cats and plastic!

[katmakenian]

Anyone got any ideas as to why my cat likes to lick plastic? I've got two sister cats, called Mo & Smudge. Mo is semi long haired and Smudge is short haired. They are 7 years old and are silver/grey Tabbies. They of course have their own characters and manerisms but there is one peculiar thing about Smudge: she loves to lick plastic! she loves licking plastic bags and bubble wrap and the type that catalogues are mailed in. I'm very careful that she doesn't have any access to plastic whilst she's on her own as I'm very conscious of the fact that it can be dangerous so we make sure she has supervised licking! lol. She's not harmed by this behaviour but I am very curious as to what she gets out of it and why so fascinated?! Any ideas?

[LostSheep]

From - http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/whycat.htm

"Why does a cat lick photographs or plastic bags?"
It has been speculated that they are tasting the slight "odor" that emanates from these products. They may also enjoy the texture of the items on their tongue

[katmakenian]

Wow - cheers LostSheep - that's a really good resource that I have now made as a favourite! We had actually speculated that she enjoys how it makes her tongue feel! lol. Thanks hun - really appreciate the reply.