PICA en GATOS: 5 motivos por los que los GATOS COMEN su ARENA 😾 | 🚨Puede ser muy grave🚨

Today we're going to talk about something very important. Have you noticed if your cat eats its litter? Hello, I'm Carlos, a clinical veterinarian at Small Animals. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. You may be thinking right now that this video isn't of interest to you because your cat doesn't eat its litter. But be careful because it could start eating it in the future. And this is very important. In fact, when someone tells me that a cat eats its litter, all the alarms go off for me. And if your cat does, this video is very useful for you because we're going to try to answer the possible causes of this behavior, which are 4 or 5 to be exact. It's quite common for a cat to eat things it shouldn't. This type of behavior in animals when they eat something that isn't food is called pica. And you may have heard of this name because you leave it in the comments a lot and insistently ask me about pica, because how to help a cat with pica, etc. Okay, let's talk about a very specific one, which is when cats eat their litter box, which is quite common behavior. And just to clarify, to reassure you a little, a cat having pica is not always due to very serious causes. In fact, there are some cats, especially those of oriental breeds such as the Siamese, that tend to manifest it genetically. It has been observed that these types of cats have pica more frequently. Pica can be caused by eating, for example, a cardboard box. In those cases, it could simply be playing. However, if the pika focuses on eating the sand in the litter box, it can indicate a lot of things, which is what we are going to see today. That's why I'm focusing specifically on this case. And let's get started. I really won't go on any longer. But first, a quick aside. One more. Let's go from the least serious causes to the most serious, those that may indicate that your cat has a serious problem. Okay, with all this out of the way, let's look at the reasons why a cat eats its litter box. The first reason is their eagerness to explore the world. And this usually manifests itself in young kittens. These cats usually don't know how to relate very well to what is on top of their litter box because, well, they haven't seen it before, or they are animals that have been separated from their parents or really their mothers when they are very, very young. So the mother has not served as an example for them to know that, number one and number two, Are in that tray where the litter is. If this is your case, don't worry too much, because cats end up learning that this is where they defecate and stop eating the litter. In fact, I recommend that if you live with a very young kitten and you are introducing them to the subject of the litter box, you do not always have it. With litter, it is possible that when you are not around, they may get curious and want to eat more litter. In these cases, I recommend that when you are not at home, you leave, for example, another substrate in the litter box, such as strips of paper, so that your cat can relieve itself there and learn that this is the area where it needs to relieve itself. When you are at home, you. You can put the litter box in for the first few days and watch to see what your cat is doing. If you see that everything is going well, then you can leave it there for a longer period of time and eventually get used to it. Usually they try it, nibble on it a little bit, and that's it. However, the issue of litter, especially if it is clumping, can cause a small problem because all that litter compacts in the intestine and sometimes intestinal obstructions and constipation occur. And, well, that is why I usually recommend that we be a little careful the first few days. Litter tasters. This is a bit similar to the first cause, but this occurs in adult cats. And why do I say it's similar? Well, because cats are very curious. As you know, when you change, for example, the brand of litter, it's normal for the cat to be curious about the new thing you've put in. This usually happens, for example, with these biodegradable litters that usually smell like wood or the corn they're made of the. And then the cat approaches it and, well, gives it a little taste to see if it can also get some food from it if you don't put more than it asks for in its bowl. Generally, this type of behavior is not serious, because as soon as the cat tries its litter and sees that it's simply wood or that you've simply changed the soil and it also tastes like cat litter, it stops the behavior because it says, okay, I'm not interested. So the cat ends up stopping this type of behavior. I wanted to include this here because I get a lot of questions from people who tell me I changed my cat's brand of litter and now it eats the litter. Maybe at that moment they are panicking because they see him eating the litter, and that's why they write to me, but probably after two or three days, that cat will no longer do it because he has realized that it is not edible. Lack of nutrients. Well, I have almost felt obliged to include this in the video because usually when a cat starts eating its litter or eating things that it shouldn't, you, you always worry that it is not well fed. Personally, I have never come across this. I think that all the cases of pica that I have had of cats that eat their litter were never related to lack of nutrients because in general, the cats that live with this are eating a diet that allows them to be well nourished. Having said all this, it does not mean that it cannot happen. In any case, there are cats that have specific nutritional problems that can manifest pica by eating their litter box because they are saying, hey, I lack nutrients, I lack minerals. In these cases, it's best to take your cat to the vet, have them do a blood test and have their biochemistry checked to see if there's a specific mineral deficiency. But as I said, it's never happened