I've often heard sage bits of cat wisdom that suggest using lavender oil to calm a cat, or to use orange oil or peppermint oil to make a cat avoid certain places. The bad news is, as I was researching toxins for cats, I found out that...
Essential Oils are poisonous for cats
AND, these toxins affect them if they are EATEN, INHALED, of ABSORBED through their skin. So this means we have to be careful of what is in our air, on our floors and benches, and put on the cat (don't). Easy. But it's kind of not... remember to check your cleaning products, and beware of all pet products. It's quite astonishing how many contain toxic essential oils, so we need to read ingredients. For example, a common one in Australia is tea-tree oil in pet shampoos.
The essential oil danger is that the cat's liver simply can't break down certain compounds. And the toxic load therefore builds up and up...I don't know the load quantity that causes death, but cats have died from essential oils. In fact, it was thought essential oils were fine, and it was only the cat deaths that made people investigate and find that cats lack a certain enzyme most other animals have, and therefore essential oils are toxic to them - on the skin, in the air, or eaten.
Here are a couple extracts from my reading that say things better than I can:
Essential Oils are poisonous for cats
AND, these toxins affect them if they are EATEN, INHALED, of ABSORBED through their skin. So this means we have to be careful of what is in our air, on our floors and benches, and put on the cat (don't). Easy. But it's kind of not... remember to check your cleaning products, and beware of all pet products. It's quite astonishing how many contain toxic essential oils, so we need to read ingredients. For example, a common one in Australia is tea-tree oil in pet shampoos.
The essential oil danger is that the cat's liver simply can't break down certain compounds. And the toxic load therefore builds up and up...I don't know the load quantity that causes death, but cats have died from essential oils. In fact, it was thought essential oils were fine, and it was only the cat deaths that made people investigate and find that cats lack a certain enzyme most other animals have, and therefore essential oils are toxic to them - on the skin, in the air, or eaten.
Here are a couple extracts from my reading that say things better than I can:
Cats are sensitive to essential oils for two reasons. Not only do felines have very acute senses of smell, but they also have delicate and thin skin, which allows for quicker absorption of these concentrated substances into the bloodstream. Most disturbingly, cats can't efficiently metabolize the compounds in essential oils, which can lead to toxic build-up in their bodies.
There's debate over whether hydrosols, a by-product made when a plant is steam distilled to extract essential oils, are also toxic to cats.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/essential-knowledge-for-cat-ow-58072
The above site helpfully provides a list of known toxic essential oils.
Interestingly, I was recently asked about whether vanilla essence was safe for cats. I'm not even sure if vanilla is an essential oil, or a distillation - it is not on this list of toxins at any rate. Now I don't know enough about toxicology to say that vanilla is categorically safe, but I know that a common bit of cat wisdom is to pop a bit of vanilla on cats' noses to introduce two cats (they can only smell the vanilla, not the other cat, and it smells like them seeing as they also smell of vanilla). The practice of dabbing anything that smells as strong as vanilla on the ultra sensitive feline nose is not something I am comfortable with. Think about how sensitive their smell is. Do we like being surrounded with such a high concentration of smell (pleasant or not) that we cannot escape it and the fumes enter our mouths and lungs? Now think about how delicate feline skin is, particularly their nose- far more than the skin on our cheeks. Now remember that vanilla essence is alcohol based; would you wipe the delicate skin of a human baby with alcohol? I would prefer not to. So while vanilla may or may not be safe - as with other substances - a bit of thinking should provide the necessary caution.
For more information on essential oils and cats, have a look at this site, which is informed by chemists and vet toxicologists:
http://www.thelavendercat.com/images/PDF-TheLavenderCat_temp_use.pdf
Oh, and just to let you breathe easier, fresh or dried lavender (and many other herbs) are perfectly safe for cats. So if you simply can't live in a home without airfreshners, hang a bit of lavender around the place. And ditch the essential oils.
Interestingly, I was recently asked about whether vanilla essence was safe for cats. I'm not even sure if vanilla is an essential oil, or a distillation - it is not on this list of toxins at any rate. Now I don't know enough about toxicology to say that vanilla is categorically safe, but I know that a common bit of cat wisdom is to pop a bit of vanilla on cats' noses to introduce two cats (they can only smell the vanilla, not the other cat, and it smells like them seeing as they also smell of vanilla). The practice of dabbing anything that smells as strong as vanilla on the ultra sensitive feline nose is not something I am comfortable with. Think about how sensitive their smell is. Do we like being surrounded with such a high concentration of smell (pleasant or not) that we cannot escape it and the fumes enter our mouths and lungs? Now think about how delicate feline skin is, particularly their nose- far more than the skin on our cheeks. Now remember that vanilla essence is alcohol based; would you wipe the delicate skin of a human baby with alcohol? I would prefer not to. So while vanilla may or may not be safe - as with other substances - a bit of thinking should provide the necessary caution.
For more information on essential oils and cats, have a look at this site, which is informed by chemists and vet toxicologists:
http://www.thelavendercat.com/images/PDF-TheLavenderCat_temp_use.pdf
Oh, and just to let you breathe easier, fresh or dried lavender (and many other herbs) are perfectly safe for cats. So if you simply can't live in a home without airfreshners, hang a bit of lavender around the place. And ditch the essential oils.