Introduction
Essential oils are natural oils made from plants, carrying their lovely scents and special qualities. People have used them for their beautiful pets a long time to heal and make things beautiful. When dogs have allergies, it makes their skin itchy and inflamed, gives them breathing problems, and causes persistent skin infections. Oils like lavender, peppermint, and chamomile can help relieve these issues. Before trying any essential oils, it’s smart to talk to your vet first. They’ll make sure it’s really allergies and check if there are any conflicts with the other treatments. Essential oils extracted from plants can ease the allergy symptoms of your beloved pet.
But it’s super important to reach out to your vet before you start any oil treatment.
Symptoms
Essential oils aids with allergy relief of the pets. There are essential oils that can help repel insects that can cause allergic responses, as well as essential oils that can battle the symptoms of allergies.
Essential oils to consider for:
- Ginger, Rosemary, and Basil: For anti-inflammatory symptoms.
- They use Lemongrass, Rosemary, and Citronella: For insect-repellant symptoms.
- Thyme, Peppermint, and Lemon: For respiratory symptoms.
- Peppermint, Lavender, and Chamomile: For skin reactions
Causes
It is critical to address several possible concerns that might lead to failure in order to achieve a successful essential oil treatment plan for your pet. Keep the following aspects in mind when providing essential oils to your pet:
- Only use therapeutic-grade essential oils, since non-therapeutic oils may include hazardous compounds or solvents that are dangerous to your furry pet.
- Be aware of any contraindications, since essential oils may conflict with your dog’s existing medicines. Check for any conflicts or negative impacts.
- Always dilute essential oils before using them. Your dog’s sense of smell is considerably more delicate than yours, and what smells good to you may be too much for them.
Diagnosis of Essential Oils for Allergies in Dogs
It is critical to have a precise diagnosis before utilising essential oils to treat your dog’s allergies. When we are dealing with an untreated food allergy or a yeast or bacterial infection, using soothing remedies on the skin is only marginally useful. There are several tests that can determine whether the symptoms are caused by an allergy and, if so, the allergen.
Your veterinarian may collect skin scrapings from any problematic regions to do cutaneous cytology, which is a microscopic study of skin cells to search for mites, yeast infections, and other indicators of disease. In some circumstances, doctors may inject a small quantity of the suspected allergen or allergens into the patient’s skin to determine which chemical they are allergic to.
Treatment of Essential Oils for Allergies in Dogs
Skin allergies are common in dogs because of their playmates, unsanitary surroundings, diet, and so on. Because essential oils contain antiseptic and antibacterial qualities, they aid in the healing of the damaged region. Essential oils for dog skin allergies include frankincense, cedarwood, myrrh, and others. Helichrysum has antibacterial properties and aids in skin regeneration. Lavender aids in the healing of burns and wounds. Cedarwood and myrrh aid in the treatment of skin allergies and the maintenance of a healthy skin coat. Sweet basil is well-known for its antibacterial and antifungal qualities. Apply the oils topically to the diseased region after diluting them with a carrier.
Essential oil treatments can be given to your pet in a variety of ways.
Diffuser
The essential oil evaporates and is breathed in when a diffuser warms it. In most cases, thirty minutes in the room with the dispersed essential oil is adequate. Because some dogs are extremely sensitive to inhalant allergies, this medication should be used with caution.
Spray bottle
This is especially noticeable when essential oils are used as insect repellant. This is diluted with oil or water and sprayed softly into the canine’s fur to repel insects.
Topical
Although it is not recommended to use undiluted essential oils to your pet’s skin, they can be diluted with olive or coconut oil or blended into a pet-safe lotion or glycerine for topical application. This should be rubbed into a sparsely furred region. It is crucial to remember that dogs lick themselves and that topical treatments frequently become ingested.
Unless your veterinarian explicitly recommends it, using essential oils orally is not typically suggested as a therapeutic strategy.
Essential Oils For Your Dog’s Allergies
Common essential oils that allergic people may use and pose a risk to your dog include:
Camphor: Camphor assist pets relieve discomfort and open up their airways. Camphor can cause liver failure if swallowed by your pet, commonly by licking it off the application site.
