Please note that I have moved this blog to Natural Cat Health
Monday, September 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sterilising Cats - Is This The Best Answer?
Recently, I was making enquiries about sterilising my young female cat. Female sterilisation is a horrible process at the best of times, in the complete removal of the whole reproductive system. In males, it isn’t quite so drastic, with only the testes being removed.
Any proponent of natural medicine will tell you that there is more than just the physical to a life form and all her/his internal organs. In Chinese Traditional Medicine, each organ is matched to an emotion, and it’s so easy to see the connection. The liver is related to anger. Even our language can relate to this - to be liverish is to be irritable. The kidneys are the focus of fear, where adrenaline is released in a fight or flight situation.
What are we doing to the animal when we remove the organs? I have always sterilised my animals in the past, because I don’t want an endless supply of kittens and puppies. But there must be a better way.
I asked around if there is a way with homeopathy, but couldn’t find much on that.
When I approached a couple of vets about a partial sterilisation (removal of just the ovaries or the uterus), I was met with a strange argument. It goes something like this - the uterus is always removed because a female cat may get pyometra. Pyometra is a discharge from the uterus which may indicate uterine cancer.
The ovaries are removed to prevent the animal coming into season as it is considered to be psychologically confusing for the animal not to be able to breed.
It is not uncommon, under the current tyranny of fear, to have an organ removed ‘in case’ you get cancer in said organ. It’s good business for the surgeon, but is it good for your health, or your cat’s? Surely it is better to look at the causes of the problem and rectify them? Are smokers advised to have their lungs removed ‘in case’ they get lung cancer?
One of the main reasons cats get cancer is their diet. It’s not just me who thinks this. Dr Pottenger of the 1930s discovered that all the chronic diseases in cats were the result of diet. Your vet supplies you with (and profits from) the very food that causes chronic illness (and so a second profit is made). Holistic vets will always get you to make the diet change (and so lose out on sales) as a priority.
The idea of psychological problems arising from an inability to breed is undeniable. But that will occur whether or not there is the where-with-all to do so. So in addition, there is also the psychological problems from having the organs removed, from disrupting the natural flow of energy. Just because we can’t see any problems, doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
For exclusively indoor cats, it seems a completely unnecessary, not to mention expensive, exercise. However, that does mean you will have the antics of your cat in season yowling for a mate for a few days every few months.
It’s interesting to note that the common side effect of sterilisation is a skin eruption. George MacLeod, the first English vet to turn totally to homeopathy after his health improved immeasurably, advocates routinely the remedy that is used for suppressed anger.
If cats have suppressed anger from sterilisation, this is in addition to the interruption of the natural flow of energy (or chi) as well as the psychological effects of not being able to breed.
Of course, most cats with this eruption will then be treated with steroids, rather than addressing the anger, setting up yet another problem.
I don’t know what the best answer to feline birth control is, and it will vary depending on the cat and what their person feels. But I do know that the present solution of sterilisation is far from perfect.
Are you interested in having a naturally healthy cat?
Any proponent of natural medicine will tell you that there is more than just the physical to a life form and all her/his internal organs. In Chinese Traditional Medicine, each organ is matched to an emotion, and it’s so easy to see the connection. The liver is related to anger. Even our language can relate to this - to be liverish is to be irritable. The kidneys are the focus of fear, where adrenaline is released in a fight or flight situation.
What are we doing to the animal when we remove the organs? I have always sterilised my animals in the past, because I don’t want an endless supply of kittens and puppies. But there must be a better way.
I asked around if there is a way with homeopathy, but couldn’t find much on that.
When I approached a couple of vets about a partial sterilisation (removal of just the ovaries or the uterus), I was met with a strange argument. It goes something like this - the uterus is always removed because a female cat may get pyometra. Pyometra is a discharge from the uterus which may indicate uterine cancer.
The ovaries are removed to prevent the animal coming into season as it is considered to be psychologically confusing for the animal not to be able to breed.
It is not uncommon, under the current tyranny of fear, to have an organ removed ‘in case’ you get cancer in said organ. It’s good business for the surgeon, but is it good for your health, or your cat’s? Surely it is better to look at the causes of the problem and rectify them? Are smokers advised to have their lungs removed ‘in case’ they get lung cancer?
One of the main reasons cats get cancer is their diet. It’s not just me who thinks this. Dr Pottenger of the 1930s discovered that all the chronic diseases in cats were the result of diet. Your vet supplies you with (and profits from) the very food that causes chronic illness (and so a second profit is made). Holistic vets will always get you to make the diet change (and so lose out on sales) as a priority.
The idea of psychological problems arising from an inability to breed is undeniable. But that will occur whether or not there is the where-with-all to do so. So in addition, there is also the psychological problems from having the organs removed, from disrupting the natural flow of energy. Just because we can’t see any problems, doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
For exclusively indoor cats, it seems a completely unnecessary, not to mention expensive, exercise. However, that does mean you will have the antics of your cat in season yowling for a mate for a few days every few months.
It’s interesting to note that the common side effect of sterilisation is a skin eruption. George MacLeod, the first English vet to turn totally to homeopathy after his health improved immeasurably, advocates routinely the remedy that is used for suppressed anger.
If cats have suppressed anger from sterilisation, this is in addition to the interruption of the natural flow of energy (or chi) as well as the psychological effects of not being able to breed.
Of course, most cats with this eruption will then be treated with steroids, rather than addressing the anger, setting up yet another problem.
I don’t know what the best answer to feline birth control is, and it will vary depending on the cat and what their person feels. But I do know that the present solution of sterilisation is far from perfect.
Are you interested in having a naturally healthy cat?
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Homeopathic Treatment of Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis
Recently I treated a kitten for what may have been feline viral rhinotracheitis. Although knowing a medical disease label has little use in most homeopathic prescribing, in some instances it can be helpful. These incidences include animals, with the lack of subjective symptoms, and diseases which are serious and can quickly deteriorate.
I don’t rely on a blood test or a vet’s diagnosis, but on the development of the symptoms themselves.
The only reason this can be helpful, is because an extra remedy can be used, to help the process along. In these cases, the extra support comes from what is called disease nosodes. The main remedy is still the most important one, with the nosode simply giving an extra boost.
The reasons I felt this 4 month old kitten had FVR included:
Only the left eye was affected and this was red, with swollen tissue, resembling raw meat. This eye discharge was acrid by nature. The severity of the condition was indicated by a total lack of appetite and a lack of energy; he sept a lot. He was cold, shivering.
This kitten had been reared on a quality natural diet. He had always had a good appetite. There had been no stresses in his life, no sudden shocks or griefs, at least that were known. So no obvious link.
This kitten’s person worked with me, over the period. She kept me informed of each day’s progress, or lack of. She changed remedies as instructed. It was a pleasure to work with her.
The kitten kept drinking, although there was no appetite. This is important to monitor as you don’t want the added complication of dehydration. After a couple of days, he suddenly recovered his appetite and tucked into his evening meal with gusto. The following day he resumed his energetic, kitten behaviour. His recovery was fast. He still sneezed occasionally and although much improved, his eye was still a little swollen.
This is the correct order for cure. His systemic conditions - energy and appetite - should recover first, with the physical symptoms improving along the way.
An incredibly important aspect of homeopathic treatment is monitoring the progress.. It is not simply a question of finding the best matched remedy. Knowing what should happen (which is not always the obvious), how to dance around what does happen, potency selection and dose repetition are all vitally important for a successful recovery.
Whilst I am a great advocate for everyone learning how to home prescribe homeopathically, there are times when it is not practical or advisable. This was one of them.
And last but not least, have you sen this beautiful Youtube of a cat interacting with dolphins? How little we know about nature and animals.
Cat and Dolphins Playing Together
I don’t rely on a blood test or a vet’s diagnosis, but on the development of the symptoms themselves.
The only reason this can be helpful, is because an extra remedy can be used, to help the process along. In these cases, the extra support comes from what is called disease nosodes. The main remedy is still the most important one, with the nosode simply giving an extra boost.
The reasons I felt this 4 month old kitten had FVR included:
- it’s common in young cats
- the upper respiratory and an eye were affected
- the eye was sticking closed
- there had been some sneezing
- there was a fever
- this can be severe
Only the left eye was affected and this was red, with swollen tissue, resembling raw meat. This eye discharge was acrid by nature. The severity of the condition was indicated by a total lack of appetite and a lack of energy; he sept a lot. He was cold, shivering.
This kitten had been reared on a quality natural diet. He had always had a good appetite. There had been no stresses in his life, no sudden shocks or griefs, at least that were known. So no obvious link.
