Indy is at the vet after hours due to essential oils. Anyone have experience with this?

Long story short is that Indy is now at our vet after hours after spilling essential oil (not mine!) on her fur (most of back right leg, part of back left leg).

Woke up today to her smelling very strongly of lavender and her coughing very loudly. She didn't eat or drink at all (except for eating 6 treats) since the spill. Her breathing sounded wheezy at times. Took her to the vet this afternoon and they said it was probably an asthma attack due to the strong smell of the oil. They suggested I give her steroid pills to help with that. Problem was, I couldn't get her to take the pills.

She was acting lethargic on and off all day - one hour she was looking at the birds outside, the next she was laying down and making strange sounds while breathing. I washed most of the oil off, but there's still some on one of her legs.

About 1.5 hours ago, she was sitting up with her third eyelids showing, mouth slightly open, and not really responding to things like she normally does. Took her to the emergency vet where they are currently doing blood work, possibly an X-ray, etc. and they will call us back at home after they get those results so we can figure out where to go from there. The vet said pets have died from essential oil exposure before which isn't exactly a comfort. Oddly enough, the wheezing sound nearly stopped as soon as she was in the room with the vet and she was walking around, being curious and looking nearly 100% fine.

The vet asked if Indy had been trembling, drooling, walking unsteadily, having seizures. She didn't do any of that but she didn't do much walking shortly before we took her to the vet; she was walking a bit slower, though. She was walking around just fine at the vet tonight, eyes bright, tail in the air. Very strange.

Does anyone else have experience with cats + essential oil exposure/illness? I have anxiety disorder so my mind always goes to the worst possibility - that she'll die at age 1 and a half due to essential oils, of all things. :'(

I haven't had experience with essential oils on cats, but I have with a sick cat miraculously recover at the vet's before the vet saw her. Apparently, the stress of being in the vet's caused a surge of adrenalin, which temporarily cleared up the symptoms. You did the right thing taking the cat a second time to the ER vet.

I wont have essential oils around because sooner or later, the cats are bound to interact with them and I don't want to be at the vet after hours because of it.  You definitely did the right thing taking her there tonight. Unfortunately lavendar is one of the ones that is toxic to cats.  This is a pretty informative article and explains why cats bodies do not metabolize essential oils like other animals and people. 

http://essentialoilworld.com/essentialoilreviews/pet-health/essential-oil-safety-with-cats

Positive news so far!

Our vet called us back about half an hour ago. She isn't entirely sure about Indy's condition since we don't really know what was in the oil she had (we still have the bottle and it doesn't list the full ingredients). She thinks she irritated her mouth or lungs from licking or inhaling some of the oil.

Indy's bloodwork came back clean, though her X-ray showed some "fuzziness" on her lungs (possibly inflammation). She had a shot of prednisone and we were given liquid predisone and a suspension to help coat/soothe her throat and stomach. She looked terrible when we first saw her - dazed, wet, drooling, and hunchbacked from having a fluid injection into her shoulders.

As soon as we got her home, she got out of her kennel and made a beeline straight for the food! She ate some wet food for the first time since 7 am (it's now 11 pm)! I had some dry food on the counter and Indy stood up on her back legs like a meerkat and jumped onto the counter in search of it! My mom called the vet to let her know that Indy was eating and seemed okay. Our vet sounded very pleasantly surprised.

Indy just ate a little bit more food and is now walking around, looking much better than she did not half an hour ago.

Hopefully the good news continues and she continues to do well.   

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!

Oh, that is such good news. I'm glad she is recovering. Thank you for sharing information about essential oils. I have heard the name but never knew what it is.

We just went thru an ordeal with Boots over the last 24 hours because of an infection. After a visit and shots he is almost back to normal.

I am glad your kitty is getting better!

I had no idea essential oils were so toxic to cats! That worries me because one of my cats recently knocked over an entire 4oz bottle of Wintergreen oil! I don't think he got any of it on himself (he knocked the bottle away from homself, and unfortunately onto my hand bound book that was my final project) and he hasn't been acting strange or anything. The house smelled like wintergreen for sveral days. I don't think it smells like it anymore (because even after being gone all day and coming home, I can no longer smell it, but that doesn't mean my cats can no longer smell it). I cleaned up the mess to the best of my ability. But some of it got into the carpet. Most was on the glass desk though, so that was easy to clean. Now I'm worried that my cats might be poisoned from breathing in the wintergreen scent for a couple days

Raina21 said:

I am glad your kitty is getting better!

