[skm0587]

I saw this question posted, but I didn't see any help. I adopted my cat when she was a year old. She drives me crazy because she loves chewing on wires. Everything is unplugged and covered with something of some sort in my apartment, but lately she has been getting to the point where she will move the blankets/pillows/etc and proceed to chew the wires. I am in school from 11-2 pm, come home, then leave to work at 5pm and come home again at 11pm. I don't know if my schedule throws her off and she does it because she's bored or mad at me, but I wish I could get her to stop. She is about 4 years old now. She is a sweetheart other than this, but this is ridiculous already. I have tried spraying her with water when she does it, and I have tried spraying bitter-yuck on the wires. I still come home and find pieces of wire everywhere. I finally gave up and got rid of my stereo-speakers because it was nothing but electrical tape and broken wires tied together. Now she is proceeding to chew thicker wires, such as my laptop cords.

[spitvenom]

I have the same problem I have curbed them from chewing on wires by using this stuff called bitter apple. It seems to work well. Only problem is you have to reapply the bitter apple every two weeks or so. Here is a link but you should be able to get it at a pet store.

Grannick's Bitter Apple

[Silverfoxkit]

Maybe you could also provide other means to entertainment, if you haven't already. You could get one of those cheep cardboard catnip scratching pads, or perhaps you could get something more acceptable to chew on, say a piece of ribbon or rope and dangle them in places, maybe even spray them with a catnip spray.

[Akoue]

Do you use shoelaces as toys? I ask because two things have occurred to me:

1. If you do, the cat may not recognize any distinction between an acceptable toy like a shoelace and an unacceptable toy like a wire.

2. If you don't, it might be helpful to try giving her an acceptable substitute (shoelace) for the wires. Shoelaces look similar and she can chew on them if she likes.

Silverfoxkit makes a good suggestion: She needs toys that she can chew on. Ribbon and string may not be good ideas because cats can ingest them and suffer serious, and even life threatening, complications from doing so. But pieces of cardboard are good. Rope and thick shoelaces also help.

You might also try covering your wires--or as many as possible--with plastic wire covers. Some of these can be attached to wall, floor, or baseboard, and some can be fitted over the wires without being attached to anything. Spitvenom's suggestion of bitter apple is also a good idea. You should also discipline her when you see her chewing by picking her up and placing her in time out for fifteen minutes or so. This works best if the cat is placed in a small room without windows or toys, i.e. a bathroom. I haven't had problems with wire-chewing, but this is how I taught my kids to stop jumping on kitchen counters.

Of course, you should supplement discipline/training with the other suggestions that have been offered. But some combination of these, along with lots of patience and persistence on your part, should go a long way.

Good luck.

[spitvenom]

Akoue Do you know if the bitter apple is poisonous?

[Akoue]

Akoue Do you know if the bitter apple is poisonous?

I'm pretty sure it's not harmfeul, but if you wanted to be sure you could place a quick call to the vet. They should be able to verify over the phone whether it's safe--although I believe it is. I've seen it recommended for use with cats. (Although one never knows if that really means it's safe. It could just be the result of the manufacturer's advertising. Sadly, it's often hard to know who to trust about these things.) I would feel confidant using it, but, again, if you're worried just call your vet's office. They'll know, and they'll be able to tell you whether they've seen any cats in distress as a result of its use.

Good of you to be concerned. It's always so nice to see your posts--you're a good dad!

[Alty]

I'm going to go with the Vet on this one, seeing as he's actually an animal doctor by trade.

Now, can we please stop this bickering and get back to the OP? Let me remind you, this is not the religious forum, we don't go back and forth here trying to one up eachother. We give the most accurate advice we can. We've all been wrong at one time or another, no one is perfect, but, when we've been proven wrong we graciously back down, apologize and let the person with more experience handle the question.

I have no desire to fight about this any further and I won't. I only hope that the OP comes back, reads what's been written and chooses the safest course of action for his cat.

It seems that half my response didn't post. :(

I have spoken to my vet, I asked about this product and he advised against it. He stated that it is very toxic to cats and that many cats are not at all deterred by this product and end up consuming it instead. Only a tiny amount can kill a cat.

Tom, I've had enough of this. You are more than welcome here if you provide accurate information, but you haven't and then proceed to fight when we state that you are wrong. This isn't a contest on who's right and who's wrong, we're here to give the best info we can to people and their pets, if you have a different agenda then find another place to play.

To the OP, I do apologize for this, usually we have a group of very good people on the pet forum, Akoue, Silver, Starbuck, Linnealand and others that really pride themselves on the accuracy of the information they provide.

I don't know everything, but I do know more then most where animals are concerned, I wasn't made pet expert because of my pretty face. ;)