cat habit

Question
Hi
I have 2 two year old Cornish rex cat brothers, one of them has always sucked the end of his tail since we got him (at 6 months)when I see him doing this I gently stop him & he doesn't seem to mind, but now after two years the other cat has just started this same behavior, my question is; is there a SAFE bad tasting substance I could put on their tails to discourage this behavior?
thanks so much
Karen

Answer
The only safe bitter tasting substance I know of is bitter apple, which you can buy at a vets. There are other things you can do like get a Feliway cartridge and plug it is. It emits a pheromone that calms the cats and makes them feel really groovy.

Some people report good results with this. The problem with too much sucking is that they can actually "ring" their own tails and the tail will die and fall off at that spot (if it's the tip of the tail).
If they are just sucking on the fur of the tail, and there isn't any missing, then it's just a comforting thing that many cats do, and in that case, I wouldn't try to stop them.

It's when they are sucking on the tips that can cause a problem. It is odd that the brother would start doing this after two years.

From what I have learned, this is not a breed-specific issue.

So try the Feliway and see if that helps. Otherwise, it's probably something they are both going to outgrow with age. I have had a few blanket-sucking cats and they all outgrew it.