Ok, so I haven’t posted in a while, since work and life, in general, have been extremely busy.
I wanted to share this picture of our cat, Quincy, the tape addict. He’s a nine year old seal point, mitted ragdoll, and is obviously as guilty as heck, since the evidence is stuck to his chest for all the world to see.
The routine is, we hide all adhesive related products in the house, since Quincy hunts them down and finds them, no matter how large (like a shipping box with all sorts of packing tape on it) or small (like a post it note with an important reminder on it, or an entire book of stamps that cost you $8.40 .)
If he happens to stumble upon anything remotely adhesive in nature, he is on it like a crack head, chewing away until he becomes sick to his stomach and makes a mess on our floor. In scientific explanation, I have read that certain adhesives may call out to him because they make them with – errr – animal connective tissue. Gross, I know, but alas, there it is.
Some other things Quincy enjoys: the tasty cotton end of a Q-tip, coming into the shower and waiting until I drip water out of my freshly shampooed hair onto his fur. Yes, he is most definitely whacked.
I would love to know what strange things your pets may be addicted to, or strange behaviors they might exhibit. Oh, and if you know of any 12 step programs for the adhesive addicted cat…
Artway 
45 comments
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January 25, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Inti
I have the exact same problems with my cat, save the part about the shampoo. Currently I’m monitoring her because she’s swallowed a length of scotch tape, possibly as long as 3 1/2 inches. I’ve learned to keep it out of reach, I don’t know how on earth she finds it.
July 10, 2009 at 8:35 pm
OZmom
OMG! We thought there was something peculiar about our Oz. He’s a Flame-point Siamese mix. The adhesive addiction is uncontrollable. The Great and Powerful Oz will open cabinets and drawers to get at tape. We have to keep it in the garage!
Love your Quincy – he’s gorgeous.
August 4, 2009 at 8:13 pm
artway
Haha, that is funny, the great and pwerful Oz – I love it! It is really amazing the lengths they will go to for the tape. 🙂 Thanks, he is a sweetie.
July 16, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Heather
I seriously only thought my crazy cat was the only cat in the world to do these crazy things. Not only does he try kill or eat anything plastic, he also loves tape. Doesnt matter what kind of tape, he loves them all. I busted him eating a whole roll of stamps the other day. Needless to say we have to lock em up in a drawer. He eats ( as well ) stickers, q tips, pictures ect. My husband caught him actually eating a picture of himself. The cat that is, not my husband. We did have a laugh and say no more pictures ( we dont want him to hurt himself ) but it really cant be good if our cat Lawrence is actually eating a picture of himself! Lol.
August 4, 2009 at 8:17 pm
artway
Oh man, that is funny Heather! My little guy eats qtips, too! He also ate a book of stamps, and he also like those sticky notes. I think he once ate a photograph, actually, a few years ago. It sounds like our cats have the same exact addiction! Aww, that is funny that even after he got his whisker plucked he still went for the tape. I know, I worry that it is bad for their stomach lining. I know it can’t feel good, it is probably scratchy and sharp. So, that is why we try to hide everything.
July 16, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Heather
I also forgot to add in my comment that not so long ago, I caught Lawrence eating a piece of scotch tape ( how he got it I never figured out ) and it ended up stuck to a whisker. OMG! I panicked and tried to remove the tape without hurting him. I couldnt do it. I went to get a pair of scissors to cut around the tape and unfortunatly I accidentally ripped it out. The one whicker was stuck inside the tape. I cried because I felt so bad. and wouldnt you know it, the little bugger tried to eat the piece of tape in which the one whisker was stuck too!
November 18, 2009 at 2:27 am
Tiffany
I am slightly relived to know that my siamese kitty is not the only tape eating plastic addicted cat out there. She eats all the plastic in the house and somehow she finds what i think is hidden and out of her reach. Stamps, sticky notes, bandaids, tape, christmas gift tags. most of the time I can’t even figure out where gets what i catch her chewing on. she will chew on plastic bags of any kind, the plastic that crackers come in is a favorite. one time she opened the box of crackers just so she could chew on the cracker plastic. She has injested enough
It is like living with a drug addict. She will dig in the trash and find anything she possibly can that might satisfy her plastic craving for the moment.
