{"id":513,"date":"2017-08-26T15:38:34","date_gmt":"2017-08-26T20:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/?page_id=513"},"modified":"2017-08-26T20:29:09","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T01:29:09","slug":"of-cats-and-controversy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/?page_id=513","title":{"rendered":"Of Cats and Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>If I only had a dollar for each time I was told “essential oils cannot be used with cats”…<\/p>\n

I’m going to cut to the chase right away. \u00a0This statement is just straight out untrue. \u00a0There are a few minor rules to make so – but in fact. \u00a0The blanket statement is wrong.<\/p>\n

First rule of untruth. \u00a0The statement that cats cannot tolerate essential oils is based on metabolism information from well before the 1970’s. \u00a0In veterinary medicine, it is known that cats are deficient in some of their enzyme processes, mainly in their liver. \u00a0However, this does not mean that they DO NOT have them. \u00a0It just means they use them a bit differently. \u00a0In veterinary medicine, we were taught in years past, that cats could not tolerate drugs like Morphine or Aspirin due to this fact. \u00a0And indeed, 30+ years later – there are practitioners who are greatly skilled in using these drugs properly and with great effects. \u00a0Indeed, their half-life may be longer (requiring less drug, with less frequency in administration) – but it does not always remain true that they are not beneficial – or that they can NEVER be given.<\/p>\n

Even in 1984 – a full article in Veterinary Clinics of North America: \u00a0Small Animal Practice<\/em> – Volume 14, Number 6 – “Idiosyncracies of Drug Metabolism in Cats: Effects on Pharmacotherapeutics in Feline Practice”<\/em> – covered this topic in depth. \u00a0Not specifically mentioning essential oils, but mentioning phenols, morphine, aspirin and other drugs for which glucuronide synthesis is an important part of metabolism. \u00a0This article clearly states “Even drugs known for toxicity in cats can be used safely if we are aware of and compensate for certain peculiarities.”<\/p>\n

This is positively ANCIENT information in terms of timeline. \u00a0This is 33 years ago folks! \u00a0And much of the information for which we base the cats’ faulty metabolism on is even older!<\/p>\n

So that is the first part of the controversy. \u00a0Yes, cats do have certain limitations, but this does not mean that things cannot be done. \u00a0We just have to know HOW to do them.<\/p>\n

Second issue at hand is quality of essential oils. \u00a0And I am not talking about what your “representative” tells you about Seed to Seal or Certified Therapeutic Grade nonsense. \u00a0Sometimes, what is deemed high quality by certified aromatherapists and human medical aromatherapists is greatly lacking in my opinion, and especially where animals are concerned. \u00a0What I have noticed while training in the “human aromatherapy” world – is that they are quite a bit more limited in their use of a variety of well known essential oils in the “corporate” market. \u00a0When I state that I love a certain oil for its properties – they stare blankly into space – often never hearing of the oil that I am speaking about.<\/p>\n

But while the corporate essential oil industry is great at creating popularity a “new” essential oil and inducing a viral spread of its virtues…they are not equally great in maintaining high quality of this oil, once demand picks up. \u00a0Essential oils are a limited supply and demand commodity. \u00a0Especially when it comes to those that are deemed “medical” in grade and nature. \u00a0Essential oils for the “therapeutic” side of the industry are a very small fraction of production in the marketplace. \u00a0Much less than 10% of the essential oils on the market, are worthy of this description. \u00a0However, with millions and millions of people being introduced to essential oils – supply of the highest quality oils will simply not be available in large enough quantity. \u00a0And there in lies a snag.<\/p>\n

There is no question – that I would not want you to burn scented candles, use air fresheners, or perfumes on or near your parrot. \u00a0This is well known in the avian world as a huge caution for this delicate species. \u00a0Same for cats – when certain cats came to our veterinary hospital – and absolutely reeked of perfume or cigarette smoke – there is no question that this is likely to be a health hazard. \u00a0I have even had dog, cat, and bird patients who emitted the clear smell of fabric softeners from their fur or feathers. \u00a0These chemical fragrances (which by the way, often include essential oils) – are toxic as heck. \u00a0And yet, we do not go campaigning for fabric softener to never be used in a cat home. \u00a0Yet, this is where essential oils have been categorized.<\/p>\n

While some essential oils, especially when of the grade or synthetic nature of those used in cleaners and air fresheners, could be harmful to an animal – it should not elicit the rule of “no essential oils for cats”. \u00a0The safety of essential oils lies within the quality level of the essential oil, and in the way in which it is used for that species. \u00a0In truth “it is all about the dose”.<\/p>\n

When you are confronted by someone who tells you that essential oils are toxic or dangerous for cats. \u00a0Please ask them the following questions. \u00a0First, what are their qualifications, and what animal training have they had? \u00a0Next, ask them to please produce the studies and evidence showing that cats are harmed from “normal” use of essential oils. \u00a0Those studies just seem to not exist currently – and any reports of toxicity that I have evaluated have distinct flaws. \u00a0Most noteworthy – often there is gross mis-use or over-dosage of the essential oils used. \u00a0But in a close second to that – is that there is often extremely poor quality or no quality evaluation available. \u00a0One veterinarian reporting issues, was able to ask the cat caretaker which essential oil was used based on my prompting. \u00a0And indeed this essential oil was a Lavender available from Amazon for less than $15 for 4 ounces of essential oil. \u00a0I can guarantee you – this is not true Lavender oil in any sense of the word. \u00a0Not only was this Lavender applied in excessive amounts, but it most clearly was not of any sort of medical grade…ever.<\/p>\n

In short – there are scary reports out there. \u00a0But when we actually explore them further – they are fraught with mis-information. \u00a0We need to evaluate toxicity reports fully, truthfully, and accurately. \u00a0And so we hope to create a data base for animal information in the near future.<\/p>\n

I can assure you, that we have treated thousands (likely tens of thousands) of cats with essential oils, as well as all animal species. \u00a0I can definitely guarantee that there is veterinary evidence of safety, and blood work to follow long term cases. \u00a0Publishing this data, takes a while – so you do need to be patient. \u00a0However, when anyone asks me to produce proof of safety – I indeed can do so. \u00a0We just need to require the naysayers to produce the same on their side of things. \u00a0There is no way a veterinarian (myself) would risk my name and reputation (and indeed veterinary license) for a “sale” or would risk animal safety for any reason on this Earth.<\/p>\n

Melissa Shelton DVM
\nThe Oily Vet<\/p>\n

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If I only had a dollar for each time I was told “essential oils cannot be used with cats”… I’m going to cut to the chase right away. \u00a0This statement is just straight out untrue. \u00a0There are a few minor … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-513","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=513"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":516,"href":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/513\/revisions\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/animaldeskreference.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}