Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

In researching before adopting a pair of furrever friends from the rescue/shelter, I’ve found that odor is a powerful feline ability, important in territory and behavior and in food appeal, etc. Catnip is used as an incentive in many cat toys, scratching posts, etc. But I haven’t read anything about whether or not human or human-caused scents have an effect on cats. For example, there are many products commonly used to control odor; e.g. Febreze or other human products; and of course there are things like witch hazel, perfumes and things like that. Do these affect cats? Will use of these products cause cats not to like us?

~ Andrew

Scent is very important in the world of cats. Here, Thomas is showing his fascination with some fresh catnip.

Siouxsie: You’re definitely right about smells being very powerful for cats, and we applaud you for wanting to know if there are “human” smells that can make us want to stay away from you.

Thomas: In fact, there are odor-producing household cleaners and scents that can repel cats, and some can even cause us physical harm!

Dahlia: First, let’s go with the repellents. Many cats don’t like citrus smells or extremely bitter smells and tastes.

Siouxsie: That’s one reason bitter apple spray works well as a deterrent for cats that like to chew on wires and the like.

Thomas: The vast majority of commonly used household deodorizers and disinfectants, such as Lysol, contain phenols, which are toxic to cats. Phenols are processed through the liver, and we don’t have enough detoxifying enzymes in our livers to get rid of them effectively.

Dahlia: Pine oils, as found in turpentine, Pine-Sol and other pine-based cleaners, are also toxic to cats — again, because our livers can’t metabolize them efficiently.

Siouxsie: Keep in mind that anything you spray in the air — Febreze, spray deodorizers, those cutesy little deodorizing things that spritz as you walk by — creates a mist that will eventually fall on your cat’s fur. Since cats clean themselves all the time, any toxic elements in these products will make their way into your cat’s system.

Thomas: Those little plug-in diffusers, and scented laundry detergents, fabric softeners and dryer sheets, can also have the same effect.

Dahlia: Keep in mind, too, that because cats have such a strong sense of smell, an aroma that smells “spring-fresh” to you can be downright nauseating to cats.

Siouxsie: The same thing goes with perfumed cat litter: It may smell nice to you, but it could be overwhelming to your cat — which could cause litterbox avoidance.

Thomas: As for perfumes, it really depends on the type and quality. Mama uses scented oils — in small amounts — and we kind of like it when she smells like jasmine or lilacs.

Dahlia: We cats hate the smell of cigarette smoke, and because the toxic gunk in the smoke eventually lands in our fur, cigarettes can be at least as harmful to us as they are to you. If you smoke, we highly recommend that when you bring your cats home, you limit your smoking to outdoors. Better yet, quit smoking altogether!

Siouxsie: Mama says quitting smoking is easier said than done, but it’ll be worth it, both for your cats’ health and your own.

Thomas: Aromatic diffusers and potpourri can also contain chemicals that are harmful to cats. Many of the oils used in these products contain chemicals that can be harmful with long-term exposure.

Dahlia: But don’t think you’re totally safe if you use “all-natural” essential oils. Some contain chemicals that are poisonous to cats, too. Among the chief offenders are peppermint, lemon oil, lavender oil, melaleuca (tea tree) oil, cinnamon bark oil, wintergreen oil, thyme oil and birch oil. All of these oils contain phenol, which as we mentioned above is toxic to cats.

Siouxsie: You don’t have to live in a world utterly bereft of things that smell nice, but you do need to be very careful about the choices you make.

Thomas: If you have potpourri, make sure to put it out of reach of your cats. Also, spend the extra money for a high-quality product. You can even learn to make your own potpourri with things like dried rose petals and lilac blossoms if you like.

Dahlia: Incense can also be a problem. It produces smoke, and the fallout from that smoke eventually lands in our fur. Burning high-quality, low-smoke incense (such as Japanese incense) occasionally is not a big deal, but if you’re burning cheap, smoky incense every day, it’s going to be bad for your cats — and for you, too.

Siouxsie: There are plenty of wonderful unscented detergents and cat-safe cleaners on the market. You may have to work a little bit to find them, but they are there.

Thomas: There are a number of plants that are toxic to cats as well (there’s a good list of toxic — and non-toxic — plants from around the world here). They can cause symptoms ranging from vomiting to lights-and-sirens emergencies.

Dahlia: The website cathealth.com has a list of household products that are toxic to cats and some information on how you can find safer alternatives. We recommend you check it out.

