Cats, Essential Oils, and Incense

I never really thought about essential oils and incense as being an issue until I noticed my cat had irritated eyes.

In Witchcraft, we use a lot of essential oils and incense in rituals.  Incense, in particular, is used a lot for cleansing spaces and bottles along with aiding in mediation. I particularly love the scent of lavender and lavender incense and, as it turns out, that is not a good thing for my sweet familiar.

So, to start, incense creates a lot of smoke and the smoke can act as a significant irritant to the substantially more sensitive respiratory system of a cat. This is especially true if the cat is going to be relatively close to the burning. I live in a condo, and it's a big for a 1+1 condo, but it's not that big. It's really impossible for her to escape the smoke, even with an air purifier to help it along. Basically, if you are going to burn incense indoors, then away from your familiar and with open windows is best.

Add to that, lavender can be toxic to cats. So I was doing a double with lavender incense and that so sad because it's such a beautiful and relaxing scent.

Essential oils can also be dangerous, the following are outright poisonous to cats: 

• Bergamot
• Cinnamon
• Citruses
• Clove
• Eucalyptus
• Geranium
• Lavender
• Lemongrass
• Oil of Sweet Birch
• Pennyroyal
• Peppermint
• Pine
• Rose
• Sandlewood
• Tea Tree
• Thyme
• Wintergreen and other mints
• Ylang Ylang

While you may use them in certain ways, that will keep them from contacting your cat, burning in a candle or diffusing with a diffuser should be a no go for those. In particular, the diffuser can disperse droplets onto the fur that gets licked. Basically, despite that list, your rule of thumb should be zero essential oils are safe for cats.

Symptoms of essential oil poisoning include difficulty breathing, coughing, wheezing, drooling, vomiting, tremors, wobbliness and low heart rate. See a vet immediately. 

Anyways, as a beginner Witch, it hadn't occured to me to look this up. So many books, sites, and guides talk about these and never talk about the risks to our furry friends. That is quite a surprise given how many of us have them. In any case, my cat had an allergic reaction and now I know. As much as I love my incense, there is no contest when it comes to my cat, outdoor use it is.