Toe Beans: A Serious Investigation

They are not just cute. The pads on a cat's paws are sweat glands, shock absorbers, and scent markers all at once.

The internet calls them toe beans. Veterinarians call them digital pads. Whatever you call them, the small cushions on the underside of a cat's paw do considerably more work than their appearance suggests.

They sweat

Cats have very few sweat glands and most of them are in the paw pads. A nervous cat at the vet leaves damp prints on the steel table. On a hot day you will sometimes see the same thing on a tiled floor. It is one of the few ways a cat can shed heat without panting.

They absorb

The pads are thick, fatty, and slightly elastic. They are why a cat can drop from a wardrobe onto a hard floor and land in silence. The same pads are sensitive enough to feel vibration through the floor, which is why your cat often knows someone is at the door before the bell.

They mark

Scent glands sit between the pads. When a cat kneads a blanket or scratches a post, it is leaving a signature. The blanket now smells like the cat. The cat finds this reassuring. You, the human, cannot smell it at all, which is probably for the best.

Pink, black, spotted, or a mix: pad colour follows the fur. A tuxedo cat often has a tuxedo set of beans.

Looking after them

Pads crack in dry winters and on hot pavement. Check them occasionally, especially on an outdoor cat. A small cut on a pad is slow to heal because the cat keeps walking on it. Most of the time, though, the beans look after themselves. Your job is to admire them while the cat is asleep and to never, ever press them when it is awake.