For Ria, Katrina, and other people whose e-mails I seem to not be able to find in my gmail..
Here's the cat and oil thingy:
THis is cut and pasted from a post on a blog I was reading tonight where someone was wondering about tea tree oil as an ear mite killer for cats:
Google search on cats tea tree oil turns up several pages that discuss toxicity, including Essential Oils and Cats: A Potentially Toxic Mix:
Essential Oils Potentially Toxic to Cats
(This list is not all-inclusive)
* Peppermint
* Lemon Oil
* Lavender Oil
* Melaleuca Oil
* Tea Tree Oil
* Cinnamon Bark Oil
* Wintergreen Oil
* Thyme Oil
* Birch Oil
* Other oils containing phenol
and this:
K Bischoff and F Guale reported a case of Australian Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) oil poisoning in three purebred cats. In brief, a Tea Tree Oil spot treatment/flea repellent was used on 3 Angora cats which had been shaved prior to treatment. The treatment was advertised for use as a topical treatment or a dip and was diluted according to manufacturer's instructions before use. Because the cats had been shaved, the treatment was applied directly to the skin.
Symptoms of Tea Tree Oil toxicity began five hours after treatment. Cat A became hypothermic, ataxic (lack of muscle co-ordination), unable to stand, but alert. Cat B became hypothermic, dehydrated and comatose. Cat C was alert but nervous, trembling and slightly ataxic. The three cats smelled of the Tea Tree Oil product. They were bathed using mild detergent to remove any residue from their skin, rehydrated, kept warm and treated for Tea Tree Oil ingestion. Their urine contained terpinen-4-ol (a constituent of Tea Tree Oil), indicating Tea Tree Oil ingestion. It also contained other substances which may have been metabolic breakdown products of Tea Tree Oil.
All three cats were given supportive nursing. Two recovered fully over a two day period. The worst affected (Cat B) remained dull, hypothermic, ataxic and dehydrated despite rehydration therapy. It appeared to rally on the third day of treatment, but died several hours later.
Notes: The Tea Tree Oil had therefore reached, and potentially damaged, the cats' livers (abnormal metabolic substances in the urine), their kidneys (unchanged terpinen-4-ol excreted in the urine) and brains (ataxia and trembling/twitching). The cats had been heavily flea infested and possibly slightly anaemic which may have exacerbated later problems; flea bite wounds may have contributed to rapid absorption of the oil (however the product is actually recommended for use as a flea treatment).
Not all vets or poison control centres are aware of the oil's specific toxicity to cats and the correct treatment may not be given. Vets are left to do the best they can based on the symptoms. Owners or groomers may not dilute the shampoos appropriately, Two cases in which Tea Tree Oil is implicated is that of Buddy, a six year old Maine Coon who became critically ill shortly after being bathed in a Tea Tree Oil shampoo and who died a few days later in great distress, and also of Foxy plus a 3 week old kitten treated for ringworm using Tea Tree Oil. Miss Charlotte and Tiger both became seriously ill after a Tea Tree shampoo was used to treat ringworm and a skin problems respectively.
Toxic Components of Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree oil (melaleuca, Melaleuca alternifolia) is a phenol-containing essential oil. Its active ingredients are cyclic terpenes which have a similar structure and action to turpentine (a known toxin) - in fact Tea Trea oil makes a good paint solvent! Cats are uniquely sensitive to phenolics and other benzene-based compounds. Benzyl alcohol (a preservative) is toxic to cats.
Toxic Components of Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree oil (melaleuca, Melaleuca alternifolia) is a phenol-containing essential oil. Its active ingredients are cyclic terpenes which have a similar structure and action to turpentine (a known toxin) - in fact Tea Trea oil makes a good paint solvent! Cats are uniquely sensitive to phenolics and other benzene-based compounds. Benzyl alcohol (a preservative) is toxic to cats.
The acute toxicity for the major terpenic compounds (linalool, ocimene, alpha-terpinene, 1,8-cineole, terpinolene, camphene) is 2 - 5 g/kg body weight, which is considered a moderately toxic range. From a toxicologic point of view Tea Tree oil is comparable to oil of turpentine, which is readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and skin. In addition, cats have relatively thin, delicate skin and Tea Tree oil is highly lipophilic (attracted to fats, solvent). This means that the oil is absorbed rapidly and enters the bloodstream. These factors may account for the poisoning cases reported to the NAPCC.
**********
And a site or two I've been to myself since also notes that inhaling various aromatherapy things can be detrimental too. Not as fast as with topical applications, but if a human keeps upping the amount of aromatherapy oil in their house or incense in their house as THEY get used to it, it could start building up as toxicity in a kitty, and if you have a sensitive kitty, you will have a very very ill one.
Since almost every 'eco-friendly' cleaner we have in the house is tea-tree oily, I'm a bit wincy. And actually glad that I am a bad enough housekeeper that I don't scrub everything down and treat the carpets for fleas on a regular basis with anything. Gah.
