Buttering Paws

I was brought up to believe that if you got a new cat, or moved home, you should butter the cats paws to stop it from straying. I've no idea if this is just an old wives tale or if it has any substance.

I guess the theory behind it is that by the time the cat has licked off all the butter, she feels truly at home.

Does anyone do this?

 

Excuse me here, but.... wtf? Lol. I've actually never heard this one at all and I've heard a lot of old wive's tales. I guess it does make a little sense, but I don't think there's any truth behind it.

That being said, the butter idea in general has benefits otherwise. If you have a cat that excessively scratches and grooms herself, whether from anxiety or fleas, etc, then putting butter on the backs of her paws gives her somewhere else to focus.

 

Butter the paws? That's assuming that the cat is going to sit still and lick off all the butter. If the cat decides to just walk off on buttered paws, then you would have a cleaning job to do. As to the efficacy, I don't see how it works. Not planning to experiment, though.

 

If it's like how you do it with fleas/anxiety, you put it on the tops/backs of their paws....not actually on the footpad....so no mess. Most cats aren't going to tolerate having something on their paws at all and would probably sit and lick it off, but you're right....no guarantee they wouldn't just run off anyway, I guess.

 

Ha ha I've never heard of that one before!

 

Wow, I have to say that is probably the strangest cat theory I've heard. It does sound a little like an old wives tale but what do I know it could be true. I've never heard of buttering the tops of a cats paws to combat anxiety or fleas either. Has anyone tried this out on their cat, did it work?

 

LOL! I'm amazed that no-one has heard of it.Maybe it's an English/Scottish thing.

When I was a child everyone did it with kittens or older cats if they moved house. The butter is put onto the pads and I don't think the cats ever run off with it there. They love licking it off.

 

This is what my cats do when I butter their paws to give them (hidden in or mixed with butter) a medicine... They should lick it but Mitra starts wandering around the house, brushing it off and making mess.

 

That sounds like a plan. I mean mixing medicine with the butter. Actually if you want your cat to take the medicine with the butter, you don't have to put it on their paws. Just put a bit over their lips and they will lick it all off just the same. The advantage is that they won't be tracking buttery paw prints all over the place. I have never seen any cat that would lick something off its lips yet. They may even rub it off with their hands and lick it off their hands.

 

But lips are much smaller than paws and it would take ages to put it all there
Paws are usually okay, they don't leave paw prints as such because you put the butter on their.. let's say hands And they just HAVE to lick it off, they cannot leave it like this (exception, Mitra, doesn't count ) because cats cannot be wet or dirty (apart from outdoor cats, I remember REALLY dirty poor cat when I was in Ireland, I hope it was okay anyway... ).

 

I've actually never heard of this...I don't think this has any truth to it though.
As Jessi said, it could be used as a distraction to things... maybe if it's distracted and in one spot for so long, it will think it's home?

 

I think cats take quite a while to get used to a new home.

How long does it take to lick off the butter? One hour? Two hours? Not really enough time for the cat to feel at home. I normally find that new cats take anything from three days to a week to get used to their new home.

 

I think it supposed to be sort of welcoming present This butter, I mean. Well, when Mitra was small I could even touch her, let alone buttering paws
And she was just more tame every single day, even hour. Time, time and once more: time.

 

I've never heard of that custom before. That's different. I heard that to help a cat get used to a new home, you should bring things that smell like his old home, like his old cat bed or a blanket that smells familiar.

 

That's what we do when they have to go to the vet or stay at the kennel, too. My oldest has a towel she's had since she was a kitten....14 years ago...and it stays in the pet carrier so that any time we have to move her, she already has something that's hers and comforting.

 

I never heard of this. Buttering the paws may help with hairballs but I don't think it will keep them from wandering. It does take some time for a cat or kitten to feel at home in a new place. Lots of attention and leaving their things like toys, bowl and pan where they can easily get to it helps.