Can I use tea tree spray antiseptic on animals?

[Millymollymandy]

I wouldn't recommend it as a new brand of poultry perfume.

[indy]

It doesn't do much for a teenage angst ridden girl either believe me Am very glad those years are gone.

[Millymollymandy]

It's the vet stuff I'm talking about - I don't know if the tea tree smell lingers forever - yet. But I'm guessing from your posts that it does too!

[indy]

It does.....lingers for an age...don't think there's any difference in smell between the two because I had some for my dogs paw from the animal stuff, still smelt equally as vile to me and Buster stank of it for months even though I bathed him

[nemain]

Hello all!

Don't often pop in but I wanted to jump in on this one.

I'm a bit wary of tea tree, to be honest. Don't get me wrong: I use it neat on blemishes etc and it's very effective. I'm not sure it's terrible safe though - I read a medical paper years ago which thought it might be linked to feminization of two young boys, even in tiny small concentrations.

Re: pet use, again: I'm wary. I HAVE used it on hedgehogs with skin problems and I wouldn't do it again: it's too harsh, even when VERY diluted. (Unfortunately, neem seemed to irritate as well in these cases). It's also been positively linked to toxicity in hedgehogs and other small furries, though the cats who have been shown to have died of tea tree exposure have had it used on broken skin, where it might reasonably be supposed to go into the bloodstream more.

Bottom line: don't risk it, I think. It's a damn shame, because it's fantastic stuff, but I think using it in animals is just too risky. Though, having said that, plenty of people do it just fine.

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks for the advice nemain.