Natural Pet Health

You can take the easy option and throw some discount cat feed into a bowl for your feline friend, but will she remain your friend for long if you don’t give a bit more thought into what you feed her? Here is some advice that will have her purring with delight at feeding time, and keep her healthy at the same time.

In order to keep your cat or kitten healthy, you need to choose quality foods that will provide him with nutrients he needs. But, what are they? You can’t just give your cat any type of food that is available. There are several things you should do to improve your cat’s nutrition.

Kitten Food

For those that feed the raw diet to your pets and claim that they do not need vegetables and fruits in their diets, I beg to differ. Let’s examine the actual “diet” of the wild canines and felines.

They do, indeed, hunt their meat “on the hoof,” as it were, but they do not, I suspect, empty the stomach contents of their prey, nor the bowels of their prey, before consuming it. At least, not entirely.

That is one of their sources of vegetable matter. You think they don’t need it? Have your dogs ever eaten the feces of other animals? Why do you suppose that might be? Because they crave the vegetable matter, perhaps?

In years past, there was no such thing as commercial pet food. Pets ate many of the same foods as their owners. Some owners made special treats for their pets, but most dined on leftover meat and other table scraps. In the mid-1800s, James Spratt got the idea to make and sell dog food made of wheat meal, vegetables and meat. His company did well, but it wasn’t until the beginning of the next century that pet food became common.

After World War II, companies began to make canned dog food out of the meat of dead horses. Canned cat food and dry dog food quickly followed. By the time the war was over, pet food had become a multi-million dollar industry.

1 ounce each alfalfa; marshmallow root; comfrey; mullein leaves; dandelion root; nettles; parsley
2 ounces each: burdock root or seed; chamomile; horsetail; oatstraw; red clover; rose hips; rosemary; slippery elm bark; thyme
1/4 ounce each catnip; fennel seeds; garlic powder
1 dash cayenne pepper

If using cut and sifted herbs, blenderize to a coarse powder. Mix with already-powdered herbs, and store in a dark jar in refrigerator or cool place.

To use for cats: give 1 to 3 teaspoons per day.

To use for dogs: give 1 tablespoon to 1 cup per day, depending on the size of the dog.

Mix herb powder with food or sprinkle it on top. This is only a mineral and preventive medicinal supplement. For pregnant or nursing pets, add to the above:

How sustenance is just as important as safety

The notion to feed cats milk has become ingrained in the minds of many pet owners, thanks to the media and pop culture featuring healthy cats lapping up bowls of dairy. However, the truth of matter is that cats actually do not receive any notable health benefits from milk… rather, they may develop adverse effects from it!

Just as holistic health is important for sustainable health in cats, so is proper nutrition. Cats benefit most from a well-balanced diet with foods specially designed for their needs and digestive systems. Kittens’ bodies have the necessary enzymes to digest their mother’s milk. However, with age, this enzyme production slows, leading to most adult cats being considered lactose-intolerant. While cats can tolerate small quantities of milk, the sugars in it will likely cause digestive upset in their delicate systems, leading to stomach troubles such as cramps, gas, and diarrhea.

Most pet owners don’t know that their refrigerators are likely to contain common human treats that can kill or severely harm their pets!

While for pet owners the passing holiday season means overeating and an expanded waistline, for our pets, being overindulged with too many table scraps could result in a fatal outcome.

Recently, the ASPCA ran a report on toxic foods for pets, and for most of us, the foods that can hurt your pet are a shocking surprise.

To ensure your pet’s health and safety, take a look at some foods that can be harmful:

Chocolate—This delicious treat is made with cocoa beans, which contain a chemical called theobromine that is toxic to dogs. Keep this in mind, especially on Valentine’s Day!

This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56 pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix who ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking about 1 AM on Wednesday but the owner didn’t call my emergency service until 7 AM.

I had heard somewhere about raisins AND grapes causing acute renal failure but hadn’t seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me—had heard something about it, but…. Anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give I V fluids at 1 1/2 times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours.

It is too much to expect that veterinary science would know much about cat cancer and dog cancer especially when despite extensive research very little is known about even human cancer. Till date no one knows exactly what causes cancer and how it can be prevented.

Feline cancer, like human cancer is not easy to detect in its early stages and once the disease has advanced, cat owners are left with no option but to watch helplessly. The most that can be done is to delay the ultimate and provide home care irrespective of whether the treatment option has been exercised or not.

Vegetables in your dog’s diet, and minor amounts in your cat’s diet, can enhance their health and provide a rich and diverse supply of nutrients, enzymes, healthy fibre and antioxidants. In the wild, dogs and cats would have acquired plant foods through the semi-digested remnants in the stomachs of their prey; vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.

Canines possess a greater ability to break down plant matter and synthesize relevant nutrients therein. Because of this, although classified as carnivores, they are in fact omnivorous and are not solely reliant on animal meat for sustenance. Wolves can be observed eating fallen fruit and berries, and first consume the stomach and intestines of their prey where plant foods can be found.

Whenever you use eggs, save shells. Wash shells out right after using the eggs and save them up for about a week or so until you have a “batch” worth processing.

Bake shells at 350F for about 8-10 minutes to remove the mineral oil coating and make them brittle enough to grind. Grind to a fine powder in a food processor, blender or coffee grinder (I use a coffee grinder). Make sure there are no sharp, gritty pieces.

1 tsp. of powder supplies about 1800mg – 2000mg of calcium.

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