My Cat Eats Plastic?

Question
Hi Norman,
  I wasn't sure if you could help me. I have a 17 year old pure-bred male pursian cat. He has a bad habit of eating, or at least chewing plastic.
  Any plastic like a shopping bag or trash bag he likes to chew on. Sometimes he ingests it, sometimes he doesn't. When he does ingest it, he usually ends up vomiting. He's been doing it for years and we've never been able to figure out why.
  Do you think he does it because he likes the taste or feel? Or is he trying to make himself sick, like a dog eating grass?
  I try to get him to stop. I have to hide all the trash cans in cabinets, and I always scold him away when he finds plastic somewhere, but it's doesn't really help.
  Do you have any idea why he does it, or how to get him to stop?

Thank You
P.S.
  He also like eating plants, usually Spider Plants. He sometimes get sick from that, too.

Answer
Amber,

First off, congratulations in the good care you are giving to have your make it to such a ripe old age.

We also have cats that eat plastic, and our solution is to keep all plastic out of their reach (sometimes easier said than done).  Fortunately, the plastic has not harmed anyone yet.

As to eating plants, it is difficult, if not impossible to prevent that.  Fortunately spider plants are not toxic to cats.  If the spider plant will survive it, it will not hurt your cat.  Here is a link to a list of plants non-toxic to cats:

http://www.cfa.org/articles/plants-non-toxic.html

Best regards... Norm.