WARNING tea tree oil can be toxic

[Tia Maria]

Just a word of warning Don't use tea tree oil on your dogs or cats
My wire-haired pointer has a bad case of eczema for which we have tried most things

The other night her belly was looking really inflamed and sore so I mixed 4 (honestly only 4) drops of tea tree oil into half a cup of almond oil, I then massaged this into her belly
It quickly soaked in and she stopped scratching. Approx 3 hours later I massaged some more in as she was scratching again. The evening passed and we went to bed as normal.

The following morning my dog was in a dreadful state, hardly able to stand, her legs would give out on her, she stood totally hunched up with her back arched and her head dragged on the floor!!!! Straight off to the vet went we. It turns out that tea tree oil can be fatal to cats (always) and small dogs (often), fortunately my dog is large.

The vet gave her charcoal but said there was nothing he could do but wait, she had probably licked herself and therefore ingested some but even absorbing it through the skin can cause liver and kidney failure!!!!

Slowly over the next couple of days she returned to normal - but what a scare

Please be aware - in innocence I almost killed my dog

 

[speckledhen]

Excellent advice, however, please post in only one section of the forum. I left open the one in Emergencies for folks to reply to and it's good advice. Tea tree is always toxic if ingested. Dogs and cats lick and birds groom themselves and may ingest it.