Pine Sol Toxic to Cats

Warning.....
Do not use Pine Sol to clean litter boxs...
Do not expose cats to Pine Sol, Hexol or cleaners that contain ingredients with "phenol."

Thanks for the reminder Lei.

I am going to move this to Health and Nutrition since many of our members could use PineSol just in their daily cleaning, not just the litterbox.

Thanks Karen.

MA was telling a member about the toxicity of Pine Sol to cats.
That is important information for all members.

I would like some more info on this. Could you direct me to a site. I clean with pine sol and never had a problem with my cats in 12 years.

There are numerous cleaners that have Phenol in them, not just Pine-Sol, so I think a rule of thumb would be to check for this ingredient before buying any cleaner (it has to be listed as an active ingredient) and then use caution with others. For instance, Windex says right on the label "Keep out of reach of children and pets".

kitytize....I do not know why Phenols are toxic to cats.
Try a google search & if you find out more info....
please share it in this thread.

Zissou'sMom...You are so right.

Originally Posted by xocats

kitytize....I do not know why Phenols are toxic to cats.
Try a google search & if you find out more info....
please share it in this thread.

Click to expand...

Found a few interesting comments:

General Information
Phenols destroy proteins in cells. They are extremely corrosive and produce lesions that penetrate through layers of skin. These compounds are very caustic to mucous membranes causing visible burns. Severe eye injury including deep ulcerations occur with ocular exposure. In lower doses, these compounds affect the respiratory center in the brain causing hyperventilation and associated problems. Phenols are absorbed rapidly from the GI tract. Liver and kidney damage occurs within 12-24 hours. Toxic levels of hexachlorophene cause damage to the nervous system. Birds, some reptiles, and cats are more sensitive to phenols than other species.

and...

Alex Campbell of the Veterinary Poisons Information Service commented: ‘We very much welcome the news about additional label information for these products. Phenol and some phenolic compounds and coal-tar acid derivatives used in some disinfectants, specialist soaps and wood treatments, such as creosote, are potentially problematic in many animals especially if the exposure is significant. Cats, birds and some reptiles are known to have a particular sensitivity to these compounds. As acid derivatives phenolic compounds are potentially corrosive and prolonged skin exposures can cause severe skin irritation or burns. If the animals ingest or groom material off contaminated skin they may develop irritation or burns of the mouth and tongue as well. They may therefore vomit or salivate excessively. In severe exposures such substances could be absorbed across damaged skin and cause systemic signs such as breathing difficulties, hyperthermia or even shock. Luckily severe cases are very rare, but so are animal specific warnings on such products and therefore this commitment by a major manufacturer like Reckitt Benckiser is most laudable.'


and lastly...


Drug Handling in the Cat

The cat has several metabolic idiosyncrasies which make medicating this species a slightly riskier proposition:

1. Delayed biotransformation of many exogenous substances due to decreased UDP-glucuronyl transferase activity. Glucuronic acid conjugation is probably the most important process for activating and increasing water solubility of xenobiotics. The cat, therefore, does not process compounds such as coumarin, morphine, certain sulfonamides and salicylic acid.

2. Feline hemoglobin has an enhanced susceptibility to oxidation, producing methemoglobinemia and Heinz body anemia. Cats are susceptible to fatal anemias produced by acetominophen and by onions.

3. Cat receptors react to certain drugs in anomalous ways; or instance, morphine causes excitation, as opposed to sedation, in cats

4. Feline liver transaminase and deaminase activities are higher than in most species.

5. Cats are uniquely sensitive to phenolic compounds, and other compounds containing benzene rings. Compounds preserved with benzyl alcohol are toxic to cats. Caution should be taken with essential oils containing phenols, such as, potentially, thyme, cinnamon, tea tree and many others

The examples given above are by no means all-encompassing -- they were simply all I could think of when I wrote the article. I think they give us reason to be concerned about ANY herb,nutraceutical, EO, etc that we give a cat for the first time.

Susan G. Wynn, DVM

Thank you for finding this informative and interesting information for us.

Hopefully it will save some kitties lives by convincing members to avoid using these potentially harmful substances.

A good reminder - and great google research there ;-)

Fwiw, a cleaner I love is XO. You can read about it here: www.xocorp.com

I also found this:

http://www.eco-usa.net/toxics/phenol.shtml

which says phenol is also in "a number of consumer products which are swallowed, rubbed on, or added to various parts of the body. These include ointments, ear and nose drops, cold sore lotions, mouthwashes, gargles, toothache drops, analgesic rubs, throat lozenges, and antiseptic lotions. Phenol has been found in drinking water, air, automobile exhaust, tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke, and certain foods including smoked summer sausage, fried chicken, mountain cheese, and some species of fish"

Thank you for the info. These are the things i picked up out of the article concerning animal exposure.

Exposure of animals to high levels of phenol in air for a few minutes is irritating to the lungs, and repeated exposure for several days causes muscle tremors and loss of coordination. Exposure to high levels of phenol for several weeks results in paralysis and severe injury to the heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs, followed by death in some cases.

When exposures involve the skin surface, the size of the total exposed skin can influence the severity of the toxic effects. Small amounts of phenol put on the skin of animals for short times can cause blisters and burns on the exposed area, and spilling weak phenol solutions on large parts of the body (more than 25% of the body surface) can result in death.

