Surprisingly, yesterday’s Wall Street Journal dedicated a slice of its weekly Health section to the use of aromatherapy in pets. Though it could have elected a less cheeky tone, the author of "A Scent to De-Stress Pets" actually did the topic some justice, citing literature instead of pointing to the potential silliness of a subject that, on the surface, sounds as if it would treat doggie spa issues more directly than it would pet health itself.
As most of us here already know, olfaction is a far more significant sensory experience for cats and dogs than for any human. Their expanded range and heightened acuity is considered an evolutionary adaptation that somehow skirted humanity’s DNA.
As a result, olfactory medicine, well-known more for the softball-lobbing non-science of “aromatherapy” in humans, is deemed a perfectly reasonable area of hardcore study when it comes to cats and dogs.
Every year we amass more information on the subject, learning what triggers pets’ excitement, relaxation, appetite, etc. Some of this data emerges (or is held privately) via the pet food industry and some from the ivory-towered landscape of academia. But lately, it’s mostly been coming from across the pond through the work of a French company (Ceva) dedicated to the use of pheromones to calm pets and/or aid in their training.
This is what the WSJ article mostly treats. Savvily, it interviews veterinary behaviorists and harps on some products’ lack of science to support their claims. Ceva’s D.A.P. (dog appeasing pheromone) and Feliway, however, received high marks for the well-run, peer reviewed science that underlies their efficacy.
For my part, I’ll echo the behaviorists’ sentiments. D.A.P. and Feliway work. Sourced from the sebaceous glands surrounding the mammary glands and the chin, respectively, these pheromones can effectively relax dogs during training (making training sessions more effective) and chill cats out during travel, after a move, etc. But it doesn’t work for all pets. Not all the time.
Still, I didn’t appreciate the put-down of products like lavender and other unproven therapies that fall into the do-no-harm category. If your dog wears an herbal-pillowed collar or you diffuse lavender oil in your household in an attempt to calm your pets, no harm done. Safety here is presupposed.
Sure, we shouldn’t expect every aroma on the market to have the same effect on pets. And marketers shouldn’t mislabel products as proven effective if they’ve not been. Moreover, as veterinarians, we have a duty to point out what the research indicates.
But just because no one’s gone out of their way to prove the efficacy of X random aroma as a calming agent that doesn’t mean it’s not helpful, either. Try it, I say, offering standard warnings about the direct, topical use of essential oils (verbotten).
Pheromones are always best as a first try to aid in behavior modification and/or as an adjunct to drug therapy. But when they fail, why not keep searching for additional calming approaches via unproven aromatherapies? After all, petting hasn’t been proven to work as an effective relaxation method. But we all know it’s safe and effective anyway.
Add Comment22 Comments
"Safety here is presupposed."
Why?
Galadriel November 11th, 2009 09:38:11 AM
I have read from several sources that aromatherapy is not for cats because their livers do not have the necessary enzymes to break down and excrete certain chemical compounds
Connie November 11th, 2009 10:01:38 AM
i use lavender and chmaomille and even
vanilla all the time
when we do santa shoots at the petco
i always spray lavender all over
jim hall November 11th, 2009 10:04:26 AM
The use of essential oils even via the inhalation of aromatherapy in cats is quite controversial. While it may be safer in dogs, cats are not small dogs. I certainly wouldn't assume it safe. I think owners need to be aware of potential risks particularly in cats and make an informed decision on their use. Hydrosols appear to be the safer route.
Heather November 11th, 2009 10:08:51 AM
Do you have any recommendations on where I can read more about this - specifically the use of herbal-scented items? My parents' younger dog might benefit from some calming influences.
Posey November 11th, 2009 10:35:32 AM
"safety s presupposed?"
"just because no one's gone out of their way to prove the efficacy of X random aroma as a calming agent that doesn't mean it's not helpful?"
The presumption here seems to be inoocent until proven guilty, which is a dangerous way to approach science. You seem to feel that good quality evidence is a nice adjunct to peronal experience, a bonus but not strictly necessary. I think it's more appropriate (and better justified by the long history of useless and dangerous medical interventions that were widely believed helpful for centuries) to take the oppostie approach. Being open-minded doesn't mean believing in everything until something is conclusively proven not to be true. It means being willing to witold judgement, positive or negative, until the evidence warrants making a judgement.
The evidence for aromatherapy in humans is mixed and weak (cf The Desktop Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Ernst, Pittler, Wider. 2006 pp300-303). It might have some small effect on subjective variabbles such as anxiety, but it also has risks (astma, allergic reactions, photosensitivity reactions, accidental ingestion, etc). The fact that animals have a greater olfactory sense doesn't automatically emans it would be more effective for them. It might be riskier or more harmful. Without the research, who knows?
