Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals: A Comprehensive Guide to the Use of Essential Oils and Hydrosols With Animals

Rating:
Summary: I finally feel safe using essential oils with my dog!
Review: I have been searching for a book like this for a long time. I use essential oils daily for my own enjoyment, but have always been afraid to use them with my rescued Greyhound, Tweed. Greyhounds are very sensitive and can have reactions to many flea medicines and shampoos.

I thoroughly enjoyed the focus on safety and essential oil purity and quality that this book offered. It is a concise yet enjoyable read. Even the more technical sections (such as essential oil chemistry) were easy for me to understand and I learned a lot.

So far I have made several of the recipes in the book and Tweed is doing very well with them. The natural shampoo recipe is wonderful- and I am happy knowing that there are no synthetic ingredients in it that might cause a reaction for Tweed.

I do not have cats or horses, but found even these chapters very interesting to read, and have passed the info on to a cat-loving friend.

The book has an extensive resource section with lists of recommeneded suppliers, and the case studies are helpful and informative.

I also enjoyed the black and white etchings of each plant found in the essential oil section of the book- it is very nice to be able to picture the plant that the oil comes from.

Overall, I highly recommend- I have many aromatherapy books that offer next to nothing about use with animals- which is why I am so thankful that this book was written.

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Summary: Reality and animals
Review: I was glad to have found this book. I don't like using artificial anything with my cats, and Kristen's book has given me a new arsenal of natural treatments.
Kristen knows how much work it is to have animals and keep them healthy. .. This to me is a testimony of her love for animals and her realistic view of caring for them. This book is an expression of that.

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Summary: 5 stars from a cat-loving aromatherapist
Review: In the last five years, I have studied with and interviewed aromatherapists from around the world for books and magazine articles. Since our first phone interview, Kristen Leigh Bell has been my favorite authority on the use of essential oils and hydrosols for dogs, cats, and other animals. It was my pleasure to write this book's foreword, which gives me an intellectual (not financial) interest in its success.
I expected this book to be user-friendly, comprehensive, and helpful -- but Kristen's work is a masterpiece. She makes important technical information easy to understand, helping aromatherapy newcomers understand how essential oils are made, how to judge their quality, and how identical sounding oils can have different chemical signatures and very different effects. With her constant emphasis on safety, Kristen's book does more to protect animals from the inappropriate use of aromatherapy products than any other publication. In addition, Kristen generously shares her formulas and recipes, something few manufacturers would consider doing.
The result is a well-organized reference, "how to" guide, and resource -- in short, an aromatherapy crash course devoted to companion animals.<BR Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals by Kristen Leigh Bell is the world's first major book on a subject that is rapidly gaining attention but is poorly understood. Thanks to Kristen Leigh Bell and Findhorn Press, caretakers, groomers, trainers, veterinarians, and pet lovers everywhere finally have an authoritative guide to help them make informed decisions about what aromatherapy products to make or buy and how to use them. The health of our dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, and other animals can only improve as a result.

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Summary: First Rate!
Review: Since I have three beloved little dogs, I am a person devoted to providing the very best for my little furry friends. This book has been a lifesaver in caring for them. It has given me so many options for behavior and/or health disorders. Kristen Leigh Bell is apparently the "expert" in her field and it shows through and through this book. If you are interested in natural provisions for animal care, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book. Definitely an authoritative guide.

Rating:
Summary: Great read ...
Review: This is a great book ... very well written and very thoughtfully written. I enjoyed reading it and Kristen Leigh Bell is obviously knowledgeable; I also appreciate that she takes a cautious and conservative approach to usage of EOs in animals. That being said, I bought this book specifically to learn how to use EOs with cats, and learned that you really can not use straight EOs for cats - hydrosols only. So, while that is great to know, had I know that in advance I likely would not have purchased the book. Still a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Great read ...
Review: This is a great book ... very well written and very thoughtfully written. I enjoyed reading it and Kristen Leigh Bell is obviously knowledgeable; I also appreciate that she takes a cautious and conservative approach to usage of EOs in animals. That being said, I bought this book specifically to learn how to use EOs with cats, and learned that you really can not use straight EOs for cats - hydrosols only. So, while that is great to know, had I know that in advance I likely would not have purchased the book. Still a great read.

Rating:
Summary: This is a great book for your holistic animal care library
Review: This is an awesome book, that is well written and researched, easy and fun to read and full of recipes that are easy to make (I can't believe I read a review here that said the recipes were hard to make, they are not- very clearly annotated and with simple instructions). I have made numerous recipes- and the canine ear cleaning, tick spray, calming spray and the ointment for cuts and bruises are my favorites. These formulations are very effective and smell wonderful. I am so happy that I can make safe, all natural and effective products at home for my dog instead of spending a lot of money on synthetic products with chemicals.

I like how this book talks about how aromatherapy works with herbs, flower essences, homeopathy and other natural healing. After reading this book I have a real respect for aromatherapy as a way to care for my dog. This book is in my top ten, right up there with "Herbs for Pets" by Tilford and "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats" by Pitcairn.