Cats and chlorine/bleach?

Question

My cat, who is a five-year-old male tabby, seems to LOVE to inhale the smell of chlorine and bleach. He cannot seem to stay off of me after I have been swimming in a chlorinated pool, and we cannot clean anything in my house with bleach without having to close him out of the room. (When we do keep him out, he still tries to inhale the fumes through the bottom of the door.) When he is around the smell of chlorine or bleach, he always seems extremely... happy, I guess you'd say. His reaction is not unlike the response I've seen other (normal) cats have to catnip. I've never heard of another cat like this- are the fumes from the chlorine/bleach harmful to him? Do they give him some sort of a high? Have any of you had experience with anything like this before?

We do keep the house properly ventilated and we try to keep the cat's exposure to the fumes to a minimum. My question mainly is, does anyone know why he likes it so much? Is this unheard of?

Answer 1

Chlorine itself is poisionous when ingested. I can image it's the same way when sniffed.

Fresh out of the pool chlorine smell shouldn't hurt him, but out of the bottle bleach, I wouldn't let him near it.

I also suggest talking to your vet about his odd behavior.

Answer 2

Chlorine is poisonous, and I would say you are wise to keep it away from your cat, although sniffing you just out of the pool should not be harmful. Check w/your vet

I've had cats all my life and never have seen this addiction. If you have tended to cuddle him after your pool experiences, perhaps he has learned to associate this smell as a good thing???

Hope your vet can give you some idea of this odd behavior.

Answer 3

I realize this question was posted many years ago, I have to add that I have a 2 year old female tabby that does the exact same thing you described. Not just the fumes either. If I use bleach at work. she can still smell it on my hands after washing and goes nutty. So it's not even fumes just the lingering oder. I've known many cats over the years and no other cat has reacted this way. We even told our vet and he'd never heard such a thing. We think it's cute and harmless

Answer 4

your kitty is safe if u went into the pool and she smells the chlorine! However she may be getting a High in the house......my advice use alternatives for cleaning house .fumes can be harmful to us and a cat is much smaller.....if you are concerned about her health take her to a vet or you can give the cat bits of bread to counteract the chlorine poisoning ......FYI more ventilation in the house if you must use it!

Answer 5

I don't REALLY know, so if someone else says different, then listen to them, but: diluted bleach or chlorine smells strong, but there's not really much of it in the air. I think you are doing the right thing by keeping the cat out of the room. Beyond that, I do not think the little bit that he is smelling is enough to harm him.

Answer 6

i think of it acts as a stimulant sort of like smelling salts to a guy or woman. once I sparkling the bathing room sink with Comet that has bleach in it and that i substitute into my arms with cleansing soap and water there is mostly a sprint residual bleach scent after i'm achieved. i'm going the puppy the cat and she or he is going ballistic and play bites and grabs my arm along with her paws. Its relaxing to confirm her get so excited and it extremely is momentary. I dont use bleach products on a daily basis and purely once I sparkling the bathing room so its no longer in many cases that she is uncovered to it. ultimate desires!

Answer 7

It sometimes happens that they behave unusually, maybe it is an addiction of some sort. But I believe that your efforts to keep him away should continue because he is going to be stubborn unless he forgets it.