So far, the animal research on non-pheromone products is inconclusive. The lab research is variable and the clinical trials rely on subjective assessment of pet behavior in unblinded conditions (where owner and investigator know when the smell is present because they can smell it). In the absence of a sound pathophysiological rationale and clear clinical evidence, the best we should be able to say as vets is not "try it and see" but "nobody knows if its safe or effective so it's truly experimental at best).
SkeptVet November 11th, 2009 11:40:50 AM
Heather, what's a hydrosol?
stefani November 11th, 2009 11:59:54 AM
I knew I would catch hell for posting this on the heels of a discussion of the scientific method.
The concept is...as long as safety is addressed, there's no reason not to try aromatherapy. And no, I do not for one minute imagine that due to a difference in olfactory sensation cats and dogs would be more likely to respond positively to aromas. (sorry if I intimated as such)
Yes, essential oils can be problematic. It was not my understanding, however, that diffusers, per se, were considered problematic in this regard. But it stands to reason.
Herbal aromas, in the absence of distilled oil extracts, however, have never been proven to be unsafe as far as I know. Potpourri ingestion toxicity notwithstanding, herbs are commonly consumed by dogs and cats. To suggest that we take a strict evidence-based approach with every aspect of how we practice is just not doable. And yes, the truly experimental can be a good thing. It's how most of us treat our undiagnosed cases.
Dr. Patty Khuly November 11th, 2009 12:05:56 PM
"To suggest that we take a strict evidence-based approach with every aspect of how we practice is just not doable"
Well, yes and no. I do consider clinical experience to be a form of evidence, and it's perfectly appropriate to use it when there is no stronger evidence available. Evidence comes in a hierarchy from replicated multicenter randomized placebo-controlled large-scale clinical trials at the top, and what worked once for the uncle of the kid down at Petco at the other. We have to settle for less than we want evidence-wise all the time in Vet Med, and I wouldn't suggest otherwise.
However, I worry that this makes us a bit complacent and tempted to overvalue lower levels of evidence (such as our own uncontrolled case studies, aka clinical experience) and to view higher levels as unattainable, unecessary, or even potentially less valuable than what we see in day-to-day practice. I was responding to the tone (which of course I may simply have misinterpreted) in both this post and the Vet Stem discussion that good quality clinical evidence is an "extra" rarther than the foundation of good medicine.
"Herbal aromas...have never been proven to be unsafe" Nor have they been proven safe or efffective, which leaves using them in the "roll-the-dice" category of interventions.
"the truly experimental can be a good thing. It's how most of us treat our undiagnosed cases"
Again, if there is no choice, throwing darts may be the best we can do. Shotgun or "best guess" therapy is fine as a last resport in the face of a critical need to act. I wouldn't argue against such a practice. However, all too often I see "best guess" therapy used as a first line in place of a sound, evidence based process of diagnostics. The risk/benfit balance, and the dictum "first do no harm" support a great deal of caution in the use of unproven therapies. And it often supports what may be the harddest thing for vets and clients to support, which is to do nothing. The pressure to do something, anything is often a force behind the justification for use of unproven, or outright disproven therapies, and it plagues both uman and veterinary medicine.
SkeptVet November 11th, 2009 12:32:30 PM
Essential oils, perfumes, diffusers, plug-ins, and scented candles can be lethal to birds. While the Wall Street Journal article is careful to clarify that they are talking not about any old scents but specifically pheremones, and not in all species but in cats and dogs, your post here seems to lump all animals together as having identical risk factors as cats and dogs, and say that when it comes to essential oils "safety is presupposed." This is not only misleading but is potentially dangerous as it's my understanding that essential oils are a neurotoxin to birds. Just because your veterinary practice deals mostly with cats and dogs and most of your readers own cats and dogs doesn't mean you can sweepingly say that "oils are safe for pets". I hope for the sake of your hens that you do not try aromatherapy on them.
zandperl November 11th, 2009 12:56:57 PM
Stefani-
Hydrosols are a byproduct of distilling essential oils. They are water soluble and contain very little of the oil itself. They have a more gentle therapeutic effect and are considered safer.
holisticat.com has some interesting info on hydrosols and essential oil use with cats.
The properties of the oils that can cause toxicity is terpa-something. I'll have to google the exact term, I can't remember it offhand. These can be absorbed in the bloodstream thru inhalation when diffused.
I'm an essential oil user for myself for migraines. I also can't tolerate many fragrances so I use soaps and such scented with essential oils instead of artificial fragrances. So I have to take into consideration the potential effects on my cats which usually involves keeping them out of the room if I have a migraine and am diffusing oils. It's often a tossup since one of my cats has the perfect gentle purr that is very soothing and he'll snuggle up next to me when I'm not feeling well. So I'll have to make a choice: cat or oils.
Heather November 11th, 2009 01:31:24 PM
Essential oils and cats don't mix. Cats have a unique physiology that just doesn't seem to mix well with essential oils, so I'd stay away even from diffusers.
