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#1 due 06/07/2010 #1 due 06/07/2010
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Why do people put butter on cats paws?

HAYLESTONES by HAYLESTO...
Member since:
15 June 2007
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I DO ACTUALLY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS ONE!!!! the reason people used to put butter on cats paws is............

when a cat ventures outside (normally in new surroundings), if it has butter on it's paws it will stop and lick it off, as cats are very clean creatures the butter and the bits of debris that will eneviatibly stick to it will annoy the cat. Thus, making the cat sit down for a minute and take in it's surroundings creating a mental map of where it's home it.

Source(s):

vet said so
  • 4 people rated this as good
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thank you

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Other Answers (29)

  • JeN by JeN
    Member since:
    04 May 2007
    Total points:
    7,457 (Level 5)
    A lot of people use butter or margarine to help cats pass hairballs, and to get them to lick it up they put it on the paws. While the idea is benevolent, butter and margarine are not good at all for cats - the fats and oils stress the pancreas and they can get very ill. Vaseline or Laxatone on the paws is much easier on their digestive tract, and is more effective in helping the hairballs along.
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • elliott!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by elliott!...
    Member since:
    07 October 2006
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    1,447 (Level 3)
    sounds like fun.
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • Michaelhere by Michaelh...
    Member since:
    22 June 2007
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    2,740 (Level 4)
    There's a belief that if you put butter on a cat's paws, he will not run away to go back to his former home, because butter would erase the scent on his paws of his former house, and he could not miss his former house so much, that he'd try to run away to go back to it. People used butter on cat's paws just when he got to a new home.
    Best wishes
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • Mickster by Mickster
    Member since:
    06 September 2006
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    1,789 (Level 3)
    they do? i didnt know that!
  • textank76 by textank7...
    Member since:
    06 June 2007
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    1,604 (Level 3)
    Because - anything greasy or oily helps with fur balls. A cat will lick the butter off of its paws and help out with the fur balls.
  • Lita M by Lita M
    Member since:
    21 June 2007
    Total points:
    608 (Level 2)
    I always thought it was old wives tale but when I moved to a house after my 3 cats had spent all their lives in a flat I gave it a go & true enough they came back,
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • emiss by emiss
    Member since:
    27 July 2006
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    6,158 (Level 5)
    If you do that it will permanently ruin your new carpets.

    from experience
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • Lady Penelope by Lady Penelope
    Member since:
    26 July 2006
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    2,298 (Level 3)
    It's easier to eat them.
    • 3 people rated this as good
  • kezza by kezza
    Member since:
    24 March 2006
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    2,268 (Level 3)
    When you move house, it's supposed to stop them running away to find the old house and getting lost. Theory is that they will sit and lick all the butter off their feet because they hate being dirty and greasy, and by the time they've done this, they will be more aware of their surroundings and it won't be so strange to them. Dunno if it works, though!
    • 3 people rated this as good
  • Scatty by Scatty
    Member since:
    23 April 2006
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    18,010 (Level 6)
    So that they can find their way home
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • JoeyBug by JoeyBug
    Member since:
    17 April 2007
    Total points:
    3,339 (Level 4)
    it's an old wives tale that states that if you put butter on the cats paws after you move home, by the time they've licked it off they'll have forgotten the way to their old house.
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • ELLE by ELLE
    Member since:
    04 May 2007
    Total points:
    29,753 (Level 7)
    Someone here told me to do that to help my cat to cough up furballs.
  • lazybones by lazybone...
    Member since:
    17 June 2007
    Total points:
    1,768 (Level 3)
    its said that its stops them from straying away from home
  • vincent a by vincent a
    Member since:
    17 June 2007
    Total points:
    934 (Level 2)
    It's an old belief that if you move house you should put butter on you cat's paws so that it can find it's way back to it's new home.
    I don't know whether it's supposed to leave a trail for it to follow or not.

    When we moved, out cat cried all the way to our new house.He also cried on the first night in his new home!
    I took him walks on a piece of string for a couple of days, and he settled in quite happily!
  • CAROLINE S by CAROLINE S
    Member since:
    14 June 2007
    Total points:
    231 (Level 1)
    Its wheen you have moved,
    When your cat first goes out the butter will hold there scent so they can find there way back home.
    Also very funny with wooden floors
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • Katherine Lynn A by Katherine Lynn A
    Member since:
    03 June 2007
    Total points:
    2,579 (Level 4)
    When a cat is new to your home it is believed that buttering it's paws will encourage it to stay there.
  • divagirl by divagirl
    Member since:
    25 January 2007
    Total points:
    432 (Level 2)
    I have heard of people putting peanut butter on their cats paws to see them lick it off. They think it is so funny to see the cat try to swallow the peanut butter because it is so sticky. I think it is cruel. Obviously the cat is going to try and lick it off, because by nature, they want to keep themselves clean. It is just mean to sit back and watch a cat struggle, to amuse yourself. But as far as putting butter on a cat's paws, I have never heard of that.
    And for you sickos that answer a question just to get the points, and you obviously hate cats, shame on you!
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • Andrea C by Andrea C
    Member since:
    04 June 2007
    Total points:
    764 (Level 2)
    I had no idea they do that.
    Special note to those who are suggesting it is to help them taste better etc. YOU ARE SICK!!!!!!
  • charliegirl by charlieg...
    Member since:
    28 October 2006
    Total points:
    9,558 (Level 5)
    My mum used to do this to our cats whenever we moved house.
    It's an old wives tale. It's meant to stop them from returning to the old home, but all it does is make them lick it off their paws therefore calming them down enough to settle into the new place.
  • Lily F by Lily F
    Member since:
    23 August 2006
    Total points:
    140 (Level 1)
    I have never heard of such a thing. However does anyone know any secrets to prevent your cat from going in HEAT as in wanting sex.
  • telluwat by telluwat
    Member since:
    10 April 2007
    Total points:
    10,302 (Level 6)
    Never heard of it and I still don't understand how a cat can now want to return to its old house just because it has butter on its paw.

    but I don't know much about Mars either.
  • Amanda by Amanda
    Member since:
    09 October 2006
    Total points:
    20,105 (Level 6)
    Because when they move house, they think the butter will help the cat remember its way home (or something like that..it doesn't however work.)
    • 4 people rated this as good
  • dr strangelove by dr strangelove
    Member since:
    13 October 2006
    Total points:
    1,196 (Level 3)
    to stop them going back to the old house when you move

    Source(s):

    been there done it it works
    • 1 person rated this as good
  • Gone by Gone
    Member since:
    22 June 2007
    Total points:
    139 (Level 1)
    It is a way for a cat to find his way home.. that is it
  • just me #1 by just me #1
    Member since:
    08 February 2007
    Total points:
    7,348 (Level 5)
    aint never heard of it!
  • Lisa T by Lisa T
    Member since:
    10 April 2007
    Total points:
    13,294 (Level 6)
    i didn't know they did.
  • a mouse is not a hotel by a mouse is not a hotel
    Member since:
    28 April 2007
    Total points:
    4,967 (Level 4)
    some people prefer buttered pusssy
    • 2 people rated this as good
  • yabadabba by yabadabb...
    Member since:
    10 May 2007
    Total points:
    616 (Level 2)
    to stop them running away
  • Teresa V by Teresa V
    Member since:
    12 June 2007
    Total points:
    7,481 (Level 5)
    I have never heard of that...interesting.

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