# I am baffled by this warning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703 "2019-04-18T02:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/21 "2019-04-18T14:26:53Z")
**purplehorseshoe** get out of my head! That’s the first thing I started mentally singing. **Calmeacham** , thanks for introducing “kid kibble” into my lexicon. And the laughs. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/22 "2019-04-18T14:34:56Z")
Those cardboard scratchers often come with a packet of catnip, so maybe the warning is more for the nip than the cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/23 "2019-04-18T16:26:36Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I can’t quite tell if this is true of yours, but the cardboard scratching inserts I’ve used had sand or something glued to it to help with the claw sharpening action. Chewing on cardboard won’t do much harm to an infant, but chewing on sand could damage teeth. Nope. This one’s just a thick slab of pure cardboard. > [@](#): > > Those cardboard scratchers often come with a packet of catnip, so maybe the warning is more for the nip than the cardboard. No catnip either. Just. Cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/24 "2019-04-18T17:34:05Z")
Maybe the cardboard is stuck together with glue that isn’t certified to be non-toxic. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/25 "2019-04-18T17:38:39Z")
> [@](#): > > WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. On nearly everything. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/26 "2019-04-18T17:55:58Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > You know kids, they might do all sorts of stupid stuff like rubbing sandpaper against each other’s faces or trying to eat it. Willie and Frankie hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/27 "2019-04-18T17:58:01Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Those cardboard scratchers often come with a packet of catnip, so maybe the warning is more for the nip than the cardboard. Humans don’t respond to the chemical (nepetalactone) that is psychoactive for cats, so for us, catnip is basically just mint. It’s commonly claimed that it has a mild sedative effect on humans, but I have not found actual studies supporting that–the closest I’ve seen is an abstract for a paper mentioning that a toddler became unusually sleepy after ingesting “a large quantity of catnip”. So, a warning for catnip would make about as much sense as a warning for a slab cardboard. Since they stuck the warning on a slab of cardboard, however, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t compound the silliness with a catnip warning. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/28 "2019-04-18T18:14:04Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Willie and Frankie hate when that happens. You know what I hate? Cat scratching posts? Cat scratching posts, the kind with sand glued on. I bought one o’em a while back, started rubbin’ it on my face, suddenly I’m missing skin and my face starts burnin’. Sounds painful! Yeah, so next I grabbed some hot sauce… ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/29 "2019-04-18T18:53:25Z")
Strictly speaking, complaints about warnings should go in ATMB… ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/30 "2019-04-18T20:25:43Z")
I haven’t had an opportunity to whip out my sig-line in quite some time. (ignore the Carls jr. thing … I was making some sort of point) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/31 "2019-04-19T02:47:45Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > So then how are we supposed to get their claws sharpened? With a dremel tool. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/32 "2019-04-19T03:02:43Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > With a dremel tool. #10 ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/33 "2019-04-19T10:04:49Z")
Maybe they meant the cat’s children. ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_Elliot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jane_elliot/32/6166_2.png) [@Jane\_Elliot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Elliot)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/34 "2019-04-19T14:04:33Z")
My best friend is an attorney who specializes in suing insurance companies. From listening to decades of stories, those warnings are rarely preemptive. That means that some one had to do something stupid to get the company to include the warning. I know that’s why Nair has a warning not to use it on your genitals. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/35 "2019-04-20T18:34:02Z")
> [@Jane\_Elliot](#): > > My best friend is an attorney who specializes in suing insurance companies. From listening to decades of stories, those warnings are rarely preemptive. That means that some one had to do something stupid to get the company to include the warning. I know that’s why Nair has a warning not to use it on your genitals. What I want to know is why those little packets that come with your shoes say “Do Not Eat”. Not because they’re poison. But because who the fuck would think of eating one of those? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/36 "2019-04-20T19:09:07Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What I want to know is why those little packets that come with your shoes say “Do Not Eat”. Not because they’re poison. But because who the fuck would think of eating one of those? Yeah, just like who would eat a Tide Pod? They look just like those little salt packets that fast food places give you with your meal. Imagine opening your box of new shoes in the kitchen and throwing the packet on the table. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703/37 "2019-04-20T19:12:11Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What I want to know is why those little packets that come with your shoes say “Do Not Eat”. Not because they’re poison. But because who the fuck would think of eating one of those? I think you are referring to silica gel desiccant packets. Those are also put in food packages, and it’s conceivable that someone will think it’s supposed to be eaten with the packaged food. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baffled-by-this-warning/832703.md?page=1)