Why do cats steal and chew on underwear?
Cats are intensely attracted to dirty laundry and will break into drawers, bins, and hidden spots specifically to chew on or hoard underwear. This leaves garments slobbery, chewed apart in the fabric, and forces owners to constantly guard their clothes.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Putting underwear directly in a bin with a lid
- 2Putting them in the hamper right after taking them off
- 3Doing laundry every day or using the washer as a laundry basket
- 4Buying cheap underwear that they don't care about
- 5letting the dog self-soothe via cobbing
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I even cleared one dresser drawer to put dirty laundry in, just to find one of them stuck inside because they went behind it and pulled the paneling off.”source ↗
“As I just responded to someone else, they broke the bin and the lid. Twice actually. They love dirty clothes but really love underwear.”source ↗
“When I put down my clothes after wearing them such as getting changed for bed, out of the shower, back for the gym, or just folding the laundry, my job will lay beside them (not on) and do very fast nibbles on them.”source ↗
“I don’t know if I should scold or correct this and aside from it just making the clothes damp or slobbery, I am not too upset (except when its right before I put on the clothes to leave).”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Cat chewing through treat bags to eat everything inside
- 2Why does my cat scratch furniture instead of her scratching posts?
- 5How to stop kitten from attacking my hair
- 4Why do cats beg for human food?
- 6Accidentally stepped on my cat and got scratched
- 3Why won't my kitten stop playing too rough with my older cat?