Happy Tuesday everyone! 
My L for the a-z blogging challenge is Lavender. And today we have a guest poster who is going to tell you about using essential oils for cats, and one of those oils is Lavender. Always check with your vet before trying anything though. Now for our guest:
Hello! My name is Tracy from The Happy Little Oiler. I’m absolutely thrilled to be doing a guest post today on how you can use Essential Oils for your pets. Essential oils offer a holistic approach to pet care. There are so many uses for oils on your pets that this could turn into a very long post- so in the interest of saving your keyboard from pooling drool after you’ve fallen asleep reading, I’ll focus on Essential oils for Cats ( simply because, I only have a cat right now and I have enjoyed using oils on her).
Before I dive into essential oils for cats, let me take a minute to stress the importance of using HIGH QUALITY essential oils. They simply must be 100% pure to be most effective. I only recommend using Young Living essential oils and those will be the oils I am specifically mentioning in this post- their quality is simply unmatched. They have their own farms and from the time the seed is planted to the time the oil is bottled they are rigorously tested for purity. In this post I’ll go over what Essential Oils are, how you can use them therapeutically for your pets, and include a few simply DIY recipes to get you started on holistic healing for your furr-babies. Young Living even has an entire line of Essential Oil products for animals.
When someone asks you to describe your family, you of course are going to include your pets.Pets are family members. We strive to give our pets the longest, healthiest lives possible. While I always recommend a veterinarian treat your pets and see them routinely, it is possible to avoid costly vet bills and keep your pet healthy, naturally.
Essential oils have also been used for thousands of years for cosmetic purposes, as well as for their spiritually and emotionally uplifting properties. Essential oil is made by distillation with either water or steam or by mechanical processing of citrus rinds or by dry distillation of natural materials. It is the essence of its source in its purest form.
For your furry family members, Essential Oils can be used for:
- Ticks and Fleas
- Hyperactivity
- Odors
- Pain relief
- Allergies
- Calming
Here are some recipes to get you started:
Homemade Healing Salve for Wounds
- 1/2 cup Coconut Oil
- 1/2 cup Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Beeswax
- 15 Drops Lavender Essential Oil
- 10 Drops Peppermint Essential Oil
Directions:
1. Melt the coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
3. Add the essential oils and stir until well incorporated.
4. Pour into a plastic storage jar or a glass mason jar.
Note this can be stored for up to a year at room temperature
Anxiety and Fear Blend
- 1/2 oz. Carrier oil ( Fractionated Coconut Oil or Sweet Almond Oil)
- 3 Drops Vetiver Essential Oil
- 5 Drops Lavender Essential Oil
- 2 Drops Clary Sage Essential Oil
- 2 Drops Marjoram Essential Oil
Add ingredients to a glass spray bottle and mix well. Spray into your palms and massage your pet’s back, ears and foot pads. This is great before a vet visit.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post! If you’d like more information on how to use Essential Oils for your pets or if you’re interested in how to purchase Young Living Essential Oils- you can contact me at:
TheHappyLittleOiler@gmail.com
Facebook.com/TheHappyLittleOiler
TheHappyLittleOiler.Wordpress.com
If you would like to learn more about Essential Oils and Animals there is a great book written by a Holistic Veterinarian, Dr. Melissa Shelton
These are great essential oil combos – maybe my human could use the anxiety and fear blend on Smokey later on in the month when she takes her for her regular checkup.
Great idea 🙂
The Human thinks she should mix up that anxiety blend for me. As if! Phfft. I *cause* anxiety–I don’t *feel* it!
Spitty, you are perfect, you don’t need anything like that – except maybe when the human tries to put beads on you. 🙂
wow! this was so interesting!
Tracy did a great job, she really knows her oils. 🙂
A few years ago, TW spilled a bottle of pure lavender oil in her bedroom when we had the moth problem. Moths don’t like lavender. Well, it caused her tons of stress cos she locked me out of the room and opened the window to try to get the heavy aroma out. When you use oils on your cats, they have to NOT contain a certain ingredient which is very harmful to us. I wish you’re guest poster would have mentioned it. One of the bloggers (A Tonk’s Tail?) wrote about the dangers and many have discussed how sick their cats came from diffusers. Here’s on link: http://www.thelavendercat.com/images/PDF-TheLavenderCat_temp_use.pdf.
