I just read this somewhere... Someone went to Petsmart and asked them what they could put on their kitten who had dry skin. The employee told them Tea Tree Oil... So, the person did what they told her to do. All in all the kitten was rushed to the vets twice and almost died because it turns out Tea Tree Oil is toxic to cats!!!!!

Unreal huh?

yes and scary. I guess you dont use anything on your cat unless you ask the vet. thanks for posting this!

Yes it is, I had no idea it was toxic to cats!!! Either the vet or check it out online to see if it´s toxic to them or not etc. I actually went and looked after I read this cause I couldn´t believe it! lol And sure enough it is....

If I have any question about cat health,I always ask my vet,Pays not to listen to advice from pet shop...Professional advice is the best..thanx for posting this...Always good to know these things...

This topic has come up in a couple of other threads in different ways. "Natural" doesn´ t mean "safe". Nature has some pretty drastic ways of taking care of herself. It´s important to remember that cats, and especially kittens, have much smaller organs than we do. Kidney´s and livers need to be able to process harmful substances and even a small amount can be a toxic overload. There have been newspaper reports before this of kittens who have died because of tea tree oil applications. I agree with ocipaws - don´t use anything unless you ask your vet.

Here´s a website with info about essential oils that are potentially toxic to cats.
http://cats.about.com/od/housekeeping/a/aromatherapy.htm

tree tree oil is toxic? I ever bought a tea tree oil product, ear cleaning for my cats. they hate it. Fortunately. And i thrw the whole bottle away after just using 2 drops of it.

well that is what comes of taking advice that doesn´t come direct from a vet. Not only do they train for years but they keep up with all the latest medical advice. And I´ve rarely met a vet who isn´t an animal lover! Some vets are better than others, I agree but ultimately a member of staff at Petsmart should not be offering medical advice.

I was told to use Olbas oil to scatter over anything a cat pees on to stop them as they hate the smell. Now I am worried that is duff advice too.

Thanks for the warning. I hope the store got sued.

I looked up Olbas Oil and it´s a mixture of various mint oils, eucalyptus and clove. I expect the strong scent would keep them away from anything you put it on, I´d just be careful not to put it on something that might stain - it is an oil product so you might want to test it on fabric or carpet for cleanability. Putting something like that on a carpet to deter peeing behaviour sounds like a safe application. It would only mask the scent though, not remove it and might wear off over time. There are products specifically designed to deter them that are safe for carpet/fabric that have an enzyme base that neutralizes the urine odour. That might be preferable anyway. Although the oil sounds quite nice and I´d like to get some for myself!

Mostly what I was referring to was applying concentrated essential oils or other "natural" products directly to cats or kittens skin or fur or to delicate tissue (eg: inside their ears). Anything that can be absorbed directly through their skin, or licked off and ingested should be treated with care. Adding a few drops of an oil (like tea tree or lavender) to a pint of water and lightly applying it to health older cats may be safe. Especially in conjunction with a good combing with a flea comb followed by a rub down to remove some of the oils. Undiluted essential oils liberally applied to their coats isn´t safe - particularly on kittens. That´s where the trouble lies - conflicting advice on how much to dilute it and how to apply it. I´d rather play it safe and use what the vet sells.

these forums are soo great, for a while now I´ve been confused about the safety of essential oils on pets - I found a website recently which, from what I understand, says all essential oils are potentially toxic to cats as they contain compounds which cats cannot break down very well, or not at all

http://www.thelavendercat.com/3201/index.html

But a book I read on alternative healing for cats claims essential oils are OK. I am definitely erring on the side of caution on this one, plus the lavendarcat website seems to know what it´s talking about with all the scientific terminology. Although I guess, heavily diluted as Michy suggests, is OK.

Yes, well I think we should always check these things with a vet. But a cat person I really trust advised Olbas Oil and I suppose if used with caution ...

(but and this is a big BUT no one can ever say what allergic reaction any cat might have to something so I´d say check with the vet).