OMG! The Best WHY DOES MY CAT EAT CARDBOARD? Ever!

Cats delight intrigue and puzzle us with their bizarre behavior, like their attraction to the cardboard. Why does my cat eat cardboard? While this is a common question to many pet owners, no scientific study explains the reason behind it. However, some theories explain behavior.

Predation

It is possible to find your cat ripping or eating cardboard, and this is a behavior that relates to predation, where predators rip and eat the prey. Wild cats don’t have knives, and for them to ingest prey after killing them and so for them to eat comfortably, they have to break the prey into smaller pieces.

Bottom-line

It is possible that your cat is seeking to indulge the natural behavior by ripping and eating cardboard.

Teething

Just like human babies, kittens experience teething as well, and during that time, they love to chew on something. Besides, they experience discomfort during teething, and they try to relieve gum discomfort by chewing on various objects, and the cardboard might be the target. In most cases, cats outgrow this behavior, but some of them can continue to Adulthood.

Bottom-line

Teething is normal to every kitten, and since the gum discomfort may make the kitten chew on your cardboard, you can discourage the behavior by offering something else to chew on, like balls.

Health concerns

If your cat is past kitten age and still eating your cardboard, might be he is suffering from irritated gums and rubbing the gums against the cardboard offers a great feel. Also, the cat’s diet may lack essential nutrients that may irritate. Other medical concerns such as thyroid problems may encourage a cat to chew cardboard. With that in mind, it is good to take the cat to a veterinarian if you are concerned about the behavior.

Bottom-line

Since cats may chew on non-food items because of some health issues, always make sure you take him to the vet to get enough information on the behavior, and if it is a health issue, the vet will be of great help.

Marking or claiming their territory

Cats just like dogs and other animals leave their scent on humans and other objects in the house. They often rub against the item to claim his possession. by a cat eating cardboard, it might be a way of marking their territory on the cardboard or just saying, “this is mine.”

Bottom-line

Don’t worry if you see your cat chewing on cardboard. Your house is as well as his, and so he wants to mark his territory, to make sure other cats invade his space.

Boredom

Do you own a high spirit or anxious cat? Highly spirited cats rarely stay on one post. They keep moving from one place to another, playing with one object and hops to the next one. Such cats are very likely to bite everything that comes their way as a way of playing with the object, and your cardboard is not an exemption.

Bottom-line

When your cat bites cardboard, you should know that she is suffering from boredom and she wants something to drain her excess energy on. To avoid this, offer her various toys and join in the play to make sure she gets active as much as she wishes to. That way you will save your cardboard.

Noisy fun

Depending on the type of cardboard, it might make interesting noises when being bitten by the cat. That alone can make a cat lover to eat cardboard.

Bottom-line

What interests the cat may not interest you. If your cardboard interests the cat and she loves playing and biting on the object, make sure you get them an alternative toy to stop the behavior.

Whatever the reason is behind your cat’s behavior of eating cardboard, watch him very carefully. Is the cat discarding and shredding the cardboard harmlessly or is he ingesting it? Non-food items are dangerous to the cat if ingested since they may cause intestinal blockages. With that in mind, always keep cardboards away from your cat.