Information about pica and cats

Information on pica

Pica involves ingesting non- food items. It can be a compulsive behaviour. The reason I work on vet referral is that there can be health reasons that a cat displays this behaviour.  Pica can occur because a cat is experiencing anaemia or an iron deficiency for example (Horwitz and Rodan, 2018).

Deciphering whether there is tendency to eat certain substances can be helpful when you are managing this behaviour.

Home environment

Considering your cats environment and doing an activity budget of their day to day behaviour is a first step. Looking at all the enrichment your cat has in terms of things to do to keep them occupied can help

If a cat has been weaned early it is thought this can contribute to this behaviour