Pets, Cats, and Dog Lice Treatment
If you are looking for a natural pet, cat, or dog lice treatment then you may want to consider Tea Tree Oil as an option.
Whenever using tea tree oil on small or medium size animals be extremely cautious though, as overuse of tea tree oil can cause serious problems.
Pet Lice
People are not the only ones subject to lice infestation.
Just as they cause discomfort and colonize the hair of people, dogs and cats, and larger animals like horses and cows.Because they can't communicate with us their suffering can be just as uncomfortable or worse.
Lice infestations and colonization is more common in the winter months, beginning in the cooler months of fall and on into the early months of spring. Dogs and cats living on or near farms and ranches seem to be more at risk.
Lice Treatment Recipes for Animals
To use tea tree oil as a preventative, add a quarter teaspoon of tea tree oil to your bottle of pet shampoo. By using this combination regularly you may be able to stave off or completely prevent lice infestations on your animals.
Pet Spray
Tea tree oil, being insoluble in water, needs to be emulsified in order to create a pet spray. I recommend using a potassium soap like Dr Bronner's
or Green Soap available online at Amazon, or at medical supply shops.
Mix equal parts of tea tree oil and soap before mixing it with water.
A good start for a dog lice treatment is 1/4 teaspoon of tea tree oil and 1 teaspoon of potassium soap, and stir until thoroughly mixed. Add this to at least one cup of warm water and put this mixture into a spray bottle. For small pets you might want to further dilute this down with more water.
Large animals like horses you may consider using a stronger solution, up to as much as 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil to 1 teaspoon potassium soap, mixed together and then added to at least 8 ounces of water in a spray bottle.
How to use the Pet Spray
You can use this mixture especially on larger dogs and farm animals, spraying the affected areas and allowing it to saturate.
A dwell time of about 10 minutes should more than take care of any live lice or nits. Either pat dry with paper towels and dispose of them, or rinse the animal completely and then tell dry. Be sure that any towels in your clothing used during the treatment are washed in very hot soapy water immediately. This is to kill off any lice that may escape on your clothing or in the towels.
The tea tree oil spray should repeat again in about a week, because the life cycle of lice is about 10 days. Continue treatments weekly until all lice are removed and no further signs of infestation have been found.
As always, use caution when applying tea tree oil to cats or small to medium-sized dogs because of their sensitivity to essential oils. Remember also that tea tree oil has been effective in killing lice at concentrations of only five or 10%, so more is not necessarily better.