[VeeLin]

I was searching for others who had experienced this! I first experienced it with a cat that I had for many years, but it was mild. I just noticed she would sniff my hands or surface in the house if I used bleach cleaner. More recently, my roommate and I brought in a litter of strays and wound up keeping two brothers. These guys go crazy over the smell of bleach! I use it sometimes to clean the floor around the litter box, and one day I did it and the two of them ran over and hit the floor as soon as they smelled it. They started writhing around all over the floor like they were doing modern dance together or something. It's hilarious. I do know that bleach isn't harmful (I've read that in emergencies, like after an earthquake or something that interrupts clean water supply, you can put tiny amounts of bleach in water to purify it for drinking) so I haven't stopped it. I just make sure to wipe it up thoroughly so I am sure they're not getting it on their skin. It doesn't surprise me to find other cats are like this, since my first cat was not related to the brothers. It is really wild that the response from those two is much stronger than their response to cat nip.

[VeeLin]

Huh. So I just read all the other comments. I didn't realize bleach contains ammonia. Maybe using it around the litter box is not such a good thing. We do have another cat who wees in front of the box and it's becoming a problem. He did it before I ever used the bleach though - that is why I started doing it. Still, maybe I will look for something else to clean the floor with.

[froggy7]

Huh. So I just read all the other comments. I didn't realize bleach contains ammonia.

Bleach does not contain ammonia. In fact, mixing bleach and ammonia together is extremely dangerous. It causes a chemical reaction that creates chlorine gas, which is used as a chemical weapon. I don't want anyone to read the previous post and think that mixing those two cleaning agents together is a good thing to do.

[linnealand]

Froggy is right. Mixing bleach and ammonia creates lethal fumes.

I am amazed to find people who have been dealing with a curious phenomenon similar to mine.

My cats would go crazy over the used cotton balls I used to take off nail polish. They would lick them like crazy, which worried me considerably. I had to become very careful about their disposal. Their fancy for NAIL POLISH REMOVER would also have them playing all over the emery boards.

Has anyone else noticed this happen?

[flyboy2638]

My female 5 year old Tiger cat,
Jinx, does the crazy dance with bleach. I thought it was only her, but I guess not. Now I know that it won't harm her, I will let her play around and roll in it.

She does one other crazy thing with dancing.
I found this out when I opened my cedar chest for the first time after Jinx entered out house. She ran from the other room, she was sleeping, and jumped into the cedar chest and would not leave. If I take out sheets, curtains, rugs out of the chest, she rolls around acts the same way as with the bleach.

To all of our carzy cats.

[Stephieee]

Haha. One of my cats also goes crazy for bleach. So weird.

[steelgrl]

My cat is a year and a half and just started doing this. If I start using bleach she comes runningand will attack as though it's a game. Im not sure why she's started this but I was little worried at first but it doesn't seem to have any adverse effects.

[starruniverse]

I have 2 ten month old cats. One male and one female. Although I don't use a lot of bleach around my house because of kids, I work as a waitress and our cleansing water to wash the tables and counters has a splash of bleach in it. When I come home most of the time, my hands smell like bleach.

My female will lick my hands contentedly, but my male will attack them. He will pounce on my and grab my hand in his paws, even using his claws to hold them in place. Not scratching, but more of a warning that he will if I move before he is done. He will then precede to lick then actually try to chew my fingers. Mostly it isn't painful, but he gets excited sometimes and forgets it is my fingers and will nip me hard. He eventually stops, but it is the weirdest thing.

He is the only one of the two however that will attack anyone in the family who washes their hair. Not any other part that has been in the shower or tub, but he will try to chew and pull out hair with his teeth.

Until I looked this us and found this site, I thought I had a possessed cat! I don't buy catnip, but rarely. And it is the only similar reactions that come close. Haha

[lyn1991]

I have goats and there on bottles and we clean there bottles with bleach and water in the sink and the cat goes ballistic all over and jumps on the counter and licks it!! :p it's hilarious!

[trackmom41]

We have 3 female cats that have been spayed. We didn't start noticing the reaction of chlorine with the cats until our son began swimming on the high school team. One of our cats would poke, claw, and climb on his head (if he laid down) after he returned from the pool. Yesterday, after cleaning the floor with bleach/water, one of our other cats began rolling around the floor acting very strange. The third cat had also reacted to an area of white carpet I cleaned with bleach several times. She sat/rolled in it for quite a while. The funny thing, none of these cats like catnip.

[jackie401]

My two year old female cat Frankie, goes bazurk at the smell of chlorine/bleach. If I go swimming she tries to bite me and rub up against me. When I use bleach within the house she throws herself on the floor and rolls around rubbing herself up against objects. Very strange behaviour which only is apparent when the smell of bleach is present. I wondered if it had a similar smell to perhaps male cat pheremones or something?

[jackie401]

My two year old female cat Frankie, goes bazurk at the smell of chlorine/bleach. If I go swimming she tries to bite me and rub up against me. When I use bleach within the house she throws herself on the floor and rolls around rubbing herself up against objects. Very strange behaviour which only is apparent when the smell of bleach is present. I wondered if it had a similar smell to perhaps male cat pheremones or something?

[morgaine300]

This thread is 6 years old.

[hheath541]

And is now closed.