Dr. Marc Smith: Hey there ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the PET | TAO Holistic Pet Products podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Marc Smith, 20 year practicing veterinarian and co-creator of PET | TAO Holistic Pet Products. Welcome to episode 19 and this topic today is very interesting, and what we’re going to talk about is essential oils in animals.

It’s something I could never imagine myself talking about, and here I am. I’m doing it. And I have a lovely lady with me today, and I know her very well. She works in my practice. She works in the pet food business. She is an incredible writer. She’s an incredible animal advocate, and she’s going to talk to us about essential oils, and I want you to welcome Becki Baumgartner. How’s it going?

Becki Baumgartner.: Going good, thank you Dr. Smith.

Dr. Marc Smith: Yes, yes I am so glad to have you here in this setting where I get to interview you.

Becki Baumgartner.: Well thank you.

Dr. Marc Smith: Because usually you interview me, right? You tell me things, ask me questions about pets and all that.

Becki Baumgartner: True.

Marc Smith: And so I like being able to put you on the spot. Becki is an incredible lady. She’s extremely well-versed in alternative medicine. Tell us some things you do Becki.

Becki Baumgartner: So I do a lot with essential oils for pets. I do a lot of training in the Nashville area, essential oils classes, webinars, some herbal classes, and then continuing education classes for massage therapists in the field of Reiki.

Dr. Marc Smith: So that’s pretty impressive right there.

Becki Baumgartner: So, keeps me busy.

Dr. Marc Smith: You’ve got your own website?

Becki Baumgartner: I do.

Dr. Marc Smith: You have Meetup groups where people flock from all over middle Tennessee right?

Becki Baumgartner: Right, yes.

Dr. Marc Smith: And sometimes I go by there and I see 30 people there, and that’s incredible. And that’s a big testimonial to you. You know that right?

Becki Baumgartner: Oh, thank you.

Dr. Marc Smith: So, the topic is essential oils in pets. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to give you a history, I’m going to interview Becki, and then ultimately we’re going to give you a case. And some of these things you can apply directly in your pet, dog or cat. Okay?

So, Becki, tell us about essential oils, general overview back to when essential oils kind of started in history and the historical context of it.

Becki Baumgartner: Actually one of the things that stick out in my mind when I started learning about essential oils, is the ancient Egyptians thought that oils were so valuable that when they would rob the pyramids they would steal the essential oils and leave all the jewels and stuff.

Dr. Marc Smith: Wow.

Becki Baumgartner: And that’s actually what they found in King Tut’s tomb is they found that’s where the vats had been opened and the oils taken, but all the jewelry was still in there. And that’s how valuable they thought the oils were. Even the ancient Egyptians used the oils for healing.

Dr. Marc Smith: Incredible.

Becki Baumgartner: So that was really interesting.

Dr. Marc Smith: I always remember when I was a little kid and we would read these Bible verses in school, or in preschool, or whatever. They would talk about Frankincense. And I didn’t even know what that was. Tell us what that is.

Becki Baumgartner: So Frankincense is actually one of the more pricey oils, but it’s a very difficult to get oil if you’re getting a pure Frankincense oil. The tree, the Boswellia tree that the Frankincense is actually the sap of the tree, the Frankincense that’s used for Frankincense essential oil. The tree itself grows off the side of a cliff, and in order to harvest that the harvesters have to climb up there, climb the cliff, and climb out on the tree that’s growing out on the side of the cliff to collect the sap that’s used for the Frankincense essential oil. And that’s why it’s so pricey. If you get a pure oil you get what you pay for, and Frankincense is one of the better ones.

Dr. Marc Smith: Wow. So where does Boswellia grow? Where is it most common?

Becki Baumgartner: It’s in the Asia areas, and in the arid, rocky, cliffy kind of landscape therein.

Dr. Marc Smith: Right, and so when the oils are harvested, how do they get the oil? How do they get the sap?

Becki Baumgartner: Oh, well the sap has to be cut off the tree with a knife.

Dr. Marc Smith: Okay.

Becki Baumgartner: And then, depending on where you get your oils, like the purest oils the sap is collected and then it’s steam distilled. And then the essential oil comes from the distillation process and the excess water and stuff is dumped off, and then you have your pure essential oil that’s used for medicinal purposes.

Dr. Marc Smith: Wow, wow. So, some examples, we have Lemon. I’m assuming that comes from lemon peels. Is that right?

