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Many concentrated essential oils are dangerous for pets. They cause harm to animals if applied to the skin, if ingested, and if inhaled. With essential oil diffusers growing in popularity, many incidents are occurring where pets are getting sick. If you have an oil diffuser in your home, take steps to keep your pet safe from potential harm.
Are diffusers safe for dogs? Read on to find out how you can keep your dogs and other pets safe in your home while using an essential oil diffuser.
What Are the Potential Risks of Essential Oil Diffusers?
Certain essential oils are toxic to animals. Dogs and cats experience harm from many of the same oils. Below are some of the oils that can make these animals sick. Note the list is not exhaustive.
- Cinnamon
- Citrus
- Pennyroyal
- Peppermint
- Pine
- Sweet birch
- Melaleuca
- Wintergreen
- Ylang ylang
- Clove
- Thyme
Animals experience adverse reactions to oils when they're placed on their skin, when they walk through misted oils in the air, when they ingest oils, or when they breathe some oils in. Pets can get sick, experience itching, have skin outbreaks, and more.
What Are the Signs of Exposure to Essential Oils?
If you're using an oil diffuser in your home, know what to look for in case of a reaction in your pet.
Signs of Essential Oil Poisoning
Severe reactions include symptoms such as difficulty breathing, muscle weakness, the inability to walk or move, burns or redness in and around the mouth, or even loss of consciousness. Should any of these present in your pet, call your vet or an emergency clinic immediately.
Other minor symptoms are pawing at the mouth, drooling, scratching, vomiting, and muscle spasms. You may also detect the smell of oils on your pet's skin or in their breath.
What Should I Do If My Pet Has an Adverse Reaction to Oils?
Your appropriate response depends on the exposure. Oil on the animal should be washed off. The quicker you wash it off, the better. Call the vet for additional advice.
If your pet is having a severe reaction, take him to an emergency vet clinic or call the Pet Poison Helpline. Take the bottle of oil with you. The vet needs to know exactly what happened for your furry friend to have the best outcome.
Keeping Your Pet Safe with an Oil Diffuser
You can use an oil diffuser in a home with pets. The key is to position it somewhere the animals don't have access to. Keep stored oils out of reach, as well. When using it in the room with your animals, limit sessions to short periods of time.
Wrap Up
Oil diffusers and essential oils provide us many benefits. They are potentially harmful to our furry family members, however. Keeping animals safe in a home with an oil diffuser is highly important and relatively easy. Make sure your oils and diffuser are out of the reach of your pets. If exposure occurs, call the vet immediately to get help for your animal.