February 8, 2010 at 11:00 pm
tuck culbert
my wildman catbaby ALSO wants to eat ALL adhesive materials… is it dangerous? can it make him sick? do y’all know? he doesn’t swallow any of it, but still, i worry……………
May 25, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Colleen
My Munchkin, an apple head siamese, just ate a small length of plumbers tape …. you know the stuff you wrap around a pipe fitting? I have been going crazy to see if this will be toxic. I guess its a new thing to watch for ….
May 25, 2011 at 11:50 pm
artway
Whoa, that is some serious tape! I hope she is ok! Thanks for sharing, Colleen! 🙂
July 4, 2011 at 5:29 am
jesse
both of our cats love tape, foil, plastic wrappers, and string of any sort. we had to take one of them to the 24 hour vet last summer because he ate the string off the blinds (!) and got a stomach infection. our female is currently hiding under our new roommates bed because she found and ate some packing tape in his room and threw up a bunch. i get so stressed out when they manage to find and eat something because i’m never sure whether it will pass on its own or if they have to be taken to the vet for costly surgery 😦
on a brighter note, my mother’s cat is addicted to eating all the same things and he is a stunning 14 years old now. i’m pretty sure our cats learned a lot of their favourite “delicacies” from him (as well as how to open cupboards and drawers) when they lived with him for a few months. we’ve yet to own a garbage can that they can’t tip over and open lol.
July 4, 2011 at 8:24 am
artway
Wow! I have heard stories regarding string before. Scary. I am glad your cats are all okay. That is funny about the cabinets and garbage pails. LOL Thanks for posting!
July 10, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Lola
WOW, just right now I was playing with my cat and some scotch tape, all of a sudden, she ate some of it! O_o, of course I googled “my cat ate scotch tape” and your story popped up. My cat also has a fascination with the end of qtips, how weird! Maybe a lost sibling lol. Just wanted to leave a comment, at least I know she will be okay.
July 11, 2011 at 8:27 am
artway
She will be fine! Glad you found the blog and thanks for your comment! 🙂
September 12, 2011 at 5:25 pm
michael
my cat loves tape on boxes. he just sat here for 15 minutes licking an envelope… he also loves QTips. we have to put used qtips on the kitchen garbage that he hasn’t yet figure out how to get at because if we didn’t he’d have a steady cotton intake in his diet…
September 12, 2011 at 9:45 pm
artway
Ha, that is interesting! At least we know our cats aren’t alone in their oddities. Thanks for the comment!
September 15, 2011 at 8:00 am
John Russ
Our Hemi, a 16 pound Persian, loves any type of tape. We have to be careful leaving any type of adhesive, duct tape, Scotch tape, even Post-It note pads, lying around. I guess we’ll have to ask the vet if there are any harmful side-effects.
September 15, 2011 at 11:47 am
artway
Hemi, what a great name! We hide all adhesives,too, but somehow he gets into them. Thanks!
November 29, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Susan
These comments have been so helpful. I am a new “mom,” and my Sugar ate a piece of scotch tape today when I turned my back for just a few seconds! I guess most of it will dissolve in her stomach. Whew!
November 29, 2011 at 6:51 pm
artway
So glad they helped! 🙂
April 11, 2012 at 7:22 pm
FBZ
Argh me and my girlfriend have a british blue unknown cross that runs straight for any glue, stickers, tape or anything adhesive, we just assumed she is a junkie and screwed for life. She goes miles for even small stickers of apples and runs off into corners to try and eat anything like it.
Need cat rehab.
