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Aromatherapy for Animals In the early 1900's, Rene Maurice Gattefosse fathered modern aromatherapy. He was interested in using essential oils, the aromatic or volatile part of a plant, as medicine. Before he began using these oils on people, he tested them on dogs and horses. He was pleased with the results, and began working with people. His studies on horses and dogs combined with those of his contemporaries formed the beginning of modern aromatherapy. To date, most aromatherapists have concentrated on humans. In the nineteen-nineties, aromatherapists, like Nelly Grosjean and Kristen Leigh Bell, did research involving essential oils and animals. A lot of the information in this handout is based on their work. This is still a new field and we are all pioneers. The term aromatherapy can be very misleading. Products in stores with labels like mango shampoo, strawberry candles, honeysuckle bubble bath, and others, profess to be aromatherapy products because they have a scent. An aromatherapist would question the ingredients. Mostly they are fragrances, not essential oils. Fragrances are synthetic materials made in laboratories. Essential oils are not synthetic, and come from plants, usually through steam distillation. Essential Oils vs. Fragrances How do you tell if an oil is real or synthetic? It is synthetic if it comes in a clear bottle, is inexpensive, has a powerful scent, and a fruit name such as: apple, banana, cherry, coconut, grape, watermelon, or has a floral name such as: lily of the valley, hyacinth, sweet pea, or wisteria. This is a dead give-away that the oil is not real, but cooked up in a lab. True essential oils are always in a dark bottle with varying degrees of prices. A bottle (10ml) of true, steam distilled rose oil is over $100. Some oils can be inexpensive, like peppermint at $5 for the same amount of oil. Essential oils come in a variety of scents. They can be very pleasant to smell, as well as medicinal, and there are some that do not smell good at all. Usually essential oils are sold with common and scientific names so you can easily identify the plant source. The country of origin is a way to distinguish between fragrances and essential oils. Fragrances come from laboratories, not countries. Essential oil should have information on how they were processed. Usually this will be through steam distillation. I would ask the supplier those questions if any of this information is missing from the label. |
