“The Bluestocking, Vol 267: Fascinated by the Smell & Taste of Earwax”, Helen Lewis2023-04-28 (cat psychology; backlinks)⁠:

…I know some of you reading this will pause reading the newsletter at this point to put your finger in your ear and get your cat to sniff it. Please know that I am judging you. But also email me and tell me what happens…Can’t believe I’ve been labouring to produce #longform all this time when clearly what people want is cat/earwax content. What a wasted life.

[Comments, cats:]

• “I subscribe to the Browser so I read that earlier and nodded in recognition—my ex-boyfriend and I discovered our cat loved earwax 25 years ago (she was impervious to catmint, though—turns out it is not, err, catnip to all cats).”
• “Had two wonderful cats, RIP angels. One of them would bite my finger if it had earwax on it. By coincidence, I last night had a dream about her getting closer and closer to my ear in order to bite it off. These were the gentlest of souls—cozy lapcats that lived to 18, but they were heat-seeking missiles when it came to my ears.”
• “Empirical study: two cats, very different temperaments, both love earwax. Done in the name of science of course. Yet another cat mystery”
• “The cat went nuts for the earwax.”
• “My cat Haggis sniffed my finger a couple of times with perhaps slightly more interest than he sniffs an unwaxed

[Dogs:]

• “My dogs seem to like waxy earplugs, too, and would eat them if I let them.”
• “Not sure about dogs ignoring earwax. Mine is always sniffing other dogs’ ears, and they reciprocate. However I’m not going to see what she thinks of my earwax, which anyway smells of roses.”

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