This kitten’s person worked with me, over the period. She kept me informed of each day’s progress, or lack of. She changed remedies as instructed. It was a pleasure to work with her.
The kitten kept drinking, although there was no appetite. This is important to monitor as you don’t want the added complication of dehydration. After a couple of days, he suddenly recovered his appetite and tucked into his evening meal with gusto. The following day he resumed his energetic, kitten behaviour. His recovery was fast. He still sneezed occasionally and although much improved, his eye was still a little swollen.
This is the correct order for cure. His systemic conditions - energy and appetite - should recover first, with the physical symptoms improving along the way.
An incredibly important aspect of homeopathic treatment is monitoring the progress.. It is not simply a question of finding the best matched remedy. Knowing what should happen (which is not always the obvious), how to dance around what does happen, potency selection and dose repetition are all vitally important for a successful recovery.
Whilst I am a great advocate for everyone learning how to home prescribe homeopathically, there are times when it is not practical or advisable. This was one of them.
And last but not least, have you sen this beautiful Youtube of a cat interacting with dolphins? How little we know about nature and animals.
Cat and Dolphins Playing Together
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Homeopathic Treatment of Cat Flu and Other Infections
The homeopathic treatment of cat flu is the same as all infections - we treat the host, the immune system, the energetic imbalance that allows infections to occur. Not the infection itself.
Homeopaths have little interest in bacteria, virus’ and other pathogens. These are all naturally occurring and have a place in healing. For example, bacterial numbers increase to prevent a viral infection.
So when homeopathy is used to treat a cat with a bacterial infection, the selection of the most appropriate medicine is determined by the cat’s individual symptoms.
To show you what I mean, here are just a few of the factors we need to consider before we make a curative medicine selection:
This gives you an idea of the depth of knowledge needed to make an accurate prescription.
It is a totally different way of thinking to mainstream health care. You need to be more like a detective than a doctor. And a very observant detective, a veritable Sherlock Holmes. Nothing is ever left out. Nothing is ever not considered. Not even the reaction to our own remedies.
This concept can be hard to get your head around quickly. Don’t worry if it is hard. Just be open to the idea.
For any infection, it is not necessary to concern yourself with how contagious it is, and so to protect others. Often the very anxiety of infection will allow it to happen. But life is much deeper than that.
Health isn’t about protecting your cat from disease. Health is all about raising her immune system, her intangible energetic life force, to a level where nothing affects her. This works across all the planes - mental, emotional, physical. While this result may seem like a tall order, the process of getting there isn’t.
It’s possible that this goal may not be achieved in one life time, but surely it is preferable to continue to improve your cat’s health, than to undermine it with continual drugs.
Humanity appears to be in a secretive era. it doesn’t like to see symptoms of disease. It prefers to drive this inwards and make everything appear OK, even if the cat is seething underneath.
The suppression of symptoms does not bode well for the future health of your cat. Suppression works against the body’s best attempts to cure itself. Suppression merely deals with the effects of disease, not the cause.
Challenge yourself to start a journey of thinking outside the square. The rewards can be endless and seemingly miraculous...
Homeopaths have little interest in bacteria, virus’ and other pathogens. These are all naturally occurring and have a place in healing. For example, bacterial numbers increase to prevent a viral infection.
So when homeopathy is used to treat a cat with a bacterial infection, the selection of the most appropriate medicine is determined by the cat’s individual symptoms.
To show you what I mean, here are just a few of the factors we need to consider before we make a curative medicine selection:
- how quickly it started, such as over hours or over days
- what happened to the cat (or patient) prior to the infection - this often indicates the cause, such as fearful event, injury, vaccination, etc
- what is the cat’s personality like - eg smoochy, irritable, aloof, etc
- has this changed with the cat flu
- what parts of the body are affected - nose, eyes, throat, lungs or all or some of them
- what is the nature of the discharge - bland or acrid, scanty or profuse
- what is the colour and texture of the discharge - thick, thin, clear, yellow, green, etc
- is there any coughing or sneezing
- if so, what is the character - eg wet, dry, in spasms or singly, etc
- is there a worse or better time of day for the cat or the symptoms
- what is the cat’s energy like - sleeping more, restless, etc
- what is the cat’s appetite like
- is there a change in the cat’s thirst
This gives you an idea of the depth of knowledge needed to make an accurate prescription.
It is a totally different way of thinking to mainstream health care. You need to be more like a detective than a doctor. And a very observant detective, a veritable Sherlock Holmes. Nothing is ever left out. Nothing is ever not considered. Not even the reaction to our own remedies.
This concept can be hard to get your head around quickly. Don’t worry if it is hard. Just be open to the idea.
For any infection, it is not necessary to concern yourself with how contagious it is, and so to protect others. Often the very anxiety of infection will allow it to happen. But life is much deeper than that.
Health isn’t about protecting your cat from disease. Health is all about raising her immune system, her intangible energetic life force, to a level where nothing affects her. This works across all the planes - mental, emotional, physical. While this result may seem like a tall order, the process of getting there isn’t.
It’s possible that this goal may not be achieved in one life time, but surely it is preferable to continue to improve your cat’s health, than to undermine it with continual drugs.
Humanity appears to be in a secretive era. it doesn’t like to see symptoms of disease. It prefers to drive this inwards and make everything appear OK, even if the cat is seething underneath.
The suppression of symptoms does not bode well for the future health of your cat. Suppression works against the body’s best attempts to cure itself. Suppression merely deals with the effects of disease, not the cause.
Challenge yourself to start a journey of thinking outside the square. The rewards can be endless and seemingly miraculous...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Homeopathic Treatment of Feline Stomatitis, Cat Gum Disease
Although I have written about the homeopathic treatment of feline stomatitis (gum disease or inflammation of the gums) before, I regularly get requests for more information on this important issue.
Before we get into the treatment of this condition, let’s look at the cause. It’s always far better knowing the cause and addressing that, rather than treating a problem, while maintaining the cause.
Richard Pitcairn is perhaps the leading veterinarian cum homeopath in the US. He qualified as a vet in 1965 and soon after that he studied homeopathy.
So he has a large reservoir of knowledge to draw upon.
He tells of the common problems in cats (and dogs) in that period before he became a homeopathic vet. And guess what - THERE WAS NO STOMATITIS in cats his early days as a vet. And it wasn’t just in his practice. Other vets claimed the same.
So what does this mean?
Well, in my opinion, there have been two big changes in the care of cats since 1965 or thereabouts.
One is the diet.
The other is the increased use of vaccines.
Despite the spin done to influence buyers, most commercial pet food is one of the greatest scourges of our time. From the low cost and quality of the ‘meat’, to the indigestible filler which helps to bulk out the ‘meat’ to the added chemicals to preserve (despite claims on the packet to the contrary), to colour, to flavour, to make it smell and taste good enough for cats to eat, to the ‘nutrients’ added to address the low quality.
I don’t want to go into the reasons why most mainstream vets push commercial pet food. But one thing I will say is that veterinary schools are always short of money, as are most colleges and universities today. They welcome financial assistance. The commercial pet food industry is a lucrative business and they can easily help out.
Holistic vets always advocate natural food as the way to preserve the health of their patients, even though it means a drop in business.
What does your vet encourage you to do?
I, along with probably all natural therapists, am no advocate of vaccines. We recognise they do tremendous harm, not just with all their questionable ingredients (such as mercury, aluminium, squalene, formaldehyde, cross species tissue, etc), but also because they by-pass all the subtle ways a body has evolved to increase their resistance to disease.
However, in the majority of cases, vaccines are less damaging than a diet of commercial pet food. Food is eaten every day. The vaccines are normally only once a year.
The frequency of consumption of this maintaining cause is perhaps the single most important reason why younger and younger cats are getting stomatitis.
The homeopathic treatment of feline stomatitis, along with all homeopathic treatment, must be tailored to the individual cat’s symptoms, and if possible, personality. When this is done well, the stomatitis will clear up quickly.
But it will return if the cause is also not addressed.
Dr Pottenger (of the 1940s) claimed that all degenerative feline disease are as a result of their diet. Fed a natural diet, the diseases disappeared.
Is the world of cat health going forwards or backwards? Who profits most from your cat’s lack of health?
Just to end with a smile on your face, I include two photos I was recently sent by Sally L. Thanks Sally.
I offer Skype/telephone consultations worldwide for both people and animals. For more information please click here
Before we get into the treatment of this condition, let’s look at the cause. It’s always far better knowing the cause and addressing that, rather than treating a problem, while maintaining the cause.
