Cat who licks plastic bags and painted wall

Question
Hello Holly,

I was just writing you an extensive description of my 6 yr old part Maine Coon cat, Omar, when by accidentally pressing down the enter key, or some other regular key, the entire message disappeared.  This happens far too often on the AllExperts program, but what are ya gonna do?

Anyway, when I first adopted Omar two yrs ago, he was overgrooming, and it took about four months to get him to stop that habit, which I think was just nerves.  We are closely bonded now , and play together a lot, and he loves his long petting and kitty-massage sessions, and stretching out his whole body on the dining room floor and displaying as he rolls back and forth for me when it's meal-time, or he just thinks he can possibly convince me his beautiful, curly white belly is worthy of his getting him a special, unscheduled treat.

Omar is a healthy kitty in general, though he's always seemed to me to have a mild to medium, feline PTSD sort of issue as a feature of his character, along with simply being a naturally shy puss.  When he came to me at age four, he had been in four homes, so I'm sure that was traumatic as well.  I think this aspect of his personality, though, is possibly from being declawed as a kitten, and the many homes, though I have no way of knowing for sure.  I realize that declawed and/or seriously abused cats can have it much worse, and even be aggressive, which he has never been.  The other thing is he's the first cat I've ever met who does not purr.  Now that I've known him closely, there ARE rare times when, after I've been petting him and he's just eaten dinner, there actually is a very tangible vibration coming from his body and the faintest of sounds something verging on a purr.  I do wonder why a cat, being petted and displaying a total exstacy, doesn't purr like other cats, though he's clearly as happy at these moments as any kitty could be.

Omar is the first cat I've had who doesn't sleep ON me, or cuddle up right next to me at all, on the couch or in bed.  He always sleeps on the bed with me - I live alone - though sometimes it's near my head, and other times in the middle of the bed or near my feet and out of reach.  The real give-away behavior to me that he is affected by some degree of past trauma is that he absolutely, under no circumstances, likes to be picked up for any reason, even if it's to be held during a thunderstorm, or taken to another room to eat something special.  He doesn't get at all agressive or cry when picked up, but it's obviously something that annoys and aggrivates him.  He will also, even if I approach him slowly, physically wince a bit when I first go to put my hand on his head if he's just sitting nearby.  This just seems odd to me, after all the long petting and massage sessions we have every day, and the many times an hour he comes up to me to get his favorite spot at the base of his spine patted.  You'd think his seeing me reach to stroke his head would be welcomed, rather than initially avoided.  But I'm told some cats are just like this.  

Omar is always nearby, follows me wherever I go in the apartment, and if he's not immediately around but I simply call out "where's my kitty?" he comes to jump up on my lap if I'm sitting, or on my stomach if I'm in bed, within no longer that 90 seconds.  Anyway, I hope this helps you understand his temperment pretty well.

Ok, here's my question. After Omar had been living with me for a few months, I began to notice he loves to lick plastic bags - gargage bags, bags produce is sometimes put in, or sometimes a little harder plastic bag a non-food item has come in.  I always discourage him from doing this, usually by taking the bag away or steering him away from the bag around the trash can in the kitchen.  I've only caught him a few times in the kitchen licking plastic when I was in my bedroom on my computer, which is where he usually hanges out with me, though he has never done this for any extended time on his own.  The fervor with which he licks all these plastic bags is pretty disconcerting - it reminds me of eating or even nursing, though he's not sucking at all.  Someone has told me their cat did this too recently.  Another person told me this very thing indicates a vitamin deficiency.

Then a few days ago, I saw Omar standing in front of the painted wall in the hallway, which was painted three yrs ago when I moved in, and he was licking the wall directly in front of his face.  Something looked really terrible about this to me, and though I'm pretty sure most housepaint no longer has lead in it, I do think I remember reading something some time ago about a deficiency indicated in animals who lick walls.  I saw Omar a second time licking the wall then yesterday.  So I feel I really need to know what's going on with this boy.

Sure hope you have some experience or ideas, Holly.  He eats a diet of mostly commercial wet food, and he only likes the stuff all fish or partly fish.  I did try to get him some lovely raw turkey cat food from a local farmer who sent it in raw nuggets, but he absolutely hates it.  I do leave some nice Wellness salmon flavored crunchies for him, but he doesn't eat a lot of that, and from what I understand, crunchies end up not being all that great for cats after all.  Is there another food you know of he might like that might be of the best possible nutrition but also appealing to him (i.e. fishy)?  Are there vitamin supplements I could put in his food he wouldn't be the wiser for, except to not have his jonesin for plastic bag and painted walls anymore?  Do I need to get one of those special water bowls for him ?  What would you recommend ?

