EDUC Cat safe essential oils

[Melodi]

0)Nightwolf says the only safe essential oils to use around cats are:

1. Lavender

2. Chamomile (both Roman and German)

3. Cannabis

These oils all have incredibly low toxicity (we can't even find an LD50 for any of the cannabinoids yet...occasionally a number is suggested, but it always comes down to, "if you want to kill a small animal with cannabis, compress twenty pounds into a brick and drop it on the animal's head from a great height". Lavender and the chamomiles are considered safe to use undiluted on human infants (if they do not show signs of allergy by 3 successive patch tests; note that chamomiles are cross-reactive with ragwort allergy in some people). Cannabis is not directly toxic, but some questions remain regarding neurological/developmental effects, and it is therefore not advised for pre-adults unless there is pressing cause such as intractable epilepsy. Cats respond extremely well to cannabis, although oversedation (unconscious for >24 hours) with extremely high dosage presents dangers of dehydration and protein-deficiency liver damage if not supported.

If you must decontaminate or for other reasons use area-effect diffusion of non cat-safe oils (nearly all; cat metabolism is extremely sensitive to these powerful concentrates) around cats:

1) Give a few hours clearance between the diffusion of the oil and the presence of the cat in the room. We have occasionally used mixtures that I would not be happy using in the direct presence of a cat in order to deal with bacteria, fungi, u.s.w. - but we move the cats until we can't really detect the scent any longer.

2) Ensure that the cat can freely leave the room or area as it pleases. Usually the cat will find the aroma of a potential toxin noxious long before it is actually in danger.

3) If spraying as a mist emulsion or otherwise putting the oil onto surfaces in any concentration higher than might be delivered to walls or floor by a few drops in an essential oil water-"burner" in a medium-sized room...well, keep the spray to places where the cat will not walk or rub.
Anything that gets onto a cat, will get into a cat in short order!

 

[Jubilee on Earth]

I can't say this is true, to be honest. I've been a Young Living distributor for over 6 years now, and diffuse myriad essential oils quite regularly. I have two healthy, happy cats that are about 10 years old, and they've never had any ill effects from them. Never even been to the vet (thank God). They are my babies. They shy away when I have oils on my hands, but they shy away from my husband's farts, too. LOL Not to make light of it, but if I've ever seen any indication at all that it's harmful or even annoying, I would have made an effort not to diffuse around them.

 

[Dozdoats]

A good reminder to all that "natural" remedies are still real medicines (even though they don't come with a prescription) and should be treated as such, with an understanding of effects, side effects and possible problems. Thanks again, Mel!

 

[Melodi]

Nightwolf wrote most of that, he forgot to note that - and this is the best research he could get on the topic when we were writing the first cat book (and from veterinary sites, textbooks on cat veterinary medicine and even alternative sites).

It isn't that you can't get lucky and not have a cat react, I used this stuff for years before I knew any better but the fact is, it can be very dangerous especially if the cat is in a closed room with no way to leave or even cracked window to breath fresh air from.

Again, different oils range from " just not a good idea" (cinnamon, cloves, etc) to very dangerous - I think he's got the listings in the Barn Cat Book but I don't have mine to hand right now and he wrote those chapters.

My publisher is working on getting it back up on Kindle Unlimited, the glitch is with Amazon and not on our end.