Richard Pitcairn is perhaps the leading veterinarian cum homeopath in the US. He qualified as a vet in 1965 and soon after that he studied homeopathy.
So he has a large reservoir of knowledge to draw upon.
He tells of the common problems in cats (and dogs) in that period before he became a homeopathic vet. And guess what - THERE WAS NO STOMATITIS in cats his early days as a vet. And it wasn’t just in his practice. Other vets claimed the same.
So what does this mean?
Well, in my opinion, there have been two big changes in the care of cats since 1965 or thereabouts.
One is the diet.
The other is the increased use of vaccines.
Despite the spin done to influence buyers, most commercial pet food is one of the greatest scourges of our time. From the low cost and quality of the ‘meat’, to the indigestible filler which helps to bulk out the ‘meat’ to the added chemicals to preserve (despite claims on the packet to the contrary), to colour, to flavour, to make it smell and taste good enough for cats to eat, to the ‘nutrients’ added to address the low quality.
I don’t want to go into the reasons why most mainstream vets push commercial pet food. But one thing I will say is that veterinary schools are always short of money, as are most colleges and universities today. They welcome financial assistance. The commercial pet food industry is a lucrative business and they can easily help out.
Holistic vets always advocate natural food as the way to preserve the health of their patients, even though it means a drop in business.
What does your vet encourage you to do?
I, along with probably all natural therapists, am no advocate of vaccines. We recognise they do tremendous harm, not just with all their questionable ingredients (such as mercury, aluminium, squalene, formaldehyde, cross species tissue, etc), but also because they by-pass all the subtle ways a body has evolved to increase their resistance to disease.
However, in the majority of cases, vaccines are less damaging than a diet of commercial pet food. Food is eaten every day. The vaccines are normally only once a year.
The frequency of consumption of this maintaining cause is perhaps the single most important reason why younger and younger cats are getting stomatitis.
The homeopathic treatment of feline stomatitis, along with all homeopathic treatment, must be tailored to the individual cat’s symptoms, and if possible, personality. When this is done well, the stomatitis will clear up quickly.
But it will return if the cause is also not addressed.
Dr Pottenger (of the 1940s) claimed that all degenerative feline disease are as a result of their diet. Fed a natural diet, the diseases disappeared.
Is the world of cat health going forwards or backwards? Who profits most from your cat’s lack of health?
Just to end with a smile on your face, I include two photos I was recently sent by Sally L. Thanks Sally.
I offer Skype/telephone consultations worldwide for both people and animals. For more information please click here
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Homeopathy Treats FIP, Feline Infectious Peritonitis
Someone recently asked me about FIP, or feline infectious peritonitis. This is a serious disease, on the rise.
FIP can occur at any time, but it is seems to be more common in a young cat especially the very slim, more Oriental breeds.
By the way, FIP is not infectious or peritonitis. The feline bit is right! So you don’t need to fear other cats will be affected.
Since this is more common in young cats, let’s look at what we put cats through in their early life. First of all they are taken from their mother and litter mates at far too young an age. Often this is at six weeks. Yet kittens will stay with their mothers in the wild for 6 - 12 months. There is a very good reason for this as the mother teaches the kittens, as well as nurtures.
Because we can’t see emotional trauma, and because most of humanity has a misguided conception that animals don’t feel, we can’t even begin to understand what this does to a kitten, and particularly to a sensitive kitten. You only have to see what happens to a young child when taken from his mother for the first time, to begin to get an idea of what all kittens go through.
Then the kitten is either taken to a new home, a rescue centre or a pet shop. This experience will be daunting to even a well adjusted kitten. New food, new people, new animals, new routine, new energy.
With great care and love, the kitten may be able to pull through this double experience of separation and adaptation without too many mental scars. But a sensitive kitten may not be able to.
Add to this, a trip to the vet to get vaccinations and you may just be tipping the balance against the odds.
Whatever your thoughts of injections and vaccines are, they do cause a shock to the body system. Particularly the common use of multiple vaccines. If you are already close to the edge, this can be enough to tip you over.
FIP is difficult to treat medically and normally results in death, soon after the diagnosis. Homeopathically, it can be treated successfully, but this will depend on the other treatment to date, and on the time lapse of starting the treatment after the symptoms develop.
This is not an easy condition to treat, and needs the services of an experienced homeopath as well as your full cooperation. So it is better to avoid, what I consider to be the cause. If you do adopt a young kitten, I suggest you put off the trip to the vet for a few weeks, until the kitten is thoroughly settled in. By providing a quality, natural diet, you will be building up the kitten’s immune system. In itself, this is by far the best way to avoid disease.
As Richard Pitcairn, an American homeopathic vet says, ‘if you want to undermine a cat’s health, give him old food laden with chemicals’, which is what the majority of commercial pet food is.
Other areas to consider in making your cat super-healthy and resistant to disease is to ensure they are able to be themselves:
Above all, learn to listen to what your cat is saying to you.. You can only do this when you are calm and quiet yourself. The messages can come through as body language or thoughts. Be open.
FIP can occur at any time, but it is seems to be more common in a young cat especially the very slim, more Oriental breeds.
By the way, FIP is not infectious or peritonitis. The feline bit is right! So you don’t need to fear other cats will be affected.
Since this is more common in young cats, let’s look at what we put cats through in their early life. First of all they are taken from their mother and litter mates at far too young an age. Often this is at six weeks. Yet kittens will stay with their mothers in the wild for 6 - 12 months. There is a very good reason for this as the mother teaches the kittens, as well as nurtures.
Because we can’t see emotional trauma, and because most of humanity has a misguided conception that animals don’t feel, we can’t even begin to understand what this does to a kitten, and particularly to a sensitive kitten. You only have to see what happens to a young child when taken from his mother for the first time, to begin to get an idea of what all kittens go through.
Then the kitten is either taken to a new home, a rescue centre or a pet shop. This experience will be daunting to even a well adjusted kitten. New food, new people, new animals, new routine, new energy.
With great care and love, the kitten may be able to pull through this double experience of separation and adaptation without too many mental scars. But a sensitive kitten may not be able to.
Add to this, a trip to the vet to get vaccinations and you may just be tipping the balance against the odds.
Whatever your thoughts of injections and vaccines are, they do cause a shock to the body system. Particularly the common use of multiple vaccines. If you are already close to the edge, this can be enough to tip you over.
FIP is difficult to treat medically and normally results in death, soon after the diagnosis. Homeopathically, it can be treated successfully, but this will depend on the other treatment to date, and on the time lapse of starting the treatment after the symptoms develop.
This is not an easy condition to treat, and needs the services of an experienced homeopath as well as your full cooperation. So it is better to avoid, what I consider to be the cause. If you do adopt a young kitten, I suggest you put off the trip to the vet for a few weeks, until the kitten is thoroughly settled in. By providing a quality, natural diet, you will be building up the kitten’s immune system. In itself, this is by far the best way to avoid disease.
As Richard Pitcairn, an American homeopathic vet says, ‘if you want to undermine a cat’s health, give him old food laden with chemicals’, which is what the majority of commercial pet food is.
Other areas to consider in making your cat super-healthy and resistant to disease is to ensure they are able to be themselves:
- Cats love freedom, so try to allow them at least some time outside. And ensure they have an escape, especially from small children.
- Cats love the sun. Direct sun is best, rather than through glass, plastic or shade cloth.
- Cats are sensitive animals, so keep your house or their environment clear of chemicals. Catteries and rescue centres normally disinfect cat pens, which is highly toxic. Disinfection with steam is a safer alternative.
- Cats generally are fearful animals. Provide a calm atmosphere, free of emotions running high, free from sudden or loud noises.
Above all, learn to listen to what your cat is saying to you.. You can only do this when you are calm and quiet yourself. The messages can come through as body language or thoughts. Be open.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Homeopathy - Treatment of Cat Kidney Failure
One of the greatest challenges for a homeopath is treating an animal. Homeopathy relies very much on subjective symptoms, such as how someone feels or the sensation of the pain (aching, shooting, burning, dragging, etc). So, to be successful in treating an animal, you have to develop other skills.
Observation of body language is useful not just in treating animals, but allows a true picture of a human to come through, too. Humans tend to compensate a lot, to conform to their society, culture, religion, family, friends, peer group, etc. Humans are a herd animal and most feel more comfortable if they are accepted by members of their chosen group.
However, this may not be in accordance with their true nature.
So to some extent, both humans and animals are difficult to treat because they either can’t or won’t tell you their true essential selves.
As a consequence, homeopaths have to develop good observing skills. I often liken the need for a homeopath to develop good detective abilities.
