Is It Safe to Diffuse Essential Oils Around Pets?

This content was updated for accuracy and relevance on January 25th, 2022

As essential oil users, aromatherapy safety is incredibly important to us, especially when it comes to pets. We’ve discussed safe essential oil use with pets in the past but want to address EO safety more specifically when it comes to diffusion.

With a sense of smell 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than human’s, animals are more affected by essential oil diffusion than one might think. What this means is that diffusing 10-15 drops of EO in your Ultrasonic Diffuser is like diffusing 100,000 drops of EO or more to your pets.

Does this mean you should stop diffusing around pets altogether? Some animals, such as amphibians, cannot metabolize essential oils the same way humans and other animals do, whereas animals such as livestock and dogs can benefit from safe diffusion. To help guide you into a safer aromatherapy experience for your animals, we’ve listed some essential safety tips below:  

Do not diffuse essential oils around:

• Fish/amphibians
• Birds
• Reptiles
• Pregnant/nursing animals
• Young animals

Diffuse with caution around:

• Small animals 
• Rodents
• Cats
• Dogs

Safe diffusion tips for animals:

• Keep your diffuser out of reach of animals
• Diffuse in a well-ventilated area
• Ensure your animals have the ability to remove themselves from the area of diffusion (leave doors opened)
• If an adverse reaction occurs, discontinue use and seek medical attention from a veterinarian
• Diffuse for 30 minutes intermittently
• Diffuse only a few drops of oil if using an active diffuser

This article was inspired by Kelly Holland Azzaro’s years of research in the field of animal aromatherapy. To learn more about animal aromatherapy, please visit her website or Facebook page, Animal Aromatherapy (Safe Use).