Are perfumes necessary in pet products?

I'd like your opinion about the perfumes that are put into so many pet products, such as shampoos & odor elimnators. I am very sensitive to many perfumes ( I get headaches, cough & sometimes asthma) so I supply unscented cat litter (very difficult to find in a rural area) for my cats. I've noticed that cats (understandable considering their acute sense of smell) prefer unscented cat litter as well. Are there cats out there that like the perfumes? Or is it simply a consumer strategy to please us humans? As I research perfume sensitivity in humans, and how it can even impact the behavior of children, I wonder if it bothers cats. On the other hand, my cats don't seem to be bothered by bad breath, or sweaty workers, etc. - they are friendly to all. Maybe it's just me who's being too sensitive?????

I'm the same about scented litter. I accidentally picked up a bag last week and nearly gagged when I poured it in the litterbox. Luckily, Ivo hasn't seemed to mind. But she definately does not like some scents. I have several citrus-based perfumes (grapefruit, lime) that she detests. The caramel one doesn't bother her nearly as much. I think the scents are in the products for the humans and not the cats.

Originally Posted by catsknowme

I'd like your opinion about the perfumes that are put into so many pet products, such as shampoos & odor elimnators. I am very sensitive to many perfumes ( I get headaches, cough & sometimes asthma)

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me too!

Originally Posted by catsknowme

Are there cats out there that like the perfumes? Or is it simply a consumer strategy to please us humans?

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just for us humans, i'm sure. the appearance of cat food is also often designed to please humans... cats care more about taste & smell than looks!

Originally Posted by catsknowme

On the other hand, my cats don't seem to be bothered by bad breath, or sweaty workers, etc. - they are friendly to all. Maybe it's just me who's being too sensitive?????

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if you're like me, perfumes are often more offensive than natural smells, even those often considered offensive, like B.O., skunk, fecal/urinary...etc. cats may perceive odors similarly - i.e., natural odors, even 'bad' ones, are preferable to created odors.

Most cats can't tolerate citrus smells. Mine are OK with more natural based scents like vanilla, honey, oatmeal, etc. They tolerated scented cat litters when I used them but just switched over to Littermate, which is unscented and covers better than the scented brands.

Dogs on the other hand live for scents. I had a dog that liked to roam into the cow pasture and roll in the stinky stuff. She wanted a strong smell about her. A trainer suggested putting perfumed scents on her, which over time, became her preferred scent and she quit rolling in poop.

momofmany gosh, if my dog did that id go crazy!

i dont smell a scent in the cat litter i buy?
Its called catsan but i think i might have a look on the packet if its scented

My dog loves to roll in cow pies, too. Many do. No point in going crazy about it, it is just a Dog Thing. He thinks it smells great, obviously. I just give him a bath and do not give him a hard time about it. If I were a dog I would understand why he does it, I am sure. I once had a dog who had a two week affair with a dead skunk until I finally managed to find it and bury it. Then I had to travel with the dog and two other people in a car for 1,000 miles. Someone said tomato juice would kill the skunk odor, so I bathed the dog in a gallon of tomato juice. Then we drove for 1,000 miles with a dog that smelled of skunk and tomato juice.

I do not think they should put perfume in things for animals. Most often they do not seem to like it. I never use anything scented myself; dogs and cats seem to hate it, even if it is just a body lotion, and I would rather just smell like myself and be appealing to my animals. 'Course, I also have no sense of smell myself, so I avoid anything scented since I do not know what it smells like.

I'd say they're about as necessary as a goiter, but I have noticed that Jamie likes vanilla-scented litter. When he has the choice between unscented and vanilla-scented, he uses the scented. I personally don't particularly like the smell of that particular brand, but I'm not the one using it!
fwan, Catsan has unscented, and "baby-powder scented".

I could be wrong about the number, but I remember reading that a cats sense of smell is 100x more powerful then a humans. Considering how I hate perfumes and they bother my lungs making it hard for me to breath (depending on the fragrence or something in them) I can not beleive the fragrences are at all for the cat but solely for the humans. With the exception of CatNip of course.

I rarely do a bath to Milky with Kid´s Shampoo, I love the perfum of strawberry after of him!!!

Hummm I didn´t see a chance of behavior after a bath in him