When I was a student homeopath, one of my cats stopped eating. After a couple of days, I took her to the vet, who diagnosed kidney failure. His prognosis was poor.
Refusing his proffered drugs, I brought her home and pored over my books. Trying to bring in all her subtle signs and symptoms was a challenge, but not impossible.
After extensive research, I gave her the indicated homeopathic remedy. It was from a home made kit I had recently bought, all in plastic bottles. Plastic is porous, so not suitable for the storage of homeopathic remedies. All the potencies of the remedies was very low, mostly 6x.
However, I did have the remedy, so I gave her one dose. Within 10 minutes she came to me and asked for food. Her appetite never looked back.
She required only a few more doses, before the condition completely cleared up. She lived several more healthy years, after this.
My double delight in not only healing my cat, but in my first successful case (human or animal), knew no bounds!
And a little delight in proving the medical profession wrong did not go unnoticed!
But it also taught me a lot more, subsequently. The main lessons I got from this in later years, was that if you get the right remedy, you can get wonderful results even with a low potency. The other important point is that you don’t necessarily need many doses.
People often give many doses, in desperation for something to happen. But, with the right remedy, that something normally happens quickly. Best results come from putting the time in to get the right remedy.
By hassling your homeopath, or asking for a quick fix, you can be pretty sure you won’t get the desired results. Relax and allow time to arrive at the best remedy. You have the rest of your life to enjoy the results.
Observation of body language is useful not just in treating animals, but allows a true picture of a human to come through, too. Humans tend to compensate a lot, to conform to their society, culture, religion, family, friends, peer group, etc. Humans are a herd animal and most feel more comfortable if they are accepted by members of their chosen group.
However, this may not be in accordance with their true nature.
So to some extent, both humans and animals are difficult to treat because they either can’t or won’t tell you their true essential selves.
As a consequence, homeopaths have to develop good observing skills. I often liken the need for a homeopath to develop good detective abilities.
When I was a student homeopath, one of my cats stopped eating. After a couple of days, I took her to the vet, who diagnosed kidney failure. His prognosis was poor.
Refusing his proffered drugs, I brought her home and pored over my books. Trying to bring in all her subtle signs and symptoms was a challenge, but not impossible.
After extensive research, I gave her the indicated homeopathic remedy. It was from a home made kit I had recently bought, all in plastic bottles. Plastic is porous, so not suitable for the storage of homeopathic remedies. All the potencies of the remedies was very low, mostly 6x.
However, I did have the remedy, so I gave her one dose. Within 10 minutes she came to me and asked for food. Her appetite never looked back.
She required only a few more doses, before the condition completely cleared up. She lived several more healthy years, after this.
My double delight in not only healing my cat, but in my first successful case (human or animal), knew no bounds!
And a little delight in proving the medical profession wrong did not go unnoticed!
But it also taught me a lot more, subsequently. The main lessons I got from this in later years, was that if you get the right remedy, you can get wonderful results even with a low potency. The other important point is that you don’t necessarily need many doses.
People often give many doses, in desperation for something to happen. But, with the right remedy, that something normally happens quickly. Best results come from putting the time in to get the right remedy.
By hassling your homeopath, or asking for a quick fix, you can be pretty sure you won’t get the desired results. Relax and allow time to arrive at the best remedy. You have the rest of your life to enjoy the results.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Homeopathy Heals an Unusual Skin Disorder
Homeopaths are generally well trained in looking for causes of ill health. Causes tend to be whatever was happening in your life when the condition started. This is easy to see when an injury causes a wound. But it becomes more difficult to see when it’s an emotional cause, a medical cause or the problem started many years ago.
Vaccinations can be the cause of many health problems both immediately following the vaccine, and many years later. Fever is a common occurrence immediately following, but other deeper problems can show up years later.
In pets, the common site for a vaccine is at the shoulders. Year after year, the same site is used. Consideration to the repeated vaccines as the cause of tumours that can form at this site, should always be given.
But health problems aren’t always acquired. They can be inherited, too.
One of my cats, Lexy, recently had an unusual skin problem. A small skin eruption developed at her shoulders. This was obviously very itchy as she scratched it til it bled. Then continued to scratch it until she had made a small, raw area.
Initially, I just observed what was happening. However, as the condition deteriorated, I had to do something. Exactly what, I was unsure because this was only occurring in an isolated spot.
Although I did consider a vaccine as the cause, Lexy has never been vaccinated. I don’t vaccinate. I never have, even when I didn’t know what I know now. Somehow, something always help me back.
Had she been vaccinated before she came to me? She, and her litter mates, were left at a pet shop where I used to collect the numerous unwanted kittens and take them to a cat’s rescue home. Somehow, Lexy ended up at my home, rather than the cat’s home...
I know the pet shop in question did not vaccinate the pets they sold, let alone the pets they considered surplus to their needs. It’s so unlikely that someone will vaccinate kittens they dump at a pet shop, that I feel confident to say Lexy has never had a vaccine in her life.
I tried various homeopathic medicines that are good at resolving itchy skin eruptions. They helped initially, but then relapsed. And subsequent dosing didn’t have the same effect.
There was something I wasn’t getting.
So I went back to the vaccine theory. Perhaps she had inherited this problem from a vaccinated parent or ancestor?
I had to try this idea out.
I dosed her with the feline vaccine remedy. This is made from the vaccination itself. You can make a homeopathic remedy out of anything and making them from the drug that caused the problem, although not always necessary, can be very helpful.
It started to clear up. It healed up better than it had before.
She did need quite a few doses, but each one took the healing on to another stage.
Now it has almost completely healed. All that remains is for the fur to grow back.
Bearing in mind the origin of this medicine, it is unlikely that the cause of her health problem was anything other than a vaccine in her family history.
Vaccinations can be the cause of many health problems both immediately following the vaccine, and many years later. Fever is a common occurrence immediately following, but other deeper problems can show up years later.
In pets, the common site for a vaccine is at the shoulders. Year after year, the same site is used. Consideration to the repeated vaccines as the cause of tumours that can form at this site, should always be given.
But health problems aren’t always acquired. They can be inherited, too.
One of my cats, Lexy, recently had an unusual skin problem. A small skin eruption developed at her shoulders. This was obviously very itchy as she scratched it til it bled. Then continued to scratch it until she had made a small, raw area.
Initially, I just observed what was happening. However, as the condition deteriorated, I had to do something. Exactly what, I was unsure because this was only occurring in an isolated spot.
Although I did consider a vaccine as the cause, Lexy has never been vaccinated. I don’t vaccinate. I never have, even when I didn’t know what I know now. Somehow, something always help me back.
Had she been vaccinated before she came to me? She, and her litter mates, were left at a pet shop where I used to collect the numerous unwanted kittens and take them to a cat’s rescue home. Somehow, Lexy ended up at my home, rather than the cat’s home...
I know the pet shop in question did not vaccinate the pets they sold, let alone the pets they considered surplus to their needs. It’s so unlikely that someone will vaccinate kittens they dump at a pet shop, that I feel confident to say Lexy has never had a vaccine in her life.
I tried various homeopathic medicines that are good at resolving itchy skin eruptions. They helped initially, but then relapsed. And subsequent dosing didn’t have the same effect.
There was something I wasn’t getting.
So I went back to the vaccine theory. Perhaps she had inherited this problem from a vaccinated parent or ancestor?
I had to try this idea out.
I dosed her with the feline vaccine remedy. This is made from the vaccination itself. You can make a homeopathic remedy out of anything and making them from the drug that caused the problem, although not always necessary, can be very helpful.
It started to clear up. It healed up better than it had before.
She did need quite a few doses, but each one took the healing on to another stage.
Now it has almost completely healed. All that remains is for the fur to grow back.
Bearing in mind the origin of this medicine, it is unlikely that the cause of her health problem was anything other than a vaccine in her family history.
Lexy's skin eruption, not at its worst, but after
she had started scratching again
Lexy's skin eruption site healing nicely.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Listening to Animals, Learning from Their Behaviour, Even if it is Aggressive
As humans, we are so preoccupied with the logical side of our brain, and the ‘doing’ nature that this entails, that we normally completely miss the subtleties of life that surround us every day, or the ‘being’ of our nature.
There’s a saying ‘instead of cursing the dark, light a candle’.
I know I’ve talked about this before, and probably will endlessly, but if you were ‘kept’ by a well meaning giant, who was kind, but you couldn’t communicate with at all, how would you get your message across? Would you ultimately get frustrated, angry, even aggressive sometimes?
Body language is what everyone uses all the time, in addition to words. We have learned to focus on the words, which can be unreliable. But body language is unconscious and never lies. Eyes are one way to easily see if someone is lying, which is why some cultures hide their eyes when talking, especially when doing business deals.
