Cats Chewing Cables.

Question:
I have a beautiful 12 year old cat called Bonnie. Until recently she has been trouble-free but in the past few days she has started to paw at and try to bite the cord of my clock radio. I am terrified that she will be electrocuted. How can I stop her?

Answer:
You are right to be worried about Bonnie's behavior, as it is potentially harmful to her and even to those around her through the risk of an electrical accident and fire.

She is not alone in her liking for cables and problems relating to cats chewing on a range of non-nutritional items, including woollen clothing and wooden windowsill are quite common. Plca, the name given to the condition, can have a medical basis and in view of the sudden onset of the problem in later life it is important to make sure that Bonnie is in good health.

Provided she is fine you will need to consider behavioral reasons for her appetite and whether there are any stresses in Bonnie's life that could be relevant. You do not mention any other cats in the household but social stress with other cats in the neighborhood can often be relevant, It would be helpful to avoid trailing cords that could attract Bonnie's attention and hardware stores such as Woolworth, sell cable tidies for around Euro 4.99, which you can thread the cord through.

In addition to hiding the cables you can build up a negative association with them by applying taste and scent deterrents such as eucalyptus oil. Obviously, this is not a long-term solution and you need to offer Bonnie alternative behaviours that are just as fulfilling.

Moving Bonnie onto an ad- lib system of feeding so that she can snack whenever she wants to can be useful and introducing puzzle feeders, which encourage the cat to spend more time gaining access to food, can help.

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