Aromatherapy for Animals, Part ONE

Aromatherapy is the use of fragrance to enhance the health of mind, body and spirit. It is the volatile essential oils in plants that give them aroma, and the extraction of their essential oils, usually by steam distillation, that concentrates and preserves their substance.  Essential oils are not fats, but they combine easily with vegetable oils, fats and waxes.  Alcohol dissolves them partially.  They do not dissolve in water.

Essential oils are prescribed to help balance and restore good health, improve circulation, repel insects, kill worms and other parasites, reduce pain, enhance skin and hair, disinfect and speed healing of wounds, treat burns, prevent infection, clear respiratory congestion, boost the immune system, elevate moods, relieve stress, improve energy levels, prevent insomnia and alleviate anxiety.  It is difficult to imagine a health problem in people or their pets that cannot be improved directly or indirectly by the use of aromatherapy.

Most Americans consider aromatherapy a branch of the perfume business.  But in France, a nation we associate with perfumes, the professional practice of aromatherapy does not emphasize fragrance at all. Rather, aromatherapy is the realm of medical doctors, who prescribe essential oils internally to treat infections of the urinary tract, reproductive organs, respiratory system and other parts of the body.  Essential oils are used internally in Germany as well.

In Great Britain, where essential oils are applied externally, aromatherapy is used in hospitals to prepare patients for medical procedures, speed their recovery and replace sedatives. Julia Lawless, a British aromatherapist, notes in her Encylopedia of Essential Oils that the London-based International Federation of Aromatherapists advises against taking essential oils internally because of their high concentration and the potential toxicity of a small number of essences.  This cautious approach is usually followed in the United States, but some American aromatherapists are experimenting with the oral use of essential oils, using French and German guidelines.  I do NOT recommend using essential oils internally, unless it is under the care of a qualified health care professional and a certified professional aromatherapist.

Essential oils are a natural product.  Their fragrance varies according to the species or variety of plant used, its growing conditions and other factors.  For example, a bottle labeled rose oil might contain cabbage rose (Rosa centifolia) from Morocco, Tunisia, Italy or France, or damask rose (Rosa damascena) from Bulgaria or Turkey. 

Because of their cost, essential oils are often adulterated with other oils before reaching the consumer. To test the purity of an essential oil, place a drop on blotter paper and let it dry. If the drop disappears without a trace, it was not diluted with a vegetable or mineral oil; if a greasy residue remains, it was (there are some exceptions to this rule, such as Sandalwood essential oil and other resinous oils).

Although synthetic oils are available, true essential oils are distilled or extracted from fresh herbs or flowers, and there is a difference. No synthetic oil has ever matched the complex oils made by Mother Nature. Even our inadequate human noses can detect the difference. More important, our bodies’ response to a synthetic fragrance differs from our reaction to the real thing.

Essential oils are expensive for good reason:  their production requires substantial quantities of fresh plant material.  It takes 340 pounds of angelica, 50 pounds of eucalyptus, 120 to 160 pounds of lavender or 1,000 pounds of neroli (bitter orange) blossoms to produce a single pound of essential oil.  Fortunately, a little goes a long way, so the cost per use is greatly reduced. Some aromatherapy outlets offer sample sizes, making experimentation more affordable.

Price alone is not a guarantee of quality, but if one brand costs substantially less than another, it may contain synthetic ingredients or it may have been blended with a less expensive oil from an entirely different plant. Find suppliers that sell pure, unadulterated essential oils before using aromatherapy for your pet’s ailments. Responsible retailers rely on wholesale sources that test the oils they import for purity and accurate identification. Unfortunately, incorrect identification and adulteration are the most serious and widespread problems in this rapidly expanding worldwide market.

When sampling an essential oil, don’t just smell an open bottle.  The scent of an essential oil is so concentrated that opening the bottle releases only part of the fragrance.  I’ve watched people smell a high-quality lavender oil from the bottle and announce that they don’t like it or it doesn’t smell right.  In order to really test an essential oil, you have to use it.  In the open air or applied to the skin or in a blend with other oils, essential oils are transformed.

