Long story short, my trouble-making cat, Zoe, broke a Galileo Thermometer my mom has had since...I assume the 90s or 00s. She doesn't remember how she got it, so it could even be older than that. The little balls with coloured liquid inside did not break thankfully.

The liquid inside the thermometer spilled on Zoe's hindlegs, and we can't tell what it substance it was. We don't know if it was just water or not. It smells like a mineral oil, and has a greasy feel to it. I've tried looking around the Internet for answers, but I'm coming up short on anything clear-cut.

So what the hell is in a Galileo Thermometer? And just how dangerous is the liquid inside? We washed her, but I'm still worried.

It also spilled all over the fireplace and rug too. What would be the best way to clean up the rug and such?

It could be Ethanol (which is flammable)

But I assume it's diluted enough to not be harmful if only a small amount is ingested. It's not like the cat went and lapped it up like milk or something. It just got on her fur, and we washed it off with soap and water immediately.

It's been roughly half an hour, and Zoe's fine. It does stink, but it's not kerosene or mercury, or anything overwhelmingly powerful. It's most likely ethanol, or a liquid paraffin used in cosmetics and medical.

It's at least 18 years old, so it's circa 90s.

any cleaning recommendations?

It is most likely just mineral oil, which is fine for cats. I work at a shelter and constipated cats are given small amounts of it. If she's super oily you can try like dawn soap water to try and clean her off, I would do the same wherever else the oily stuff landed.

Quick Google search into them - and given there's one on my Dad's lawyer's bookcase - it's just water in modern ones. Water can go fetid if it's sealed with metal in.

If your cat's fine still, don't worry too much. Chances are if it was harmful, there would have been signs of such by now.

Thank you for the help! Zoe's perfectly fine this morning, so all is well! She's just down to 8 lives if I had to guess.

Good to know. c:

Glad your cat is ok. :) I broke mine a while ago and freaked out because my cats were trying to drink it. It smelled like ethanol in mine. Mineral oil wouldn't be as bad, but she might get a little sick. Mineral oil is really good for their skin, as a bonus though. ^_^