Holistic Pet Care

I was alarmed to read this recipe and the suggestion that you add a teaspoon of tee tree oil. I know there are many who use tee tree oil, especially those of you in Australia/NewZealand but there have been many reported cases of tee tree oil killing cats and small dogs. It may be that you can use it for years and it won't have an effect or it could be that you use it and have a disastrous outcome. Small animals who injest it from washing themselves have been effected and a number died. Larger dogs do not seem to be effected.

Therer are many articles on the internet if you would like to do research of your own. I don't want to start a debate but I do feel everyone should know the pros and cons before making a choice to use it. Here is just one I found:

http://www.messybeast.com/teatree.htm

Wendy

--- In HolisticPet@yahoogroups.com, "Dal Pal \(NSY\)" <nospam101y@...> wrote:
>
> Here's the recipe. It makes quite a bit and will spoil even being kept in
> fridge so last time I made a double recipe and froze in small containers.
> Enough for 2 (for me and Mom) very small spray bottles. Bought them at
> Wal-Mart.
>
> "Take a BIG fat lemon (the more rind the better) and slice it paper thin.
> Put in a bowl with a tablespoon of crushed rosemary leaves (or a 6 inch
> sprig of fresh). Pour over with a quart of hot, near boiling water. Let
> steep overnight. Strain and put into a large spray bottle. Keep in fridge.
> Shake well before applying. The d-lemeone in this spray along with the
> rosemary oil will give your dog a beautiful shiney coat and keep fleas and
> other bugs away .. including mosquitoes, so you get extra heartworm
> protection. If your dog has dry skin or allergies add a teaspoon of tea tree oil and a tablespoon of Aloe pulp. Use the spray at least twice a week to
> keep the scent on the coat to repell bugs, and spray it around your doors
> and through the carpets. If it's a bad flea time, spray daily on the belly
> and feet to repell them. This has worked wonders for us for many years. Not
> only for the dogs, but for us when we go hiking or walking in the woods. No
> bug will get near this stuff. And, of course, it's all natural."
>
> I've also seen the recipe with 2 lemons and with Neem oil added.
>
> My first batch I used 1 lemon and stripped the leaves from a couple of
> sprigs of rosemary. Lemon was normal size and pale rather than deep yellow.
> It was very hard and had a thick rind. I strained the mixture so it wouldn't
> clog the sprayer but those were the only changes for the first batch.
>
> Second batch I did basically the same thing but before straining, I
> hand-squeezed all the lemon and rosemary before straining to get as much
> d-lemeone into the mixture as possible. Fragrance is much stronger and seems
> to work much better.
>
> For this last batch (actually 2 batches combined into one), I didn't use
> quite as much water and used the remainder of the rosemary (almost a whole
> package from the store). I split it between 2 bowls and also broke the stems
> and added them to the mix. I haven't gotten to this batch yet but I'm sure
> it will work at least as well as the previous ones.
>
> Altho it says to spray 2 x week, that did not work for me in the beginning
> so I started at 4 x week. Now they get sprayed every 2-3 days and it seems
> to be working. I used to get lots of bugs and spiders around the outside
> door (we live in the basement) and they would scoot into the house when the
> door was opened. Now when I spritz the dogs I also spritz around the outside
> of the door. Seems to be keeping the bugs and spiders at bay.
>
> I also sprinkle food-grade DE around the perimeter of my house and fenced
> yard and spray the yard with Mosquito Barrier. Of all these, I think the
> only one that kills the ticks is the DE; others just chase them away. But
> maybe after a couple of years they will decide this is not the yard to go
> searching for a blood meal. <g>
>
> Leslee
>

__._,_.___

Messages in this topic (31) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic

Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

•  1
  New Members

Visit Your Group