Advice from long time cat owners needed

[FunkyMonks]

Hello All we recently added to our cat family two lovely ragdoll kittens over the festive period.
I already have my lovely boy Loki who’s 5 years old now.
I am ashamed to say that prior to having Ziggy and Indie I was not aware of the dangers of certain essential oils that are toxic to cats and have since gotten worried about what I can and can’t use.
stupidly my daughter had a bath bomb from lush which had Ylang Ylang in it I quickly drained the bath and rinsed it out and opened all windows.
we have also been poorly over the Christmas break and found out that we couldn’t use Vicks vapour rub or the calpol plug in for my son because of eucalyptus oils.

can any of you advise what is safe I miss having a candle in the kitchen window sill to allow some nice aroma through downstairs but since finding all this out have been to scared to use anything.

can someone also please put my mind at ease I love my perfumes but have been cautious when using them to spray them when not around the kittens and then venting my bedroom for a while. Thank you for your help and apologises for my rambling.

Hiya I have a cat.

I burn candles and have plug in smellys. I just don’t put anything by her litter box as she’s quite sensitive.

I wouldn’t have any fresh eucalyptus or poisonous flowers. They shouldn’t have any lavender smells but I use it on my pillows.

i use perfume too but have the door open and don’t spray it when she’s near it/me. She usually runs out the room when I spray it to be honest.

they shouldn’t be near garlic or onions so keep them in the fridge. There’s other stuff too food wise.

i got rid of my snowglobes too as she likes knocking things off and it’s got antifreeze in.

ask away anything else

Make sure you don't have any lilies too, the pollen is toxic .

I would definitely avoid lilies. The pollen gets on their fur and they poison themselves by licking it off.

Cats will probably self-avoid many other things that are technically a risk to them. Lavender is one I hadn't heard before, but twenty years of sitting in the lavender bushes didn't have any notable effect on our last cat.

Have had cats for 45 years and the only thing I avoid are lilies.

I dont thinknthe fumes in the air will do much harm. My dds cat is 15 and dd has a vapour plug on about every 3 months due to colds. My understanding is ingestion is the problem not inhalation. Happy to proven wrong though!

Same here.

Had cats for 40 years. I only avoid lilies. My friend lost her gorgeous (and very expensive) 1 yr old pedigree after it brushed against lilies.

Thank you all for replying, phew I know I might be overly cautious as they are kittens and my lovely boy Loki has been with us since he was 5 months old and he’s now five.
i know about Lillie’s being toxic to them and to be fair I’ve never been one for flowers in the house not my thing.
some food items I recently learned about I always knew chocolate was toxic from having had dogs in the past but wasn’t aware about grapes onions and garlic being an issue thankfully those things are kept in the fridge locked away from little paws.

I did wonder if some of it was more strong essential oils being the main issue as opposed to the more diluted kind that you use every day in washing liquids perfumes etc.

I have several Birmans (similar to ragdolls) and have been using essential oils for years with no issues. I did use to have one cat who sneezed when I burnt incense but that’s it.

i really wouldn’t worry too much about it.

Thank you its helped ease my mind with over worrying

This

I wouldn’t have lilies over the door - but other than that use a lavender pillow spray at night, burn candles, and love perfume. My mil used to say that our previous cat always smelled “expensive” because she’d pick up my fragrance! We actually put cotton balls with eucalyptus oil on them in a vase on the mantelpiece when we adopted our boy to stop him climbing up there because cats don’t like the smell.

In terms of toxic foods, our fella is a greedy little monkey and has certainly had a lick of a bolognese or chilli spoon when I’ve been cooking and my back’s been turned - but I am certain he wouldn’t chomp down on an onion or a garlic clove. I think the bitter taste would stop them?

https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/home-and-environment/poisoning
Helpful list from Cats Protection. We've always used Olbas Oil for human colds and it's never caused any issues in the cats. Similar with Ylang Ylang. It's a favourite of mine and when I've used it in the bath I've just cleaned the bath well afterwards (we used to have one that liked to sit in the bath). With oils it's mainly about them coming into direct contact.

I took a poorly sneezy kitten to the vets here in France and when I asked what else I could do for him, he said to put Vicks under his nose.

Never would put Vicks under a cats nose, they'd hate it but honestly, the main issue I have is them sleepy under weeds and getting seeds all over their fur which can get stuck in them when grooming so I keep combs dotted around to comb it out the minute I see it.

Yes I have to confess I wasn't aware of some od these others. I definitely light scentes candles from time to time!

Good grief, our cat has been subjected to much of the above for 18 years. I had no idea! She’s not fond of garlic and onions though so that’s something

I use calpol plug ins in my daughter’s room, my cats don’t tend to go in there. I also put chopped onion in her room when she’s congested (actually works better than the plug ins!) and again, they don’t seem bothered. Like PPs, no lillies in the house, other than that, my two seem v content!

I have used lavendar oil as I was told that was OK for cats and dogs - can't remember where I got that info now - but I use it sparingly. We did find a catnip essential oil, but it doesn't have any affect on our boy! I wouldn't worry about bath bombs, doubt there's much in them. We've used Vicks and unless that cat sits on the site you've rubbed it for a long while, I think it would be fine (make sure you wash hands though). I wouldn't have thought cats would go near onions or garlic as they are so pungent. Our boy has weird tastes - loves his veggies - but wouldn't eat grapes or apple seeds.

As well as lillies, be careful of food containng xylitol which is toxic to pets and can be in unexpected products like yoghurt, some baked foods and some peanut butters.

Thank you all it’s a relief to see that it’s not an issue phew