Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals
By Kristen Leigh Bell
In Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals by Kristen Leigh Bell, you will learn the origin and history of the versatile "healing use of essential oils and hydrosols." Also, you will discover that aromatherapy can be used alone or teamed with conventional, alternative, complementary, or other holistic modalities (nutrition, herbs, flower essences, homeopathy, and acupuncture) to treat discomforts, disorders, and diseases.
Bell explains how holistic aromatherapy -- the "therapeutic use of pure, unadulterated essential oils, hydrosols, and other fragrant plant materials for holistic health treatments" (p. 2) -- works physically, emotionally, conditionally, evolutionarily, and spiritually to help animals to heal. She offers aromatherapy advice not only for dogs, cats, and other small mammals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats, and mice and large mammals such as horses, donkeys, sheep, and pigs, but also amphibians and fish.
She describes how aromatic plant materials can be administered orally or topically or diffused to be inhaled. Because hydrosols are water-based, which makes them unsuitable for diffusion, they typically are used orally or administered topically -- either with an applicator or the fingers, massaged into the skin, or sprayed or spritzed onto the bodies of the animals being treated. Some hydrosols even may be included in shampoo or conditioner formulations.
Instead of masking symptoms and treating maladies that occur simultaneously as separate problems, holistic aromatherapy addresses every aspect of the animal to bring about a state of balanced energy and a return to good health. The author also points out how aromatherapy can be used to nurture the animal to prevent imbalances and crises.
While Bell emphasizes that aromatherapy can be put to good use under the control of pet owners, responsible pet owners know when to take their animal companions for conventional intervention.
Objective regarding both conventional and holistic healing methods, Bell takes the reader out of the maze of misinformation so prevalent in society today where people innocently show their puzzlement in comments such as, "If my dog has an ear infection, then how will smelling something help him?" (p.11). Or when a woman, whom Bell advised could help to calm her terrified dog with aromatherapy during eardrum-piercing thunderstorms, said, "I don't really think it would be safe to light candles in a circle on the floor around my dog" (p. 4). Remember, aromatherapy is administered in numerous ways, and it is not new age fluff that the uninformed might wish to purport.
Bell discusses quality and grades of aromatherapy products. She explains that while synthetic fragrance oils may have pleasant scents, they have little to do with essential oils and no therapeutic value. She outlines how to judge the available products and their ingredients, how to find reputable suppliers, and gives a list of recommended suppliers. Essential oils prepared from organic plant materials, on the contrary, are said to be the "very soul, or essence, of a plant" (p. 16). Not only that, but also, even more quantifiable, essential oils are the "key defenses that a plant has to protect itself from invaders such as bacteria, molds, viruses, fungi and pests, such as insects and animals" (p. 16).
Because essential oils are so concentrated and so powerful, their properties must be respected; and they must be used with the utmost care to prevent dangerous, or even deadly, consequences. Especially, if your precious pet is a cat, you must have guidance before proceeding to treat it with aromatherapy. Cats have special sensitivities to certain aromatic plant materials. It is imperative that you study before you start. If you are interested in implementing aromatherapy for any of your cherished animal companions, you must read and study Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals by Kristen Lee Bell and follow her astute guidance and her "safety-conscious blending style" (p. 7).
Linda Davis Kyle, Reviewer
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