Cat licking white paper with black ink on it

by Elaine Madsen
(West Hollywood,CA)

My eight year old Tuxedo cat has become obsessed with licking any paper that has black ink on it. She was even hanging upside down to lick a paper on the piano bench. As I write this, I had to shoo her away from freshly printed paper under the printer.


She does not lick slick magazine paper with black ink, or colored inks on paper backs. Is she missing something in her diet that makes her do this?

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by: Kurt (Admin)

I have not heard anyone report licking black ink before, and I have not seen it in any cat I have had. Maybe it has something to do with the smell of the black ink on porous paper?

That said, pica is a condition where cats consume non-food items.

If she were my cat, I'd call the vet and ask if they had heard of this (the black ink), and if they thought a vet visit was in order. If I suspected diet was the culprit, I would try switching up the food and possibly adding vitamin supplements.

Without knowing which, if any nutrients, she's deficient in, however, that's a shotgun approach. I think it's also worth considering that an illness, rather than diet, might be the problem. Either way, a call to the vet can't hurt and might put your concerns to rest.

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