# Chewing



## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

Anyone got any suggestions for things that my cat could chew? I know dogs have nylabones etc that help with their chewing problems but I am at a loss with my girl. She is 7 months old & STILL chewing wires all the time. We've taken her out of the room for a time out but when she comes in she goes straight back to the wire. She was going for the wallpaper too but we have sort of resolved that (I say resolved, she still managed to tear half a foot of paper from the wall) but she is still going for wires. She is always trying to get behind the TV or behind the Sky box or eating my husband's games console controller wires or laptop wires - everything. I have never encountered such a persistent & naughty kitten!!! I have bought dog chews but she isn't interested. I try & make a game of it but she walks away from it to the wire anyway! We have tried bitter spray too & she can ignore it. :scared: She's really quite destructive. We do have toys for her & she has two cats and a dog to play with she boredom really shouldn't be an issue as we play with her too!!

We've also had a look at her teeth & they look completely normal. I may take her to the vet anyway to be sure.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Not really a solution to make her stop chewing wires but have you tried cable protector/tidy things?


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## dougal22 (Jun 18, 2010)

I was going to suggest the same thing as Hobbs as someone else asked a question on here recently about kitten chewing wires and a cable tidy from Ikea was recommended.
My kitten loves chewing on plastic drinking straws. You could try these?


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

Not sure the cable tidies would work, would have to look into it. Most wires (except laptop & games console controller) are tucked in behind tv/box etc so it doesn't trail anywhere. My kitten goes looking for it though.

I might try the straw. I hadn't thought of them (& forgot I had some) but I suspect she would love playing with them anyway. Thanks.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

I'm a big fan of the IKEA cable tidies....

if those don't work (or can't be used for whatever reason) the bitter apple spray that is used to stop orphanned kittens doing inappropriate suckling on their syblings works equally well. Spray that liberally on to a cloth... wipe that cloth over the cables. And cats hate the bitter apple taste so stay well away from the cables.

edited to add: it tastes horrible, but it is non-toxic to cats as well as humans.


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## Tidgy (Jun 30, 2010)

was gonna sugest a drinking straw as well, porthos loves em, and at 5p each can give him lot and not break the bank


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

I've tried the bitter spray. Doesn't work with her. She chews anyway.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

messyhearts said:


> I've tried the bitter spray. Doesn't work with her. She chews anyway.


you have to use one of the good ones... the weak ones are rubbish and a waste of money. The one I use no cats (even in a 150-cat rescue shelter) will touch it.


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

This is the one we have:










Also I tried the straws and yes, she did love it, bit she was really going for it & I had to take it off her as she was seconds from chewing a bit of plastic off the end & swallowing it. I don't want to nearly lose a second cat to a blockage from a cat toy.


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

Bump.

She's chewed through two speaker wires this weekend from a surround sound system we bought this week. We have bitter sprayed it all knowing she was a little terror but these wires are so delicate she needs very little chewing to destroy them completely so looking for some more ideas.

Can't believe she is still chewing. She's over 8 months old now.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

have you tried the cable protectors from Ikea... cheap as chips... and dont look unsightly either... and very easy to use.

and just editing to add: my oldest girl will be 10 these year and she has never grown out of chewing. 

Not that I mean to depress you Messy.... (eeek, I know how big a pain this is ).... but.... some cats are just like that. I still use the bitter sprays, but more so with kittens and temporary problems like sucking on each other .... for my own girl and the majority of the house.... I just gave up and have "protected" even visable inch of cable. The last time she chewed the cable to the phone charger... that cost me I think 60 euros to renew. And just yesterday I got an electrical appliance out I hadnt used in ages and the wholecable is covered in her teeth marks. I love her... but at certain times, I could happily throttle her


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

I was hoping it was a kitten phase.

Would those wire protectors work on really thin audio cables? If they can be moved, make a noise or be interesting at all I worry that she would love to attack cables more. She has been okay for a while with cables as all of them are hidden behind the TV & the unit it is sat on (though she has started scratching the TV this week!!!) but this new surround sound, we expected her to attack it so bought some pins to pin the wires to the wall discreetly which has worked but she has bitten through the wire just behind two speakers. She's not in my husband's good books today.....

