Oily love for your furry friends
14.03.2024
If you know me, you know that animals are very close to my heart. I’m a volunteer wildlife rescuer, I rehabilitate snakes, and I’m Mum to 3 fabulous felines.
Being an oil lover myself, it’s natural that I am passionate about helping animals with essential oils. I’ve had many, many wonderful experiences using oils on animals, seeing life-changing results in such a short space of time.
Naturally, when you’re using oils on animals, you want to make sure you are using a quality brand. That’s where Young Living comes in. Their Seed to Seal process ensures that their essential oils are pure and unadulterated, and safe for us, our children and our pets.
And always start small. Animals have a much better sense of smell than us, so one drop goes a long way. I mostly dilute essential oils when I use them on cats (because cats are missing an important liver enzyme, so they can’t break down essential oils as quickly as we can, and therefore can be easily overloaded if you use too much).
Enjoy these heart-warming stories, of animal lovers, oil lovers, and their aromatic pets! And if you love learning about oils for animals, check out the 3 part series I wrote on Dogs and Oils. Enjoy!
Testimonials: Essential Oils & Your Pets
Fiona M. writes:
Elmo who is 13yrs old had to go in for surgery today to stablise his left shoulder after a dog attack.
A couple of things I was doing to prepare Elmo for today. Firstly I got an old towel that my hubby and I sat on to get our scent on it. Then this morning I rubbed Stress Away oil all over the towel. Stress Away is an oil I wear everyday as my perfume, so Elmo associates that aroma with me.
Then this morning I rubbed 6 to 8 drops of Stress Away oil on Elmo as well….. more than I normally would (please know Elmo is used to having oils applied everyday, so always start with less than this, until your dog is used to oils).
Well our 45 minute drive to surgery for the operation was so different to when we took him for the initial consult, when he sat up and shook the whole time.
This time he slept most of the way and no shaking, even when we arrived at the vet surgery. Even when getting admitted he just laid next to my bag. I feel so grateful to be able use these oils on Elmo!
His surgery went well today and he is staying in overnight, so I’m glad that he has the towel with all the aromas of home.
Artemis adds: Dogs relate to oils in the same way that humans do. When they associate a scent with pleasure or a happy memory, it’s comforting to them to then smell that aroma during times of stress. But the converse also holds true. When you first introduce your dog to oils during a stressful event, they can then have an aversion to oils (because the aroma reminds them of something bad).
So a good tip is to always introduce your dog to essential oils in a fun, playful or pampering way, to get them used to them. Less is best when you’re starting out. Put a single drop of a calming essential oil into your palms, rub your palms together so that your hand absorbs most of the oil, and then pet your dog with it. Make sure you stroke and cuddle them in their favourite way. Continue doing this each day for a week, and your dog will become an oil-lover!
Once they love oils, you can use those same oils during stressful events, and both you and your dog will reap the benefits. 2 to 3 drops is usually enough to see a significant transformation.
Ellen L. writes:
About a month ago, a friend (who I met thanks to Young Living) came to do Shiatsu/Acupressure with my dogs.
Nelson the Belgian Shepherd (aka Groenendaeler) pictured here is often nervous, always alert and always busy.
I have already been working with him with oils and Raindrop Technique, with great success.
Tine found that Nelson had an energy block in his kidney meridian, and together we intuitively chose Endoflex oil. I applied that to him, and instantly I had a much calmer dog. It was amazing!
We are currently doing an Endoflex Challenge within our Young Living community here in Belgium, and every morning when I apply Endoflex oil, Nelson comes to ask for HIS massage with Endoflex!
Artemis writes:
This is my beautiful boy, Nobu. He loves his crystals, he loves his Mum…but he’s not a fan of essential oils.
He’ll see me, and his ears prick forwards and he picks up his pace to walk over to me for a cuddle…then he gets about 1.5 metres from me and smells OILS…..and he screws up his nose (yes, truly screws it up – it’s hilarious to watch), and does a 180 degree turn and swiftly walks in the opposite direction.
So my cats get exposed to oils only when I’m cleaning my home with Thieves Household Cleaner (with some essential oils added in), or when I’m diffusing oils, or wearing oils as my perfume each day.
They definitely don’t like the strong smell of essential oils when they first come out of the bottle, but after most of it has absorbed into my skin, they are very happy for a pat.
Because they are not “oil babies”, I do the next best thing, and I use Young Living’s Sulfurzyme capsules in their fresh meat each day, to keep them running around the house like kittens. Our AU/NZ Sulfurzyme formula also contains Copaiba oil, which is a great oil for aging animals.
My cats are 13 years old now, and are amazingly healthy and agile!
Here is how I make up their meat mix (which is especially good for cats with crystals in their urine). I pop it into little tubs, and freeze it. This recipe makes 3 month’s supply for 1 cat (but because I have 3 cats, it’s a month’s supply, and they receive this each evening for their dinner):
- 5kg of preservative free Kangaroo mince (any other meat or chicken could be used instead)
- 2kg of chicken necks, coarsely pulverised so that there are still bones in there to clean a cat’s teeth
- 8 lamb’s kidneys
- 500g fresh sardines
- 4 eggs
- 1 to 1½ teaspoons of green powder (chlorella, barley greens, spirulina, etc.)
- 2 T of digestive enzymes designed for cats
- 8 Sulfurzyme caps, opened and sprinkled into their food
I know that’s not much Sulfurzyme. If I noticed that they needed more, I’d slowly increase the amount to allow them to get used to the taste. However, I’m truly astounded at how agile they all are. They like to sleep on top of the washing machine and dryer, taller than my head! And they have no problems at all jumping up and down multiple times a day.
Ngarie H. writes:
Shout out to Copiaba oil!