One need not work with distilled or extracted essential oils to employ the principles of aromatherapy, for any fragrant herb can have a pleasant, healthful effect.  Medieval strewing herbs were fragrant flowers, stems and leaves placed where they would be stepped on, releasing pleasant odors. In colonial days, sweet spices in open bowls were used as air fresheners, a practice that continues in modern potpourri blends.  As they have for centuries, pet owners use aromatic cedar chips or shavings in their animals’ bedding because the fragrance helps to repel fleas.  Everyone from dogs, birds and cats to people seem to relax and feel inspired when the room smells like apple pie or chocolate chip cookies.  And the art of incense, from herbal smudges burned by Native American tribes to the medicinal incenses of Tibet, the sumptuous fragrances of India and the subtle, elegant incenses of Japan, are by themselves the topics of books.

Essential oils are so concentrated that they are rarely used full strength.  They can be diluted in a “carrier” oil, such as sweet almond oil, for use as massage oils or insect repellants.  Pure or diluted essential oils can be sprayed in the air from a hand-held spray bottle, added to water in a humidifier or dispersed by a nebulizer, an electric pump that diffuses essential oils in a fine mist.  Another air freshener is the candle diffuser, similar to a ceramic potpourri warmer, which heats essential oils in water and releases their fragrance slowly.  Aromatherapy candles contain essential oils that release their fragrance when burned, or you can improvise your own by placing drops of essential oil on the outside of thin tapers, in the warm wax of a lit candle or near, but NOT ON the wick (they are extremely flammable).  There are many ways to scent a room or the area surrounding your pet with a fragrance that will help him sleep through the night, relieve stress, speed heaing or enhance his energy level.

It is best to start with just a few essential oils and keep your first projects simple. Work with one fragrance at a time, or at most, combine two or three fragrances that share similar properties.

Warm, invigorating fragrances help reduce emotional stress, eliminate fatigue and inspire confidence.  The invigorating herbs include eucalyptus, cinnamon, pine, geranium, rosemary and bergamot.  These same essential oils are useful in cases of respiratory congestion, low energy or poor circulation.  Soothing, refreshing herbs that help balance energy, refresh the mind and strengthen the system include lavender, lemon, sage and lime.  Chamomile is known for its calming influence and is recommended in the treatment of depression.  Sandalwood is deeply relaxing.  Basil, peppermint, rosemary and juniper are often used for memory problems. 

DILUTE, DILUTE, DILUTE—that’s the key to using essential oils on animals.  Essential oils are the most concentrated herbal products available, and such powerful substances can be dangerous and even deadly to pets.  For example, undiluted cinnamon oil can burn the skin and cause blisters, as can several other essential oils. Fennel, sage and camphor-containing oils (eucalyptus, rosemary) can cause seizures in epileptics.

The external use of the undiluted essential oil of pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) has been implicated in cases of liver damage in dogs and cats.  In 1992 the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association reported the death of a dog who had been treated topically with almost 5 tablespoons of undiluted pennyroyal oil as a flea repellant.  Even though it’s an effective insect repellant, this concentrated oil should NEVER be applied full-strength to an animal’s skin or coat, and, because pennyroyal oil is an abortifacient, it should not be used on pregnant animals.  The essential oils of rue and wormwood are also potentially toxic, and should never be used for humans or pets.

Pennyroyal leaves, on the other hand, are safe to rub on an animal’s coat, scatter on its bedding and plant around outdoor kennels.  Pennyroyal tea can be used as a topical insect repellant, and many safe, effective repellents contain dilute solutions of pennyroyal oil.

Check out parts two and three of this article at http://www.bukisa.com/people/terraken .

 (This column is authored by Carol Koenigsknecht, Herbal Practitioner and owner of Terra Ken Herbals.  She is available for consultations, classes and lectures, and can be reached via her website at http://www.TerraKenHerbals.net or by phone, (706) 797-0091.  She also owns and operates Carol’s Critter Care, a pet-sitting service.)

DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this column is intended for educational purposes only.  It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.  Please seek the advice of a QUALIFIED veterinarian or health care practitioner before using any herbs, supplements or other natural approaches to health discussed in this column.