If you have already had the chance to discover the effectiveness of aromatherapy on you, and you are an animal lover like us, I imagine that it has already crossed your mind to use essential oils on your balls of hair (or feathers?). Between ticks, warts, digestive or joint problems, they are unfortunately not spared. This is a good intention, but you still need to take some precautions before relieving Kiki's rear problems with wintergreen. As with medications, and even foods, something that you enjoy or that has worked wonders for you will not necessarily be safe for your pet. Aromatherapy can nevertheless represent a very interesting addition to relieve the minor problems of your loved ones. To guide you, we will give you some indications on the use of essential oils on your animals. Between precautions for use and physiological details, here is a little file to better prepare you!
This article was updated on 07/02/2023Some useful essential oils for animals
Here is a non-exhaustive list of essential oils that can have beneficial effects on your animals' disorders (except cats, which are a special case!):
- THE Basil : antispasmodic and anti-infectious, it can act on gastric disorders;
- There Cinnamon : anti-infectious and anti-parasitic, it can be used in cases of intestinal infections, warts, or as a dewormer;
- THE Atlas cedar : anti-inflammatory, insect repellent and antiparasitic;
- There Lemongrass : very good repellent, it can scare away midges, mosquitoes, fleas and other small insects;
- THE Clove : anti-infectious and analgesic, it can be useful in cases of fungal infections and dental pain
- L’Radiated Eucalyptus : bactericidal, antifungal, antiviral and immunostimulating, will be very useful in case of respiratory problems;
- THE Juniper : anti-infectious, draining and anti-rheumatic;
- THE Geranium Rosat : anti-infectious, antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory, it has very good safety;
- L’Italian helichrysum : anti-hematoma, healing and circulatory draining;
- There Lavender Aspic : cutaneous analgesic, anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory, it will be essential to relieve stings and bites;
- There True Lavender : antispasmodic, analgesic and healing, it can be used in cases of digestive spasms, wounds and dermatitis;
- There Pepper mint : local analgesic for hypothermia and antispasmodic, it can be very useful in cases of travel sickness or indigestion;
- THE Palmarosa : antibacterial and antifungal, it will be very useful in case of respiratory infections. It is also an insecticide and insect repellent;
- THE Ravintsara : broad-spectrum antiviral and antibacterial, also very immunostimulating, it is very useful against viral and respiratory infections;
- THE Rosemary with cineole : anti-infectious, expectorant and mucolytic;
- THE Rosemary Verbenone : liver protector;
- There Mountain Savory : against pulmonary and intestinal infections;
- THE Tea Tree : anti-infectious, immunostimulant, antiparasitic.
Precautions for use
First of all, you must not do not self-medicate on your pet. For any therapeutic use, always seek the advice of a veterinarian. The precautions for using essential oils will be the same for humans as for animals, namely:
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Carefully check the contraindications.
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Do not inject essential oils intramuscularly or intravenously.
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Do not use essential oils on or near the eyes, anal and vaginal mucous membranes, inside the ears and muzzle. If splashed in the eye, rinse with vegetable oil.
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Carry out the allergy test before use.
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Do not use essential oils on animals less than 3 months old and pregnant or lactating females.
Here are some routes of administration to avoid: the sublingual route, application to the entire body, suppositories.
The dog and essential oils
It is well known that dogs have highly developed instincts. Since the dawn of time, he will automatically head towards one or another plant to relieve his troubles. If you are the proud owner of a canine, have you ever observed it eating grass when it has digestive problems? For essential oils, it's all the same ! This makes things much easier, but be careful all the same, some people's instincts can be... how should I say... a little rusty (shout out to all the owners whose dogs eat everything that's lying around).
The dog will therefore be the animal on which the use of essential oils will be the easiest. They can in particular be a good alternative to anti-flea or anti-tick treatments, with a little True Lavender, to wormers, thanks to Cinnamon, to combat stress, etc.
The method of using essential oils for dogs will depend on the route of administration, but above all weight of your pet. A Chihuahua will not require as many drops as a Great Dane for example! To avoid making a dosage error and not taking a risk for their health, advice from a veterinarian will be advisable.
