it.
This person, Megan the Cat Lady, may be able to help you. I've heard her on the radio and she seems to really know a lot about cats and gives good advice. She will take questions by email.
One thing that I found beside pica was that cats might sample litter because of stress. This product helps with stress, by putting pheromones that are comforting to cats in your environment.

 

[teacherforhi]

My Emelia eats litter when she's not feeling well. It was one of the first signs something was wrong before she was diagnosed with feline leukemia. Unfortunately, my vet doesn't know exactly why she does it, just told me to buy non-clumping litter for her to use.

 

[chrissyk]

So he could be doing it because he's feeling badly? He does have a possible secondary infection from self-injury (licking himself at the surgical site even though he had an Elizabethan collar on...quite a feat). He is on antibiotics for this now, and we have to keep the surgical site coated with Vaseline at all times now in addition to having a much bigger collar on him at all times. This behavior is just SO not like him and we're very worried. Also, we have to supervise him at all times while he is in the litterbox now, of course.

 

[chrissyk]

This person, Megan the Cat Lady, may be able to help you. I've heard her on the radio and she seems to really know a lot about cats and gives good advice. She will take questions by email.
One thing that I found beside pica was that cats might sample litter because of stress. This product helps with stress, by putting pheromones that are comforting to cats in your environment.

Thanks! I'm going to email "Megan the Cat Lady" to see if she can answer my question. This seems to be such an odd thing, and there just isn't a lot of info out there about it that I can find

 

[lisajl]

Chrissy,

Not sure what would cause it! Let me know what you find out.

BTW, I'm sure you know steroids will cause your pet to eat and drink more.
Did you have food in the bowl for him? If not, could that be why he ate it?
Like, geez, nothing in the food bowl, oh well, gotta eat something, scenario?

Interesting dilemma you have.

Let me know!
Lisa

 

[teacherforhi]

So he could be doing it because he's feeling badly? He does have a possible secondary infection from self-injury (licking himself at the surgical site even though he had an Elizabethan collar on...quite a feat). He is on antibiotics for this now, and we have to keep the surgical site coated with Vaseline at all times now in addition to having a much bigger collar on him at all times. This behavior is just SO not like him and we're very worried. Also, we have to supervise him at all times while he is in the litterbox now, of course.

I've always just equated the litter-eating with Emelia not feeling well. If the vet puts her back on steroids during these times (for anemia), she stops eating the litter. I would definitely watch your cat and make sure that he is eating and drinking normally as well.

 

[Miss Kelly]

I've heard of dogs eating cat litter (and especially the "cat goodies" that are contained in the cat litter), but I've never heard of cats doing it.
This person, Megan the Cat Lady, may be able to help you. I've heard her on the radio and she seems to really know a lot about cats and gives good advice. She will take questions by email.
One thing that I found beside pica was that cats might sample litter because of stress. This product helps with stress, by putting pheromones that are comforting to cats in your environment.

Ugh... my dog does this and I absolutely hate it. Any idea why she does this? Just curious.

 

[chrissyk]

Chrissy,

Not sure what would cause it! Let me know what you find out.

BTW, I'm sure you know steroids will cause your pet to eat and drink more.
Did you have food in the bowl for him? If not, could that be why he ate it?
Like, geez, nothing in the food bowl, oh well, gotta eat something, scenario?

Interesting dilemma you have.

Let me know!
Lisa

He's been pigging out, so that's not the issue. Maybe he suddenly has an insatiable appetite from the steroid shot, though Still, though, this behavior is SO not like him I really hate this entire situation, from the surgery to the antibiotics to all the weird side-effects that these things are having on him. I keep wondering if he's EVER going to go back to normal, or if we've screwed him up for life because WE couldn't bear to part with him.

 

[SueM in MN]

Ugh... my dog does this and I absolutely hate it. Any idea why she does this? Just curious.

No idea.
I don't have a dog, but I like to listen to Katie K9 on the radio (Here's a link to her website. She is really funny (she seems to understand just what dogs are thinking and she "talks" for them on her radio show. She calls the cat litter eating "cat treats" and "kitty goodies" for the dog. One of the reasons she thinks dogs do it is because some of the components in the cat food are not totally digested, so the dog smells that and thinks it spells good.

 

[sjh801]

Ugh... my dog does this and I absolutely hate it. Any idea why she does this? Just curious.

A friend told me that her vet said that cats and dogs eat "those goodies" because they contain a lot of the original "food", so to speak. She also said you can avoid this by feeding good quality foods where there is less waste. The pets use the healthy food to keep healthy and eliminate the "pet junk food".