Does your cat turn up her nose in disgust when you’re in the room? It might be what you’re wearing.
Alright, fellow cat ladies. We’ve all met that one guy that wears too much cologne. You know, the one that took a bath in five different bottles of Axe Body Spray?
Guess what? That’s what you smell like to your cat when you wear perfume. How can we avoid reeking to high heaven around our cats while still wearing scent?
The Nose Knows
Cats have super sensitive noses. Unlike humans, who have about 5 million scent receptors, cats have anywhere from 50 million to 200 million, depending on which expert you ask.
Most people think that it’s dogs who have the fairer sense of smell, but this is not true in most cases. Unless you’ve got a bloodhound (which has approximately 230 million scent receptors), cats have a stronger sniffer on average.
Cats vs. Humans
Because of a cat’s delicate nose, they can smell lots of scents that we can’t. Likewise, scents that are very light to our noses are magnified in a cat’s. This results in an incredibly strong odor, whether it’s a pleasant one or not.
Just like Axe Body Spray dude smells to us, so do we smell to cats when we wear perfume. This is why your cat thinks you stink.
Is Perfume Dangerous To Cats?
That’s a loaded question. It depends on what you mean when you ask.
Most perfumes contain these ingredients:
- Essential oils
- Synthetic fragrances (limonene, galaxolide and musk xylene)
- Ethyl (pure) alcohol
- Benzyl benzoate (plant-based alcohol)
- Distilled water
- Phthalates (plasticizing chemical compound)
Aside from distilled water, each one of these ingredients is toxic when ingested. Alcohol of any kind will cause problems, while only certain essential oils are toxic to cats (unfortunately, ones typically used in perfume).
Will Inhaling Perfume Hurt My Cat?
It’s certainly possible. If your cat has a condition like an upper respiratory infection or asthma, perfume will agitate their symptoms.
Scented candles that contain paraffin have toxic fumes that can harm both cats and humans, but can perfectly healthy cats be affected by inhaling perfume?
The short answer is yes. Cats’ sensitive noses can become irritated or inflamed from inhaling perfume (or any other irritant like air fresheners, etc.). This may result in sneezing, rapid blinking or other signs of discomfort. There’s very little information to be found as to more severe effects.
What Scents Are Safe For Cats?
Any overly strong scent is out. Even though smelling the perfume may not cause your cat physical harm, I believe that the stress caused by pungent odors qualifies as ‘unsafe’.
If someone constantly wore too much cologne that made you feel sick just smelling it, wouldn’t you want them to stop? That’s precisely what your feline friend is trying to tell you: STOP!
How And When To Wear Perfume
I can’t expect anyone to stop wearing perfume altogether, and I myself have worn it on a few occasions. Here’s how you can still wear perfume without offending your cat:
- Don’t overdo it. A drop or two rubbed into your wrists is enough. You can lightly pat your wrists on your neck just below your jaw for added effect.
- Only wear perfume when you’re going out. Going out with friends that evening? Leaving for work? These are acceptable times to lightly spritz on perfume. Make sure you have an air purifier on to vacuum up stray particles in the room where you applied the perfume.
- Don’t spray perfume near your cat. I don’t think I need to explain this one, do I?
- Take a shower when you get home. Use a skin-safe ingredient like olive oil and then rinse off. This will help prevent the fragrance from getting dispersed in the steam from your shower. You can also use unscented soap in addition to the olive oil.
Do Cat-Safe Perfumes Exist?
No, not that I’m aware of. There are perfumes that are for cats and dogs that are marketed as safe, but not for humans.
Maybe there will be someday, but in the meantime, it’s best to tame down your use of perfume around your cat. The good news is that there are brands popping up that market pet-safe candles and home fragrances like Paw Melts. We’re ordering one of their diffusers; we’ll do a full review of them, of course!
We hope this article was helpful and allowed you to understand fragrances and their effect on cats. Let us know what you think in the comments section. You can find more helpful articles on our Pinterest under “Cat Care”.
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Excellent post. Cats have very sensitive noses.
Thank you! Yes, they do. Tippy’s eyes get red if we use any perfume or air freshener.
I’m with the kitties on this one. My own nose is super sensitive to perfumes. I don’t mind home fragrances, but don’t use any out of respect for my cats. Once in a while, I will light a candle.
Some people definitely have trouble with perfume. It gives my mom migraines if she is around someone with too much scent on. Have you tried Paw Melts candles? They’re 100% safe for cats. Regular candles, even soy mixes, contain paraffin (not good for humans OR cats!).
This is a great point! I think that, as humans, we tend to think very little about how the ingredients in products we use will affect our cats. There are a lot of harmful products out there. This information makes me glad that I’m not a big fan of perfume!
It sort of happens without a second thought. Since we aren’t as perceptive of smells as cats, we don’t even know we’re doing something our cat hates! The more information put out there to help raise awareness of this issue, the better. 🙂
I have always said those fancy smelling litters ate NOT what cats like! They are for the owners’ noses. But what good is a litter a cat will not use if it cannot stand to smell it.
Exactly! A cat’s sense of smell is pretty amazing, so if the litter smell can be picked up by humans, it’s going to be way too strong for cats.
My cat seems to love my perfume. She wants to smell it when I have it on. she also likes to smell it from a paperstrip. It’s a flowery fruity perfume with vanilla.
That’s interesting. She might just be curious, but it’s unusual that she would like something fruity, as cats aren’t at all fond of citrus smells. Every cat is unique!