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Chewing Problem

DougRD

Site Supporter
I am having problems with Darwin (High Percent F2) chewing my wood blinds and one of the wooden posts of my bed. He had started chewing on the blinds when he was 5-1/2 months old but then stopped for a while. He is now 7-1/2 months old and he started up again, but this time much worse. He will bite off huge splinters of wood and then chew on them on the ground. The bedpost is right next to where he likes to sleep and he just gnaws on it. Is this just a teething issue and will stop eventually, just a bad habit or something else?

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good deterrent spray? I hear bitter apple may work or it could make things worse.

I don't want to just spray things that he chews on because he will probably just move onto something else. Are there any good cat chew toys out there that I can redirect his chewing habit to?



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Rafiki

Site Supporter
It is probably both a teething issue (he may be getting his back molars in) and his own unique bad habit.

My F3 never scratched the furniture - she bit it. She still does when she wants to get my attention - she will look me square in the eye, open her mouth wide and bite the sofa. My blinds have a wooden stick to twist them open and the ones that she could reach had to be removed.

Mixing cayenne pepper with water and painting the wooden or hard surfaces helped a lot. It should be used in areas that you want him to avoid completely though so I would not use it on the bedpost. I tried double back tape on the cushions but with little success. Bitter apple spray did not deter her.

I did have "batter bunny" for when she was teething. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21536 She liked to chew on this and it also saved my hands when she wanted to play aggressively.

As Darwin is attracted to wood, you might want to try silver vine sticks. They are available on Amazon or Hyendry also carries it. http://www.hyendry.com/hyendry cat toys.html

My personal favorite for Rafiki is the Fresh is Best freeze dried duck necks. When she was a kitten, it would take her close to an hour to chew thru half of one. Now it takes her maybe 10 minutes. She also really liked the Fresh is Best freeze dried duck feet when she was a kitten. They would take her a couple of days to eat.
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
It is probably both a teething issue (he may be getting his back molars in) and his own unique bad habit.

My F3 never scratched the furniture - she bit it. She still does when she wants to get my attention - she will look me square in the eye, open her mouth wide and bite the sofa. My blinds have a wooden stick to twist them open and the ones that she could reach had to be removed.

Mixing cayenne pepper with water and painting the wooden or hard surfaces helped a lot. It should be used in areas that you want him to avoid completely though so I would not use it on the bedpost. I tried double back tape on the cushions but with little success. Bitter apple spray did not deter her.

I did have "batter bunny" for when she was teething. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21536 She liked to chew on this and it also saved my hands when she wanted to play aggressively.

As Darwin is attracted to wood, you might want to try silver vine sticks. They are available on Amazon or Hyendry also carries it. http://www.hyendry.com/hyendry cat toys.html

My personal favorite for Rafiki is the Fresh is Best freeze dried duck necks. When she was a kitten, it would take her close to an hour to chew thru half of one. Now it takes her maybe 10 minutes. She also really liked the Fresh is Best freeze dried duck feet when she was a kitten. They would take her a couple of days to eat.

I like the idea of the duck necks...where do you get them?
 

DougRD

Site Supporter
It is probably both a teething issue (he may be getting his back molars in) and his own unique bad habit.

My F3 never scratched the furniture - she bit it. She still does when she wants to get my attention - she will look me square in the eye, open her mouth wide and bite the sofa. My blinds have a wooden stick to twist them open and the ones that she could reach had to be removed.

Mixing cayenne pepper with water and painting the wooden or hard surfaces helped a lot. It should be used in areas that you want him to avoid completely though so I would not use it on the bedpost. I tried double back tape on the cushions but with little success. Bitter apple spray did not deter her.

I did have "batter bunny" for when she was teething. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21536 She liked to chew on this and it also saved my hands when she wanted to play aggressively.

As Darwin is attracted to wood, you might want to try silver vine sticks. They are available on Amazon or Hyendry also carries it. http://www.hyendry.com/hyendry cat toys.html

My personal favorite for Rafiki is the Fresh is Best freeze dried duck necks. When she was a kitten, it would take her close to an hour to chew thru half of one. Now it takes her maybe 10 minutes. She also really liked the Fresh is Best freeze dried duck feet when she was a kitten. They would take her a couple of days to eat.

Thank you for the advice, I will try the cayenne pepper solution. I am also going to order the silvervine sticks and the duck necks. Darwin loves Fresh is Best duck hearts so I assume he'll like the duck necks too.

Is Batter Bunny durable? Darwin destroys toys including some well made dog toys.


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Patti

Admin
Staff member
I agree with everything that Linda has suggested. I really like the duck neck idea as well. Whatever you do, don't give him rawhide as that can pose a potential danger by expanding in his stomach/gut once it is exposed to moisture (saliva) causing an obstruction or perforation.
 

Jambi_wild

Savannah Super Cat
My mothers cats growing up would eat and tear up her stairwell .... after sprays and sticky tape not stopping them. We wrapped and glued rope all around the posts and surrendered the stairs to the cats.
Just an idea.
 
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