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Paws & Claws

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas. She lives in Blacksburg now, and answers local pet owners' questions every week in The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com.

Recent columns

• Although rare, cat scratch fever can occur after bite, scratch
• Halloween is not a treat for most pets
• Treat pets regularly to prevent flea infestation
• Howling Lab is just joining in the fun

Q I have an adult "rag-doll" kitty. As you know there is much hair/fur. I have given him hairball med occasionally, also pumpkin, as I learned from your past columns. Recently, I have been giving him a small amount of olive oil. My question: Is it all right for him to have olive oil? I manage to groom him daily as well.

A: A small amount of olive oil will not hurt your cat, but it won't do much to speed hairballs along his gut. Mineral oil (which is inert) works well if your cat will take it. Do not give more than a half to one teaspoonful twice a week or he will leak some of the oil, distressing to you and your cat. There are also proprietary preparations available from pet stores that are supposed to help in control of hairballs. Some owners have resorted to putting a small amount of petroleum jelly on the cat's front paws for the cat to lick off, especially if the cat is not amenable to taking mineral oil. Some of the commercial cat foods are specially formulated to help lessen the risk of hairballs being vomited back; they certainly seem to help, but do not manage to control hairball problems completely. Daily grooming is of paramount importance in removing as much of the hair being shed as possible and will go a long way to reducing the problem of hairballs.

Q I have two gray tabby littermates (male and female, neutered and spayed) who are 9 months old. They love to chew on cat food bags and cardboard cat litter boxes. I cannot leave a bag of cat food in the laundry room without their gnawing holes in it. Why do they do this and is there something missing from their diet? They don't seem to ingest the paper. I leave dry food out for them, so they can't be hungry. I have had cats for the past 30 years and have never had any to act in this fashion. Can you suggest what's going on and if, maybe, they'll grow out of this habit?

A I am sorry to disappoint you, but your cats may never grow out of this habit. Over the years we have owned a large number of cats, some of whom have delighted in chewing the bottom out of their dry food bags. As they grew older, the game, which is what it is, subsided but never entirely went away. My solution was either to store the food in an area that the cats could not reach, such as a high shelf in the pantry, or use a small plastic or metal trash can with a lid in which to store the food. I also use a plastic litter box. Do remember to thoroughly wash any reusable food container whenever fresh food is added to prevent build up of toxic mold. This could make your cats ill. As far as I know there is no reason for this chewing of cardboard or food sacks other than it is fun to do when bored.