May 9, 2012 at 4:34 pm
tbales
This is a strange mystery to me as my cat also like scotch tape, but not just tape he will chew on a scoth brand lint roller as well. I strongly believe that there must be a cat attracting ingredient withing the adhesive of scotch products my cat wont touch any other brand…
May 9, 2012 at 10:41 pm
artway
Yes, I think I have read that some glue companies use animal parts to make glue, so maybe that is why.
October 26, 2012 at 6:30 pm
christine
Maybe this is the large, long fur cat variety because my Maine Coon is absolutely obsessed with eating anything sticky. She will eat a bandaid off you leg if you let her. You can open a box and leave it anywhere that she can reach it or she’ll tear the packing tape right off of it. Present wrapping season is upon us and last year she got under the tree and started unwrapping with her teeth so she could get at the tape.
She too loves Q-tips but would prefer to eat them AFTER you use them and also gets quite feisty (as if she’s had catnip) if she has a chance to lick the inside of the dog’s ear.
She’s even taken wrappers from fruit bars and walked away with them as if she’s caught a prize mouse only to try to eat them in private somewhere else in the house.
Her penchant for eating smelly, disgusting, inedible items goes as far as wanting to lick the fingernail polish off my fingers as it is drying. She will track me down with her keen sense of smell.
I found this blog when googling why my cat eats tape and I’m so glad so many other people have the same issue. My cat isn’t the only weirdo out there.
October 27, 2012 at 7:05 am
artway
Wow, your cat has very similar interests to ours! 🙂 Thanks for the comment.
January 5, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Marlene
Hi, well I seriously don’t think it’s connected to any certain breed since I have a short haired tuxedo coat named Toothless (he was missing a baby tooth when we rescued him and my hubby named him lol) I can leave nothing reachable for him be it tape, stickers, basically everything here everyone else has stated.we got up this morning and found that he had pilfered the red plastic ring from the garbage can that I had taken off the bologna I made a sandwich out of late last night, and I had pushed it down into the can and he still got it without tipping the can over, I am so worried he will fatally hurt himself. other than acting like the kitty warden I don’t know what else to do, we have another kitty (Alex) who has no interest in stickies or plastics. I will say it is a relief to know we are not alone with our junkie kitty.
January 5, 2013 at 4:03 pm
artway
Thanks for your note, yes, at least we are not alone 🙂
April 4, 2013 at 10:37 am
Dee-lynn Vinet
Well we r becoming quite a large family :of tape eating, cats, WOW
Didnt know this was that big a problem, Our “MING” siamese eats all
The tape she can find, and we have just moved, tons of boxes and tape,
She must think, shes in heaven.
But we r worried that it will cause an, obstruction, can the tape, not hurt her????????
she used to throw it up, but now we dont find any, just the sound of her,trying to throw up, WE R WORRIED, …..HELP…..
We all have cute stories,lol, ….and…..nice to see we r not alone.
T C ALL, AND GOOD LUCK WITH ALL OF OUR. ……ADDICTS……LOL
DEE
April 4, 2013 at 10:46 am
artway
Hi Dee, wow, we had the same problem when we moved – all of the packing tape! I would speak to your vet if you are concerned about any obstruction. That can be dangerous, so best to check it out. Take care, and thanks for posting. 🙂
October 11, 2013 at 9:18 pm
1finefeline
Greetings, my name is Kimo, and I am addicted to adhesive. Although normally a reserved, pensive (and very handsome) Birman, I will climb up the leg of a total stranger for a post-it note– and without so much as an introductory hand sniff!
It all started when I was 6 months old, and my people put that double-sided tape (that is supposed to discourage us from stratching) on a sofa arm, and I proceeded to chew through the upholstery to get at that wonderful stuff! Heady with the rush of this new experience, I was totally caught off guard by the human ambush that swept down upon me. Eyes wide with amazement, and totally confused, I protested my innocence but was dispatched to the Porcelain Room while the humans engaged in excited dialogue. But in short order they retrieved me, and proceeded to coo and comfort me, and make peace offerings of mackerel and duck pate. So all was not lost.
