Caring for Your Dog with Eucalyptus
Some vets would tell you to steer clear from eucalyptus or any form of essential oil as far as your dog is concerned. But if your dog seems unaffected or seems to enjoy the scent of eucalyptus, then you can try the safe ways to use the oil. It’s also a good idea to lay down some precautions if you’re using eucalyptus for you own health reasons.
· Consult your vet. For whatever reason you’re using eucalyptus at home, asking your vet beforehand couldn’t hurt. You can get his opinion on whether or not it could be beneficial for your dog at the same time.
· Read the label. Whether you’re using a diffuser for your own aromatherapy or diluting the oil for your dog, the product manufacturer might have some indications on the label with regard to pets and animals.
· Remove your pet from the room. If your pet seems bothered with the smell of eucalyptus, remove him immediately from the room where you activated the diffuser. Even if he seems to like the smell, avoid using the device for long periods of time because diffusing essential oils is dangerous to animals.
What are essential oils?
Essential oils are nature’s pure essence, extracted from specific plant compounds. There are multiple processes, in the extraction of essential oils. The most common are steam, water, or mechanical process; similar to juice extraction. The extracted compounds are blended with a carrier oil prior to application. It is recommended to use essential oil by diluting it with a carrier oil of your choice.
Common use of essential oils include diffusing or burning them to infuse your space with the scent (aromatherapy), blending them with lotions or massage oils, using them to add scent or flavor to lip balms or other beauty products.
The usage of essential oils across all cultures is diffusing or burning them to induce a soothing aroma around you. In recent days, essential oils are used in beauty products, moisturizers, and lip balms; to add natural fragrance to the product.
Is Eucalyptus Oil Safe for Dogs?
Whether or not eucalyptus oil is safe for dogs is a bit of a minefield. Not only have there been very few studies done, there are a range of products available, some with more eucalyptol than others, making any definitive answer difficult.
The ASPCA lists eucalyptus as a toxic plant to dogs and the Blue Cross agrees, listing it as “very poisonous to dogs” due to the eucalyptol the plants contain. Dogs are not allergic to eucalyptus oil, but eucalyptol may still be toxic due to liver or kidney damage (13, 14).
Eucalyptus essential oil is a purified, concentrated form of the plant, which means it’s more potent, and therefore more dangerous. It is toxic when ingested, causing vomiting, diarrhea, depression, lethargy, and seizures in humans, with a dose of just 3.5ml being known to be fatal to an adult human, although some people have recovered from higher doses than this (15, 16, 17). It appears that the symptoms cannot be accurately predicted by the dose, but we know that children are known to be more susceptible to the effects (18). But we don’t know how much eucalyptus oil is toxic to dogs.
Animals can also absorb eucalyptol through their skin, meaning that essential oils placed directly onto the skin can also cause symptoms (19). This is also true of diffusing eucalyptus oil, which can land on animals and be absorbed, or groomed off and ingested. Diffusing eucalyptus oil and dogs are a bad combination—so keep your dog well away from your diffuser, ideally in another room.
Interestingly, it’s unclear whether eucalyptus oil has any benefits in humans, let alone dogs. The US National Library of Medicine advises there is not enough evidence to recommend it for any of the diseases it has historically been used for (18). The European Committee on Herbal Medicine Products, on the other hand, concluded that eucalyptus leaf can be marketed for use for a “cough associated with a cold”—not because there was evidence of effectiveness, but because the treatment gets an herbal medicine exemption (20).
So, what about dogs? Well, there are no studies proving a benefit to dogs. It’s likely that, at the right concentrations, lemon eucalyptus oil repels fleas and other biting insects (21)—but it’s not clear whether those concentrations of essential oils are safe for dogs or not. There’s also some evidence that eucalyptus oil helps reduce pain from gout arthritis in mice (22). Whether this is true of other forms of arthritis, and in other species, is yet to be seen.
Other than the possible repellent effect, it looks like eucalyptus oil doesn’t have any clear benefits for dogs.