Hi Cathy – Thanks for your comment.
The link you posted is from 2007 and the Essential Oil Revolution has come a long way. I can not speak for other brands, just Young Living – and the only ingredients their oils contain, are oils 🙂 Their Lavender is 100% pure straight from the Lavender plant that they grow on their own farms and they are not treated with anything except other Essential Oils.
Essential oils for cats is a highly controversial topic but it really is an argument that boils down to the quality of the oil once again. I can assure you that any oil that I recommend use of or put in a recipe can be used on cats Essential oils for cats and have been used for cats on a daily basis.
They most definitely need to be properly diluted. I encourage you to read http://www.experience-essential-oils.com/pet-home-remedy-books.html, by Dr. Melissa Shelton, DVM, a holistic veterinarian has used Young Living Oils for over 3 years in her practice safely and effectively (that’s the same link at the very end of the post).
Like humans, cats have their own preferences for essential oils. If you find a certain one makes your cat “disappear” while it’s being diffused, that one should be avoided. My kitty tends to gravitate towards lavender. If I spilled an entire bottle of lavender though, I’m sure she would be pretty mad at me, too.. that would be an intense smell!
Kitty livers cannot process chemicals the same way as other animals do, but that’s usually when there are synthetics involved (Young Living does not have any synthetics in their oils). Since you cannot tell your human when you are disagreeable to his/her lifestyle choices, here are some signs she can look for that you may be having difficulty processing something (not just oils):
There is a change in their sleeping or eating habits
Behavioral changes such as lethargy, lack of energy, or not wanting to be play
Digestive imbalances such as vomiting, constipation or diarrhea, or
Confusion and light headed.
I could get into a whole new blog post about this and I will plan one for the future. But for quick reference, the only oils that should be avoided for cats are citrus oils.
Again, though, this is absolutely related to the quality of the oil.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for clearing this up- you sure do know your products.:)
I will check that out. I avoid oils, but I thought the company she uses was safe. I did say to check with a vet first so hopefully no one will harm their pet.
a grate guest post two day…manee thanx two ewe tracy for stoppin by ….thanx all sew for de recipes !!! we troo lee Njoyed reedin thiz post 🙂 we will chex out yur wordpress site !!
🙂
♥♥♥
Thank you sweet kitties 🙂
L is for lovely post
hugs madi your bfff
Thank you- you are very sweet Madi. Hugs to you too.
We will definitely go and check out the essential oil website!
Thank you and always check with a vet before using anything.
I agree, that was sure interesting!!!
Thank you 🙂
Sorry not been around xx Going to write about you Friday xx
I am sure you had a lot to catch up on when you got back. I have been enjoying your videos of sweet Sammy.
Oh No Miss Ellen, lavendar can cause liver damage in cats. One has to be vewy caweful ’bout which oils can safely be used wound cats. Cuz it takes only a small amount to cause toxicity. Mommy luvs hers essential oils but is vewy vewy caweful ’bout which ones she uses wiff us.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Lexi
Thank you, I know a lot of oils can cause damage which is why I said to check with the vet before trying any. Tracy explained her company a little more in the comments and her post was specifically about the ones sold from them which are safe for pets. I do appreciate the concern though because I would never want to cause harm to a kitty.
I always enjoy reading about holistic and found this very interesting!
Glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
Very informative post, thank you ! Purrs
Glad you enjoyed it.
It’s always interesting to find natural solutions to health or behavioural issues. Thanks for the informative post and recipes! 🙂
the critters in the cottage xo
Glad you enjoyd the post. I like to mix regular medicine and alternative for the best care. 🙂
This is intriguing…meowmy has used eucalyptus oil herself…(nevfur on any furry ones)…to get rid of the itch of insect bites, and some others for neuropathic pain from nerve damage when she was getting chemo and her toes hurt like…H…
I always heard eucalyptis was posionous to cats so I didn’t post the recipes with that. Always check with a vet first before trying anything. That is good that it helped your Mom, I am sorry she had to go through chemo.