Animals use body language just as much as we do, but sadly, most people don’t take any notice of it.
Yet it is by taking notice of body language that we can tell what an animal is trying to say. What other methods do they have at their disposal to try to make us understand their needs.
My favourite example is of a dog being dragged into a vet’s clinic, tail between his legs. Isn’t the message clear? Can an animal make his point any better?
HE DOESN’T WANT THE TREATMENT!
Yet, the great, arrogant, ego driven human takes no notice at all, firmly believing that we know best, and the dog knows nothing.
Recently, a woman rang me for a consultation about her aggressive cat. This was a young cat and she had only recently started the behaviour of attacking the woman’s legs, biting and kicking much more than is acceptable.
The woman had searched the internet and come up with various sites which tried to sell the idea the cat was just ‘acting up’, whatever that means.
She was wise enough to understand that this was unlikely. Instead she arranged for a consultation.
We couldn’t pin point the exact date this had started to happen, so I decided we had to start with the basics. Let’s get the diet sorted out and see what happens. Commercial pet food is one of the main causes of health problems. At the same time, I posted some supportive treatment to undo any damage that may have occurred from the vaccinations and sterilisation, both areas that can knock health badly off centre.
She emailed me before the treatment arrived. She had noticed the start of a change in her cat’s behaviour after just two days, with a big change after six days.
She had been told by several people, including her vet, that this diet was unacceptable. Yet it cured the problem. In her heart, she knew it was the right thing to do, she just needed someone to confirm her feelings.
Inside, we all know what is best, but are easily swayed by those in authority. Perhaps it’s time to let the influence of the powers of authority go. Accept that they may or may not have something useful to offer, but this must resonate with you. If it doesn’t, let it go.
You have inner wisdom. You may not know it or use it, but it is there. It’s simply a matter of accepting it, using it, making mistakes, then appreciating what it brings to your life.
Authority figures have their own agendas that may not support you and your dependents health or best interests. Take responsibility for your life, don’t give it to someone else.
Here are some suggestions when dealing with animals.
1 - Accept animals as equals. They may be different, but they are not inferior to us in any way.
2 - Put yourself in their shoes.
3 - Learn to read body language.
4 - At all times, keep your cool. If you find yourself getting irritated or angry (or judgmental), drop it and come back later.
5 - Don’t think you have all the answers. Animals can teach us much if we bother to listen. Accept that you may have to stretch the boundaries of your mind into uncomfortable areas, sometimes. Being uncomfortable is OK, just acknowledge it.
6 - Learn to understand the species world. For example, dogs are pack animals. They need a natural leader and a pack (you and the family). A dog on his own is miserable. Cats are lone animals. Although they may enjoy a companion, they don’t need one as dogs do. Horses are herd animals and are happiest with at least one other companion. Rabbits also need companions. And so on.
After looking through the list, I decided it wasn’t a bad way for dealing with people either.
There’s a saying ‘instead of cursing the dark, light a candle’.
I know I’ve talked about this before, and probably will endlessly, but if you were ‘kept’ by a well meaning giant, who was kind, but you couldn’t communicate with at all, how would you get your message across? Would you ultimately get frustrated, angry, even aggressive sometimes?
Body language is what everyone uses all the time, in addition to words. We have learned to focus on the words, which can be unreliable. But body language is unconscious and never lies. Eyes are one way to easily see if someone is lying, which is why some cultures hide their eyes when talking, especially when doing business deals.
Animals use body language just as much as we do, but sadly, most people don’t take any notice of it.
Yet it is by taking notice of body language that we can tell what an animal is trying to say. What other methods do they have at their disposal to try to make us understand their needs.
My favourite example is of a dog being dragged into a vet’s clinic, tail between his legs. Isn’t the message clear? Can an animal make his point any better?
HE DOESN’T WANT THE TREATMENT!
Yet, the great, arrogant, ego driven human takes no notice at all, firmly believing that we know best, and the dog knows nothing.
Recently, a woman rang me for a consultation about her aggressive cat. This was a young cat and she had only recently started the behaviour of attacking the woman’s legs, biting and kicking much more than is acceptable.
The woman had searched the internet and come up with various sites which tried to sell the idea the cat was just ‘acting up’, whatever that means.
She was wise enough to understand that this was unlikely. Instead she arranged for a consultation.
We couldn’t pin point the exact date this had started to happen, so I decided we had to start with the basics. Let’s get the diet sorted out and see what happens. Commercial pet food is one of the main causes of health problems. At the same time, I posted some supportive treatment to undo any damage that may have occurred from the vaccinations and sterilisation, both areas that can knock health badly off centre.
She emailed me before the treatment arrived. She had noticed the start of a change in her cat’s behaviour after just two days, with a big change after six days.
She had been told by several people, including her vet, that this diet was unacceptable. Yet it cured the problem. In her heart, she knew it was the right thing to do, she just needed someone to confirm her feelings.
Inside, we all know what is best, but are easily swayed by those in authority. Perhaps it’s time to let the influence of the powers of authority go. Accept that they may or may not have something useful to offer, but this must resonate with you. If it doesn’t, let it go.
You have inner wisdom. You may not know it or use it, but it is there. It’s simply a matter of accepting it, using it, making mistakes, then appreciating what it brings to your life.
Authority figures have their own agendas that may not support you and your dependents health or best interests. Take responsibility for your life, don’t give it to someone else.
Here are some suggestions when dealing with animals.
1 - Accept animals as equals. They may be different, but they are not inferior to us in any way.
2 - Put yourself in their shoes.
3 - Learn to read body language.
4 - At all times, keep your cool. If you find yourself getting irritated or angry (or judgmental), drop it and come back later.
5 - Don’t think you have all the answers. Animals can teach us much if we bother to listen. Accept that you may have to stretch the boundaries of your mind into uncomfortable areas, sometimes. Being uncomfortable is OK, just acknowledge it.
6 - Learn to understand the species world. For example, dogs are pack animals. They need a natural leader and a pack (you and the family). A dog on his own is miserable. Cats are lone animals. Although they may enjoy a companion, they don’t need one as dogs do. Horses are herd animals and are happiest with at least one other companion. Rabbits also need companions. And so on.
After looking through the list, I decided it wasn’t a bad way for dealing with people either.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Can You Separate Your Cat's Health from Your Own?
When I first became interested in a natural diet and health care for my animals, I was invited to a public talk, given by my veterinarian. She was heavily into alternative health care and soon after, she gave away the veterinary side of her practice all together
Even though this resulted in a substantial income reduction, she felt she could no longer carry out procedures which she knew to be harmful. Her biggest bug bear was vaccination.
Her talk inspired me. She narrated how she had been visiting a relative overseas, who wanted her to treat her cat.
The cat was very timid, spending much of the day hiding under the bed covers. Geraldine, my vet, observed that this was exactly how her relative, Odette was. She was hiding at home, hardly daring to leave her home unless it was absolutely necessary.
Geraldine was an old hand at observing the similarities between people and their pets, so she set about treating Odette, rather than her cat. She decided to use the Bach Flower Essences.
Odette kept in touch, and over the coming weeks and months, reported her progress. She was becoming increasingly brave, venturing out and about at an increasingly regular rate.
AT THE SAME TIME, almost in step with Odette's improvement, her cat started venturing around the house and then outside. He even wanted to spent a night outside on occasion, something that was completely unusual as it was formally very fearful for him.
And yet, he had received no treatment AT ALL!
Why am I telling you this?
Natural therapists know only too well that animals seem to take on the same attributes as their humans. It's as if they are helping us carry the load, by sharing it. Or perhaps they are reflecting back to us, who we are.
Whatever it is, your health is inextricably linked to that of your cats.
If you want the best for your cat, then the first thing to do is to start by sorting out your own problems. Lighten up. Seek appropriate health care, preferably holistic, preferably homeopathic. By sorting yourself out, you have gone a long way to sorting out the health of your cat.
Even though this resulted in a substantial income reduction, she felt she could no longer carry out procedures which she knew to be harmful. Her biggest bug bear was vaccination.
Her talk inspired me. She narrated how she had been visiting a relative overseas, who wanted her to treat her cat.
The cat was very timid, spending much of the day hiding under the bed covers. Geraldine, my vet, observed that this was exactly how her relative, Odette was. She was hiding at home, hardly daring to leave her home unless it was absolutely necessary.
Geraldine was an old hand at observing the similarities between people and their pets, so she set about treating Odette, rather than her cat. She decided to use the Bach Flower Essences.
