PLEASE READ THIS FIRST:

Opinons vary on the use of essential oils for cats. Many believe it is unsafe. Please educate yourself, and always consult a veterinarian before using anything for your cats, be it herbal, homepathic or essential oils.

We started using essential oils for our own health in May of '99, and had such remarkable results that we soon started expanding and using them for our cats as well. Please bear in mind that when I suggest the use of oils I talk about Young Living Essential Oils, which are very different from most of the essential oils found out on the market today. There are many lower grade oils on the market, not pure and not of therapeutic grade, and to use those oils on a cat could potentially do great harm, as there is no guarantee of purity. Cats are very chemically sensitive, and may react strongly or be poisoned by an oil that is adulterated, grown with the use of pesticides or even distilled in a less than optimum manner. So PLEASE do not experiment with just any oils on your cats after reading this. Purity is everything when using oils for your cats. Be sure that you are using a guaranteed pure, organic, therapeutic grade oil. Young Living is not the only quality brand on the market, but it is the only one I trust and use. If you have any doubt of the quality and absolute purity of your essential oils, err on the side of safety, and DON'T use them for your cats - also, they are best used under the supervision of a professional. If you have questions about the Young Living oils referred to in this text, please contact me. Always consult your veterinarian when dealing with medical issues.

Our cat Luka has an advanced stage of cardiomyopathy, a heart disease that results in an enlarged heart. In August of 1999 he threw a blood clot that paralyzed both rear legs. At that time we were fairly new to the oils, but we put some Aroma Life (a blend that supports the heart and circulation) on him right away, and took off for the vet clinic, where he was treated with Lasix and Aspirin and put in an oxygen chamber. After 1&1/2 hours, Luka had regained the use of his legs and was walking again. (Please note: NEVER give Aspirin to a cat unless it's under veterinary supervision. Aspirin is toxic to cats, and only your vet can determine a safe dosage)

The next day we took Luka to a heart specialist for a full work-up. The diagnosis was not good, we were told that Luka probably only had 3-5 months to live, a year if we were very lucky. We have been treating Luka with oils since then. He gets his prescription medication, but only at half the prescribed dosage. (1 day on/1 day off) We have been putting Aroma Life over his heart almost daily, sometimes alternating with the blend Aroma Siez or the single oil of Helichrysum. Our vet is impressed with how well he's doing.

Almost exactly one year after the first blood clot, Luka threw another blood clot. We heard him crying out in pain, and found him collapsed on the floor, both hind legs dangling uselessly behind him. He was having a very hard time breathing. This time we were prepared and we treated him aggressively with oils, knowing this was life or death. Luka got Helichrysum over the lower back, at the suspected location of the blood clot, and also got Helichrysum on both rear paw pads. This was followed by Aroma Life and Aroma Siez over the heart and Frankincense over the shoulder area. We had to follow the Frankincense with some carrier oil, as the Frankincense irritated Luka's skin.
We also administered Lasix and aspirin, and then put Luka in our oxygen tank, that we had built for him after the first crisis a year earlier.

Within 90 minutes, Luka was walking again. And within a few hours, he was jumping up on the couch, quite a feat for his arthritic little body even on the best of days.
The next day we treated Luka with Aroma Life and Aroma Siez again, and also some Roman Chamomile on his paws and some of the blend RC over his lungs to ease his breathing difficulty. Whenever he started having breathing difficulties, we put him in the oxygen tank for about an hour or so.
Words can not express the gratitude we feel for having our Luka back in good health again. He is now eating and purring and is back to his usual happy and cuddly self! We were told that cats usually do not recover the use of their legs after getting paralyzed from a blood clot, so this is truly a miracle, and we know we have the oils to thank for it!
Boel Stoddard

Wilsonville, OR
Update: We lost our Luka on June 10th, 2001. We are so grateful to have had him in our lives, and so grateful to the oils and the oxygen for allowing him to stay with us so much longer than he otherwise would have.

