One of my most asked questions is about essential oils and cats. Are they safe to use around the home if you have a cat and/or can they be used with cats. The answer is yes to both but as with anything there are some precautions you need to take. I have 2 cats and have over the years used them with my cats very successfully and I use them daily for myself and my dogs so my cats are always in their presence.
So to start let's just look at some of the things that often are quoted when we're talking about cats and oils.
Firstly, myth 1, they cause liver or kidney damage now if you're using poor quality oils then this is true because they're often contaminated or they have fillers in them, or can be synthetic as well so it may not be the oil it's what it is being paired with but essential oils can support the kidneys and the liver now it's really important to as I said use good quality oils. Copaiba is one of my all round favourites for this and I choose doTerra essential oils as they actually have a veterinary panel plus I was also trained by a vet who uses them too! Want to get essential oils? Pop to my
store for more info. Now it is true that cats lack a liver enzyme P450 cytochrome to be precise but as Dr Melissa Shelton and my mentor
Dr Janet Roark state cats have other metabolic pathways and they use essential oils with our feline buddies extensively.
It is important to know what is what and ideally work with an expert in this area such as me so you can get the necessary advice. I was actually involved in a very sad case where a cat got ill and the owner was using essential oils, the cat was taken to the vet and the vet asked was there anything new around the home and the owner said I've been using essential oils so the vet immediately decided it was essential oil toxicity. He did bloods but despite normal blood results they still went down the essential oil toxicity path this went over several weeks the cat improved at the vets with fluids went home and got sick again it was only then that the owner got in touch with me and I asked them for the blood results, I asked them to describe what was going on and from the description of the signs that the cat was exhibiting I was convinced it was not toxicity but something else and suggested to the owner that they speak to the vet about a scope for the oesophagus the owner duly did that and the cat was put under anaesthetic and had a oesophagogastroduodenoscopy and was found to be absolutely riddled with oesophageal cancer because the vet went down the path of essential oil toxicity it delayed the diagnosis by several weeks and the poor cat was only improving at the vets because they were on fluid because at home they couldn't take anything orally because of the cancerous lesions.
Myth 2 is that citrus oils are toxic to cats but there's actually been no cases where this has been found they've actually been reports that d-limonene the toxic constituent to cats which is in citrus oils but actually this isn't true it is however toxic to cat fleas! In addition to this they have done studies of d-limone alone which has been used produced synthetically and they've actually found that this is caused some irritation to the skin but this was not an essential oil it was just that constituent and this is often the problem when you isolate a constituent it doesn't have the other constituents within it to create a balance.
Myth 3, avoid peppermint now the truth is peppermint can be irritating to a cat just like it can make your eyes water, and some cats might not like it but both my cats love peppermint and it's not a problem and it is certainly something you can use around the home and you shouldn't worry about it causing problems with your cats if they want to sniff it let them. It's fine.
Myth 4, pine oils are toxic to cats - again this is not true at all now α-pinene is a component in over 400 essential oils and also an ingredient in popular cleaning solutions that have the odour of pine so there has been reports of a toxicity with this product but it was for a synthetic product and not an essential oil and there's actually been no reports of pine oil toxicity at all.
Myth 5, Lavender can’t be used. Not true and given the high prevalence of lavendar products you would expect to see a lot of issues if this was the case and lavender has been used for such a long time now. Spike lavender has the potential to be dangerous but we're talking about lavender angustifolia and that is a wonderful oil to use. There were articles related to the use of linalool being a problem but as for d-limonene this was actually regarding to the constituent but it wasn't an essential oil the constituents were very concentrated and not in the percentages that they would be in an actual essential oil.
Myth 6, is never pet your cat after using essential oils again that just isn't true it's actually a really great way to get oils on them. And even if you are using something less dilute on yourself and pet them after they are volatile organic compounds and so they dissipate in the air rapidly and they absorb in the skin rapidly so you're not going to transfer much on to them anyway.
What you do need to be mindful of with cats is the fact is that anything you diffuse will land on them and they will ingest them because they groom all the time so take that into consideration when you are diffusing oils so for example you can diffuse eucalyptus but we know that the actual eucalyptus plant is toxic to cats so they will ingest some eucalyptus so just make it a very dilute one and and just diffuse far less but they can certainly can benefit from eucalyptus oils.
Avoid oils such as tea tree, wintergreen, birch, nutmeg and use caution with hot oils such as cinnamon and clove.
The key is to dilute well - for cats I use a 0.5% dilution which is roughly 1 drop in 10mls of a carrier oil like fractionated coconut oil.
I use essential oils everyday for myself and my dogs and my cats reap the benefits. I have used essential oils for my elderly cat Paddington when he was suffering with constipation and also to soothe him in his last days. For respiratory support my cat Holly was struggling with congestion so essential oils came to the rescue such as Laurel Leaf and On Guard. The there was introducing Mufasa my cat from Iraq to the house - Balance blend was on a blanket I sent out to the War Paws shelter and was also diffused in the house to help settle him and all the dogs and Holly cat with the new arrival.
Using a litterbox powder as above is a great way for odour control but also allow them to get the benefits of those oils too.
I use On Guard to clean the litter trays and catio and mop my floor, and lemon for bathroom surfaces and more. The cats love rolling on my bed with the presence of Serenity blend or lavender and everytime I do a live talking about essential oils you can be sure of a cat presence in the form of Holly or Mufasa.
Essential oils have a myriad of benefits for you and your pets. For some more cat advice videos check out my
YouTube Playlist
I have curated a Cat kit which has oils that not only are beneficial for them they are awesome for you too and safe to use. With this kit I give you full instructions and guidance and a bespoke plan for your individual circumstances so you can be sure that not only are you using them safely but they are effective for your needs too.
Check out my
pet kits and find out about all my bonuses that I include for you to get maximum benefit.
Want to learn more about using essential oils and how they can help your health and that of your pets?
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Information given here is not intended as a substitute for medical or veterinary consultation - the author has no liability nor responsibility with respect to any issues occurring out of use such as damage, loss, injury.