With the holidays right around the corner, you might have some essential oil diffusers on your wish list or plan to give some as gifts. After all, they’re touted to help with everything from nasal congestion to anxiety, skin conditions to muscle aches. But buyer beware–essential oils aren’t as healing to pets as they are to humans, and can actually be quite dangerous. Pets can walk through the oil and get it on their coat, and can ingest it by breathing in the oil-infused mist.
What Signs Should You Look For?
Since pets can’t tell us when they don’t feel well, there are signs to watch for if you think your pet has been exposed. As any veterinarian will tell you, essential oils are most dangerous in their concentrated form. When a dog or cat walks through oils or gets them on their coat in their undiluted form, they can experience symptoms right away. For others, breathing the oil-infused mist from a diffuser can trigger asthma attacks or breathing issues. What should you look for if you believe your pet has been over-exposed to essential oils? Symptoms include lethargy, unsteadiness, or even a low body temperature in the most severe cases. If essential oils are ingested, you might also see drooling, vomiting and diarrhea. Remember, skin absorption or ingestion is more dangerous than inhalation in most cases.
Are All Essential Oils Poisonous to Pets?
Some oils are naturally more toxic than others, and the concentration can vary from product to product. It’s also important to know what the concentration is mixed with. Tea tree oil from the melaleuca tree may cause distress after exposure to only seven or eight drops, whereas lemongrass oil may be tolerated better. Cinnamon, citrus, pennyroyal, peppermint, pine, sweet birch, wintergreen, and ylang ylang are typically toxic to dogs, while cats also display sensitive to those as well as clove oil and eucalyptus oil.
Are Cats More Sensitive to Essential Oils Than Dogs?
Cats are much more sensitive to essential oil poisoning than their canine housemates, according to the Pet Poison Helpline. Cats have fewer essential enzymes in their livers than dogs and have a harder time metabolizing and eliminating certain toxins. Cats are also profuse groomers, and will often ingest much more of the oil if it gets onto their coat. In addition, some essential oils contain phenols and phenolic compounds that cats are highly sensitive to.
Being Aware of Changes in Your Pet is Key
Most pet owners know when their fur baby isn’t feeling right or is not acting like their usual selves. If you have recently added a diffuser to your home, make sure it’s in a well-ventilated area and consider keeping your pets away from that room while your diffuser is running. If your pet knocks over a diffuser, use a moist wash cloth to get their oil or water/oil mixture off their fur right away.
If you feel the benefits of essential oils for health is too important to ditch the diffuser, the safest thing you can do is to limit the risks in the first place. Keep your diffuser in areas where pets can’t access them, and only in room your pets can move in and out of. Never leave a diffuser running with your pet unattended. Also, limit the amount of time you use your diffuser.
Download the ASPCA Animal Poison Control App
The ASPCA expert vets have put together an app that features a searchable database of household hazards like essential oils, as well as medications and warm and cold weather toxins found in or around an animal’s surroundings. It can help you identify each toxin by name, and color codes those toxins that are of the most concern. It also features one-touch speed dialing to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.
Cases Rise as the Popularity of Aromatherapy Rises
At the Jacksonville Community Pet Clinic, we’ve seen an increase in these types of cases in recent years. We actually covered this and other household pet dangers in a recent blog post. If you believe your pet has been poisoned by and essential oil diffuser, time is critical. Call either our West or Beaches clinics to have your pet seen by one of our veterinarians right away. If after hours, call your nearest emergency clinic.