The cat and essential oils
We know they are capricious, but here more than anywhere, you will have to be careful with the cats! On the one hand, cats will not easily be able to eliminate ingested essential oils, and for good reason: in humans, any ingested compound will be metabolized in the liver, that is to say transformed thanks to various chemical reactions, especially enzymatic. This will make the compounds more soluble and more easily eliminated. The cat, for its part, does not have glucoronyltransferase, a liver enzyme present in humans, dogs and many mammals. It is necessary in the transformation and elimination of phenolic compounds, compounds found in many essential oils. It will therefore be more difficult to eliminate them, but above all more slowly. Too much duration or too much dose of essential oils could then overload your liver and lead to risks of behavioral disorders, but especially hepatitis.
On the other hand, the cat has a particular organ called jacobson's organ. This allows it to detect pheromones, chemical substances used as a means of communication, and other volatile molecules. Essential oils, similar to pheromones due to their volatility, will be perceived much more delicately by cats than by humans! These then risk triggering hypersensitivity reactions (asthma, hypersalivation, regurgitation, etc.) or, once again, behavioral problems.
For all these reasons, the use of essential oils on cats remains very delicate, but nevertheless possible, and requires the advice of a veterinarian.
If you were wondering about ferrets, know that the precautions for use are exactly the same as for cats!
Why are pets more sensitive to essential oils than humans?
Just because our organism is very different from those of animals ! Consequently, certain essential oils which will have benefits on our body will not necessarily have benefits on theirs, for different reasons:
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First of all, at the level of the 5 senses. We're not going to give you a lesson in animal biology, but let's remember that certain senses are much more developed in animals than in us. What will especially interest us is the sense of smell. Indeed, man is described as microsmatic, that is to say that its olfaction will be very little developed, compared to dogs or cats for example, which will be macrosmatic. For this reason, animals will be much more sensitive to strong odors that we ! And essential oils and strong smells, generally, are one and the same.
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Second big difference: body mass. We can not emphasize this enough : it's the dose that makes the poison ! To treat a small cold, you will take for example 2 small drops of Eucalyptus Radiata, and this will be more than enough. 2 small drops for 60kg of body weight will be effective, so imagine the effect on a small animal weighing 4 kilos? In this case it will be better to dilute the essential oils.
- Finally, and at this level we are going to talk about commonality rather than difference: animals can, like us, be victims ofallergies or increased sensitivity with essential oils. Unfortunately, this is more difficult to detect on them than on us.
Did you know ?
The cat has 70 million olfactory cells and 20cm² of olfactory mucosa.The dog has 100 to 200 million receptor cells and 160cm² of olfactory mucosa.
The man has 5 millions receptor cells and 5cm² of olfactory mucosa.
Some good aromatherapy recipes for dogs and cats
Fleas and ticks (spray)
Take your empty bottle, and add:
- 100 drops of essential oil Tea Tree
- 100 drops of essential oil True Lavender
- 50 drops of essential oil Clove
- 50 drops of essential oil Lemongrass
- 25 mL modified pharmaceutical alcohol
Cat litter odors
Take your empty bottle, and add:
- 60 drops of essential oil Super lavandin
- 10 drops of essential oil Field mint
- 20 drops of essential oil Lemon
- 30 drops of essential oil Scots Pine
Natural dewormer for dogs
Take your empty bottle, and add:
- 30 drops of essential oil Cinnamon
- 15 drops of essential oilGreen Oregano
- 20 drops of essential oil Tea Tree
- 10 drops of essential oil Roman chamomile
- 60 drops (3mL) of vegetable oil Wheat germ
Rheumatism in dogs (osteoarthritis/arthritis)
Take your empty bottle, and add:
- 40 drops of essential oil Fragrant Wintergreen
- 30 drops of essential oilLemon Eucalyptus
- 20 drops of essential oil Rosemary with Camphor
- 10 drops of essential oil Scots Pine
- 60 drops of oily macerate St. John's wort
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Bibliography
Work : de la Charie, T. (2019). Treat yourself with essential oils. Why and how does it work? Editions du Rocher.
About these tips
This aromatherapy article was written by Théophane de la Charie, author of the book “Treat yourself with essential oils”, accompanied by a multidisciplinary team made up of pharmacists, biochemists and agronomists.
La Compagnie des Sens and its teams do not encourage self-medication. The information and advice provided comes from a reference bibliographic database (books, scientific publications, etc.). They are given for information purposes, or to suggest avenues for reflection: they should in no case replace a diagnosis, consultation or medical follow-up, and cannot engage the liability of the Compagnie des Sens.