Essential oil diffusers have gained massive popularity recently. And while they are fine for humans, they may not be so good for our pets. Especially cats.
What Are Essential Oil Diffusers?
If you’re not familiar with them, diffusers contain essential oils which are supposed to help with different health issues such as colds, sinus congestion, headaches, anxiety, and more.
The Risks For Pets
However, despite all the health benefits of essential oil diffusers for us humans, it is dangerous for our pets.
According to Dr. Beth Malinich from the Animal Hospital of Fairview Park in Ohio, essential oils are dangerous for our pets. And, as we mentioned, this is particularly true for cats.
The reason why is that cats lack an essential enzyme in their liver. And because they lack that enzyme, it turns out that essential oils are actually toxic to their health. The good doctor went on to say that the essential oils can cause severe liver problems for cats.
Not All Diffusers Are Harmful To Cats
However, if you have a diffuser and a cat at home, it is not the time to panic just yet. According to Dr. Malinich, there are actually different kinds of diffusers on the market. Some of these diffusers have a negative effect on your cat’s health while some don’t.
The diffusers that you want in order to keep your pets safe are passive diffusers. These simply evaporate the essential oils inside to produce a natural smell.
According to Dr. Malinich, these types of diffusers are not too bad unless your cat knocks over the diffuser and gets into the oil.
On the other hand, active diffusers should be avoided at all costs if you have cats around. Active diffusers expel microdroplets of the essential oils. This means there is a high chance your cats can get the essential oils on their fur.
And, when they lick their fur, they’ll end up ingesting these oils. And, again, these are NOT good for your cat’s health at all.
As a safe practice, it is best to keep all essential oils away from your pets. Symptoms of essential oil poisoning include drooling, ataxia or wobbliness, tremors, vomiting, low body temperature, low heart rate, and respiratory distress.
