Jax, The Destroyer

Our cat is driving me nutty! I love the little guy, but I've never seen a cat do this! Jax has recently decided that he LOVES the taste of our carpet. I kid you not. He literally EATS our carpet. He never did this when we first got him. Every once in a while he would tear some up just to get our attention, but lately he's gone crazy on it and has started to eat it. So, I finally called a vet because the last thing I want him to do is digest it and it not come out the other end. The vet said he wasn't showing signs of an animal with any internal blockage (thank heaven). He gave us some home remedies to try. The first was to buy a product called Feliway. Feliway is a product that you plug into your outlet and it emits a calming pheromone for the cat. Basically, it calms them down during a stressful situation. This is what it looks like...I asked the vet if it's a good idea to have this constantly going and he said it would be just fine. He says it's a very natural product and would not have any negative side effects whatsoever. The next thing the vet suggested, was to spray our carpet with something that would make it taste nasty and bitter to a cat. So, we went to Petsmart and bought this spray called "Yuck!". It's supposed to keep cats from stratching or chewing on non-edible surfaces. We sprayed some down the first night we got it and it didn't help as much as we were hoping. Jax didn't like the taste of it, so he wouldn't eat the carpet, but it didn't stop him from ripping it up. I don't need bald spots all over my house so, we tried the last suggestion the vet gave us. Apparently, cats don't like the shininess or sound of tin foil. So, he said to lay down tin foil on the areas that the cat focuses on the most and eventually he will become uninterested. Jax only really focuses on the areas where our carpet ends and the tile begins so, we put it down in those areas. Mostly between our dining room and living room and the entry way tile. He's intrigued by the tin foil, but he has been avoiding it. He hasn't even tried to move it. The first time I laid it down he kind of laid on it, but he hasn't really tried to touch it since. He even side-steps around it. We're hoping he will stop this bad habit in time. As for now, we'll just have to keep the tin foil down till he decides to stop. Howie thinks we need to get a second cat for Jax to play with. He thinks Jax is bored and that's why he's engaging in such activity. We'll see. I think Petsmart has another No More Homeless Pets event coming up so we may pop on over to see what they have. If it feels right, we'll do it. If not, we won't. I just worry that the two cats won't get along. We don't have room for any cat fights!