I had no idea essential oils were so toxic to cats! That worries me because one of my cats recently knocked over an entire 4oz bottle of Wintergreen oil! I don't think he got any of it on himself (he knocked the bottle away from homself, and unfortunately onto my hand bound book that was my final project) and he hasn't been acting strange or anything. The house smelled like wintergreen for sveral days. I don't think it smells like it anymore (because even after being gone all day and coming home, I can no longer smell it, but that doesn't mean my cats can no longer smell it). I cleaned up the mess to the best of my ability. But some of it got into the carpet. Most was on the glass desk though, so that was easy to clean. Now I'm worried that my cats might be poisoned from breathing in the wintergreen scent for a couple days

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Yeah!   I had no idea either!   I mean, oils in other situations are often very useful, esp the coldpressed variations of olive oil, canola, coconuts oil...  Both outside and inside. Omega 3 and 6, no?  Arent they supposed to be essential??

So spontaneously I would guess "essential oils "  sound healthy and sound, but apparently they are not, at least not for  cats!

Good we got this forewarning here, even if it costed  Indy and her Ma both worry and money.

So glad info is published about how toxic lavender is for our furry friends.

I knew lavender was bad only because I have a kitty with asthma and there was a list on fritz the brave site about things to avoid-I think that's where I read it-but I try to keep any smelly things to a minimum around the animals. I don't like scented products either-don't use glade oil thingy that you plug in-one friend had a kitty who wheezed when these were plugged in-I told him its because they are down low and closer to a cats nose than up high away from them-so I always suggest to baby proof your home for animals-if you wont let baby put it in their mouth-then do the same for the furry friends.

It's great that Indy is doing so much better!

I won't have essential oils in the house - or candles, air fresheners or the like. They just don't mix with cats. It's really aggravating (and dangerous) when essential oils are recommended in cat magazines or online.

I have even seen pet shampoos marked for both dogs and cats that have tea tree oil in them.  One of the brands is Earth Bath.  They are supposed to be one of the really good higher end brands.

Apparently there wasn't even a lot of oil in the warmer when she knocked it over and the warmer itself was on a dresser against the wall and surrounded by other items in a bedroom Indy doesn't really go into. Just goes to show you really have to be careful with everything that might come in contact with cats.

Update on Indy:

I heard her cough twice since coming home: once while cleaning her legs before midnight and once just now.

She was seen eating only a small amount of wet food overnight, but I don't know if she had more when everyone was sleeping. She was acting a little more spirited earlier in the morning - she cleaned herself, was walking around a little, jumped onto a dresser to watch birds outside.

She's spent most of last night and this morning resting in the bedroom hallway. I don't think she slept much yesterday so she must be pretty tired. I'm worried that she's in some pain but it's so hard to tell if it's that or if she's just exhausted.   

edit: About half an hour ago, we gave Indy some medicine to stimulate her appetite. Right now she's eating some flakes of turkey.

Squee is being so interesting. We brought one of the litter boxes upstairs and Squee has been watching Indy use go to the bathroom, she's watching her eat, she's watching her do everything!

StefanZ said:

 
Yeah!   I had no idea either!   I mean, oils in other situations are often very useful, esp the coldpressed variations of olive oil, canola, coconuts oil...  Both outside and inside. Omega 3 and 6, no?  Arent they supposed to be essential??

So spontaneously I would guess "essential oils "  sound healthy and sound, but apparently they are not, at least not for  cats!

Good we got this forewarning here, even if it costed  Indy and her Ma both worry and money.

