# Does anyone else's cat chew cardboard?



## afwife83 (Dec 19, 2012)

We bought a box of diapers for my daughter, and the cats have started biting and chewing on the cardboard (not biting off pieces or ingesting any mind you), but just biting and chewing on the flaps of the box, mostly the corners of them. Then I noticed the flaps of the storage cardboard box in my room has been chewed, and the box we were collecting the kids old clothes in for donation in my sons room. They just started this not too long ago, maybe a couple weeks, maybe a month? I don't understand it! Nothing has changed in their diet, I just don't understand this bizarre behavior!!!! Does anyone else's cat do this? Is this normal? :|


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## Venusworld21 (Oct 23, 2012)

All of my guys (I have 5) do this and have for years. It's pretty normal, I think. At least, I've never thought of it as odd.  I'll be interested to see other people's responses though...maybe my guys have been trying to tell me something all along.


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## Shenanigans (Jul 23, 2011)

Yep, Apollo does it all the time. He chews on cardboard, curtains, plastic and anything else he can get his teeth on. They're strange creatures, lol.

I actually thought it might be some kind of tooth issue, but his are fine. I guess they just like chewing on stuff? Lol


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

Both of mine do that. Zephyr also likes to chew paper towels and toilet paper.


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## Wannabe Catlady (Aug 6, 2012)

Mine do this too. They don't rip it up or anything, they just bite it. My theory is that it just feels good to puncture it with their teeth. 

I'm moving into a new place right now, so they are in cardboard box heaven. Every flap is full of little perforations. 


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Not cardboard but paperbacks and magazines. If I leave my book out Zipper will chew on the cover.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Any paper back book is fair game. One of my fosters chewed my Air titanium glasses lens. Then proceeded to chew the plastic off the arm of the glasses. One cat my sister had, chewed cords. The Cox Communications guy had to come out to replace the cable cord 4 or 5 times.

One of the blind kitties loved to lay in a box and chew all the edges. It was Shirley favorite past time. So her parents humored her with lots of boxes.


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## Lotu (Apr 26, 2013)

Yes, our 2 kittens (14 weeks old) bite on cardboard--one more than the other. Once one started biting on my daughter's homework too! I've heard of the old "dog at my homework" excuse, but not cat. I thought it was because they were kittens and they would grow out of it, but guess it could be a lifetime thing. We've been trying to get them to use the scratch post and we have one that is the disposable cardboard that is used more as a chew toy. I don't remember our other cat (died at age 14) ever having an interest in cardboard.


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## afwife83 (Dec 19, 2012)

Phew! I'm glad this is normal behavior! I thought my cats had lost their minds! LOL! I was like...cardboard? Really guys?!?! I mean, they don't eat it, so it's fine, I don't mind, but I'm glad to know it's normal!


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## 3furbabies (Dec 7, 2011)

Mine do this with boxes... one in particular does it more than others. Last year when we moved into our current house, we had to keep all our un packed boxes in a separate room because one of our cats would destroy any box she could get a hold of. They still do this with boxes.


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## Jacq (May 17, 2012)

Totally normal.

Check out the edges of this one...


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

For the sake of chiming in with a different answer, none of mine do. A fixation on stuff like cardboard I believe is like PICA behavior, which is pretty common in cats, but I don't know about it necessarily being the norm. I do know cats are often very fixated on sticking stuff in their mouth, though... like cords, which is much more dangerous.

Some interesting reading:
PICA: EATING THE INEDIBLE


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## Jacq (May 17, 2012)

I dunno about Pica... Io will stop chewing a box when the edges are tattered to her satisfaction. She'll chew it up then ignore it (maybe rub on it), but the moment a NEW box comes in she's back to poking those little holes. Maybe it's a territorial thing (MY box).

But on the other hand... I can't let tape or dental floss get anywhere NEAR her, or she'll eat it faster than you can blink.


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## Nell (Apr 7, 2005)

I wonder sometimes if they do this as a way of trying to clean their teeth, as the friction of biting into something could help scrape off buildup... dunno if there's any sort of truth to that... just my theory. Cheddar chews on a lot of things... cardboard, cords (they are all hidden or out of reach)... He's even tried to chew on some of my ceramic and metal artwork. Sadie, on the other hand, does not seem to have any interest in chewing on things.


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

I dunno, I've dealt with people who have Pica through my work (although of course, humans are different from cats) and I'm not really seeing the connection. At least for _my_ cats, it's more of a destructive playtime diversion than a compulsion to eat or mouth things.


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## Griley (Apr 26, 2013)

I have two cats and one of them tends to do this more than the other, but not all of the time. For my cat, when she chews, I feel as though she does it when she is either stressed or bored. Biting the cardboard lets her get that extra energy or stress out of her system I guess. 

When I see her biting on a box (usually the flap of one that is lying around for her to nap in) I try to distract her with a toy that she likes and that seems to work and she typically shows a lot of energy playing with it.

Hope that helps!


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## stevescott213 (Nov 14, 2008)

If I'm holding a book Bodhi will come and chew on the corner...every book I have read in the last 5 years he has marked....lol..... The first time I saw him before I adopted him he was in the cage with his brothers and sisters chewing on the newspaper in the cage like it was the best thing ever. It usually seems like a boredom thing to me...if I leave an empty soda case on the floor or there's a cardboard box lying around....


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## PumpkinPot (Jun 5, 2013)

Plastic, cardboard, rubber, wood. Right now, Pumpkin is nuzzling a bag of dog food. He was asleep on it earlier, after he had a make out session with it. Mom and I have a bet as to when he opens the bag. And no, this is not the first time this has happened. Every time we get a bag of dog food (once a month for 25 pounds, or two months for a 50 pounder). We once bought a 25 pound bag of cat food. Within 15 minutes of leaving it on the floor, Pumpkin had a hole in it. He didn't eat the food, he chewed and ripped the bag dropping the pieces on the floor. We laid it flat on a nightstand and let the dog and the cat have free reign. It lasted almost two months, in addition to the dog food they both shared. 

My mom was going to send some clothes to charity, but Pumpkin got ahold of the boxes and now they are littered across her bedroom floor.


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## wallycat (Nov 10, 2012)

My cats will chew the ends of books to mark them 
Cardboard too.


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## IluvmyPunkers (Jun 19, 2013)

Pumpkin and Casey do this as well. Pumpkin also loves to lick plastic bags


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## hrlw817 (Oct 4, 2012)

Abby likes to chew on paper. She rips a piece of with her mouth, then spits it out. Leo likes to gnaw on magazine covers. He also lays on them.


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## JungliBillis (Mar 20, 2013)

Yup. Mine do it too!


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## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

Yep.


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

My kitten does this with boxes. My older cats do it when they're scratching theory face. They have a 5 foot cardboard cat tower and its almost torn to shreds in less than 2 months since I set it up!


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

I found all my napkins torn up on the floor the other morning.


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

I'm glad I saw this thread, because yesterday Prince chewed on the edges of the styrofoam box I brought in, while sitting happily inside, and I didn't know if it was ok.


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## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

Cardboard and paper, probably okay. Styrofoam, not okay.

I have one who can't resist styrofoam. I don't leave anything like that in the house, ever, because of that.She likes adhesives too, so I have to be careful with tape.


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

Thanks, I'll remove that from the house, then.


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