Emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, fear and love drive humanity. Your dog’s emotions are also an integral part of its life. Smells can be soothing and comforting or energizing for us.
Aromatherapy To Calm Dogs with Anxiety
Dogs are in tune with our moods and just like us, they have a harder time coping with emotional stress. Some blends do exist to help calm your dog. We won’t go too much into details because we’d like to address a bigger problem: essential oil diffusers at home may be toxic to pets.
Are Aromatherapy Diffusers Safe For Dogs ?
Please be very careful with essential diffusers around your home. While they may be trending, they can cause some serious harm. Tea tree oil for example is toxic to dogs. If your pet is more lethargic than usual, make sure you are not diffusing something harmful in the air! Unless your dogs have respiratory issues, skin exposure is more dangerous than inhalation when it comes to essential oils.
“The most common symptoms for cats and dogs exposed to diffused essential oils are drooling, vomiting, coughing, and sneezing. Diffusing oils can be fatal to cats and dogs that have asthma or other respiratory issues,” Source: Lifehacker and a vet they interviewed.
What Essential Oils are Bad For Dogs?
If you are using ANY essential oils in your home in ANY WAY, contact your vet to get an approval right away. Some essential oils are harmless, others are not. Quantities matter as well when it comes to how harmful they can be for your dog.
Essential Oils Harmful to Cats
Oils that are harmful to cats include according to the Michelson Found Animals Non Profit
- Wintergreen
- Sweet birch
- Citrus (d-limonene)
- Pine
- Ylang ylang
- Peppermint
- Cinnamon
- Pennyroyal
- Clove
- Eucalyptus
- Tea tree (melaleuca)
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Lavender
List of Essential Oils Harmful to Dogs
- Cinnamon: no pumpkin spice essential oil blend for you!
- Citrus (d-limonene)
- Pennyroyal
- Peppermint
- Pine
- Sweet birch
- Tea tree (melaleuca)
- Wintergreen
- Ylang ylang
- Anise
- Clove
- Thyme
- Juniper
- Yarrow
- Garlic.
Be careful as many of these oils are harmful to dogs whether they are put on their skin, fur or diffused in the air. We don’t recommend you apply garlic essential oil on your dog or use it as a nice pungent smell around the home. So why is it here on this list of essential oils harmful to dogs? Because garlic, all of it, in any shape is toxic to dogs. Be really careful about that. It seems that few people know this.
What Are the Symptoms of Essential Oil Related Poisoning in dogs?
Stay alert if you see any changes of behavior in your animal. Here are some common symptoms that can help you figure out if your pet is reacting badly:
- They smell like essential oils (aka someone may have rubbed some on them)
- Labored breathing
- Drooling
- Fatigue
- Having a hard time walking
- Vomiting.
What Should I Do If My Pet Shows These Symptoms?
Act fast, that’s the key. Seek a vet immediately or contact your local pet poison helpline. If you can’t reach your vet, get your pet to an emergency medical center.
How to protect your dog
- If your dog has essential oil on its fur, skin, paws, or any other part of its body, wash it off immediately. Wash it thoroughly off as essential oils tend to cling.
- Take any essential oils your dog may come in contact with to get it checked out by your vet.
- No one in their right mind would recommend using any essential oils for pets applied directly to their body. That stuff BURNS. You could be causing scars on your dog from the essential oils burning their skin.
- To avoid poisoning, keep these oils out of reach of your pets. Store them in secure containers that your dog or cat cannot get to. And, again, ask your vet before you use ANY kind of oil in any capacity.
- Make sure you opt for a pet-friendly cleaner. Some DIY recipes include essential oils and it may not be safe for you to spray that stuff at home, near your dog.