Thanks for any help you can offer, Holly.

Best regards,

Leorah

Answer
Hi Leorah,

I'd like to start by thanking you for all of the detailed background info.  To start, just reassure you, as far as Omar not liking to be picked up, some cats are just this way no matter what you do as a kitten.  I always ensure my cats and fosters at least can tolerate being handled and picked up, but two of my cats do not enjoy being picked up.  With some cats, it is just their nature.  They are very sweet and loving and sleep on my lap, but just don't like to be picked up.

Now as far as licking plastic bags, there are three main theories as to why cats do this: 1) They emit a pheromone-like odor that attracts them, 2) they like the texture on their tongue, and 3) they have a vitamin or other nutritional deficiency.  Of course it could be a little of all three, however since your cat also licks walls, I would be inclined to think it is a nutritional deficiency.  So let me broach that subject.  Commercial food is deplorable, and once you read the articles I will provide you on the truth about them, you will be as abhorred as I was.  Only feed holistic food, and at that, the right food.  Some foods contain way too much protein for indoor cats, and a diet with excessive protein can lead to early liver and kidney failure, a common problem steadily increasing in felines in the last twenty years with the prevalence of commercial foods.  I recommend Halo Spot's Stew dry and wet food.  I have done research on the ingredients and formulations of the leading holistic foods, and found Halo to be the best not only through my personal experience, but that of my clients as well.  It has corrected chronic gastrointestinal issues and severe skin allergies in one week.  I feed mine 1/4 cup dry plus 1/2 3 oz can daily.  I rotate the dry food between the Salmon and the Chicken, and I rotate the wet to all four flavors (salmon, chicken, turkey, and lamb).  Mine prefer the salmon and the lamb, but I use all four to get a variety of different nutrients from different protein sources.  For a little more variety, I will also use Organix or Wellness CORE wet, but you must be careful to not use them too much in an adult cat's diet because the Organix and Wellness CORE have much more protein (which is why I use those for my foster kittens).  My kittens get Halo dry and then I rotate Organix, Wellness CORE, and Wellness Chicken & Lobster for their protein needs.  (Halo wet only has 4.5% protein where as the others have between 10-12% protein.  The Wellness CORE dry has way too much protein for any adult cat, so don't ever use it.

Please read the following articles for more information:

What's Really in Pet Food?
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=359

Feeding Your Cat (Article)
http://www.catinfo.org/#My_cats_are_now_eating

Gluten and Toxins in Pet Food
http://www.celiac.com/articles/1129/1/Gluten-and-Toxins-in-Pet-Foods-Are-they-Po...

The Dangers of Commercial Pet Food
http://www.examiner.com/x-24832-Houston-Pet-Care-and-Behavior-Examiner~y2010m3d1...

Holistic Pet Foods and Natural Pet Products
http://www.examiner.com/x-24832-Houston-Pet-Care-and-Behavior-Examiner~y2010m3d2...

I also recommend buying the Drinkwell Platinum automatic waterer.  It contains a carbon filter that filters out some of the residue and chemicals in tap water and helps with preventing urinary issues which are especially prevalent in neutered males.  I did research on this after my boyfriend's cat had a urinary plug after being on commercial food the first 3.5 years of his life, as well as the ingredients in the "urinary vet diet" food they recommended.  Talk about the biggest marketing gimmick I've ever seen.  Not only is it grain-based, unbalanced food, but it doesn't even do what they claim nor are there any real studies to back it up.  The urinary Purina Veterinary Diet food has almost identical ingredients to the Purine ONE Natural Blends, and only contains FOUR acidifying ingredients, whereas Halo contains TEN, not to mention is made with human-grade meats and no corn, soy, wheat, or gluten.  Again, so angry.  So against their advisement, we kept him on Halo, increased the wet food content of diet, and then bought him the automatic waterer and he never had a recurrence.  So please read those articles and let me know if you have further questions.  Best wishes!


Best regards,

Holly Martin
Cat Care/Behavior Specialist
Texas A&M University
Animal Science B.S.