MANY YEARS AGO we ran an article in the FAB Journal on a survey conducted by Peter Neville and John Bradshaw on ‘pica’ in cats. Pica is defined as ‘the voluntary ingestion of non-edible materials’, ie, eating things which we would not consider to be food. It is thought to account for about 2.5 % of recorded cases of abnormal behaviour in our pet cats, particularly in Oriental breeds like the Siamese (Plotnick 2008). It has also been suggested that because this trait is almost exclusively seen in the Siamese, Burmese and other Oriental breeds or their crosses, there is a possibility of a genetic transfer of the trait (Beaver 2003).

Pica (pronounced ‘PIE-kuh’) sufferers commonly eat fabric (especially wool) but can also be partial to rubber, plastic, soil, vegetation, furniture and cat litter. Pica can result in serious damage to health and, in extreme cases, can result in death or the need for euthanasia.

Now Nicola Frankish has undertaken a survey of Siamese cats as part of her HND in Animal Management. We thought it might be time to revisit the subject to see what she found.

Questionnaire
Nicola compiled a questionnaire to obtain information from Siamese cat breeders about the pica trait in their cats, including whether the cats displayed the trait at all, the age and sex of the cats, accommodation and companions, when the behaviour occurred and possible triggers for the behaviour.

The questionnaires were then sent via email to Siamese cat breeders sourced from various Siamese cat societies and clubs and breeders’ directories found online. It was decided to target breeders as this was where there was a greater concentration of purely Siamese cats. The participating breeders emailed back the completed questionnaire, often with additional information.

Out of 82 questionnaires sent, 22 were returned, with a total of 115 cats surveyed — 32 % of them (38 cats) displayed the trait.

Information received
Results show that cats with/without pica in the same household were split and these results were mixed. Only cats belonging to owner five (15 of them in total) all exhibited the pica trait in one form or another. There was no pattern to the 15 cats, as they all tended to chew/eat different objects.

However, the other 14 households questioned with pica traits in their cats also had non-pica cats and the mix of the two was varied, with no obvious pattern.

There were more than twice the number of female cats (27) than male cats (11) with pica.

The survey showed that out of the 38 cats displaying pica, 18 were housed totally indoors with no access to the outdoors and 20 lived in stud quarters/indoors with restricted/limited access to a penned outdoor area. None of the 38 cats was free to roam outdoors.

The ages of the cats surveyed displaying pica ranged from one to 15 years old, with the greatest number of cats being one to six years old.

The three most common items chewed/eaten were wool (10 cats), fabric (six cats) and plastic bags (six cats). The other eight respondents to this question gave examples of pipe cleaners, photographs, string, dry bread, towels, cellophane, paper, rubber, rubber bands and toilet rolls. Most of the cats were not restricted to just one type of object.

Most of the cats surveyed lived with children/other pets and other cats in various combinations; again no pattern could be distinguished to determine whether this was relevant.

Where stated, the majority of cats displaying pica did so at any time with no specific time of day and it happened daily. Only one owner responded that one of her cats would only display the trait when in call or when stressed. Two owners reported that their cats exhibited pica in the night.

Discussion
Quite often, because of its perceived value and breeding, the Siamese is kept as an ‘indoor cat’, with little or no access to the outside. This restricts its normal feline outdoor pursuits, such as stalking, patrolling and marking. Outdoor cats have fewer behavioural problems than those kept indoors. These behavioural problems manifest themselves in many ways, one of these is pica and many theories have been put forward as to what exactly triggers this behaviour (Fogle 1991).

In this survey, all the cats with the trait had restricted or no outdoor access, which could imply significance and would benefit from further research. This could be a possible stress trigger and could impact on the cat’s welfare (physical and emotional) causing it to perform unnatural behaviours.

Several behaviourists/veterinarians concur that the Siamese is an intelligent and sensitive breed and, coupled with restricted natural behaviour, could exhibit the behaviour because of stress. This would agree with the findings of this survey. It may also be an individual response to group living or a response to separation anxiety or boredom. Additionally the idea of misdirected prey handling sequence would also be feasible. What does seem clear is that the cat is obviously receiving some benefit from performing this behaviour.

Do you have cats which display this behaviour? Email claire@fabcats.org or write to the FAB office with your experiences.

REFERENCES
Plotnick, A. Pica — When cats eat weird things [online]. Available at: www.manhattancats.com/Articles/PICA.htm
Beaver, BV (2003) Feline Behaviour, A Guide for Veterinarians. 2nd edition, Saunders
Fogle, B. (1991) The Cat’s Mind, Understanding Your Cat’s Behaviour. Pelham Books

July 2010