I recently looked through the book Why Paint Cats, by Burton Silver and Heather Busch. Is paint toxic to cats?
Ruby
Gridley, CA
About 15 years ago a book entitled Why Cats Paint was released with much fanfare and no small amount of controversy. The book featured and discussed artwork (paintings) created by cats.
Evidently the authors are gluttons for controversy. In 2002 they released a sequel, entitled Why Paint Cats. The second book features cats as artwork, and it definitely got people stirred up. The book has many photographs of decoratively painted cats. Plenty of people questioned the ethics of using cats as accessories and ornaments. I have not read the book, but my understanding is that the authors intended for it to be satirical and comical. Therefore, some of the controversy may be unfounded.
The cats in the book were painted with non-toxic vegetable dyes. So, to answer your question Ruby, the paints used in Why Paint Cats are not poisonous. However, most other types of paint can be very dangerous to cats. And paint thinner is extremely toxic when applied to cats’ skin.
In my opinion painting cats is a bad idea. Fortunately, cats are amazingly beautiful in their natural state. They don’t need to be painted.
Image source: costumecats.com
