Have a question about sick kitty and vanilla...

Hello! In case some of you don't know me, I have two kitties. Winter, who is a 6 year old female, and Avalanche(Avvie) who is a ten-month-old male. Winter has had trouble adjusting to Avvie, so I did some research and found this wonderful site. I started using the Feliway plug-in, and also thought I'd give the vanilla trick a try. I put vanilla on each of their backs, shoulders, under the chins 3x a day for several days.

Last week, Winter got very sick. She wouldn't eat, woudln't drink. I thought she was acting strange, and that her normally beautiful coat didn't look right. The vet did many tests on her, and(fortunately!) they all came back normal. She got two antibiotic shots over the course of the week, and is doing fine now. He thinks she had an infection, but doesn't know exactly where.


What I'm wondering is can the vanilla make kitties sick? Avvie had no problems. I didn't think of this until last night, and I thought I'd ask here.


Thanks!

The vanilla essence is completely harmless, that's why we recommend it.

Did you flea treat recently with a product bought from a grocery store or pet supply place? I've been using vanilla on cats for a long time, and the only thing I have ever noticed is it turns a white kitty's coat a funny color where it is dabbed on-

Do you have houseplants? Are they cat-safe and not toxic? Do the cats get outside at all?

Did you mention the heavy use of vanilla all over the body 3 times a day? It has probably been injested given the amount and time span you have been applying it. Your cat could very well be sensitive to it.

winter-if you poured on the vanilla then this possiblity might exist, but if you dabbed it on, it does seem highly unlikely it caused these symptoms. I would talk to your vet to see if the possibility is there that the cat is allergic to the vanilla extract.

If she had any toixicity in her blood her results would not be of normal range. But again, your vet is the best one to guide you with this cat's symptoms.

Let us know what they find out?

Thanks all for your advice(Sorry to post this here! I apparantly got confused and thought I posted this in the health forum! )


I'll keep you all updated on what happens. The way that I applied the vanilla was on a q-tip, because I didn't want either of them to have too much of it. And neither kitty gets outdoors, has had any plants, or has had any recent flea treatment.


Thanks again!

What changes are you planning to make?