Cats should never be offered any species of Bay Leaves as all the vets consider it to be toxic for them. If you have grown the Bay leaf plant in your garden make sure to keep your cat away from it or better be on the safer side and get rid of that plant. Let’s discuss in detail the cause, symptoms, and diagnosis of the toxicity in Bay leave in-depth:
Bay Leaf: Culinary Profile
Bay Leaf is an enormously popular aromatic culinary that is used in various dishes for flavors in both raw fresh and dried form. Because of the sharp, pungent fragrance and taste, one can use it in soups, rice dishes, curry, seafood, sauces, vegetables, and even for garnishing purposes.
This culinary leaf is extracted from a few plants like Laurus nobilis, California, and Mexican bay leaves, but these all are different breeds of the plants belonging to the Lauraceae family. Whereas the west Indian and Indonesian bay leaves are native of the Myrtaceae plant family.
Are Bay Leaves Toxic For Cats?
Laurel bay leaves are poisonous for almost all pet animals including cats and dogs, especially the Laurus nobilis species widely grown across the Europe and United States.
Bay Laurel Poisoning
The Bay Laurel Poisoning is a very common poisoning that cats or any other home pet suffer from post the consumption of Bay leaves from the Laurus nobilis plant.
Bay leaves consist of eugenol along with other essential oils that are lethal to pets. This eugenol when goes down and is filtered by the liver, it damages the cat’s fragile tissues, in protection to which the cat’s body releases oxidizing agents which further worsens the problem.
This liver toxicity then could release the toxins into the pet’s bloodstream that can be extremely hazardous for their health.
The most common symptoms of Bay Laurel Poisoning are:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Digestive Obstruction
- Digestive Tract Damage
- Loss of appetite
These symptoms can be severe depending upon the amount of bay leaf consumed. As the severity increases, you could witness blood in the cat’s vomit or stool. If this is left untreated it could cause major weight loss and even bacterial infections.
If your cat has accidentally consumed a large amount of Bay leaves it can severely block its gastrointestinal because Bay Leaves are pretty hard to digest even for humans.
Conclusion
After going through all the above information, one thing is sure, Bay leaves are anything but safe for your cat. Not only Bay Laurel is poisonous to your cats but almost all the other breeds of Bay leave, therefore it is always advised to keep Bay leaves out of the reach of your feline pet. If unfortunately they have consumed it, and show severe poisoning symptoms take it to the vet as early as possible.