Siouxsie: Our general rule of thumb for determining whether an odor is repulsive to cats is, if it smells strong to you, it’s probably five times as strong for cats.

Thomas: When you take your cats for their first checkup after adopting them, be sure to ask your veterinarian about household products that might be toxic to your cats.

Dahlia: He or she may think we’re going a little overboard by telling you to avoid scented detergents and cat litter, but many cat experts agree that we need to minimize the chemical load on our feline friends to keep them as healthy as possible.

Siouxsie: As Mama says, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Also, she’s kind of a hippie type who’d rather smell like Patchouli than perfume, and fresh air rather than “spring fresh” detergents.

Thomas: We certainly appreciate it, and we know that Mama’s looking out for us by keeping our home as chemical-free as possible.

Dahlia: And we’re glad to hear you want to keep your home as safe and cat-welcoming as possible, too.

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

My three cats which are the love of my life are coughing, wheezing, gaging on mucus, vomiting without any warning, and lethargic. Two of the three cats have scabbing which I am certain is not ringworm as I do not have it. Not only that, but I’m having the same symptoms. The cats and I are also very dehydrated and lethargic. I have been to a doctor four times in the last year and he just chalked it up to stress. I have lived a high stress life all of my adult life, but my cats? Not so much. We do have a chicken pen in the back yard, and I’m afraid we might have contracted some kind of fungal infection from the hens. I’ve googled feline fungal and I’m quite desperate at this point. I did read an article about cryptococcosis and am wondering what the treatment for this fungus might be. I’m not fond of antibiotics, and I’d love to know if you think there is a better treatment — we all need help. I am moving to a new location, but am I taking this fungus with me? Please tell me what you think.

~ Laurie

Siouxsie: Well, Laurie, before we answer your letter, we need to point out that we are not doctors or veterinarians, and you need to check with your and your cats’ physicians before acting on anything we might say.

Thomas: Secondly, if you are suffering from a fungal infection, no doctor would prescribe antibiotics. Instead, antifungal drugs are the treatment of choice. A doctor or vet might prescribe antibiotics for treating any secondary bacterial infection that resulted from the fungal infection, however.

Dahlia: We’ve done a little research of our own on cryptococcosis, and it seems to us that this is a pretty rare disease, most commonly seen in immunocompromised people such as individuals with HIV/AIDS or those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

Mold toxicity can cause an array of symptoms that may be confused with other illnesses or written off by doctors as "all in your head." Image courtesy of homemoldtestkit.com

Siouxsie: We think it’s more likely that you and your cats may be suffering from mold toxicity. Many websites about mold toxicity list the symptoms you’re describing as primary indicators for mold-related illnesses.

Thomas: Have you had any water damage in your house? If so, mold may be growing on or in the walls affected by the water. Mold can also build up in heating and air conditioning systems because water condenses off the cooling coils and stagnates.

Dahlia: Does your house smell musty when you walk inside? If so, mold may be growing in your home.

Siouxsie: We live in a basement apartment, and our place does smell kind of musty. There also has been some water damage. Mama’s taking steps to remediate the issue, but we are all suffering from some low-grade versions of mold reactions.

Thomas: If you’re moving, the odds are very good that you won’t be taking the mold with you. But in order to make sure of that, we’d recommend that you not take anything with you that has water damage or visible mold.

Dahlia: If you were planning to stay at your current house on a long-term basis, we’d urge you to have mold remediation experts inspect and clean problem areas in your home. It’s better to have experts do this because they have special tools that will prevent the spread of mold while they’re cleaning. We’d also recommend that if you’re renting, you tell your landlord about your concerns; he or she should be the one to pay for mold remediation.

Siouxsie: If you own your home and you’re planning to sell it, you should have any mold issues taken care of before you put it on the market. Potential buyers will have a building inspector tour the home and make a note of any issues–and if there is mold, they’ll find out and probably make mold remediation a condition of the sale anyway.

Thomas: There are some natural steps you can take to deal with small amounts of mold; borax and sunlight are chief among them. Borax can be found in most stores; you’ll see it in the laundry care section under the brand name 20 Mule Team Borax. Mix the Borax with water to form a paste and use it to clean mold-infested areas. Other natural means of killing mold include vinegar, grapefruit seed oil, tea tree oil, and citrus oil.