Franki was on a roll recently having a fat old time playing in the garden when she snapped at a bee thinking it was a blow fly (she loves to eat blowflies… gross I know!) A yelp and then she was most distressed and emotional!
A quick message to Fiona Mofflin who suggested Copiaba as it’s not a strong smell, and is an “emotional clearing in a bottle”. I was putting it on her lip close to her nose.
She recommended to reapply regularly, and several hours later she was so much happier and calmer. Amazing!
Fazette C. writes:
This is Snugly, she is 17 years and 3 months young, and the love of my life.
I like to think that one of the contributing factors to her staying with us is that, for the last 7 years, she has lived in a household that only uses Young Living Thieves Range products for cleaning around the house, washing her rugs and bedding and washing her dinner bowl – so no toxic chemical exposure for her inside.
I don’t use toxic yard chemicals either. She is also fed a raw diet and only drinks filtered water. Also, she is very much loved and I give thanks every day that she comes and stands beside my bed to tell me I should get up and feed her.
She’s pretty healthy for her age, a bit slow at times, so she has Sulfurzyme with her breakfast every day, the occasional doggy Raindrop and I mostly use essential oils when little emotional issues pop up.
Sometimes she gets a bit funny at night and wants to roam around and go in and out the dog door. I find a drop of Animal Scents Pet Care on the back of her neck and front of her chest help her settle and go back to sleep.
Sarah L.C. writes:
Here’s my cat Chewie in Lavender dreamland after receiving a Lavender massage!
For this massage, I simply spread 1 drop of Lavender oil in my hand, and massage him from the neck all the way to the base of his spine (just above his tail). He also loves it when I do this with Peace & Calming. Such a beautiful, spoilt boy!
My cats Gismo and Chewie love to jump up at night on the chaise lounge with me, but if I’ve done a remedial massage with the high phenol warming oils (like Oregano and Thyme) or with Orthosport, they take a whiff and quickly jump off and go to Rob instead. But if I’ve done a gentle aromatherapy Swedish massage with oils like Lavender, Stress Away or Peace & Calming, they will snuggle next to me instead. It’s so clever that they know what’s good for them!
Mary B. writes:
Introducing my best fried Rocky! Rocky used to suffer from terrible itching and he chewed himself until he had sores. After investigating this issue, I realised that kibble (ie. cat biscuits) was a major offender. I removed the kibble, and the problem instantly improved.
Knowing how good Sulfurzyme is for the skin, I started adding Sulfurzyme into his diet as well, just to bring that extra bit of TLC to his skin. After removing the kibble, there’s no more itching and scratching, and his skin looks amazing.
Sadly my little friend went to heaven, aged 14. I had to buy a door bell so no one could sneak up on me, because Rocky had such acute hearing that he was my best doorbell, alerting me whenever there was someone coming!
Kylie B. writes:
Missy was found in a vacant block on her own.
In her first 11 weeks of life she was treated for Cat Flu and Ringworm. She had antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, antifungal, flea treatment, vaccinations, and anaesthetics. It was too much for this little body to handle and she was left with Central Nervous System reaction.
We really believe MIssy was given to Elisa Maz (a foster carer for Perth Rescue Angels), and then chosen by me for a reason.
Why? Firstly because we both had low tox homes so this little kitten would not be overloaded with fragrance and toxic cleaning products in the home. And secondly, we are both oilers with experience using oils and cats.
And we were blessed to have Susan Marshall, Artemis and Heather Henderson (from Essential Oils in a Pets Home page) to call on for extra advice.
We knew we had to get her onto a healthy regime, so we started out with Stress Away oil for Missy. She was also drinking Ningxia Red with her food, and loving Frankincense and then Longevity oil diffused in her room and in her kitty litter tray.
Bit by bit, once the chemicals were removed from her environment, her body began to improve. The improvements were so much more than we hoped for, and finally she had the all clear to move to the Bryant’s home!
At the age of three and perfectly healthy now, Missy absolutely loves her oils, especially after my shower in the morning! She also looks forward to her little routine including her fur serum and loves anything with Blue Tansy in it!
We must believe that Missy was meant for us and our holistic lifestyle. Elisa you are incredible and I’m very thankful to you xx
Michelle-Anne K. writes:
Eden, 13, has been blind due to a genetic condition for a number of years. She also has two heart conditions and recently lost an eye. She is the most beautiful little girl but she is tiny, and due to her failing vision she was rather reactive for a long time.
I was first introduced to Young Living through my dogs. We gave her Stress Away, Peace & Calming and Grounding to choose from, and Eden chose Grounding oil. She has been a completely different dog since. She’s less scared when out and about, and definitely more cheeky.
I also use oils to help her navigate safe and not safe areas at home.
Sue P. writes:
My beautiful cat Ivy (pictured in the background) was bitten by a snake a few weeks ago, and had to spend 4 nights in hospital.
When I brought her home, she would spend most of her time in the room where I do my 7 oil Ritual each day, and my Egyptian Emotional Clearing Technique sessions.
I can only imagine that she needed some emotional help, after all the trauma she’d been through.
Thorgerdur T. writes:
My dog’s name is Kolka and she lives in Iceland.
She loves all the oils, and last night I diffused a blend of Stress Away, Cedarwood and Wild Lavender with my Ember diffuser.
Kolka is 10 years old and can suffer from disrupted sleep, but as you can see from these photos, she slept peacefully all through the night!
Artemis adds: It’s amazing how the very same essential oils that work on people also work on our pets. So any oil that helps you sleep is likely to do the same for your furry or feathered friend. And any oil that makes you feel happier is going to do the same thing for your animal. So why not share your favourite oils with your pet?
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