Odette kept in touch, and over the coming weeks and months, reported her progress. She was becoming increasingly brave, venturing out and about at an increasingly regular rate.
AT THE SAME TIME, almost in step with Odette's improvement, her cat started venturing around the house and then outside. He even wanted to spent a night outside on occasion, something that was completely unusual as it was formally very fearful for him.
And yet, he had received no treatment AT ALL!
Why am I telling you this?
Natural therapists know only too well that animals seem to take on the same attributes as their humans. It's as if they are helping us carry the load, by sharing it. Or perhaps they are reflecting back to us, who we are.
Whatever it is, your health is inextricably linked to that of your cats.
If you want the best for your cat, then the first thing to do is to start by sorting out your own problems. Lighten up. Seek appropriate health care, preferably holistic, preferably homeopathic. By sorting yourself out, you have gone a long way to sorting out the health of your cat.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Cats With Gingivitis - Two Natural Ways to Resolve it
Cats with gingivitis seem to be so common now. And yet, cats can’t suffer from it in the wild, as they would quickly die. So we need to look in this direction for the cure.
Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gums and this can occur at any age in any breed. Not only is this a painful problem, it shows that the health of your cat is not good.
It also means that the teeth may becomes affected later. Perhaps loosen, and then fall out.
However, with the two following measures, you can prevent gingivitis in cats or restore balance if it has already occurred.
The first aspect any natural health professional will always try to address is to restore a healthy immune system. With this back in balance, everything slips back into natural order.
One of the main causes of cats with gingivitis is diet. Diet is critical to everyone’s health, not just your cats. Human diet can be shoddy at the best of times, but at least there are some, pretty basic laws, which govern the manufacturing and marketing of human food.
This is absent in cat food. Anything can, and does, occur. Such as:
Please don’t think that the processed food recommended by your veterinarian is any better.
Quality raw meat and bones, on the other hand, provide a cat with complete and balanced nutrition. Crunching up on small raw bones keep the teeth clean, the gums healthy and their minds happy. Dry food doesn’t come close to achieving this, despite the claims.
Cats on this diet rarely suffer from gingivitis.
In the interim, between changing over to a quality raw diet, the cat may still need some help with the gingivitis. The homeopathic medicine Mercurius can be used successfully in restoring healthy gums when the cat’s symptoms include”
Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gums and this can occur at any age in any breed. Not only is this a painful problem, it shows that the health of your cat is not good.
It also means that the teeth may becomes affected later. Perhaps loosen, and then fall out.
However, with the two following measures, you can prevent gingivitis in cats or restore balance if it has already occurred.
The first aspect any natural health professional will always try to address is to restore a healthy immune system. With this back in balance, everything slips back into natural order.
One of the main causes of cats with gingivitis is diet. Diet is critical to everyone’s health, not just your cats. Human diet can be shoddy at the best of times, but at least there are some, pretty basic laws, which govern the manufacturing and marketing of human food.
This is absent in cat food. Anything can, and does, occur. Such as:
- preservatives that are highly toxic, despite the claims on the packet
- high fat content, unusable in human food
- low grade meat by-products (rejects for human consumption, with questionable protein content)
- cheap filler such as melamine, sugar or crushed nutshells
Please don’t think that the processed food recommended by your veterinarian is any better.
Quality raw meat and bones, on the other hand, provide a cat with complete and balanced nutrition. Crunching up on small raw bones keep the teeth clean, the gums healthy and their minds happy. Dry food doesn’t come close to achieving this, despite the claims.
Cats on this diet rarely suffer from gingivitis.
In the interim, between changing over to a quality raw diet, the cat may still need some help with the gingivitis. The homeopathic medicine Mercurius can be used successfully in restoring healthy gums when the cat’s symptoms include”
- gums are red and swollen
- the mouth appears dirty
- there is excess salivation
- ulceration may or may not be present
- symptoms are worse at night
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A Terrified Feral Cat Transformed
I adopted a feral kitten several years ago. She’d also suffered a bad human experience, making her doubly fearful. Although she settled in well, she was always rather timid and the other cats soon learned to pick on her weaknesses. So much so, that she eventually decided to live outside. At least she had peace at night, when the others were shut inside.
Periodically I dosed her with a remedy I thought would help, but as the years went by with no improvement, I tended to be content that she was safe and well fed, even though frightened.
A few months ago, I started to use mental imaging for things I wanted to change in my life. The problems we have as humans, is that even though we want to change, it’s like pulling yourself out of a rut. You need a helping hand.
I chose to imagine Siobhan calmly walking into the house on her own, sitting beside other (bullying) cats, washing them and being washed by them. I imaged her eating side by side with the others.
The energy of this imagery was an invitation, rather than desperation (it works better this way).
Prior to the imagery, I connected’ with Siobhan by visualising her heart, then my heart, then a string connecting our hearts.
I did this imagery periodically, when I remembered to. There were large stretches when I didn’t do it, focussing on other areas.
However, at some stage, I did get an intuitive feeling to treat her with a remedy I had tried before, but in a higher potency (strength).
Within a few days, I noticed a shift in her energy. She still didn’t come in, but she seemed somewhat less timid.
At some stage, when I felt it appropriate I dosed her again.
Last week, she seemed to want to come in, so I placed her dishes a couple of feet inside the door near where she ate. After a bit of hesitation, she came in, ate her food and went straight out.
A great move forward.
This lasted a week.
Then she seemed not to want to go straight out. She explored, then found a place to sit. She settled then smiled at me, inviting me to cuddle her. I approached this cautiously as she had resisted my approaches for years.
She allowed me to stroke her, then lift her up. She was purring.
Even I have been stunned by the speed of her transformation and I’m used to seeing this sort of thing.
Truly, the earth moves under good homeopathic treatment.
Periodically I dosed her with a remedy I thought would help, but as the years went by with no improvement, I tended to be content that she was safe and well fed, even though frightened.
A few months ago, I started to use mental imaging for things I wanted to change in my life. The problems we have as humans, is that even though we want to change, it’s like pulling yourself out of a rut. You need a helping hand.
I chose to imagine Siobhan calmly walking into the house on her own, sitting beside other (bullying) cats, washing them and being washed by them. I imaged her eating side by side with the others.
The energy of this imagery was an invitation, rather than desperation (it works better this way).
Prior to the imagery, I connected’ with Siobhan by visualising her heart, then my heart, then a string connecting our hearts.
I did this imagery periodically, when I remembered to. There were large stretches when I didn’t do it, focussing on other areas.
However, at some stage, I did get an intuitive feeling to treat her with a remedy I had tried before, but in a higher potency (strength).
Within a few days, I noticed a shift in her energy. She still didn’t come in, but she seemed somewhat less timid.
At some stage, when I felt it appropriate I dosed her again.
Last week, she seemed to want to come in, so I placed her dishes a couple of feet inside the door near where she ate. After a bit of hesitation, she came in, ate her food and went straight out.
A great move forward.
This lasted a week.
Then she seemed not to want to go straight out. She explored, then found a place to sit. She settled then smiled at me, inviting me to cuddle her. I approached this cautiously as she had resisted my approaches for years.
She allowed me to stroke her, then lift her up. She was purring.
Even I have been stunned by the speed of her transformation and I’m used to seeing this sort of thing.
Truly, the earth moves under good homeopathic treatment.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Good Cat Health Prevents Worms - Discover the Secret to Achieve This
Good cat health will prevent worms, fleas and disease. There can be no higher ideal. A healthy cat will never have a proliferation of worms or fleas and will always be able to resist any passing health problem.
The confusion arises about peoples different interpretations of what constitutes good cat health. However, I believe it can be easy to cut through the hype and focus on what is really important.
When you consider that man has only been messing about with cats health for less than 100 years, it really isn’t long enough to have discovered much. Compare this with the millions of years that cats have evolved. Nature has had a much longer time period to perfect the diet and health.
Man is ego driven and profit driven. Neither of these aspects spell truth, honesty and integrity. It’s much more likely that someone wants to persuade you to their way of thinking, either because it will profit them financially, or because it will help to bolster up their ego. So you need to ask yourself if the information given is also good for your cat’s health.
If you start to feed your cat according to how she evolved, then her health, her immune system, will improve. Anyone with a healthy immune system is immune to the proliferation of parasites and the onset of disease.
Parasites, in small numbers, are not necessarily a problem. Every body teems with bacteria. You can’t survive without it. Neither can your cat. And some internal parasites are also beneficial. What becomes a problem, is the proliferation, the out-of-control breeding.
When you feed your cat a raw diet, according to her evolution, the meat is digested quickly. This means there is no time for it to hang up in pockets in the intestines, allowing over-breeding to occur.