Image courtesy of catsmeowblog.com via Flixya

Dahlia: But we do not recommend using any essential oils near your cats. Many essential oils can be quite toxic to them. Borax can also be toxic to cats, but nowhere near as toxic as essential oils or chemical mold removers.

Siouxsie: You can wash all your laundry and add Borax to the mix. Borax was the first laundry booster/all-fabric bleach, and it can help you get rid of any mold spores that might be in your clothes or linens.

Thomas: Once again, we can’t stress enough that we are not medical professionals. We’re simply telling you about another reason you and your cats may be feeling so sick.

Dahlia: One more thing: if you’re taking your chickens with you to your new home, put their new pen as far from your house as practical. Keeping the pen and roosting areas scrupulously clean will also help to stave off any problems that might be caused by toxicity from chicken waste. And, of course, wear a dust mask when you’re cleaning the chicken boxes.

Siouxsie: If you do have a mold problem in your home, we’re pretty sure you’ll all be feeling better once you’ve moved to your new (and hopefully mold-free) home.

Thomas: You’ll find that there are a lot of people out there selling all kinds of “miracle cures” for mold toxicity, and most of these are pretty much useless — except to line the pockets of the people selling them. So we’d urge you to be sure and seek information about a variety of treatments, but please do so with your common-sense filter firmly in place.

Dahlia: Good luck, Laurie. Please let us know how things turn out.

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

Last Saturday, I brought my cat in to a groomer for a lion cut. She’s had this done before twice and was fine. They also gave her a flea bath (although I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have fleas — she’s an indoor cat and I give her Advantage Multi every 4-6 weeks). She was fine Saturday and Sunday. But yesterday she started behaving oddly: she’s acting very restless, vocalizing, running after my husband and me, not eating her food, and almost constantly flicking her tail. When she sits down, she lifts up her back and sometimes also flips back her back paws. This morning, she is sitting in her litter box. She was doing fine before her trip to the groomer. Could she have gotten a disease there?

~ Daniela

Siouxsie: Daniela, it’s hard to tell for sure, given the symptoms you’re describing. Also, we’re not veterinarians, so we always tell people that if you have any concerns about your cat’s health, you should contact your vet.

Thomas: That said, our first concern was that your cat might have received a flea treatment that was toxic to her. Some flea bath products are made with pyrethrins or pyrethroids, which can harm cats.

Dahlia: The symptoms of pyrethrin and pyrethroid toxicity include excessive salivation, ear flicking, loss of coordination, depression, lethargy, muscle tremors, fever, and even seizures.

Siouxsie: If your cat had been poisoned, these symptoms would have started to show up right away, and it would have been very obvious that she needed immediate veterinary treatment.

Thomas: But we can imagine that if you gave your cat the spot-on treatment shortly before she had a flea bath at the groomer, it’s possible that there might have been a reaction.

Dahlia: While it is possible that your cat might have caught some kind of illness while she was at the groomer, most groomers are very careful to make sure that they keep animals separated from one another in order to reduce the risk of disease transmission.

Siouxsie: From your letter, it seems that you’ve used this groomer before. If you’ve been comfortable with them and the way they’ve handled your cat thus far, it’s unlikely that they would do something that harmed her.

Thomas: Your cat may have encountered some kind of unusual stressor while she was at the groomer. This could cause some of the behavioral changes you mentioned.

Dahlia: One thing that also occurred to us is that the behavior you’re mentioning sounds a lot like that of a cat in heat.

Siouxsie: If your cat isn’t spayed, this may be the issue.

Thomas: You’ll need to set up an appointment with your vet to have her spayed if you don’t want to find yourself the surprised owner of a litter of kittens.

Dahlia: Even if she has been spayed and therefore can’t be in heat, we would strongly recommend that you contact your vet, describe your cat’s symptoms, and see what they think is going on.

Thomas says going to the vet is a hateful and exhausting thing, but he knows Mama would rather be safe than sorry.

Siouxsie: It can’t hurt to be sure, and the cost of a vet checkup is well worth the peace of mind you’ll get.

Thomas: We encourage all of you to contact your veterinarian if you have any concern that there’s something wrong with your cat.

Dahlia: In the event that your cat does have a serious problem, you’ll get a much faster response from your vet than you could ever hope to get from us — and your quick action may just save your cat’s life.

Siouxsie: This is particularly true if you’re concerned that your cat may have been poisoned.