Eight years later, I still wait for the mailman daily, and regularly survey the surfaces for the errant open envelope. I manage to mouth it a bit before discovery, but am soon separated from the object of my desire by a flustered human .
It’s nice to know I’m not alone, though, and rather amusing that these humans have kept this conversation going for so long… but of course, we are fascinating creatures, and their devotion is so endearing!
I just wish the manicures weren’t so frequent…
Pawsitively yours, Kimo
October 11, 2013 at 9:51 pm
artway
Ahhh Kimo, you clever kitty, I love your post and thank you for sharing your beautifully written story!
May 6, 2015 at 3:29 pm
Lorie Lashway-Grant
One of mine is addicted to tape, elastic string and phone charger cords.
She opens drawers or climbs up to find it. She also goes nuts about Clorox cleanup. If she smells it, she rolls in it likes it’s catnip. She prefers vegetables to meat. My other cat is crazy for emery boards and wood.
January 26, 2018 at 2:40 pm
Donna
Yes! My Sofie, a Turkish Angora, loves my emery boards. I toss them to the floor and off she goes, I hold it for her to rub her mouth or teeth against, and she’ll usually bite or chew at it! No harm, she just loves hearing me use it & wants to play too.
September 19, 2015 at 11:00 am
Karen
I know this may be long past dear Quincy but my Gunner is the spitting image of him and loves paper/tape. Bless.
November 2, 2015 at 11:58 pm
James
I have a calico cat, now 20 years old, who has always eaten tape. Also loves the individual waxy wrappers of starburst candy (I give her only a small piece at a time). Also she rolls around in black pepper, responding in the same way as with catnip.
December 25, 2015 at 2:54 pm
Deborah Crow
I had a kitty named Gretchen (rip 2011) who had an addiction to plastic shopping bags and tinsel garland. No matter how careful I was to rid my apartment of plastic shopping bags, Gretchen would find one and I would hear the chewing on the bag before hunting it down and tossing it. She managed to slither into the closed closet door (sliding) and raided my box of garland hidden on a high shelf. I came home one day to find she had consumed 3/4ths a long silver tinsel garland; she had the sparkliest litterbox for about a week after passing it, it was Christmas in July. I had her for 15 glorious and funny years before she passed. My 2 kitties are not as adventurous. Babette has a think for chewing on cardboard but, I’ve watched enough kitty cams to know that’s fairly common. The reason I found this board was that I had given Babette a small piece of scotch tape and I think she ate it; I was looking to see if I needed to worry. Apparently not :).
May 10, 2016 at 5:15 pm
Emma
My Ragdoll, Ruby, is a nightmare for chewing any sort of packaging – especially cardboard and envelopes (doesn’t have to be the adhesive end, but it seems to be her favourite!). Paper package stuffing is also great(!), because she can dive into it, hide in it, AND eat it!
She also goes mad for anything foil based – we always throw kit kat wrappers for her to chase, and have to have a fortnightly clean up to collect them all…
Hope Quincy is still around!
May 10, 2016 at 5:22 pm
artway
Thanks for the comment, it’s fun to watch them chase things. Quincy used to fetch and wait for me to throw the foam ball again and again. I miss him so much. He passed away this past August. He was almost 17 years old.
August 12, 2016 at 8:09 am
Jenn
Yea my cat eats tape. To the point where he digs in the garbage for it. I thought my cat was weird, turns out not so much. Lol. He currently ate a long piece of tape that came off a lettuce i brought home and has been throwing up all night. Im trying to make him drink some water.
January 3, 2017 at 10:13 pm
Cat-her-in-E
My cat is also addict help
July 10, 2018 at 1:34 am
Carol
My ragdoll eats tape too! I wonder if it’s the breed? He also loves the round aluminum balls at Petco, so I’ve had to really be careful with his toys & anything with adhesive!
October 25, 2020 at 6:04 am
Laura Ramos
My cat loves tape. She searches for it. When she sees I have a package she goes to town trying to lick and eat it. She’ll eat a piece then throw it up. She’s a tape junkie.