to me. Although it's a possibility and it's moderately serious, it's in third place on this list. But between you and me, this is definitely not what's happening to your cat. It's very rare. Let me tell you, there's a flood of comments about malnourished cats eating their litter box. Why? Why do I make so many? Now the association for Malnourished Cats is going to criticize me in the comments. Number four. Well, if I don't talk about stress in a video related to cats, it's not a video about pets and happy families. It's number four, stress. Although it could have been number three, it's number three. Even so, if it's not related to any of the above, the pica could be because he's stressed. Cats that are stressed at home can start to exhibit compulsive behaviors and one of them is eating their litter box. Why is this serious? This is very serious because stress doesn't just affect them by eating their litter box compulsively. As I said before, that litter box can cause intestinal obstructions and so on. It also ends up affecting their entire body. Stress is behind, for example, problems with their urine, stopping, eating, etc. So since it can cause many problems for a cat, it's something very serious that we can't ignore. If you see that your cat is eating its litter box, do some soul searching and think about whether something has changed in your home, whether a new cat has moved in, whether someone else has moved in with you, whether there's been a lot of noise in the street, whether your upstairs neighbor is doing some construction work. What I always tell you is that it's very important to learn to identify the cause of your cat's stress. I've talked about this on the channel in every video, I think. And how do you solve this? You have to be very persistent because as I always tell you, since this affects the cat's entire environment, you have to identify the cause very well, try to eliminate it, make your cat feel better at home, etc. What I always tell you, pheromones and all that stuff. So it's very important that you tackle all this together. You have to know that cats are animals with very, very marked habits, that they can show a lot of distrust. And so you have to work on it very slowly, very little by little, to help the cat. And of course, if you are not able to do it yourself, ask for help from feline ethologists who can help you manage your cat's stress very well. Cause number five. This is the most important one. Please pay close attention to this point because it's what sets off my alarms. As I mentioned before, some cat diseases can cause them to eat their litter compulsively, to spend all day eating litter. Well, if not all day, every day, to go eat for a while, leave the litter box, eat again, etc. So in this case, you are seeing that there is compulsive behavior and there is no underlying cause of stress that you have been able to identify. The names of these diseases are quite serious. For example, the big C can be cancer. It can also be feline infectious peritonitis, even feline leukemia sometimes ends up causing this type of behavior. There are some cats that have certain types of anemia. They can be congenital anemias, that is, from the cat itself, or they can be anemias caused by blood parasites. And these cats eat litter very frequently. Sometimes cats with pancreatitis, even chronic pancreatitis, where you see that the cat is more or less normal, and so on. These cats eat the litter. It is common if you see that your cat has lost a lot of weight in recent days, that it feels listless, that it does not want to move, or that it also has diarrhea, etc. These are all signs that make you think that your cat is having a serious problem and therefore you have to take it to the vet, even if it does not eat litter. But if it also eats litter, all the more reason. In general, there are remedies, which is why it is important to take it to the vet as soon as possible. There are some, for example, feline infectious peritonitis, which honestly does not have much chance of being treated and the cat being completely cured. But there are other diseases, such as hemolytic anemia, where there is a parasite in the blood that we identify, we give it treatment, the cat is cured and stops doing it, and they stop eating the litter. And then they don't. It doesn't matter. They don't do it anymore. I mean, they stop doing it. And we're going to end a bit where I started. If your cat doesn't eat the litter right now and you see that in the future, it starts to do so, I at least want this video to stick in your head for a bit, for Carlos little voice to ring in your head saying, hey, these could be very serious things. And I'm not being dramatic. It's true. I'm sorry. And I encourage you if you want to leave a comment if this has ever happened to your cat, because that will surely enrich the community and help more cat families. And of course, also leave a comment with what you thought of the video or any questions you have, which we will answer as best we can. There are some that I won't be able to answer because there are some that I will tell you. Take him to the vet. Understand that, too, of course, because I'm not a magician, I can't see your cat through the screen. And that's it for today's video. If you liked it, give it a like and share it with everyone. Remember to subscribe to our channel, this one, and to the secondary channel that we also have here on YouTube, which is called Questions and Answers from a Veterinarian, where we answer the questions that you leave us on Instagram and also hit the bell on both so that YouTube will notify you every time we upload new content. Whenever YouTube wants, of course. And today we meet Jimmy, who looks really cute with his mustache and was introduced to us by Stephanie Picone. And Tom lives with Annabon. How great. And from Aguas Calientes, Mexico, we have this beautiful image. Gabby. Esperanza is very happy with Mew. Well, Mew is also very happy with Gabby. Thank you very much.