6 simple ways to use the Young Living products on and around your favourite felines
19.04.2024
I’m sure you enjoyed Part 1 of this post. In it, you learned all the science and do’s and don’t’s when it comes to essential oils and cats.
Although there is good reason for caution when using essential oils with cats, all is not lost.
In part 2, I’ve got some great tips for you about how you can use Young Living’s essential oils and oil-infused products safely both on and around your feline companions.
The key is always about quality (ie. the quality achieved within the Young Living range of oils and oil-infused products), and the quantity you are using. Less is usually best when it comes to cats, unless you are working under the guidance of a knowledgeable Vet or other animal practitioner.
So here are 6 easy ways to use the Young Living products on and around your favourite felines. Enjoy!
NOTE: Some of the oil blends I refer to are from the Animal Scents Range. We have different names for these in Australia/NZ/EU compared to the US/Asian markets, so in this bulletin I’ve referred to the Australian/NZ/EU name first, then the US/Asian name in brackets.
1. Cleaning your cat, cleaning your home
Because cats are so sensitive to chemicals, you could very well be poisoning your cat through the use of toxic chemicals found in your home cleaning products. This includes chemicals such as bleach, alcohol, ammonia and sodium lauryl sulfate.
That’s why your #1 step is to switch to a non-toxic, all-natural cleaning solution for your home and it’s surfaces, including your cat’s bedding. I use Young Living’s Thieves Household Cleaner for this purpose.
In a 500ml spray bottle, add 1 tablespoon of Thieves Household Cleaner, and top it up with water. You can add your own signature fragrance to this all-natural, biodegradable cleaning solution. I love adding 6 drops each of Lemon Myrtle, Lavender and Orange oil, or 6 drops each of Purification, Lavender and Peppermint.
Then simply use this spray on all surfaces – benchtops, floors, oven, vanity and toilet – even the kitty litter tray!
And how about washing your cat?
I confess I’ve not needed to do this with my own cats, as they have this natural self-cleaning mechanism called a tongue!
But if it was needed for any reason, eg. if they’ve rolled in something they shouldn’t have, Young Living sell a great AnimalScents Shampoo which is specially formulated to be safe for your pets, including your cats.
2. “Litteroma” – the best smelling kitty litter!
In nature, your cat would use leaves and pine needles as their kitty litter, so they’d be getting exposed to small amounts of essential oil through contact with this vegetation. With “Litteroma”, we mimic what happens in the wild, by exposing kitty to small quantities of essential oil in their litter tray.
Start with unscented kitty litter, preferably the same brand you are already using. I personally use a brand in Australia called “Breeder’s Choice”, which is recycled paper.
In a glass jar, add 1 to 3 drops of essential oil to 1 cup of Baking Soda (Bicarb of Soda). Shake well, and allow it to “marinate” overnight. Sprinkle a small amount of this Litteroma mix into one of the kitty litter trays, and mix well.
Have a second litter tray available to your cat (minus the oils), so your cat has the choice of non-scented litter if desired
See which one they like the most! Over time, as they fall in love with their Litteroma, you can remove the unscented tray.
Try using earthy-smelling oils, such as Pine, Copaiba, Vetiver, Valerian, Idaho Balsam Fir, Frankincense or Northern Lights Black Spruce. Alternatively, use Purification oil blend to dispel odours, Lavender for calming, or Di-Gize or Animal Scents Inner Balance (Paragize) oil blend for overall wellbeing.
3. Diffusing
As with Litteroma, make sure your cat is not trapped in a room where a diffuser is running. They need to be able to move into other rooms if they don’t wish to be near the smell, eg. if it’s too intense for them. My cats will always move out of the bathroom if I have the washing machine or dryer running in there (ie. they don’t like the noise and vibration), yet they are happy to lie there all day while the diffuser is going in the room.
One of my favourite oils to diffuse for my cats is Transformation oil.
6 months after we moved house in 2014, all 3 of my cats were still unsettled. Within a few days of diffusing Transformation oil daily, they were like completely different cats. So relaxed and much more settled in our new home!
I also love to use Purification oil in my diffuser, as it keeps the house smelling fresh!
Yet there are sooooo many oils you can choose from! In fact, the same oils you’d diffuse for people would be the oils that would benefit your cats and/or other animals. So choose what would work for you, and see the effects on your animals.
For example, this might be Lavender, Stress Away or Peace & Calming for calming, RC to bring the uplifting aromas of the eucalypt forests into your home, Cedarwood, Sacred Sandalwood or Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood for relaxation, Frankincense or Sacred Frankincense for alertness, or Purification or Animal Scents Puriclean to dispel any animal odour in your home.
