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Essential oils can be toxic to your pet
#1
The latest trend is to use essential oils to scent our homes. They relax us, they energize us and they fill our air with scents that can be overwhelming for our dogs. They can also be toxic.

http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo...ct-on-pets

As with anything, we need to be careful around our pets. We should research any product to make sure it is pet safe.
That would also include cleaning products, especially floor soaps. Some products contain essential oils. With floor soaps there is a high possibility of a pet, especially a dog ingesting some of the product when it licks its feet. 

Another caution is to never mix products. They can react to create chemicals that are enough to sicken and even kill a pet. 
Always be careful about how and what you use in your home. Our pets depend on us to provide a safe place to live.
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Catherine

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#2
Yes, not only are some essential oils directly toxic in any amount for animals, but most animals have a lower level of sensitivity to heavy perfumes. It's obvious that for a dog whose sense of smell is something like 100 times more effective than a human's, the smell of Ylang Ylang or whatever all over the place is going to be pretty unbearable and horribly stifling.

And yes the dangerous ones for pets can come as a surprise, as they may be scents which we are used to and think they are harmless.
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#3
I find most of these scented products are a bit overwhelming for me. I can't imagine how a dog would feel about a product.

I would think purer more natural forms of the oils would be better. It would be easier to control how strong the scent is and it would be possible to check out which oils are toxic  and make safer choices. Scented, more commercial products, would have other chemicals as well and that would increase the danger.

It might be possible to test things out and find out what scents a dog prefers.  There must be  a choice that would work for the dog and the people. Maybe that is something pet stores could market, pet friendly  air fresheners.  It is worth thinking about.
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Catherine

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#4
I can well imagine that these "smelly" products must be unbearable for a dog. My wife has a very strong sense of smell and cannot stand it if another woman is wearing strong perfume! She can smell things when I can't smell anything.

So if it is like for that a human with a strong sense of smell, imagine that multiplied hundreds, even thousands, of times for a dog. It hardly bears thinking about.

For washing floors, we use plain hot water, or if the dirt is stubborn then some plain detergent is added, followed by a rinse off. Dogs and cats often lick their paws. What we put on the floor should not contain anything toxic or overpowering. As for bleach, the smell makes me feel sick.....what about a dog?
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#5
Quote: For washing floors, we use plain hot water, or if the dirt is stubborn then some plain detergent is added, followed by a rinse off. Dogs and cats often lick their paws. What we put on the floor should not contain anything toxic or overpowering. As for bleach, the smell makes me feel sick.....what about a dog?

I am with you. I won't even keep bleach in the house. The smell makes me feel sick too. If I do need soap I use dish washing liquid.  It is used to wash dishes we eat from so it must be safe. I rinse it and I use a plain lemon scented liquid. I use vinegar as well. Just a little in the water is enough. A dog might not like it, but it wouldn't hurt it.  

We use so many scented products that their smells compete with each other. My head aches sometimes. Dogs must hate it.
Strong scents are not a substitute for keeping things clean.
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Catherine

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