Thomas: When it comes to poisoning, taking action as soon as you see the problem will save your cat’s life.

Dahlia: So, Daniela, we hope your cat is doing OK now. Please let us know how things turned out.

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

A couple of months ago, my 9-year-old male cat became quite ill. His symptoms were primarily lethargy and decreased appetite. We took him to the vet where his blood work revealed an elevated neutrophil count, but his white blood cell count was otherwise normal. The vet prescribed antibiotic prophylactically. Now my cat’s immediate symptoms are resolved, but he is left with what seem to be neurological problems including balance disturbance and pupils oddly dilated. I’m concerned that he may have mercury poisoning as I have given him tuna on a regular basis. Are there diagnostics and treatment for that? Do you have any other ideas of what may be going on with him?

~Jane

Siouxsie: Our research indicates that while an occasional tuna treat is okay, there are a number of hazards to regularly feeding tuna to your cat.

Thomas: Too much tuna can lead to vitamin E deficiency, resulting in yellow fat disease, or steatitis. Symptoms include loss of appetite, fever and hypersensitivity to touch due to inflammation and necrosis of fat under the skin.

Dahlia: Cats that eat too much tuna can develop other nutrient deficiencies, because most de-boned fish doesn’t have enough calcium, sodium, iron, copper, and is also lacking in several other vitamins.

Siouxsie: The high levels of mercury in tuna can be dangerous, too. If tuna is fed occasionally, it’s not a big deal — but if you feed him tuna every day, you could be risking mercury poisoning.

Thomas: So what are the symptoms of mercury poisoning? According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, signs of mercury poisoning in cats may include over-excitement, irritability, incoordination, convulsions, stiff hind legs, tremors and blindness.

Dahlia: Mercury poisoning is pretty rare in cats, and in people. It is usually diagnosed by a blood test or a test of the hair/fur.

Siouxsie: If a diagnostic test indicates that your cat has mercury poisoning, a therapy called chelation can be done to eliminate the mercury from his body.

Thomas: So, if your cat is suffering from mercury toxicity, it can be treated. But now we’re going to tell you about one of our favorite axioms, the Horses, Not Zebras Theory. Basically, Horses, Not Zebras says that if you hear hoofbeats outside your window (and you don’t live on the African savanna), it’s much more likely to be a herd of horses than a herd of zebras.

Dahlia: In short, the cause of your cat’s symptoms is likely to be something much more common (horses) than mercury poisoning (zebras).

Siouxsie: If your cat didn’t start showing neurological symptoms until after he began his course of antibiotics, the symptoms may be a side effect of the medicine.

Thomas: This is still a bit on the zebra-ish side, because very few antibiotics have neurological side effects, and even for those that do have known neurological side effects, the incidence of these effects is incredibly rare.

Dahlia: The fluoroquinolones are powerful antibiotics that are commonly prescribed for pets. The most widely used fluoroquinolones are enrofloxacin (Baytril®), ciprofloxacin (also known as cipro), orbifloxacin (Orbax®) and marbofloxacin (Zeniquin®).

Siouxsie: They are used to treat infections of the skin, bladder, ears, kidneys, lungs (pneumonia), and prostate gland. A liquid solution is also made in the form of ear drops to treat ear infections.

Thomas: In very rare cases, cats receiving high doses of Baytril® have developed severe, irreversible vision problems. Researchers believe this adverse reaction is unlikely at lower doses, though.

Dahlia: Mama says Thomas had to take Baytril® before, when he was a wee, sick shelter kitty, and he’s just fine! Sinéad had to take it a few times for UTIs, and she never had any neurological problems as a result.

Siouxsie: For more information about fluoroquinolone antibiotics and side effects, check out this page on noted veterinarian Dr. Eric Barchas’s website.

Thomas: This page at vetinfo.com has a list of side effects of common veterinary antibiotics used on cats.

Dahlia: Jane, you really need to get in touch with your vet and let them know that your cat is having these symptoms. Whether it’s mercury, an antibiotic reaction, or something else entirely — only your vet will be able to solve the mystery.

Siouxsie: Please keep in mind that this information is not in any way intended to be a diagnosis. Even if we were licensed vets, we’d never make a diagnosis without seeing your cat and performing diagnostic tests!

Thomas: However, we hope we’ve helped you to know what questions to ask your vet when you take your cat back to the clinic.

Dahlia: Good luck, Jane. Please let us know how things turn out.