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Olive oil and coconut oil are not essential oils, so they're safe.  Omega 3's and 6's should be for pets, not for humans. I give my cats coconut oil because it has so many great health benefits.  One of them loves it and licks it out of my palm (it melts on contact with skin); the others have 1/4 tsp. applied to the top of a front paw and they lick it off.  Essential oils are just called that.  There's nothing essential about them as far health is concerned.  I believe in them and I use them personally, but they are kept locked up on a high shelf in a closed closet.  These can actually be volatile substances and I trust none of them around my cats.  Essential oils are distilled or cold pressed from plants and contain the aroma of the plant. If you even open an essential oil, you can have trace amounts on your hands and should wash your hands thoroughly afterward.  Another thing I'd like to mention is that I've read recently about people who use "rubs" for muscle pain or arthritis pain having sick cats because the cats rubbed against their after they applied the medicinal rub. It's amazing the number of things you would never think about that will hurt a cat.

The muscle rubs may just have benzocaine but they often have aspirin in them (or maybe other NSAIDs) and we know those are poisonous to cats.  Always read labels! 

MaggieMay said:

 
Olive oil and coconut oil are not essential oils, so they're safe.  Omega 3's and 6's should be for pets, not for humans. I give my cats coconut oil because it has so many great health benefits.  One of them loves it and licks it out of my palm (it melts on contact with skin); the others have 1/4 tsp. applied to the top of a front paw and they lick it off.  Essential oils are just called that.  There's nothing essential about them as far health is concerned.  I believe in them and I use them personally, but they are kept locked up on a high shelf in a closed closet.  These can actually be volatile substances and I trust none of them around my cats.  Essential oils are distilled or cold pressed from plants and contain the aroma of the plant. If you even open an essential oil, you can have trace amounts on your hands and should wash your hands thoroughly afterward.  Another thing I'd like to mention is that I've read recently about people who use "rubs" for muscle pain or arthritis pain having sick cats because the cats rubbed against their after they applied the medicinal rub. It's amazing the number of things you would never think about that will hurt a cat.

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It struck me while I was riding the bus today, here we prob have some sort of languagish mix up.  Because what we are talking here, as potentially dangerous, is fragrance oil.   And what they contain are essences.   Thus, essence oils. Its the same root as in essentiell, but its not the same word.  Thus, the essentiell fat oils as Omega 3 and 6, whose are easiest to find in quality olive oil, canola oil and coconut oil, isnt the same as the essence oils whom are used for their fragrance.

I agree with Red Top muscle pain oils and other  smearable preparates, do contain medicaments, which are dangerous for cats.  Good to know and be reminded.  Cats are both licking us, and are also often natural animal assisted therapy doers.  And lay on the aching place on their owner...  If we use it on our hands, and are petting the cat... Not good.

So having say, arthritis, using smearing pain- and inflammation killers, become easily dangerous for your loving cat....

Low doses shouldnt be dangerous for them, but its better not to swear on it.

StefanZ said:

 
It struck me while I was riding the bus today, here we prob have some sort of languagish mix up.  Because what we are talking here, as potentially dangerous, is fragrance oil.   And what they contain are essences.   Thus, essence oils. Its the same root as in essentiell, but its not the same word.  Thus, the essentiell fat oils as Omega 3 and 6, whose are easiest to find in quality olive oil, canola oil and coconut oil, isnt the same as the essence oils whom are used for their fragrance.

I agree with Red Top muscle pain oils and other  smearable preparates, do contain medicaments, which are dangerous for cats.  Good to know and be reminded.  Cats are both licking us, and are also often natural animal assisted therapy doers.  And lay on the aching place on their owner...  If we use it on our hands, and are petting the cat... Not good.

So having say, arthritis, using smearing pain- and inflammation killers, become easily dangerous for your loving cat....

Low doses shouldnt be dangerous for them, but its better not to swear on it.

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Yes, you're right! We had a little language mix-up. lol  Essential oils in America are such things as lemon oil, peppermint oil, lavender oil, clove oil, oregano oil, anything that has the distilled essence of the plant or flower. They're highly fragrant.  So they are "essence" oils where you are.  And the oils that actually are essential for good health aren't called that here.  I agree, best to make it a habit to wash our hands often and cover any skin we put a cream on, especially those creams or ointments that reduce inflammation.  I was glad to read that article, because that had never occurred to me before.

I read somewhere that omega 6 is not good for mice or men.

Stewball said:

I read somewhere that omega 6 is not good for mice or men.

