Flower Essences to help You and Your Pet

[itself]

Our cats for some reason have been jumpy. So after a recommendation from Patty Summers (the animal communicator), we ordered Golden Arbor from Green Hope Farm www.greenhopeessences.com

You apply two drops to each ear. We were skeptical but cannot believe the difference in just two days!!

They also make them for people. Some very interesting reading on the website.

[Eden]

Be careful - cats are quite sensitive to many essential oils (they can damage their livers very easily), so double check and triple check to be sure anything you use on your cat will not be harmful. Even things we think of a pretty harmless, like peppermint oil and lavender oil may be harmful to them.

[itself]

Eden,

These are essences not oils. They are mixed with 20% white vinegar and water.

[Eden]

Just saying be aware - I'm not saying rubbing a bit of this on your cat's ears will kill her - but just take care, just because something is herbal doesn't mean it is necessarily safe. They web site was a bit cagey about the process.... but if they really only soak the plants in cold water, then there probably isn't much of the essential oils there (but that is what gives flowers their smells - the volatile oils they contain). OTOH there is some pretty dangerous stuff contained in their essences.... the "anxiety" formula for instance contains.

pennyroyal - which is reported "should never be taken internally because it is highly toxic; even in small doses, consumption of the oil can result in death."
joe pye weed - "like many herbs, can be toxic and should not be used casually without supervision."
chamomile - on the aspca list of plants toxic to cats
lemon - on the aspca list of plants toxic to cats
st johns wort - on the aspca list of plants toxic to cats
yarrow - on the aspca list of plants toxic to cats

One of the problems that it is thought cats have is that they don't actually break down the compounds in essential oils, so they can build up to toxic levels if they get repeated exposures and exposures don't have to be through ingestion - they can be through the skin too.

[Owlie]

Just saying be aware - I'm not saying rubbing a bit of this on your cat's ears will kill her - but just take care, just because something is herbal doesn't mean it is necessarily safe. They web site was a bit cagey about the process.... but if they really only soak the plants in cold water, then there probably isn't much of the essential oils there (but that is what gives flowers their smells - the volatile oils they contain). OTOH there is some pretty dangerous stuff contained in their essences.... the "anxiety" formula for instance contains.

pennyroyal - which is reported "should never be taken internally because it is highly toxic; even in small doses, consumption of the oil can result in death."
joe pye weed - "like many herbs, can be toxic and should not be used casually without supervision."
chamomile - on the aspca list of plants toxic to cats
lemon - on the aspca list of plants toxic to cats
st johns wort - on the aspca list of plants toxic to cats
yarrow - on the aspca list of plants toxic to cats

One of the problems that it is thought cats have is that they don't actually break down the compounds in essential oils, so they can build up to toxic levels if they get repeated exposures and exposures don't have to be through ingestion - they can be through the skin too.

This.

[itself]

Thanks for the info. Good stuff.

[itself]

An interesting link with good information.


http://www.anandaapothecary.com/articles/flower-essence-faq.pdf

[sookiesue]

You could also try "Rescue Remedy" made by Bach Flower Essences. This is very useful (for me) for things such as airplane travel, big windstorms (we have a lot of trees), and general insomnia-causing stress.

My holistic veterinarian recommended it for use with my very anxious cat before bringing her in for any vet visit, and also for exceptionally stressful situations such as moving to a new house.

Not sure if it would be recommended for daily use for general anxiety. I would consult a vet who is familiar with naturopathy/holistic treatments for animals.