If you feed your cat the low quality commercial pet food, so typical of today, this is not digested easily. It passes through the digestive tract slowly, allowing over-breeding to occur.
It’s always more beneficial to find the cause of any problem and remedy that, rather than treating the effect. This is never as satisfactory.
The confusion arises about peoples different interpretations of what constitutes good cat health. However, I believe it can be easy to cut through the hype and focus on what is really important.
When you consider that man has only been messing about with cats health for less than 100 years, it really isn’t long enough to have discovered much. Compare this with the millions of years that cats have evolved. Nature has had a much longer time period to perfect the diet and health.
Man is ego driven and profit driven. Neither of these aspects spell truth, honesty and integrity. It’s much more likely that someone wants to persuade you to their way of thinking, either because it will profit them financially, or because it will help to bolster up their ego. So you need to ask yourself if the information given is also good for your cat’s health.
If you start to feed your cat according to how she evolved, then her health, her immune system, will improve. Anyone with a healthy immune system is immune to the proliferation of parasites and the onset of disease.
Parasites, in small numbers, are not necessarily a problem. Every body teems with bacteria. You can’t survive without it. Neither can your cat. And some internal parasites are also beneficial. What becomes a problem, is the proliferation, the out-of-control breeding.
When you feed your cat a raw diet, according to her evolution, the meat is digested quickly. This means there is no time for it to hang up in pockets in the intestines, allowing over-breeding to occur.
If you feed your cat the low quality commercial pet food, so typical of today, this is not digested easily. It passes through the digestive tract slowly, allowing over-breeding to occur.
It’s always more beneficial to find the cause of any problem and remedy that, rather than treating the effect. This is never as satisfactory.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Seasonal Change of Coat Promotes Healthy Vomiting in Your Cat
Cats, as do all furry animals, change their coats in spring and autumn. The old coat moults out as the new, more appropriate coat grows.
However, as cats are fastidiously clean animals, spending many hours each day grooming, they ingest a lot of fur normally, but much more at these seasonal changes.
This results in more vomiting than usual. Vomiting up the ingested fur, often as a hair ball, but also as loose fur, is a natural and normal way for the cat to expel this.
Frequently, people panic about their cat vomiting (as someone delightfully put it to me recently, she is a worrying cat slave:)) and rush their cat off to the vet, often to be given a toxic medicine.
When all the cat was doing was expelling something she didn't want.
By learning to differentiate between when vomit is a normal, healthy cleansing process necessary for a healthy cat, and when it is a cause for concern, you can save yourself a lot of money and anguish, and your cat unnecessary medication, not to mention the stress of the vet's visit.
Other natural and normal vomit for a cat is when they eat grass and then bring that back up, accompanied by saliva. When they bring up shards of raw bone when fed a natural diet is also normal. A cat who is suffering from food poisoning will have vomiting and diarrhoea for about 12 hours. If it eases after this, your cat is coping well. If it continues, appropriate homoeopathic treatment can quickly resolve the problem.
Learn to inspect the vomit before deciding what to do.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Question - Which is the Most Nutritious Low Cost Cat Food. Answer - The Most Expensive!
Which is the most nutritious low cost cat food? Can you have a nutritious and a low cost cat food? Isn’t it a bit like asking if you can have your cake and eating it, too?
The great thing is that you can.
But it doesn’t come in any can or packet.
Nutritious cat food needs to be the type of food that your cat has evolved on. After all, that has been going on for rather a long time.
Whereas processed act food has been going on for only a few decades.
Cats are notoriously fussy eaters. This is because they prefer to kill their food and eat it immediately. Which means they prefer super fresh meat and bones.
Fresh meat is the healthiest. Would you eat stale meat? It’s much more likely to contain harmful pathogens. And cats know this.
Processed food, at best, is the rejects from human food processing plants. Which means it’s low grade and usually not fresh at all.
By buying human grade meat and bones (in the form of chicken necks and wings) and feeding this raw to your cat, you will be getting as close as you can to the diet they evolved on.
That’s the most nutritious food for your cat, without a shadow of a doubt.
But is it the lowest cost?
On the surface, I’m sure you’ll agree that it sounds as if it’s one of the most expensive diets.
But, when you feed your cat real food, they need much less than poor quality food. Nutrient dense food will satisfy them quickly. Nutrient poor food will never satisfy them, so they will always be hungry.
Don’t suspect worms, although that may be a problem. Suspect the quality of the food you are feeding.
Couple that with the fact that a nutritious cat food will keep your cat healthier longer, and imagine the veterinarian bills you won’t be paying out.
Learning which is the most nutritious low cost cat food can mean a win-win situation - your cat’s health and your wallet.
The great thing is that you can.
But it doesn’t come in any can or packet.
Nutritious cat food needs to be the type of food that your cat has evolved on. After all, that has been going on for rather a long time.
Whereas processed act food has been going on for only a few decades.
Cats are notoriously fussy eaters. This is because they prefer to kill their food and eat it immediately. Which means they prefer super fresh meat and bones.
Fresh meat is the healthiest. Would you eat stale meat? It’s much more likely to contain harmful pathogens. And cats know this.
Processed food, at best, is the rejects from human food processing plants. Which means it’s low grade and usually not fresh at all.
By buying human grade meat and bones (in the form of chicken necks and wings) and feeding this raw to your cat, you will be getting as close as you can to the diet they evolved on.
That’s the most nutritious food for your cat, without a shadow of a doubt.
But is it the lowest cost?
On the surface, I’m sure you’ll agree that it sounds as if it’s one of the most expensive diets.
But, when you feed your cat real food, they need much less than poor quality food. Nutrient dense food will satisfy them quickly. Nutrient poor food will never satisfy them, so they will always be hungry.
Don’t suspect worms, although that may be a problem. Suspect the quality of the food you are feeding.
Couple that with the fact that a nutritious cat food will keep your cat healthier longer, and imagine the veterinarian bills you won’t be paying out.
Learning which is the most nutritious low cost cat food can mean a win-win situation - your cat’s health and your wallet.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Cat Worms and How to Eliminate Them Naturally
Cat worms can be a problem. There are two main types. The roundworm is normally limited to kittens. Once treated, it won’t return. You know if they have it, as they vomit them up. It looks like they had a meal of spaghetti.
The other common worm is tapeworm. This appears as tiny grains of rice in the stools. Initially they will move, but they die quite quickly when exposed to the air. Then the colour changes from white to yellowy.
It is generally considered that tapeworms are picked up from cats eating animals which are infected with tapeworm. But I disagree.
It is my opinion that every single health problem, including fleas and worms are a direct result of a compromised immune system. If your cat has a good healthy immunity, the worms will be in the quantity which is natural.
Bowel flora is totally natural. Some worms are beneficial. It’s the proliferation which is unhealthy.
When cats are fed a diet of processed food, this is not easily digested. It hangs up in pockets of the intestines, creating perfect opportunities for the worms to breed to excess.
Raw food, on the other hand, digests quickly. It moves through the bowel quickly, creating little opportunity for the worms to do anything that is not normal and natural.
Getting to the cause of any problem and dealing with that is so much more efficient that simply dealing (mostly badly) with the effect.
A raw meat and bones diet is one that cats evolved on, long before we arrived on the scene. It’s the optimum diet for a healthy immune system. It cannot be improved upon.
The other common worm is tapeworm. This appears as tiny grains of rice in the stools. Initially they will move, but they die quite quickly when exposed to the air. Then the colour changes from white to yellowy.
It is generally considered that tapeworms are picked up from cats eating animals which are infected with tapeworm. But I disagree.
It is my opinion that every single health problem, including fleas and worms are a direct result of a compromised immune system. If your cat has a good healthy immunity, the worms will be in the quantity which is natural.
Bowel flora is totally natural. Some worms are beneficial. It’s the proliferation which is unhealthy.
When cats are fed a diet of processed food, this is not easily digested. It hangs up in pockets of the intestines, creating perfect opportunities for the worms to breed to excess.
Raw food, on the other hand, digests quickly. It moves through the bowel quickly, creating little opportunity for the worms to do anything that is not normal and natural.
Getting to the cause of any problem and dealing with that is so much more efficient that simply dealing (mostly badly) with the effect.
A raw meat and bones diet is one that cats evolved on, long before we arrived on the scene. It’s the optimum diet for a healthy immune system. It cannot be improved upon.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Keeping Cat Teeth Healthy in a Single, Not Always Easy, Step
Cat teeth should remain white and sharp all their lives. Their gums should be pink and plump. Yet it’s common for cats to have tartar on their teeth, to have missing teeth or to need a tooth extraction occasionally.