To see a picture of the oxygen chamber we built for Luka, click here:
Oxygen Chamber

To learn more about essential oils, click here

Abscesses

Our cat Emma was bitten and developed a bad abscess. By the time I discovered it, it was badly infected and oozing foul smelling pus. These types of abscesses have ALWAYS required antibiotics in the past. This time we applied essential oils. We started out by applying the oils neat, around but not directly on the opening of the wound. (this was to prevent the wound from healing prematurely and causing the infection to be sealed in). After 3 days the abscess was smaller, but still producing quite a bit of pus. This is when we decided to take a more aggressive approach, and we started mixing Roman Chamomile and Melrose in warm water and then injecting the mixture straight into the abscess with a syringe without a needle. We flushed the abscess with considerable pressure, until no more pus would come out. Then we put into the wound a piece of raw garlic, carved into the shape of a cat tooth, to perfectly fit the bite-wound. We left the garlic in for just one day, then we repeated the water/oil flush two more days, until no more pus was being produced. Additionally we applied hot packs to the abscess, soaked in hot water that had oils mixed into it. Emma healed beautifully, and we didn't have to put her on any antibiotics.

Our cat Otto was bitten in his upper front leg. We discovered this the same night it happened, and applied oils immediately to prevent an abscess from forming. We put Thieves on the wound and on his paws, and Frankincense between his shoulder blades. The next day, the leg had swollen to half again it's normal size. We were very concerned and considered taking him to the vet, but we decided to give it one more day and continued putting oils on him, and the day after that the swelling had gone down and there was no sign of infection. In the past, a bite like this has ALWAYS resulted in an abscess, unless treated prophylactically with antibiotics. Since many viruses such as feline aids are transmitted via bite-wounds the anti-viral activity of the oils is especially valuable in an instance like this. Antibiotics would be useless in this regard. One lesson learned: Never apply Thieves neat without following with carrier oil. We kept a close eye on Otto, and though he displayed no sign of discomfort, a few days later all the fur around the wound fell out in clumps, leaving a raw, red area underneath. Fortunately, his fur grew back swiftly.
Boel Stoddard
Wilsonville, OR

Kidney failure
Our cat Emma is in kidney failure. At age 17 she was declining at an alarming rate, she went from being a very outgoing social cat to being very withdrawn and apathetic, obviously failing to thrive, not eating much and sleeping all the time with no interest in social interaction. We started putting Juniper and Lemongrass essential oils on Emma's rear paws (following the application with some vegetable oil, since Lemongrass is a hot oil and can be a bit irritating to the skin when not diluted) The turnaround in Emma's health was remarkable. Soon we had our Emma back, asking for (or should I say demanding) attention, loving and wanting her cuddle time and also getting her appetite back. Back is the Emma of old, very alert and happy. Emma just turned 21 in April of 2003, and is still doing great and gets oil applications at regular intervals.

update: We helped Emma cross over to the next world in August 2004, at the age of 22.
She did well up until the very last day of her life.

We had another experience with a cat that went into acute kidney failure, where the veterinarian recommended euthanasia that same night. Instead we took her home and applied Juniper and Lemongrass. Since this cat also had a heart condition complicating matters, we also applied Aroma Life (see above) to support her. The vet said the only thing to expect was a steep decline in health, and that there was nothing to do. This cat had a dramatic turn around in her health, and is now (10 months later) doing very well and the vet is saying it looks like her organs are regenerating. She gets the oils applied regularly, as well as subqutaneous fluids and a supplement called "Seameal" by Solid Gold.

Power Meal for cats
This may sound weird, but after reading some earlier posts about folks using Power Meal on dogs I decided to see if I could boost my Himalayan Cat - Yogi - food by adding about 1/4 teaspoon to his wet food. By golly, that cat is eating it! In just three days he's begun to fill out a bit more and is taking better care of himself. A couple weeks ago I was sure I was going to loose him and after almost 14 years, that was really hard. Today, for the first time in all these 14 years, he's begging at the table. He helped my husband and I eat our chicken tonight and was almost indignant that we didn't have more. So he flipped his tail and went and ate the rest of his food - that had the Power Meal in it!!!!
Life is good and getting better!

Lynn Bedri