I would worry if I spilled it on my cat or if the cat somehow opened the bottle and was drinking it. It seems this Phenol is almost everywhere after reading the article. Has anyone contacted pinesol? I would want to know if they had any reports about injured/deaths in animals. How much phenol is in pinesol? I dont see it on the bottle. How much of phenol is considered dangerous for animals? I also read this in the article.

Phenol can have positive effects when used for medical reasons. It is an antiseptic (kills germs) when put on the skin and may also have antiseptic properties when gargled as a mouthwash. It is an anesthetic (relieves pain) and is a part of some sore-throat remedies (lozenges and formulas). Small amounts of phenol in water have been injected into nerves to reduce pain caused by some nerve disorders. Phenol will kill the outer layers of skin if it remains on the skin, and small amounts of strong solutions of phenol are sometimes put on the skin to remove warts and to treat other skin spots and disorders.

I cleaned Stumpy's litter tray with PineSol!!

We also use PineSol diluted in hot water to clean our tiled surfaces. We'll have to make sure she's nowhere around when we do that as I daresay it would give off fumes in the steam from the water!

Originally Posted by sarahp

I cleaned Stumpy's litter tray with PineSol!!

We also use PineSol diluted in hot water to clean our tiled surfaces. We'll have to make sure she's nowhere around when we do that as I daresay it would give off fumes in the steam from the water!

Click to expand...

Honestly, I would not want her to have contact with any dried residue of the pinesol solution on your tiled surfaces. I'd simply find a non-toxic to cats cleanser to use instead.

So what sort of easily found disinfectants do people recommend that are safe for kitties? We're still pretty new to the US and don't know many products. We chose PineSol because it looked similar to the Australian Pine-o-Clean

I would also like to add, that since so many of us kiss our cats on the head, that the popular chapstick Carmex has phenol in it.

Originally Posted by sarahp

So what sort of easily found disinfectants do people recommend that are safe for kitties? We're still pretty new to the US and don't know many products. We chose PineSol because it looked similar to the Australian Pine-o-Clean

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For general house cleaning (like the bathroom), I like Simple Green. I buy the big gallon container and dilute it. A big gallon costs about $10 US, but will last for eons.

For cleaning litterboxes, I use Nature's Miracle.

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

There are numerous cleaners that have Phenol in them, not just Pine-Sol, so I think a rule of thumb would be to check for this ingredient before buying any cleaner (it has to be listed as an active ingredient) and then use caution with others. For instance, Windex says right on the label "Keep out of reach of children and pets".

Click to expand...

I was at first thinking didnt someone read the label??

This is horrible to know about the Carmex (and throat lozenges, rubs, etc...)
Lovey is ATTRACTED to these products. When I am put on Vicks Vapo Rub, he likes to lick at it..(I do discourage it cuz its just weird to have him licking my neck ferociously)...He also licks Burts Bees Lip Balm off my lips too though I doubt this it poisonous.

Luckily, he hasn't had a problem but I do wonder why some cats are attracted to cleaners and the products that contain camphor or mint (or whatever it is they are attracted to...it seems to be anything with that pine/mint oil scent) if its poisonous.

Originally Posted by sharky

I was at first thinking didnt someone read the label??

Click to expand...

That's just one of those products (Windex) that I've used for well over 35 years- since I had my own household, that's for sure. Once you get familiar with products you tend to never even look at the label.

I'm glad this thread happened- I will certainly be looking at labels from now on.

 At 48 years old Grumpycat and I were together for about 5 years. This cat was my very first pet and I was lucky he picked me as his human pet.

 I learned the hard way about the effects of "pine-sol" on Feb 27th when Grumpy, for no apparent reason and without warning had a seizure and died in about a minute or less.

 No matter how much you love your cat nothing can prepare you for the devastation that comes with losing an animal that at first seems like a natural heart attack,stroke or a bad heart in general, just to find out a home cleaning product killed your most valued friend. It just didnt make any sense to me because Grumpy was maybe 7 years old at the most and was active,playful,affectionate and had a healthy diet with zero table food.

  Still devastated and having had no sleep,the next day I decided to play detective and somehow managed to bring myself to the computer and searched out pine-sol because that was still the only scent throughout the house. Low and behold my google search delived about 1.5 million hit's about the toxicity of any household product ending with -sol; pine-sol, lysol etc. And many links to sites where people have lost their very best friend(s) because of this pine-solution product. I have to admit I was furious that my first experience with a pet that I loved so much was taken away from me so that our floors would be scented clean! Grumpy is now gone and I have no choice but to accept that some mistakes come with learning from them at a high price. My mother did not know that these chemicals are such a danger to cats because at her previous home, her cats had a cat-door to the front porch and thats where the cats went when the floors got cleaned. Now that we rent an apartment there was just no outlet for grumpy to escape. This one chemical product has changed my life forever. I now only have memories of experiencing  having my own incredibly beautiful, loyal and affectionate best friend that only owners of pets would understand.

  Many people who've never had a pet of their very own can truely understand that a pet is in fact a family member; therse's just no replacement or substitutions when one goes away. For years I would offer my apologies to friend's who have lost their pet. It's only now that I can feel the terrible grief that they were going through. 

  When I brought Grumpy to be creamated at the Humane Sociaty; I did rescue a cat at the same time to help me not feel suddenly so alone, and to try to start a new friendship. And most people know that spaying/neutering your cat means there wont be so many cats that are struggling to find a good home, especially in a stuggling economy where a pet sometimes gets cut from the food budget.

  I hope my words somehow manage to save even one animal out there. And like the bumper sticker I saw at the animal shelter said, (which may have been an employee's car)

                                                        Who Rescued Who?