Kennel Cough

Recently kennel cough has been in conversations. A disease that is hugely distressing to dogs, costly and a problem to many shelters.  However Wood Green Animal Shelter is having great results in keeping kennel cough under control. Tracy Challis has done a lot of work in this area and has written up some very encouraging results.

"Here at the shelter we often see Kennel cough due to the high stress levels and poor health of some of the animals that come in. To alleviate this problem and the congestion associated with the illness I began to work with oils that I felt could help. Eucalyptus being my first port of call and bergamot being another due to its airborne anti bacterial properties. I found that dogs with symptoms of kc have really wanted these oils both together and separately and that their symptoms reduce within 48 hours and the majority have then not required pharmaceutical drugs to treat it. This has meant that they are then back to full health within a very short time frame and training can begin or they can be re homed."

Since this first report the dogs coming in from Ireland are now exposed to the oils during their time in issolation. Before this practice approx 38 dogs from a batch of 40 would come down with kennel cough at a cost of approximately £60 per dog to the kennels. However since working with the oils, only approx 1 out of 40 come down with it and the ones that do, display very reduced symptoms.  The oils are put outside the enclosure, although  close enough for the aroma to disperse into the air. The cost of the oils £30.00 to cover  all 40 dogs .

Essential Oils vs. Airbourne Bacteria

It was not until the nineteenth century that microorganisms were identified as the cause of much disease.  This led to the first laboratory test on the anit-bacterial properties of essential oils.  In 1887 studies were published in France showing that microorganisms of glandular fever and yellow fever were easily killed when exposed to a selection of essential oils.  A prominent French chemist, Rene Maurice Gattefosse, coined the name "aromatherapy" in 1937, on discovering that the volatile nature of certain oils enabled them to disinfect the air.  He used the name aromatherapy as the title for his book, published that same year, which was chiefly concerned with the anti-microbial effect of the oils.  From 1887-1937 over one hundred journal articles had been published on this subject but neither these nor clinical trials did anything to persuade the medical profession that essential oils had any real use other than as flavouring agents.  At one time essential oils were  difused in French hospitals wards to disinfect the the air.    It maybe therefore be desirable to use essential oils such as Bergamot in areas such as veterinary waiting areas or kennels where airborne disease may be prevalent.

 

It Shouldn't Happen to Cats

Essential Oils and Cats: A Misunderstood Conception. 4th November 2011

Recently there has been a ban on using essential oils with cats amoungst some influential rescue centers. This ban is the result of  many websites making statements along the lines of essential oil toxicity in cats, stating that essential oils should never be used with them. Unfortunately, these websites do not cite their sources (which is a reliable indicator of an unsubstantiated claim).

An extensive publication search brings up just three reports on essential toxicity to cats; two involved the use of tea tree,  the third with potpourri .  The papers imply that the oils were taken orally or applied topically although the papers note that they cannot be certain whether the cause was accidental or not.  There are no reports on the toxicity of other essential oils with cats and not even a mention in two popular veterinary toxicology handbooks;  . There are plenty of mentions of toxic household plants but none feature in the applied zoopharmacognocist’s kit.

The concern with cats over other species is more theoretical than actual.  The issue is that cats have very low gluconryl transferase activity, an enzyme involved with breaking down some foreign chemicals including alcohols and, more importantly, phenols . There are only a small number of essential oils that contain high levels of phenols, the most commonly used being clove, cinnamon, wintergreen, yellow birch and the phenol rich chemotypes of thyme. In our experience and the experience of our students, cats have never selected these oils (or tea tree for that matter) except for thyme on one occasion. In the case of thyme, there were no negative effects recorded. Phenols are also in many detergents, disinfectants, which are all used without consideration in everyday life.


Almost invariably cats will select essential oils through inhalation and will almost never select them orally. Some websites claim that allowing cats to inhale is also risky; again there is no evidence to suggest there is a risk, especially if the oil is offered in well ventilated areas and the cat is free to remove itself from the odour.

 Ingraham Academy student Ann Brown (above) working with Applied Zoopharmacognosy

If anyone has worked with cats and essential oils they will know the relief from suffering that can be achieved. Since this work has stopped in a cattery, the sedatives have increased and the cats are coming down with disease. The staff who were trained in using the essential oils were "gutted " with the ban. I am told the cattery is now back to chemical sedatives and stressed cats.

Ingraham Academy student Kirsty Grant  (above) working with Applied Zoopharmacognosy.

A cat rolling in rose buds and catnip

Cats do not usually ingest essential oils they inhale them, as they would in the wild when they roll on the plant to release its fragrance. The importance lies in reading the cats’ response to the aromas and not forcing any on them.

Working in a Vet Practice with cats and essential oils
In a small animal veterinary practice in Surrey,  I worked with  hyperthyroid cats. The first cat was  seventeen years old, she selected lavender & seaweed absolute. On arrival her heart rate was high - 150, which is typical of a hyperthyroid cat, but within five minutes of inhaling the oils the heart rate normalised to 100.

Almost all cats with hyperthyroidism chose chickweed macerate, seaweed extract, and rose or lavender essential oil. In recent work with hyperthyroidism in cats, however it has been noted that they will usually select  spirulina.

Comments

  

I have seen loads of cats with amazing results, including my own and would be lost without using the essential oils with my cats! I will try and see if I can get some sessions on film for your blog! Catherine Edwards

Having a read through this makes me chuckle as my 3yr old cat gets into a few scraps and came home the other week covered in big scratches and a bite wound, really hot and very unhappy.  He usually doesn't like the oils close to him at all but came right up close, nearly touching the clove oil and deeply inhaled for 3 consecutive days by then he was well on the way to recovery!!  He obviously knows what he needs and when he needs it.

Really nice to know that there's now some true info on cats and essential oils on the internet: Liz R