The Lavender Cat is an excellent site with lots of information on cats and essential oils. Sadly, the site hasn't been updated in a while, but the information is still well-researched and solid.
Ingrid King November 11th, 2009 01:50:11 PM
Zandperl: I did not say oils were "safe"...not even in dogs and cats. Reference the line in the post where I describe how I discuss the safety issues related to oils. As to bird safety...yes, entirely another matter but always worth mentioning. Thanks for the reminder.
SkeptiVet: I apologize for the tone you may have interpreted but I felt I was very clear in the Vet-Stem post that I was not using or recommending this product because there was scant evidence that it worked. Otherwise, why would I call for more research?
Here, my attempt was to explain that safe approaches should not be discounted out of hand merely because there is no structured evidence in their favor. Sadly, my principal flaw was in the fact that the most popular methods of distributing the scents we associate with aromatherapy are not safe. Mea culpa.
How did this post get so contentious, anyway? ;-)
Dr. Patty Khuly November 11th, 2009 03:16:46 PM
I'm all for doing the "hard" research on everything. In the meantime, a walk through a sunny fragrant garden or a bowl of nuked lavender on my table while I bathe makes ME feel better (nope, don't care in the least that it may well be placebo effect although I suspect it will turn out that it's a bit more than that), more relaxed, etc. and THAT will certainly impact my critters (if for no other reason than I'm more relaxed and more inclined to sit and pet them for longer times :).
It's been pretty well established that scents can trigger/bring back memories for humans; pleasant or unpleasant. I say let's pass on the association between pleasant smells and good memories to our children and our pets.
PJB November 11th, 2009 03:35:43 PM
Ingrid: visited the Lavender Cat & it is interesting, although in progress.
Gee whiz, I can't imagine people getting carried away in suffocating rooms with oils burning and dabbing full strength oils on their pets, but I guess like anything else, a little common sense and sparing/careful use goes a long way.
I think I would be quickly numbed to constant use of candles, sachets, linen spray, if I doused everything all day long.
But if proper use prevents or aids in pet symptoms, sure beats drugs!
Barb A./NH November 11th, 2009 04:51:08 PM
Wow, the spammers are getting an early start this evening! (PS: My spam comments can always go the same way as the spam!)
PJB November 11th, 2009 08:01:02 PM
Sorry if I seem contentious. I don't intend to be, it may just seem so because I am passionate about the importance of EBM within the veterinary field. I thought we were just having a civil but vigorous exchange! :-)
My reference to the VetStem discussion was actually aimed at Dr. Harman's comments not yours. I recognized and applauded your call for better evidence in your post on that subject.
I absolutely agree that nothing should be dismissed out of hand. Good quality science-based medicine is all about considering all levels of evidence, from basic plausibility through in vitro and animal model studies up to the RCT and only then making a firm decision. But, of course using a therapy when the evidence isn't there yet isn't being open-minded, it's making a coice in favor of the therapy. All I'm arguing is that were often safer, especially when not in a critical, must act situation, avoiding unproven therapies.
SkeptVet November 11th, 2009 08:09:51 PM
I was teetering on the fence for this year's holiday gifts, going repeat or something new and heck, I'm going with the lavender theme ;)--thanks for the prompt!
I find the aroma pleasantly relaxing & calming. Something needed in these days of stress and gloom.
Barb A./NH November 11th, 2009 10:12:10 PM
okay, I admit, I have a wonderful pair of black work boots. They have a hard rubber sole, leather uppers lined in sheep. super warm regardless of the weather, perfect for all the outdoor work I do now. THey are uggs...I have had them many years long before the more glamorous?? uggs came out and were popular. Mine will last a long time, as they already have a lot of years on them and they are in good shape, but after weeks of UGG make that Uuck spamming, I'd be hard pressed to ever buy another pair..<SIGH>
LorriM November 12th, 2009 02:18:31 AM
What timing! Did you happen to receive the herbal Calming Collars I sent to you for Slumdog -- they should have arrived at your clinic this weekend? I have been making them for over 5 years -- and have helped many dogs and cats relax. By no means are all animals helped, but the majority are. No essential oils or even hydrosols are used, just the actual dried herbs. Most customers find a Calming Collar helps take the edge off, and that means training can be more effective. Don't want this post to be too spammy -- please delete if it comes across that way! www.calmingcollars.com
Deb Mendez November 12th, 2009 05:50:01 AM
I attended twobehaviorclinicswith Dr Nicholas Dodman from Tufts. The second one was just last month and it was co taught by Dr Ian Dunbar, I have to say that I no longer even mention DAP for dogs to training clients. Tufts has done studies of DAP with the result being zero help and Dr Dunbar shared that even the company that makes DAP for dogs does not have any studies that provide any info that it helps dogs at all.
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