Essential Oils and Cats

Victoria Anisman-Reiner, B.Sc., C.C.A., J. Engelken, 2003

Posted by
Victoria Anisman-Reiner
Aug 4, 2007

Most people who use natural and holistic remedies on themselves are open to using them on their pets. In fact, many dog and cat owners who are unwilling to spend the money on organic groceries or holistic treatments for themselves are more than willing to shell out the money to treat their beloved pets' diseases the natural way.

The one exception is aromatherapy. Some pretty horrific stories have been circulating about cats dying after exposure to even a brief whiff of essential oils. So most careful cat owners are putting away the essential oils and foregoing aromatherapy treatments in order to protect their cats' health.

Guess what? Such extreme measures are absolutely unnecessary.

What is needed is some education. Education about the quality of the various essential oils used in treatments. Education about the poisons being put into perfumes and "aromatherapy oils" - no matter what degree of purity their labels may claim - and going into all our bodies (if you're crammed onto a subway car with someone wearing an expensive perfume or cologne, you're being exposed to carcinogens. But forgive my digression. I was talking about pets, wasn't I?).

My cats may not be fond of essential oils, but they're certainly not poisonous.

The oils I use are therapeutic-grade, grown organically (or the equivalent in their country of origin) and produced by the only North American company to have won international recognition for the quality and purity of its oils. And yes, I use them on my cats.

One of my girls has a level 6 heart murmur. She can't be spayed because with her heart defect, an anaesthetic could kill her. Despite the fact that she's a mischievous little imp, I treat her as gently as I can.

When she goes into heat, she sometimes loses bladder control and starts to leave yellow puddles on the kitchen tiles - and I gently apply essential oils to help calm her and to strengthen her bladder and eliminative organs. I take barely a drop (or half a drop where possible) of cypress or lavender, or a calming blend of oils, and rub it right into my hands, then sneak up on her (she's not fond of strong smells) and rub my almost-dry hands onto the fur on her back.

My other cat is prone to eye and nasal infections and the occasional runny nose. She came to me yesterday morning with one eye looking pink, drippy and nearly shut. Two hours after applying lavender oil (from almost-dry hands) to the bottom of her four feet, she was perky and her eye looked normal.

The same essential oils that we use on ourselves or on our children are, for the most part, safe to use on animals - and can be very effective! Please research any oil you intend to use on your cats or other pets. Labelling that claims that oils are "100% organic" or "therapeutic-grade" may be misleading.

For more information, see Do Essential Oils Kill Cats?

Jul 24, 2009 9:59 AM

Guest :

Generally, essential oils consist of hydrocarbons or monofunctional compounds from mono-and sesqui-terpenes, together phenylpropanoids and other volatile aliphatic and aromatic substances. In plain English, this means the part of EOs that is toxic to cat, terpenes/terpenoids, is synthesized by the plant and is found in even the purest Essential Oils. Many terpenoids are rapidly absorbed orally and dermally by the cat's system and are metabolized in the liver. Due to their volatile nature, inhalation of essential oil components is also possible, and these enter the bloodstream via the lungs, also to be metabolized in the liver. The terpenoids and their metabolites are often conjugated with glucuronic acid (glucuronidation) and glycine depending on the type of terpenoid and animal species involved. The conjugated metabolites are usually more water-soluble and are easily excreted through the kidney and feces.
Cats are known to be deficient in their ability to eliminate compounds through hepatic glucuronidation (they lack enzyme glucuronyl tranferases). Glucuronidation is an important detoxification mechanism present in most animals except cats. Lack of this important detoxification mechanism in cats may result in slower elimination and thus build up of the toxic metabolites in the body causing toxicity problems (ie: liver damage).

Please be wary of any animal practitioner or supplier of essential oils claiming that their products or techniques are completely safe to use with cats: the statement is both inaccurate and unsafe. No matter what their claims say, nothing will change the unique physiology of a cat.

Even diffusing EOs in the air for your benefit/pleasure can be dangerous to your cat because she will absorb it through her lungs.

Please be careful and be aware the toxicity levels can build up over as long as 48 hours to a level that is damaging to your cat's liver.