Becki Baumgartner: Yes.

Dr. Marc Smith: Okay, then we have Peppermint. That comes from …

Becki Baumgartner: Peppermint leaves.

Dr. Marc Smith: Okay, peppermint leaves.

Becki Baumgartner: Right.

Dr. Marc Smith: And can you just tell us some, just brief overview of the other ones? Oregano is one.

Becki Baumgartner: Oregano leaves. Well then some plants you get essential oils from the various parts of the plant. Like Cinnamon for example, Cinnamon essential oil, it’s called Cinnamon essential oil, comes from the bark.

That Cassia, which is really in taste and scent similar to Cinnamon, comes from the leaves. So there’s a lot, too much to kind of go into here about all that, but sometimes several parts of the same plant can be used in the essential oils called by a slightly different name.

Dr. Marc Smith: So is there an essential oil, like say if my teenager’s acting up, okay? Can I, Is there an essential oil that I can spray on her to make her act normal?

Becki Baumgartner: Well it might be easier for you to spray a lot of Lavender on yourself.

Dr. Marc Smith: On me? So I don’t respond to her the way she acts right?

Becki Baumgartner: Yeah. So it doesn’t irritate you as much and you can just say she’s just a teenager.

Dr. Marc Smith: Yes that is a real good point. That’s a real good point.

Becki Baumgartner: And Lavender works on dogs too. Very well.

Dr. Marc Smith: Yeah, and I’m going to keep Lavender in my pocket, and so when my teenager irritates me I’m just going to drop a little drop on the top of my head. That sounds like a good idea.

Becki Baumgartner: Actually, it would be better for you to rub it on your feet.

Dr. Marc Smith: Okay, why is that?

Becki Baumgartner: With people there’s more pores on the bottom of your feet than anywhere else on the body, so it’ll get in your bloodstream a lot more quickly and calm you down.

Dr. Marc Smith: Okay.

Becki Baumgartner: And on dogs, it’s the ear flap it gets in more quickly.

Dr. Marc Smith: Okay, okay. So you’ve kind of gotten me into these essential oils, and so I use them. You know, I’m not the kind of guy that would look like they would use essential oils, right? I mean, let’s be honest, right?

Becki Baumgartner: I know. I tell clients that you use them and they kind of giggle sometimes.

Dr. Marc Smith: But I do use them, and I like them. And they make the house smell good, they make, I don’t know, it’s kind of weird how they do have some emotional or psychological impact on people? And so, we can see those same results in our pets, right? And so if somebody comes into the clinic, and they say hey Becki, I’ve got a dog that has arthritis, where do you start?

Becki Baumgartner: So, well arthritis is an inflammatory disease and there’s several essential oils that are recommended for inflammation. Lavender, believe it or not, I would – It was the one I least, before I learned about it, I least suspected Lavender as being an anti-inflammatory, but it really is. Not only does it calm you emotionally, but topically, rubbed in. And if you mix it with a little Peppermint, Peppermint is like a mild anesthetic on the skin, and then the Lavender goes deep down in to help reduce inflammation in the muscles, and ligaments, and that kind of thing. And it works really well.

Dr. Marc Smith: So, but how do we put these on our pet?

Becki Baumgartner: So with pets you need to dilute the essential oils, and the best thing to do is like at least three drops of carrier oil to one drop of essential oil.

Dr. Marc Smith: What’s an example of a carrier oil?

Becki Baumgartner: A carrier oil, per se, would be like a very popular one is Fractionated Coconut oil. Or maybe Grapeseed oil. But with pets, especially furry pets, I prefer to not use a carrier oil, but to use Witch Hazel instead. Witch Hazel doesn’t leave a sticky residue on the fur, so it doesn’t leave sticky oil spots on like the carpet, the bed, or wherever your pet goes. Pure essential oil will absorb and not leave a mark, and when you mix it with Witch Hazel, there’s just not residue after the Witch Hazel, which is water based, will evaporate real quickly. And there’s no residue. The oil will go right in, directly into the dog’s skin and do its work that way.

Dr. Marc Smith: So, but I want you to explain specifically. So you take a Dixie cup, maybe put a drop or two of essential oil, and then Witch Hazel in it? Tell us that process.

Becki Baumgartner: Oh, okay. Well my favorite way to do it, which I think is most efficient is I like to get little 5 mL or 10 mL bottles that have little