Has anyone ever heard of putting butter on kittens feet?

Question

My friend put butter on her new kittens feet to get them used to the house. I thought this a little strange, has anyone else heard of it?

Answer 1

It's an old wives tale that supposedly deters the cat from straying too far.... allegedly the cat remembers where it sat contented licking the creamy taste from its feet.. and wants to go back there....

Answer 2

If My Cat Needs To Take a Worming Tablet Etc, I Smear Butter On One Of His Paws, Then Crush The Tablet and Mix It In With The Butter. My Cat Then Licks It Off, But I Haven't Heard Of it To Help a New Kitten Get Used To a House.

Answer 3

This is definitely an old wives' tale. When we moved to a new house we ensured that the cats' blankets, toys, bowls, etc were the last things to be put on the removal van. We arranged for the furniture for our spare bedroom to be unloaded, put their blankets etc in there with food and a litter tray and then let them out of their cat baskets into that room. They stayed there until we'd got some semblance of order in the rest of the house and the removal men had gone and then, making sure all outside windows/doors were closed, we opened the spare bedroom door and just let them wander round and explore. After a couple of days we allowed them to sniff the outside through windows that were open ajar and then a day or so after that carried them round the garden. They seemed quite at ease and not stressed at all, so we then allowed them out but kept an eye on them. They were just fine! Knew which side their bread was buttered (pardon the pun!) and never wandered off - provided they're well loved and cared for, they have no reason to go astray and will always return home.

Answer 4

Yes, this is an old wives tale, but I have found it works.

Stange you friend is doing to her new kittens inside the house though.

The first time you let the cat out in the garden you put butter on its paws. It then sits in the garden licking the butter off its paws for some time and in that time it is taking in all the smells and sounds around and remembering where it is.

Its so they come back.

I do this to my new cats and I find it works.

Magina & Cat

Answer 5

Butter On Cats Paws

Answer 6

Yes this is an old wives tale it is supposed to help the cat remember its home. As far as I know it has no benefit in the kitten finding it's home, it best to keep it in for at least two weeks or if it is a very young kitten then it should not go out until it is between four and six months old

Answer 7

Yes. When I was a kid we used to do it when we got a new kitten. The act of lying down to lick the butter from its paws gave the kitten a chance to calm down and to associate this new place with something nice or, at least, non-frightening. The idea is that is helps the kitten to be less skittish at a stressful time and so less likely to run away and get lost. I can't say whether that was the reason, but we never lost a kitten.

Answer 8

It was something my mother (b.1901) always talked of doing -when you move house or have a new cat you put butter on its paws so that it was so preoccupied with cleaning up the butter that it was distracted from thoughts of straying. At the same time, it made them associate the house with something special.

Answer 9

Hi, Yes i have heard of it it's to stop them roaming, really though they should just keep their kittens/cat's in for a few weeks, cause all the cat does is lick it off and then want to go out.

Answer 10

Yes, I have heard of this and it has scientific basis, but the butter is applied to the cat's back, not feet. You see cats, always land with their feet down, so they have a propensity for that direction relative to gravity. Conversely, buttered toast always lands in a butter-down orientation. Scientists have discovered that by using these opposing forces of repulsion, a perpetual motion machine can be created. They are currently developing fixturing for retaining the cat and converting this rotational force to do work. I am currently developing a 3-cat power motorcycle. That thing purrs like a kitten I tell you. ;-)

Answer 11

Um..nop! That's sounds kinda riducilous. I mean if you wanna kittens to get used to your house then you should just looked it up in the internet or search in a kitten book. How did the kitten react when your friend put butter on it's feet......it will just make the kitten uncomfortable.