Can the odor of eucalyptus extract be harmful to guinea pigs?

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DillyBearJack

Post   » Mon Sep 17, 2018 2:29 am


So I was just putting on some lotion (Bath and Body Works Shea butter Super Rich Foot Cream from their true blue spa line) that smells strongly of eucalyptus extract. About thirty seconds after opening the bottle one of my three pigs started to squeal in a way that I have never heard from any of my pigs. Since he was eating hay just second before I thought he could possibly have something lodged in his throat. I grabbed his water bottle off the side of the cage to give it to him. Instead of taking a drink like he normally does when I do this, he went right up to my hand and began smelling it quite aggressively. My other pig in the cage also left his hay pile (extremely out of character) to investigate the scent. They didn’t have any physical contact with the lotion and are acting normally now (third pig who is currently quarantined with ringworm did not care about the smell), but is there anything I need to be concerned about that would result from them just smelling the eucalyptus extract?

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pigjes
Cavy Comic

Post   » Mon Sep 17, 2018 7:18 am


They probably thought they were getting something yummy, or were interested to check it out. They can't eat the plant eucalyptus anyway, it's toxic.

rjespicer

Post   » Mon Sep 17, 2018 3:57 pm


While I hadn't found anything specific to Guinea Pigs there are several articles about essential oils being poisonous to other pets, Eucalyptus being one of them. I am not sure if that relates to smell or ingestion or both but I have been convincing the wife not to have any oil burners in the house for a while now just in case.

https://www.foundanimals.org/essential-oils-toxic-pets/

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