When you move to a new house has anyone ever heard of putting butter on a cats paws?

Question

to help them find thier way back home?

Answer 1

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 2

It is a very old method of get the cat to get there scent around a new house. The idea the cats so stressed with the new suroundings that he goes all around the house with the butter on there paws. then when he realises that there's butter on the floor will slowly go around the house l*****g it up and spreading his own scent around the house to make them feel more at home.

Now a days we have a spray called feliway you can get it at the vets or on line. it does the same thing just with no butter on the floor.

Answer 3

its an old wives tale! the best way to make sure your cat comes back is to keep it inside for 4 weeks to get used to the house so it wont try and return to your old house. I would also get your cat microchipped so if it does get lost and get handed in at a shelter/vets etc they can trace it straight back to you. Ask your vets if unsure but dear me what a ridiculous idea! messy and would encourage flies and wasps etc would do more harm than good! lol hope this helped

Answer 4

Heard of it but not tried it as I don't like cats.

Answer 5

It's an old wives tale.  If you continue to feed it, it will stay with you.  If you don't, it will  move in somewhere else.

Answer 6

Sounds like an "old wives' tale" to me. The cat would just l**k it off and be on his way. The best thing to do is keep your kitty indoors in the new area for a long time--maybe several weks--maybe forever, until it gets acclimated to living in that neighborhood.

If you don't want to keep your kitty as an indoor cat then after a week or two indoors you can start putting it out for an hour or so here and there and letting it find its way back home.

Consider that cats that are put out live only half as long as their indoor cousins, get in fights with other cats, dogs, raccoons--step in poisons from cars such as anti freeze and motor oil which they l**k off and die a slow lingering death.

Keep your cat alive and healthy. Keep it in the house.

Answer 7

never heard that one.  their noses are very sensitive and the scent comes from the pad of their feet so if you cover with butter that would stop the cat scent and It would seem to make it more difficult for the animal to find his way back.

Answer 8

Oh yes, this was very common in the 60s and 70s. However it's unlikely to help the cat at all. When you move home with a cat it's best to start them off by confining them to 1 room whilst you arrange all the furniture etc, in the evening let them have the run of the house to explore whilst you sit and relax. After a week let them out into the garden. The cat needs to get used to the idea that the now house is its home before it has to worry about how to find his was back there.  

Answer 9

ye the cat will wonder off somewhere then notice the butter and l**k it all the way back home.  

Answer 10

I thought it was stupid until I tried it and it totally works, though i put it on really thick and there are butter footprints everywhere, but it worked for me. And as a result i now have a cat called butterfingers

Answer 11

well iv never heard of it but it sounds funny i wouldnt try it!! cats go off who feeds them, you move house but you still feed the cat so no matter what it will come to the person who feeds it, if another person starts to feed the cat thinking its a stray or whatever then it may start hanging around their house as well as yours they follow the food =]

Answer 12

It's an urban myth, do not put butter on a cat's paws, the dairy is not good for them.  Why are you letting your cat out?  Cats will live longer, happier and healthier lives indoors.  Your cat is unfamiliar with the neighborhood, and may not come back home - you don't know what the kids/teens in the area are like - will they torture the cat or hit it with their cars because it's crossing the road.  Do the neighbors mind your cats in their yards and in their gardens or will they call Animal Control to pick him up or just do something mean?  Do you have a feral colony in the neighborhood that have Feline HIV or leukemia?  If you answer "I don't know" to any of these questions, leave your cat inside.

Answer 13

How about we put butter on your feet and see if you can find your way home, absolute idiot.