Tea Tree Oil: Tea Tree Oil is commonly essential to treat skin issues and as an insect repellent. Although Tea Tree Oil is reasonably harmless for people, it can be poisonous to your pet, causing sadness, weakness, vomiting, and collapse. It is always dangerous whether the pet owner applies it directly to their skin.
Pennyroyal: Pennyroyal oil, a highly effective topical insect repellent for fleas and mosquitoes, can lead to life-threatening liver damage even in minute amounts.
Lavender: Lavender has anti-fungal, anti-histamine, anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic properties. One can use lavender oil topically or diffuse it for its desired effects. While lavender is extremely beneficial, it has no antioxidant components and can oxidize when kept. Because oxidized alcohol can cause allergic reactions, be sure your oil is of great quality and hasn’t been sitting in your pantry for a long time.
Chamomile Romana: This oil possesses anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, and anti-parasitic effects. It can be used topically or taken orally.
Elemi: Elemi is an anti-infectious, antiseptic, and calming herb. It can be used topically, or orally, or dispersed.
Myrrh: This oil is anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and astringent. It has a topical use.
Peppermint: Peppermint is anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antiseptic. It can be administered to your dog orally.
Mountain Savory, Oregano and Clove: For immune support, an important component of allergy prevention and treatment, you can add Mountain Savory, Oregano, and Clove oils. You can apply them topically, give them orally, or place them in a diffuser.
Helichrysum: Helichrysum oil is essential in every condition. It can help with blood clotting since it acts as an anti-coagulant but also helpful when there’s bruising. By helping wounds heal faster and acting as a topical anesthetic, this essential oil is very powerful.
When your pet hurts itself or sustains cuts and you require a natural pain remedy, helichrysum alone is often sufficient. However, when used in combination with copaiba and myrrh, their synergistic effect enhances the effectiveness.
Another great way to use this oil is if you have a dog that was recently in a trauma like a hit by car and has lung contusions. You can diffuse this oil in an open room, and it will help their lungs heal.
Melissa: Despite its potential high cost, this particular essential oil possesses remarkable potency even in small quantities.
Many people widely regard it as the most potent anti-viral substance currently known due to its exceptionally strong vibrational energy. If you have a pet struggling with chronic herpes or upper respiratory infections, or a dog afflicted with kennel cough, this oil is a necessity. You might also recognize it by its alternative name, Lemon Balm. Its versatile applications encompass various conditions such as depression, anxiety, seizures, and even as a substitute for antihistamines in the case of hives. Furthermore, it is completely safe for use in dogs.
Frankincense: Now if you were to pick one oil to have in your dog’s first aid kit, Frankincense should be there. Frankincense is one of the most important and well used oils in the animal world. It’s incredibly safe, well tolerated, versatile and effective.
People extensively use this powerful essential oil, considering it a life force oil, especially in critical cases. If you have puppies and kittens, this is an oil that you should start using in their lives right now. This oil also appears to magnify and enhance the effects of the other essential oils when used together.
Pet owners can use this oil safely in dogs and cats through various methods, including neat (undiluted) application, dilution, oral administration, or diffusion. There are different species of frankincense that will affect the pets in different ways. The more common form is Frankincense carteri but other forms are also available for deeper spiritual healing if needed.
Copaiba: Next is copaiba which is another must-have oil for your pet. It barely has any scent or flavor, which is really helpful if you’re trying to treat a finicky cat or a dog with a poor appetite. Copaiba is one of the best anti-inflammatory oils, and have seen to show drastic improvements to the reduction of pain levels and skin issues in pets. One of the most significant characteristics of this oil is that it has strong anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, making it a great choice for helping to treat infections and inhibiting bacterial growth. Apply topically, diluted in a carrier oil, to help prevent infections and quickly heal the skin. You can also add a drop to your toothpaste to help prevent oral infections and to promote healthy teeth and gums.
Ginger Essential Oil: This natural essential oil for pets creates a natural warming sensation. It’s great for eliminating odors and can also ease an upset stomach or nausea.
