We have a cloth-eater, Mithril.  She is a voracious eater in general and
until a few weeks ago a real chubby girl.  She has trimmed down for the
summer now, but is still at a good weight for her height.  <G> She is also a
biter.  She has a definite preference for cotton, but will on occasion eat
cotton/synthetic blends that have the texture of cotton or thin synthetics
if there's nothing else to eat.  She makes a scissor like noise when she
does it, so it's easy to catch her in the act.  Their primary bedding is a
big polyester quilt which they have tucked under the couch.  This is rough
for Sebastian, because he luxuriates in soft, silky materials, but I can't
let them have such things, because Mithril would eat them.
 
We have good luck supplying her with bedding she won't eat.  Polyester
double knit (so what else is grandma going to do with all that stuff?), very
thick fleece, terry cloth, denim, etc.  She also seems to do more
cloth-eating when she is nervous or bored.  If she were a kid, you might
call her hyperactive or ADD.
 
For anyone following Mithril's biting problems, we have been handling her
VERY carefully and have had no more incidents.  If she so much as snaps at
us we cage her.  I wish she had expressive ears like a cat or a horse, then
I would be able to predict her intentions better, but ferret ears don't
betray much.  We have located a shelter for her and are seriously
considering sending her there, but then she does these little things that
just break my heart.  Like the other day I got out the nail clippers to clip
MY nails, and she came running and jumped in my lap.  It was so cute, I made
my husband get me the ferretone and I put some on her belly and clipped her
nails a bit.
 
-Catherine
[Posted in FML issue 1879]