A cat’s paw pads aren’t just super cute toe beans. They’re actually a very vascular part of the feline anatomy. Anything we expose the paw pads to should be evaluated.
Vascular is defined as “relating to, affecting, or consisting of a vessel or vessels, especially those which carry blood.” Your kitty’s paw pads have tons of blood vessels that absorb whatever they come in contact with.
A recent study was conducted by an environmental group, and they took a deeper look into what chemicals might be found in the bloodstream of pets. Testing for over 70 different household cleaners, the results were mind boggling. Over 45 of the cleaners tested showed up in the blood tests of cats and dogs and that is just crazy. Cats were more affected than dogs, likely because they also climb on counters and thus are exposed to more chemical cleaners.
These chemicals didn’t show up in the bloodstream because they were being fed to the animals. Instead, they were directly absorbed into their bloodstream through their paw pads.
Likewise, if there are chemicals in your cat’s litter they will be absorbing these as well. Our holistic veterinarian told us that clay litter is directly linked to kidney disease in cats and I would assume that’s because of the chemical clumping agents used with this litter.
This information is something that should be super helpful to us cat parents, and here’s why…
- Once we know better, we can do better. If you are using floor cleaners or disinfectants that are unsafe for kitties, let’s find alternative cleaning solutions. Stop using litters that are unsafe and start using more natural options!
- If you have a product that you need to get into your cat’s bloodstream (like CBD tinctures) then applying it to the paw pads is an easy and helpful way to help your kitty!
Honestly, I’m realizing more each day how important this is. I used every good-smelling chemical cleaner I could find to keep the house as clean as pristine. In hindsight, I feel that I contributed to their health issues. While you can’t beat yourself up for what you didn’t know, you can make changes moving forward. We did. 🙂
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