You can also make a variety of applications in the skin and hair using ginger oil.
. A sweet & spicy essential oil, ginger oil blends well with bergamot, cedarwood atlas, clove leaf, coriander, geranium, rosewood, orange, and sandalwood essential oils.
Juniper Berry Essential Oil: Juniper berry essential oil is another pet-friendly essential oil. Essential oil recipes commonly use it to ease muscle pain, repel insects, and tackle oily or acne-prone skin It act as an anti-inflammatory compound. It contains antioxidant properties that protect the skin and hair from oxidative stress. It also produces powerful antifungal and antibacterial properties when in contact with gram-positive bacteria.
Citronella Essential Oil: One of the most commonly used essential oils, citronella oil has gained popularity for its ability to deter biting insects like mosquitoes. Citronella Essential Oil slows or prevents the growth or spread of harmful airborne bacteria, repels flying insects, uplifts negative moods, and relaxes the body and mind. It is reputed to reduce muscle spasms, ease headaches, and boost energy.
This way treats some skin problems, such as extreme dryness, better systemically. You can apply these oils directly to inflammation (like a bruise) or next to an incision site to aid healing and reduce the pain.
Essential Oils Recommended by a Dog’s Skin Condition
Safe Essential Oils for Dogs
Carrier Oils and Dietary Supplements
When it comes to administering essential oils, both as dietary supplements and using carrier oils, pet owners should take into account the healing properties of carrier oils. These oils not only help deliver active ingredients safely and effectively but also offer their own therapeutic benefits.
Safe Carrier Oils for Dogs
Dietary supplements can sometimes act as carrier oils, but they may also be whole foods that work medicinally. Dr. World advises on the topic of dietary supplements, “I highly recommend oils rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as krill oil, anchovy and sardine oils, and salmon. I usually keep salmon at the bottom of my recommendations because of concerns around contamination from mercury, PCBs, and other contaminants. I’m also concerned about the sustainability of salmon and larger fish species. Krill oil is the best oil absorbed and has additional nutritional benefits and health boosts.”
When added to meals, these types of fish oils are excellent for heart health, skin, coat, joint pain, and the immune system. The dosage for the oil is 20-55mg of combined EPA and DHA per pound of body weight. Always discontinue in case of side effects, such as oily coat, diarrhea, excess fatigue, or slow wound healing. Talk to your vet before adding to your pet’s diet.
How to Use Essential Oils on Dogs
The ways to deliver the essential oils to your dog include:
- Applying to His Collar: For essential oils whose purpose is aromatherapy or insect repellent, you can place a drop of it on your dog’s collar.
- Within a Carrier Oil and Applied Directly: For essential oils meant to soothe skin problems or muscle soreness, combine the essential oil with a carrier oil and apply it to the affected area.
- Diluted in Water and Sprayed on or Rinsed Over: Forsome essential oils that repel pests, you can dilute them with water and mist them over your dog’s coat or use them in a rinse. Chamomile lends itself well to a rinse.
- Directly into the Pet Food: You can add some dietary supplements and some carrier oils directly into your dog’s food to reap their benefits. This method is especially useful when the problem is gastrointestinal. This way systemically also treats some skin problems, such as extreme dryness, better.
- In Shampoo: Since you rinse off shampoo, it’s an excellent way to give your dog’s skin the benefit of essential oil without the risk of bad consequences. Some shampoos include oatmeal, coconut, and aloe, which are soothing for a dog’s skin, and adding essential oils augment these beneficial effects.
- Diffused: Many essential oils have properties that make them extremely effective at combating your dog’s stress and anxiety. Rose and lavender are good diffuser choices that are dog safe (and are good for you too!).
If you’re new to using essential oils with your pet, try slowly introducing your dog to the scent of new essential oils. Some dogs tolerate certain smells poorly because they are initially overwhelming. If your dog is skittish, waft the scent in his area a few times a day before applying to them.
I hope this article answers all the questions which you had in your mind regarding your beloved fluffy pet. Feel free to ask any other questions in the comment box below.