Niunai was born in April 2020. We never knew why his mother did not nurse him. He struggled to breathe at birth and needed assisted breathing before he stabilised. From then on, his family raised him one feeding of goat's milk at a time until he grew into the slim, straight-eared silver tabby he is today.
Niunai also has a congenital heart-development issue. The fragility of his beginning seems to have left him sensitive to sudden sounds, which can still startle him visibly. Yet caution exists beside an enormous curiosity. He explores everything and sometimes brings birds, cicadas and other discoveries home.
As he grew, Niunai repeatedly chewed and sometimes swallowed plastic. This was not a habit to dismiss as mischief. It was pica, an abnormal eating behaviour that deserved attention. Nutritional imbalance can be one contributor, but gastrointestinal discomfort, stress and behavioural factors may also be involved.
We reduced access to plastic, sought veterinary and dietary assessment, reviewed his everyday nutrition and supplemented micronutrients according to his needs. With continued management, the plastic-eating behaviour became much less frequent and has now almost entirely stopped.
From his first goat's-milk feeding to the curiosity he carries today, Niunai has taught us that science-led care does not force every problem into a single explanation. It notices what is unusual, reduces immediate risk, investigates possible causes and keeps adjusting life around the individual.
This is one family's lived experience, not medical advice or evidence that micronutrient supplements resolve every case of pica. Repeated ingestion of plastic, string or other non-food objects can cause gastrointestinal obstruction and should prompt veterinary advice and careful environmental management.