Cats and essential oils
A quirk of feline liver chemistry makes a whole category of “natural” products unsafe. Here is the mechanism, and the list.
Most mammals clear phenols and terpenes — the aromatic compounds that make essential oils smell of anything — through a liver process called glucuronidation. Cats have very little of the enzyme that drives it. Compounds that a dog processes and excretes within hours accumulate in a cat instead.
This is the same reason paracetamol kills cats at doses a person would not notice. It is not an allergy or a sensitivity. It is a missing metabolic pathway.
Two things make it worse in practice. Cats groom constantly, so anything applied to the fur is swallowed rather than just absorbed. And oils do not need to be applied directly — a diffuser running in the same room deposits a fine film on the coat, which the cat then eats off itself.
Keep these away from cats
- Tea tree (melaleuca)The most frequently reported. Causes tremors, weakness and liver damage even diluted.
- Citrus: orange, lemon, bergamotD-limonene and linalool. Common in "fresh" pet sprays.
- Pine, fir and spruceAlso common in household cleaners the cat then walks through.
- EucalyptusNeurotoxic to cats at low exposure.
- Peppermint and wintergreenWintergreen is close to aspirin, which cats cannot process.
- Cinnamon and clovePhenol-rich. Also caustic to the skin at usable concentrations.
- Ylang ylang, lavenderOften assumed safe because they are calming for humans. They are not.
Signs of exposure
Drooling, vomiting, unsteadiness, tremors, laboured breathing, or a chemical smell on the breath or coat. If you see any of these, do not try to wash it off at home first — phone a vet, and take the bottle with you.
What we do about it
Pawélle uses no essential oils in any product, including the ones sold for dogs. A household with a dog usually has a cat in it too, and bottles get used on the wrong animal. Designing for that is easier than warning about it.