Why Is My Cat Eating Hair?

Every cat owner has seen their cat intentionally eating hair at some point. Whether your cat is eating its own hair, your hair, or a combination of both, you might be concerned about your cat’s health and potential side effects. After all, hair does lead to hairballs.

Before you panic or make any big adjustments at home, it’s important to learn why cats eat hair. After learning more about why your cat is behaving this way, you can take steps to prevent this from becoming a problem.

Why Cats Eat Their Own Hair

Cats are natural groomers and will end up ingesting their hair while they clean themselves. This is perfectly healthy and why cats are known for hairballs. However, some cats go out of their way to eat loose clumps of their own fur that might be floating around.

Here are reasons your cat might be eating its own fur.

Cat instinct

Your cat could be eating its own fur off the ground out of pure instinct. Remember, cats have natural predators in the wild. Eating their own hair can help cats cover their tracks better, making it harder for predators to pick up their scent.

While your cat doesn’t have any natural predators at home, the urge to protect itself could still be there.

Pica

While not a common reason, cats might eat hair because of a condition known as pica. Most common in Siamese, Burmese, and Tonkinese cats, pica means that your cat has the urge to eat non-food items, including hair. If your cat also eats fabrics like wool or items made of paper, leather, or plastic, then your cat might have pica.

If your cat only eats its own hair and doesn’t eat other non-food items, your cat probably does not have pica and is eating its hair for a different reason.

Attention

Does your cat only eat its own hair when it’s obvious to you? Do you react when your cat eats its fur? Then your cat might have learned that eating its own hair leads to getting attention. If this is the case, you can easily break this habit by ignoring your cat when they eat fur and giving them extra attention at other times.

Why Cats Eat Your Hair

Some cats enjoy eating their owner’s hair. While this can seem gross and unhealthy, in most cases your hair can be perfectly harmless to cats. Regardless, this can be an uncomfortable behavior, especially if your cat licks your head.

Here are some reasons your cat is eating your hair.

Attention

Similar to eating its own hair, a cat could be eating your hair for attention. If this is the case, break the habit by ignoring your cat and paying attention to them when they’re doing something else.

They like your scent

Your hair is a part of you and it carries your scent. If your cat loves you and your scent, it might eat your hair if it finds it laying around. 

Stress and anxiety

Unfortunately, cats suffering from stress or anxiety might react by eating your hair. This could be a type of coping mechanism to help them relax or feel more comfortable. 

Playfulness

This is more common in kittens, but your cat could be eating your hair because it’s curious and is feeling adventurous. In this case, don’t expect your cat to continue eating your hair.

Nutrition

Yes, your hair has some nutritional value! If your cat has a hole in its diet, it could be looking for nutrients in odd places. Make sure your cat has a balanced diet regardless of whether they’re eating your hair or not.

How Do I Get My Cat to Stop Eating Hair?

There are a few ways you can try to get a cat to stop eating your hair including the following:

• Clean more often. Vacuuming and cleaning will reduce the amount of hair floating around your home, meaning your cat has fewer opportunities to try and eat it. 
• Distract your cat. If you see them eating hair, instead of giving them attention try to redirect their focus to a toy, treats, or something more interesting.
• Brush more often. This goes for both you and your cat. Brushing helps remove any would-be loose hair. To reduce your cat’s hair, we recommend the FURminator.
• Keep your cat busy. New toys, new experiences — pretty much anything that you can think of to keep your cat’s attention helps them form new habits.

As always, be patient with your cat and understand that they might not think eating hair is bad. If eating hair is becoming a serious problem for your cat, consult your vet.