This is unpleasant for the cat and expensive for you.
How can you ensure your cat’s teeth remain in good order all their lives?
There is one simple answer to this. You can’t. Not totally. Occasionally a cat will break a canine tooth. This doesn’t matter, as domestic cats have no need for the canine teeth, which help hold a struggling prey animal.
But you can do something really simple to preserve the other teeth, as well as the gums.
And that is to make sure their diet includes meaty bones. Such as chicken necks or wings. A whole neck or half a wing of an average sized chicken, once a day, will provide all your cats needs. As long as they spend time crunching up the bones.
Crunching bones keeps cat teeth clean and free from tartar, massages the gums and keeps their minds happy.
Don’t have any fears about ingesting splintered bones. Cats evolved on a diet of small rodents and can cope very well with raw bones.
It’s the cooked chicken bones that are the hazard. Always feed your cat RAW bones.
And keep the size in proportion to what a cat would naturally hunt. Chicken thigh bones are too big and may chip their teeth.
Many people think that dried processed cat food pellets do the same job. After all the packet tells you it does. I can assure you that they don’t even come close to doing the job. For many reasons.
It’s not always easy to convince an adult cat that a raw chicken wing is delicious. Imagine trying to change your kids diet from fast food to fresh fruit. Do you think the change over will be easy? Will be without problems?
The same goes for your cat.
This is unpleasant for the cat and expensive for you.
How can you ensure your cat’s teeth remain in good order all their lives?
There is one simple answer to this. You can’t. Not totally. Occasionally a cat will break a canine tooth. This doesn’t matter, as domestic cats have no need for the canine teeth, which help hold a struggling prey animal.
But you can do something really simple to preserve the other teeth, as well as the gums.
And that is to make sure their diet includes meaty bones. Such as chicken necks or wings. A whole neck or half a wing of an average sized chicken, once a day, will provide all your cats needs. As long as they spend time crunching up the bones.
Crunching bones keeps cat teeth clean and free from tartar, massages the gums and keeps their minds happy.
Don’t have any fears about ingesting splintered bones. Cats evolved on a diet of small rodents and can cope very well with raw bones.
It’s the cooked chicken bones that are the hazard. Always feed your cat RAW bones.
And keep the size in proportion to what a cat would naturally hunt. Chicken thigh bones are too big and may chip their teeth.
Many people think that dried processed cat food pellets do the same job. After all the packet tells you it does. I can assure you that they don’t even come close to doing the job. For many reasons.
It’s not always easy to convince an adult cat that a raw chicken wing is delicious. Imagine trying to change your kids diet from fast food to fresh fruit. Do you think the change over will be easy? Will be without problems?
The same goes for your cat.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Feline Leukemia Has One Basic Cause
Feline leukemia is becoming quite common these days. And there are only a few reasons for this. But before we go into this, let me first quote a veterinarian, S Allan Price.
“I’ve been dealing with feline leukemia for years and I get disgusted with most veterinarians who advocate test and slaughter - that is if the cat tests positive, it’s best to kill it. We’ve had cats who have been able to climb trees and look normal in less than ten weeks. And I’m talking about cats who were brought in to us too weak even to stand up.”
Food for thought?
I don’t know the exact protocol that Dr Allan Price uses to treat feline leukemia, but I will hazard a good guess, bearing in mind the topic of the book he was quoted in.*
Diet.
With vaccination and pest control hard on its heels.
Cats evolved on a raw meat and bones diet. The processed food that most cats are fed is cooked. Cooking kills enzymes and other essential nutrients.
Sadly, that’s not the only problem with processed food. The quality of the meat is poor, even in the most expensive brand. This is then padded out with a cheap filler, to stretch the meat. Then artificial nutrients are added to redress the poor nutrient content.
Worse to come, the very toxic preservatives ethoxyquin, carbolic acid or formaldehyde are used (despite what the label may say) to give the packet a long shelf life.
Vaccines contain heavy metals such as mercury and aluminium. Can this be healthy, injecting it straight into the blood stream?
Flea and worm preparations contain toxic poisons, such as cyanide, which affect the neurological system of the cat. They can also cause a thyroid malfunction.
The best thing you can do for feline leukemia, or any other feline disorder is to detox your cat. That means stop the vaccines and pesticide control. Start feeding your cat raw meat and bones.
That may be enough to bring your cat back.
The inclusion of a well selected homeopathic medicine can only assist your cat’s unloading. A holistic animal health professional will be able to help you with that.
* Keep Your Pet Healthy the Natural Way by Pat Lazarus
“I’ve been dealing with feline leukemia for years and I get disgusted with most veterinarians who advocate test and slaughter - that is if the cat tests positive, it’s best to kill it. We’ve had cats who have been able to climb trees and look normal in less than ten weeks. And I’m talking about cats who were brought in to us too weak even to stand up.”
Food for thought?
I don’t know the exact protocol that Dr Allan Price uses to treat feline leukemia, but I will hazard a good guess, bearing in mind the topic of the book he was quoted in.*
Diet.
With vaccination and pest control hard on its heels.
Cats evolved on a raw meat and bones diet. The processed food that most cats are fed is cooked. Cooking kills enzymes and other essential nutrients.
Sadly, that’s not the only problem with processed food. The quality of the meat is poor, even in the most expensive brand. This is then padded out with a cheap filler, to stretch the meat. Then artificial nutrients are added to redress the poor nutrient content.
Worse to come, the very toxic preservatives ethoxyquin, carbolic acid or formaldehyde are used (despite what the label may say) to give the packet a long shelf life.
Vaccines contain heavy metals such as mercury and aluminium. Can this be healthy, injecting it straight into the blood stream?
Flea and worm preparations contain toxic poisons, such as cyanide, which affect the neurological system of the cat. They can also cause a thyroid malfunction.
The best thing you can do for feline leukemia, or any other feline disorder is to detox your cat. That means stop the vaccines and pesticide control. Start feeding your cat raw meat and bones.
That may be enough to bring your cat back.
The inclusion of a well selected homeopathic medicine can only assist your cat’s unloading. A holistic animal health professional will be able to help you with that.
* Keep Your Pet Healthy the Natural Way by Pat Lazarus
Monday, March 22, 2010
Homemade Cat Food Makes for the Healthiest Cat
Homemade cat food means that you have control over what your cat eats, rather than a cat food manufacturer, who only has interest in the bottom line - his profit. He has no interest in the health of your cat.
If you take control of what your cat eats, then you have control over your cat’s health.
Health is inextricably linked to diet.
Garbage in, garbage out.
If you feed your cat the garbage that passes for cat food, then you can expect your cat to get many ailments. Expect your cat to cost you thousands in veterinary fees.
Some people think that homemade cat food is expensive.
But it isn’t on two counts.
One is that the amount you feed your cat is much less quality food than the large amount of processed food.
The reason is that quality food is nutrient dense. Processed food is nutrient poor.
So while you might be paying more for the food, you’re giving less of it.
The second reason is the health care. A cat fed quality homemade food is likely to be healthy right up to the end. Imagine the veterinarian bills you’re not spending.
And learning what to give and how to feed your cat is not difficult. The most important points to remember is that cats evolved on a raw food diet, so that’s the one they do best on.
The other important thing to remember is that their most important needs are meat and bones, so both should form the bulk of their diet. Make sure the bones are always raw, never cooked, as these can splinter and cause problems.
Homemade cat food, made with quality ingredients and personal dedication will make for a happy and healthy cat.
If you take control of what your cat eats, then you have control over your cat’s health.
Health is inextricably linked to diet.
Garbage in, garbage out.
If you feed your cat the garbage that passes for cat food, then you can expect your cat to get many ailments. Expect your cat to cost you thousands in veterinary fees.
Some people think that homemade cat food is expensive.
But it isn’t on two counts.
One is that the amount you feed your cat is much less quality food than the large amount of processed food.
The reason is that quality food is nutrient dense. Processed food is nutrient poor.
So while you might be paying more for the food, you’re giving less of it.
The second reason is the health care. A cat fed quality homemade food is likely to be healthy right up to the end. Imagine the veterinarian bills you’re not spending.
And learning what to give and how to feed your cat is not difficult. The most important points to remember is that cats evolved on a raw food diet, so that’s the one they do best on.
The other important thing to remember is that their most important needs are meat and bones, so both should form the bulk of their diet. Make sure the bones are always raw, never cooked, as these can splinter and cause problems.
Homemade cat food, made with quality ingredients and personal dedication will make for a happy and healthy cat.
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