Because my home is open-plan, I have always used 20 to 25 drops of essential oil in my diffuser, as it then penetrates the entire house…but I’d recommend you start with 5 to 10 drops, see how your cat responds, then slowly build up if desired over the coming days until you’ve reached the ideal intensity for both you and your animals.
4. Stroking
This is a beautiful way of settling a stressed cat. I don’t do it every day, but I do love to do it occasionally with my cats….and to be honest, I so often have oils on my hands and on my body that my cats are getting inadvertently stroked with oils throughout the day. But what I’m suggesting here is a much more conscious application.
Put 1 drop only of essential oil onto one palm, and rub your palms together to disperse the oil. Then simply stroke kitty’s fur with your palms.
I usually hide my hands first, and then reach out and stroke my cat so that the oil is on them before they realise.
That’s because most cats don’t like the smell of essential oils because of the intensity, so even if it’s an oil that will benefit them, they may run away from the aroma.
One of my favourite oils for this purpose is Spikenard, which sadly is no longer available through Young Living because of the issues in obtaining sufficient sustainable sources for Spikenard at the quality required by Young Living’s Seed to Seal process. So if you are buying Spikenard from another company, it is very likely either synthetic, or illegally obtained. Make sure you do your due diligence.
I hope that one day Spikenard oil will become available again through Young Living – I always found that one drop, stroked onto the fur, was enough to calm an agitated cat so easily that they’d be settled and asleep within 5 minutes.
The good news is that Spikenard is part of the Valerian family, so nowadays I’d use 1 drop of a calming oil like: Vetiver, Valerian, RutaVaLa, Cedarwood, Sacred Sandalwood, Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood, Tranquil Roll-on or Roman Chamomile.
And let’s not forget the amazing Animal Scents range!!! These pre-diluted oils are perfect for use on small animals, including cats. For example, you can pet your cat with Pet Fresh (Infectaway) oil blend before they head out on an adventure in the great outdoors, and then with Pet Renew (Mendwell) oil blend when they return inside and are ready for some extra TLC. And if your cat is experiencing any type of tension, anxiousness or upset, stroke them with Pet Care (T-Away) oil blend.
5. Kitty Raindrop
This is a wonderful way to boost the energy and vibrancy of your kitty, and to optimise their wellbeing. Some cats will love it more than others. I’ve had cats purring and begging for more, whilst other cats run away at the aroma.
One of my cats (the one mentioned in part 1) didn’t particularly like the smell of it, but he nevertheless seemed to recognise that it was good for him. At a time when he needed some extra support, he’d hop onto my desk where the kitty raindrop mix was sitting, and he’d sit right beside it until I’d put it on him, then he’d wander off. He did this like clockwork, every 2 days.
To make the Kitty Raindrop mix, take 1 tablespoon of Young Living’s V6 oil, and add 2 drops of each of the Raindrop Technique oils into it.
I’ve never had problems with the Wintergreen in this mix because it’s so heavily diluted, and I know of a cat who received this Kitty Raindrop mix daily for 2 years or more with no problems (and his liver was regularly vet tested via blood tests to verify that it was not becoming stressed).
However, you could alternatively replace the Wintergreen with something like Idaho Balsam Fir, Frankincense or Sacred Frankincense, or Copaiba oil.
Apply ½ to 1 teaspoon of this mix onto kitty’s spine, massaging from the base of the spine to the top of the neck three times.
Even if cats don’t particularly like the smell, they sure love the back massage! Check out this video of 18-19 year old Mercy receiving a Kitty Raindrop Technique from me!
6. Diluted application
Animals are so much like us, so if an oil works in a particular way on a human, it will also work in that way on an animal. So do your homework online or through a good reference book, and choose the oil that you feel would most benefit your cat. This is the oil you will stroke through their fur (1 drop, as in the stroking method described above), or apply in diluted fashion to them or add to their Litteroma.
When we talk about dilution ratios, the first number is the number of drops of essential oil, the second number is the number of drops of Young Living’s V6 or (other organic) vegetable or carrier oil.
These are the proportions, and then you can make this proportion up in larger quantities, eg. 1:10 would be 1ml of essential oil to 10ml of V6 oil.
Generally you’d dilute an oil 1:10 for a cat, although you could go as strong as a 1:4 dilution if you are only using a very tiny amount topically (eg. 1 drop of the 1:4 mix).
As a point of reference, Kitty Raindrop is roughly a 1:17 dilution ratio (because we are using oils with high phenols in them, so we want it to be very diluted).
Now it’s your turn! Start using your Young Living essential oils in these safe methods on your cat, and discover their favourite oils and oil-infused products!
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