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That isn't true.  The problem is not Omega-6's themselves, but making sure we have the correct ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3.  Consuming vegetable oils containing Omega-6's, such as corn oil, canola oil and cottonseed oil, and/or consuming processed grains, will ensure that you have chronic inflammation (which, of course, can lead to disease), because they create a much larger ratio of Omega-6 fatty acids vs. Omega-3's, something like 24:1 rather than the correct ratio. The optimal ratio may vary according to the disease under consideration, but a good rule of thumb is that a lower ration of Omega-6/Omega-3 fatty acids is better than a high ratio, either 1:1 or 2:1. Our ancestors consumed Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids in a ratio of 1:1.  As vegetable oil consumption and processed grain consumption has risen, so has the ratio of Omega-6's to Omega-3's in our bodies and in our pet's bodies if they eat processed food. Omega-6 fatty acids are essential for good health, as are Omega-3's. The body cannot manufacture them, so they must come from the diet or supplementation. 

Omega-6 fatty acids do the following:  build cell membranes and support cell health, help regulate blood clotting, and address many skin/coat conditions.  There are many additional health benefits for both humans and animals in organic coconut oil, which contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs).  One of the MCTs in coconut oil is lauric acid, which has antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal properties.  The only other place lauric acid is found naturally is in human breast milk.  IMO. organic coconut oil is the safest and surest way to make sure you are getting the right kind of Omega-6's, and cutting back on the common vegetable oils and processed grains in the diet, along with supplementing with a good Omega-3 daily, should reduce chronic inflammation.  Note:  a good Omega-3 will contain all three of the important acids:  ALA, EPA and DHA.  

 I use Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Oil as my Omega 6 source for both me and for my pets. Dosage for a 10-pound cat is 1/4 teaspoon twice daily.  Many cats love the taste of it.  If they don't, you can smear it on the top of a front paw and they will lick it off. Begin giving your pets coconut oil slowly and work up to the daily dosage.  And I like krill oil as an Omega-3 source. 

I'm so glad to hear Indy has improved so much! Sorry she had to go through this, but accidents do happen. Fortunately, you took her to the vet and got her care and she sounds like she's doing much better!!

Just wanted to mention: it is not just skin-contact to essential oils (or essence oils) but also inhaling them can be dangerous for cats if it builds up in their system over time. So any candles, burning essential oils, incense, air fresheners etc. should also be used with utmost caution or not at all around cats.

Yes, Indy is doing much better today! She was still a little lethargic until yesterday around noon. She's still letting out a small cough every now and then, but her appetite is back and she's acting more like her old self again (annoying Squee, playing, etc.). For anyone who's interested, this is her treatment:

- Hospital care: Oxygen, prednisone, and a subcutaneous injection to keep her hydrated since she hadn't been eating or drinking (she may have had another medication too but I'm not sure what it was) [eta: She also had a bath to remove any remaining oil.]

- Home care: 0.2 mL of prednisone every 12 hours for 3 days, then once a day for 5 days; 1.2 mL of sulcrate suspension every 8 hours; 1/8 of a 15 mg mirtazapine pill for 3 days

The essential oil in question was a lavender scented oil that was bought at a large department store for use in an oil warmer. The label didn't list all of the ingredients.

No one is entirely sure of how the essential oil entered Indy's body and caused her to be sick. (We had discussed with our vet if the spill had even caused her illness, but since there aren't any other possible contaminants around for her to get into and since her coughing and lethargy happened so quickly and out of the blue, our vet figured it had to have been from the oil.) She had the oil on her fur for about 2 and a half hours before anyone had noticed, so it could have happened due to Indy licking it off her feet, oil leeching into her skin, or from her breathing the fumes.

If there's anything good to come out of this (aside from Indy's relatively quick recovery), it's a warning about essential oils and pets. On Monday night I asked our vet if she had ever seen a pet who fell ill after ingesting essential oil. She said that in her ~10 years of being a veterinarian, this was her first case. So while it may have been a rare freak accident, it can happen, so like everyone said: all essential oil users should be very careful when it comes to having essential oil near their pets. I wouldn't want to see anyone or their kitty go through this too, because it was very, very scary - the only other times I've ever seen cats that were acting and looking the way Indy did on Monday evening was shortly before they passed away.