Volume 5 Issue 1
A Series on Various Essential
Oils for Animals
By Nayana Morag
This is one of a series of articles that will teach you about individual essential oils and how they can be used for your animals. These oils are all ones I use regularly in my practice with animals.
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus Radiata)
I love Eucalyptus trees with their smooth grey trunks and spreading
branches and that sharp sweet smell on a hot day. The oil is
the same, sharp and sweet, stimulating and calming. There are
a huge number of chemotypes of Eucalyptus, many of which are
used in aromatherapy and each one has slightly different properties.
Eucalyptus Globulus and Radiata are almost interchangeable
in their actions but I prefer to use Radiata as it is milder
and better suited to working with animals and children. This
is an oil whose scent will be very familiar to most people
and if, like me, you suffered from bronchitis it will conjure
images of childhood sick rooms and steam inhalations. Indeed
one of this oil’s main actions is as an anti-infectious
agent particularly for the lungs but also for the urinary tract.
It is also effective against airborne bacteria and a few drops
combined 2:1 with Bergamot (Citrus Bergamia) and diluted in
water (use a dispersant such as alcohol to help them break
down in the water) makes an excellent “sick room” spray
to prevent the spread of viral infections. It is decongestant
and therefore useful for asthma and other conditions of congested
airways such as coughs and allergies, also conditions such
as rheumatism and muscular pain particularly if it is of a
cold cramping nature. Its decongestant action is supported
by its ability to stimulate the immune system. One of the uses
of the Eucalyptus tree is to help drain swamps as their roots
dry out stagnation and excess water, and this is also true
of the oil on an emotional level. I use it with animals who
want to change but don’t have the courage to leave behind
habitual patterns of negative behaviour. As the oil of Eucalyptus
opens the lungs to take in more air it also opens the mind
to take in new attitudes and free you from constrictions.
Physical uses: Bronchial congestion, coughs and colds, rheumatism, muscular aches and pains, neuralgia, immune tonic. It is also insect repellent but I generally prefer Eucalyptus Citriodora for that particular task.
Emotional uses: inability to let go of habitual negative behaviour, frustration, withdrawal, claustrophobia
Cautions: Oral toxin - as little as 3.5mls
taken internally can be fatal. 
Nayana Morag is a qualified Essential Oil for Animals Therapist
and a member of GEOTA. She has worked with horses all her
life specialising in the ones no one else wanted! She has
also developed her own method of teaching riding based on
the martial arts and body-awareness techniques and is the
author of the "Riding Raps" series of audio tapes.
Nowadays she lives in the UK and concentrates on educating
animal owners in the use of essential oils and our role in
our animals' well-being. She also teaches on the GEOTA certification
course and plans to come back to the USA to teach in 2003.
For info on attending or hosting a workshop check out www.essentialanimals.com.
