Essential oil recipe

[Dr. Jeff]

The following was posted by a community member. It works well for many pets:



<blockquote>I use lavender oil, cedarwood oil, neem oil and olive oil for a flea and tick treatment.</blockquote>



<blockquote>It works on my five dogs (4 GSD & 1 mini Dachshund).

The recipe

10 drops of Cedarwood oil
6 drops of Lavender oil
1/2 tablesppon of Neem oil (pure Neem oil)
1 tablespoon of Olive oil

Add it all to 1 pint of water and put it in a spray bottle.

You can also add 1 tablespoon of Neem oil to your dogs shampoo to make a flea shampoo.

Neem oil has a smell

*Do not put this on a cat. Cats do not efficiently metabolize essential oils and their use can lead to symptoms of toxicity.</blockquote>

 

[eileenthoma]

Some one had suggested a product in the past, which I believe contains just the cedar oil. I had found the smell way to powerful for me, when I sprayed the dogs and put them in the car. They seemed to spend a lot of time sneezing as well. Is it true that a high concentration of cedar oil is needed to keep away the ticks? I am wondering if I cut down on the amount in the above recipe if I could tolerate the smell or if it would make it less effective?

 

[Dr. Jeff]

You probably know my answer Eileen.

It depends!

That's partially because it will vary based on the individual's tick-attractiveness. This is determined by vitality, balance and susceptibility.

Also, I'm not aware of any studies done on the concentration of cedar oil needed to repel ticks.

The greater the specific pet's attractiveness to ticks, the higher the concentration needed.

Ideally, this strong oil would not be needed at all. For many pets, Shoo Tag (0 Bug Zone) and other milder essential oils are sufficient.

This works for about 50% of my patients.

As usual, building health and vitality helps the most.

That being said, I'd experiment with the formulae you use. You might not need to use much cedar oil. Then there's Wondercide's new Evolve (cedar spray) with lavender.

HTH (hope this helps).

Dr. Jeff