THis is cut and pasted from a post on a blog I was reading tonight where someone was wondering about tea tree oil as an ear mite killer for cats:
Google search on cats tea tree oil turns up several pages that discuss toxicity, including Essential Oils and Cats: A Potentially Toxic Mix:
Essential Oils Potentially Toxic to Cats
(This list is not all-inclusive)
* Peppermint
* Lemon Oil
* Lavender Oil
* Melaleuca Oil
* Tea Tree Oil
* Cinnamon Bark Oil
* Wintergreen Oil
* Thyme Oil
* Birch Oil
* Other oils containing phenol
and this:
K Bischoff and F Guale reported a case of Australian Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) oil poisoning in three purebred cats. In brief, a Tea Tree Oil spot treatment/flea repellent was used on 3 Angora cats which had been shaved prior to treatment. The treatment was advertised for use as a topical treatment or a dip and was diluted according to manufacturer's instructions before use. Because the cats had been shaved, the treatment was applied directly to the skin.
Symptoms of Tea Tree Oil toxicity began five hours after treatment. Cat A became hypothermic, ataxic (lack of muscle co-ordination), unable to stand, but alert. Cat B became hypothermic, dehydrated and comatose. Cat C was alert but nervous, trembling and slightly ataxic. The three cats smelled of the Tea Tree Oil product. They were bathed using mild detergent to remove any residue from their skin, rehydrated, kept warm and treated for Tea Tree Oil ingestion. Their urine contained terpinen-4-ol (a constituent of Tea Tree Oil), indicating Tea Tree Oil ingestion. It also contained other substances which may have been metabolic breakdown products of Tea Tree Oil.
All three cats were given supportive nursing. Two recovered fully over a two day period. The worst affected (Cat B) remained dull, hypothermic, ataxic and dehydrated despite rehydration therapy. It appeared to rally on the third day of treatment, but died several hours later.
Notes: The Tea Tree Oil had therefore reached, and potentially damaged, the cats' livers (abnormal metabolic substances in the urine), their kidneys (unchanged terpinen-4-ol excreted in the urine) and brains (ataxia and trembling/twitching). The cats had been heavily flea infested and possibly slightly anaemic which may have exacerbated later problems; flea bite wounds may have contributed to rapid absorption of the oil (however the product is actually recommended for use as a flea treatment).
Not all vets or poison control centres are aware of the oil's specific toxicity to cats and the correct treatment may not be given. Vets are left to do the best they can based on the symptoms. Owners or groomers may not dilute the shampoos appropriately, Two cases in which Tea Tree Oil is implicated is that of Buddy, a six year old Maine Coon who became critically ill shortly after being bathed in a Tea Tree Oil shampoo and who died a few days later in great distress, and also of Foxy plus a 3 week old kitten treated for ringworm using Tea Tree Oil. Miss Charlotte and Tiger both became seriously ill after a Tea Tree shampoo was used to treat ringworm and a skin problems respectively.
Toxic Components of Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree oil (melaleuca, Melaleuca alternifolia) is a phenol-containing essential oil. Its active ingredients are cyclic terpenes which have a similar structure and action to turpentine (a known toxin) - in fact Tea Trea oil makes a good paint solvent! Cats are uniquely sensitive to phenolics and other benzene-based compounds. Benzyl alcohol (a preservative) is toxic to cats.
Toxic Components of Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree oil (melaleuca, Melaleuca alternifolia) is a phenol-containing essential oil. Its active ingredients are cyclic terpenes which have a similar structure and action to turpentine (a known toxin) - in fact Tea Trea oil makes a good paint solvent! Cats are uniquely sensitive to phenolics and other benzene-based compounds. Benzyl alcohol (a preservative) is toxic to cats.
The acute toxicity for the major terpenic compounds (linalool, ocimene, alpha-terpinene, 1,8-cineole, terpinolene, camphene) is 2 - 5 g/kg body weight, which is considered a moderately toxic range. From a toxicologic point of view Tea Tree oil is comparable to oil of turpentine, which is readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and skin. In addition, cats have relatively thin, delicate skin and Tea Tree oil is highly lipophilic (attracted to fats, solvent). This means that the oil is absorbed rapidly and enters the bloodstream. These factors may account for the poisoning cases reported to the NAPCC.
**********
And a site or two I've been to myself since also notes that inhaling various aromatherapy things can be detrimental too. Not as fast as with topical applications, but if a human keeps upping the amount of aromatherapy oil in their house or incense in their house as THEY get used to it, it could start building up as toxicity in a kitty, and if you have a sensitive kitty, you will have a very very ill one.
Since almost every 'eco-friendly' cleaner we have in the house is tea-tree oily, I'm a bit wincy. And actually glad that I am a bad enough housekeeper that I don't scrub everything down and treat the carpets for fleas on a regular basis with anything. Gah.