Can mild essential oil fragrance can be harmful for cats?

[ToruPop]

I've read mixed things online and not sure what to think. I have an evaporative cooler and sometimes I put essential oils in the water to give it a fragrance. One of my favorite oils to put in is peppermint oil because it seems to make the air feel cooler. I know peppermint can be bad for cats. Now, this would be a highly diluted solution going into the cooler... about 5 to 10 drops of oil in a 3 gallon jug. And my little guy would have plenty of places to go to get away from the fragrance if it was bothering him. The cooler is in my bedroom and I do actually want to keep him out of my room, so a deterrent factor wouldn't be bad, but I also don't want to take any chances if it can be harmful. I've read that cats can have problems with inhaling peppermint (also read it is harmless). At a very weak dilution I would think it's not a problem but I don't want to take any chances.

 

[Furballsmom]

The cooler is in my bedroom and I do actually want to keep him out of my room, so a deterrent factor wouldn't be bad,

I'm not a vet but personally, I think if you keep him out (do you have a door to the room that you can close?) your dilution shouldn't cause any issues for him - as long as you are able to stop him from coming in the room.

There is this, if you haven't seen it - I don't know, but I'm thinking your cooler is considered similar to an active diffuser;
Ohio veterinarian warns essential oil diffusers can be toxic for cats: 'They just don't mix'

 

[Caspers Human]

Peppermint isn’t harmful to cats in small amounts but most cats don’t like the smell of it.

Peppermint is one of the scents that some people use as cat repellent when they want to keep cats away from a certain place.

If you can smell the peppermint it’s a sure bet your cat can smell it 100 times as well as you can.

Many essential oils and scents aren’t harmful to cats in small amounts but I would recommend avoiding the use of any scents in order to keep from making your cat feel unhappy with the smell.

 

[ToruPop]

I'm not a vet but personally, I think if you keep him out (do you have a door to the room that you can close?) your dilution shouldn't cause any issues for him - as long as you are able to stop him from coming in the room.

There is this, if you haven't seen it - I don't know, but I'm thinking your cooler is considered similar to an active diffuser;
Ohio veterinarian warns essential oil diffusers can be toxic for cats: 'They just don't mix'

The problem with closing the door with the evap cooler is it restricts airflow which makes the evap cooler a lot less effective (and it actually causes problems by trapping excess moisture in the room).

The solution that goes into an evap cooler is quite a bit more diluted then than one in an essential oil diffuser, but I won't take any chances!

 

[ToruPop]

Peppermint isn’t harmful to cats in small amounts but most cats don’t like the smell of it.

Peppermint is one of the scents that some people use as cat repellent when they want to keep cats away from a certain place.

If you can smell the peppermint it’s a sure bet your cat can smell it 100 times as well as you can.

Many essential oils and scents aren’t harmful to cats in small amounts but I would recommend avoiding the use of any scents in order to keep from making your cat feel unhappy with the smell.

Thanks, I will retire my peppermint oil cooling trick!

 

[Caspers Human]

I wonder what scents can be used which both cats and humans like.

We sometimes use Nag Champa (frangipani) incense when we want to freshen the house but we only burn it for a few minutes at a time with the windows open so that the house doesn’t get too smoky.

I wonder whether Casper likes or dislikes the smell. He doesn’t seem to mind but We don’t do it very often.

I bet catnip incense would be right up his alley, though!

 

[daftcat75]

For what it's worth, I did perform an experiment with several drops (less than 10 but don't remember the number) of essential oil in a diffuser and monitored the air quality metrics on my Dyson air purifier. The PM10 and PM2.5 numbers quickly rose to warning and unsafe levels within 20 minutes. The PM2.5 is most alarming because these are particles that are small enough to reach the deep pockets in the lungs and cross into the bloodstream. At what concentration do these essential oil particles become problematic? I don't have that answer. But that experiment was enough for me to stop using my diffuser and avoid as many fragrances around my cat as possible. Now I pretty much always buy the "Free and Clear" (unfragranced) versions of cleaning products.

 

[daftcat75]

Found my spreadsheet for this experiment. It wasn't a very thoroughly documented experiment. It says I used 5-10 drops but I didn't say which was it.

For the first 30 minutes, I ran my diffuser in intermittent mode and the PM10 and PM2.5 were detectable but not unsafe. At 30 minutes, I changed it from intermittent to constant diffusion. Within 15 minutes, the levels rose to unsafe. Please note that water vapor itself can raise these levels. So it's not clear what proportion of the essential oils were detected at what level. But it's safe to assume that if my air purifier can "smell" it, so can your cat. It should also be stated that my diffuser was in one room and the air purifier with the fancy sensors was in the other room.

 

[ToruPop]

Found my spreadsheet for this experiment. It wasn't a very thoroughly documented experiment. It says I used 5-10 drops but I didn't say which was it.

For the first 30 minutes, I ran my diffuser in intermittent mode and the PM10 and PM2.5 were detectable but not unsafe. At 30 minutes, I changed it from intermittent to constant diffusion. Within 15 minutes, the levels rose to unsafe. Please note that water vapor itself can raise these levels. So it's not clear what proportion of the essential oils were detected at what level. But it's safe to assume that if my air purifier can "smell" it, so can your cat. It should also be stated that my diffuser was in one room and the air purifier with the fancy sensors was in the other room.

Thanks for sharing that! Very interesting. I'm sure the levels are a lot less coming from an evaporative cooler, I typically used the same amount of drops but it's in gallons of water, and dispersed over many hours, how long depends on how hot and dry the air is. Still, I can smell it, so it's probably strong for a cat.