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Wool and other fabrics, plastic (including plastic casing surrounding electrical cords), rubber, pins and needles, newspapers. These are just some of the items that might be chewed on and swallowed by cats afflicted with pica, which is the eating of non-food items. The word pica is based on the Latin word “picave.” It means magpie — a bird with indiscriminate dietary habits.

There are a number of negative things many cats experience but that yours doesn’t have to if you head them off at the pass. Here are four ways to keep a problem from ever happening — or at least to keep it from getting worse.

Q: I have had more than one cat that drools while being petted, particularly when the petting gets them purring. What’s that about? Is it something I should be concerned about?

Q: My cat has developed a reddish-brown sore on her upper lip. It doesn’t seem to bother her, but it looks awful. And while I thought it would go away on its own, it hasn’t. What should I do?

• Why You Absolutely Can’t Take a Cat Scratch or Bite Casually
• Morsels
• Things That Don’t Go Together With Cats
• Integrative Geriatrics For Your Senior Cat?
• Losing Excess Weight Does Much More Than Make a Cat Healthier
• 3 Ways to Help a Scaredy Cat
• Deciding How to Take a Cat’s Temperature
• Dear Doctor

• Feline Arthritis Pain: The Signs Can Be Subtle
• Morsels
• Socializing: Cats Can Take It or Leave It
• Turn Down the Television! And Other Ways to Keep Your Cat Happier
• Can Your Cat Pay It Forward As a Blood Donor?
• Nail Trimming: Not Just For Your Furniture But For Your Cat’s Safety
• When a Cat Starts Losing Hair
• Dear Doctor

• Your Cat’s Got the (Weird) Moves
• Morsels
• When Your Cat Naps in the Litter Box
• Before You Take in Another Cat…
• Rules Change for Monitoring Cats with Hyperthyroidism
• Bored Cat? Scatter the Feline Doldrums with Agility Training
• Keeping Cats from 
Reproducing Without Having to Spay Them
• Dear Doctor

• A New Drug to Treat Itchy Feline Skin Condition
• The One Disease Pet Health Insurance May Not Cover
• Yes, But Why Are the Kidneys Enlarged?
• How Often Does Your Cat Really Need Blood Work?
• When It’s Okay to Use an Automatic Feeder to Give Your Cat Her Meals — and When It’s Not
• With Summer Comes Territorial Urine Marking
• Dear Doctor

• Softening the Blow for a Cat Mourning the Loss of Another Cat
• Fungal Disease Spreading from Cats to People
• No Cure for Heartworm Disease in Cats
• 4 New Standards for 
Human Grade Cat Food
• Why Cats Stick Out Their Tongues
• Let Your Cat Go 
Outside — Safely
• Caregiver Burden for People with Sick Cats
• Dear Doctor

A study of more than 3,000 house cats published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association showed that fearfulness in cats is significantly associated with urinating and defecating outside the litterbox. It’s also associated with litterbox fussiness — distinct preferences about the type of litter used and less willingness to use an unclean litter box or share it with other cats.

• Updated Guidelines Should Make Vet Visits Less Stressful for Cats
• Morsels
• When the Margins Are “Clean But Close” After Tumor Removal
• Can You Reliably Assess Your Cat’s Pain? Yes.
• On Spraying the Cat with Water to Make Him Stop.
• The Right Diet For Feline Kidney Disease
• When a Cat Dies Suddenly for an Unknown Reason, Should You Request a Necropsy?
• Dear Doctor

• If Your Cat Won’t Take the Medicine, Can It Be Compounded?
• When the Dandruff Won’t Quit
• Fact or Erroneous Perception: Black Cats Are More Likely to End Up Euthanized
• Getting at the Reason For Your Cat’s Twitching
• No, You’re Not a Failure If You Give Your Cat a Psychotropic Medication
• Could Dementia Be Making Your Cat Urinate Outside the Box?