Pets and Essential Oils: What You Need To Know

With the popularity of essential oils growing, it’s no surprise that pet owners are looking to reap some of the benefits. Pets and essential oils can defintely live happily ever after!

Essential Oils are often looked at as a natural way to eliminate chemicals in your home. Replacing harsh chemicals is a great idea, but it’s still important to pay attention when it comes to pets and essential oils. We’d never want to hurt and man’s (or woman’s) best friend!

If you are looking to incorporate essential oils into your pet’s life, you may be wondering what they can do for your furry friend. Here’s a quick list of ways pets and essential oils can live happily together and could improve your pet’s quality of life!

Pets and Essential Oils: How Oils Can Help

Essential oils have been proven to:

• Eliminates odors
• Calm and reduce anxiety
• Speed healing time
• Improve digestive health
• Repel ticks and fleas
• Soothe itchy skin

Now that you know a few of the ways oils could naturally help your pet, you might be wondering how to get started! It’s important to note that depending on the type of pet you have, certain oils can be harmful to the health of your pet.

We recommend chatting with your veterinarian before starting a new essential oil regime. Once you know what oils are safe to use, you have to know how to use them.

Tips for using essential oils with pets: 

• Take it slow. Ease your pet into an essential oil life by allowing them to smell the oils you’re using before application

• When diffusing essential oils always give your pet an escape route in case they aren’t a fan of the new smell

• Only introduce new essential oils when you’re home to supervise your pet

• Never apply essential oils directly on your pet’s nose

• Keep an eye out for skin irritation

• Humans love essential oil diffusers. Pets might too, but you’ll need to use a higher dilution rate around your favorite furry friends. For example, 6 – 8 drops per 100 ml of oil/water is generally regarded as a safe dilution rate. Diffusers do not need to operate for more than 10-15 minutes every 4 hours to be effective in aromatic benefits.
• Cats do not routinely enjoy essential oils. They are best used with cats on items you’d like to deter them from using.
• Birds do not tolerate essential oils very well. They have small, intricate respiratory systems that cannot handle essential oils diffused in the air very well. Please don’t diffuse around your feathered friends!

Pets and Essential Oils: What’s Safe To Use

Essential Oils that are safe to use around most dogs are:

• Frankincense
• Lavender
• Orange
• Peppermint (highly diluted)
• Lemon

For pets that suffer separation anxiety;

• Blending of Frankincense and Lavender may be calming and grounding. Diffuse for 10 minutes approximately 30 minutes prior to leaving the pet for the best results.

• Eucalyptus and Tea Tree, often found in many pet products, may be used topically in products under the supervision of a veterinarian. Neither essential oil should be diffused for long periods of time in an enclosed room around a pet.

Introducing essential oils to pets can be tricky, but with the proper precautions, you can improve your pet’s quality of life in a natural, non-toxic way. Do you have any success stories with pets and essential oils? We’d love to hear them! Comment below or send us a message to share!

Ready to use Pet Shampoo and Pet Spritz available in non toxic formulas that you and your pet will love are also available!

Wellness Lounge and Jordan Essentials do not claim to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure any illness. These statements are for informational and education purposes only and have not been endorsed by the FDA. Check with a healthcare professional if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications. This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click one of the links and make a purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.