Edit: I say she's not in his good books & find her stretched out on her back on his knee just now... Can't resist her charms.


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2011)

Does she chew whilst you are in the house? I don't know the layout of your house but could you keep her out of the sitting room when you are not home, my two get shut out of the dining room and sitting room at night and when we go out as it's where most of the wires and delicates are.


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

GreyHare said:


> Does she chew whilst you are in the house? I don't know the layout of your house but could you keep her out of the sitting room when you are not home, my two get shut out of the dining room and sitting room at night and when we go out as it's where most of the wires and delicates are.


She could be shut out but it means shutting my other two out & one does use the sofa to sleep on. We will have to do it anyway. She does it when we are there too so cannot be trusted.


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2011)

messyhearts said:


> She could be shut out but it means shutting my other two out & one does use the sofa to sleep on. We will have to do it anyway. She does it when we are there too so cannot be trusted.


Oh dear sofa sleeper faces eviction, mine are allowed access to bedroom, kitchen and hallway (I live in a bungalow) when I'm not home and at night time because they cannot be trusted, but they have a cat tree in the bedroom and the bed and two cat beds under the bed and a cat bed on top of the wardrode (Maudey's perch where she plots world domination) and in the hall they have a laundry basket with old coat in it, so they are not short of a sleeping place or two  I think cable tidies and keeping her out unless supervised is the way to go.


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## sarahdisco (Jan 4, 2010)

Hercules is also a wire chewer - the IKEA cable tidies are fantastic, we have them all over the house.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

messyhearts said:


> I was hoping it was a kitten phase.
> 
> Would those wire protectors work on really thin audio cables? If they can be moved, make a noise or be interesting at all I worry that she would love to attack cables more.


well.... mostly it's a kitten phase .... but..... in my experience... not many cats are bad chewers but the ones that are ... well they're bloody impossible to get them to stop. Hopefully your kitten will stop, but I must say, the signs aint brilliant. 

The Ikea protectors, yes they will work fine on really thin cables... any size cable really can go in them, even 10 cables together can fit in them. They don't make any noise. And they are not interesting. I even have them in my big kittening pen for the heat lamp and heat blanket cables. I can make pics of them if you want... in situ so you can see what they look like. They're not attractive, I will give you that, but I have a few different styles of cable protectors I could make pics of (liek I say every cable in my house is now cat-proofed cos of my old lady and her chewing) and some of them are "prettier" than others. The ikea one is just good cos it;s so cheap and doesn;t require "fixing" (to a wall or anything) you just slip the cable in and thats it.

let me know if you want pics... (just bear in mind I aint Aurelia with a camera, hehe)


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

If it doesn't put you out, it would be useful. Thanks.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

messyhearts said:


> If it doesn't put you out, it would be useful. Thanks.


let's hope these work 

the grey silver coloured one my husband is demo-ing is the IKEA one... as you can see you just shove the cable in the slit and thats it. You can cut it down to any length. Or if you need longer than is in one pack, then you just use two... no need to join or anything.

the ones on the wall have a sticky strip on the back to the keep them stuck to the wall, and you can paint them in the same colour as your wall.

more to come... (will only let me do 5 at a time, hehe)


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

and these two are the sticky on the wall ones. 

by the way.... the one on the blue painted bit (the other post) isn't stuck very well yet as I still have to remove it to paint it, so thats just my own fault .... but I can't leave a cable unattended in this house for even a week. So I just stuck it up temporarily.


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

Ooh right. Interesting.  Thanks. I'm going to look into these. Think the grey ones are what would suit best so may try it out.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

messyhearts said:


> Ooh right. Interesting.  Thanks. I'm going to look into these. Think the grey ones are what would suit best so may try it out.


they really are the best and by far the easiest to use. Can't remember the exact price (tho it is on the ikea website) a good few meters on a big roll for about 2 quid if i remember rightly. And the good thing with the ikea stuff is... say you move your speakers and you dont need the cable protector anymore. It can be reused on another cable.


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