FACTORS AFFECTING PICA IN THE DOMESTIC CAT

A postal survey was conducted of the owners of 152 cats, mainly of ori ental breeds, which exhibited pica (defined broadly, as chewing, sucki ng or ingesting non-nutritive materials). The most common material was wool (93% of cases), followed by cotton, man-made fabrics, rubber/pla stic and paper/cardboard (8%). Actual ingestion was as likely to occur in Burmese cats as in Siamese, in contradiction to a report from the USA (Houpt, 1985). Pica appeared to be linked to infantile behaviour i n non-oriental cats, but possibly not in orientals. Onset of pica coul d occur at any time during the first 4 years of the cat's life, but wa s most frequent in the 2 months following rehoming. Onset in other cas es could not be linked to rehoming, but tended to occur between 6 and 18 months of age, and may therefore be linked to the onset of sexual m aturity or territorial behaviour. Neutering had little effect on the e xpression of pica.