Cats & Cat Health

This is a letter from veterinarian Dr. Andrew Jones DVM, in which he explains how he came to practice alternative pet medical care.

I was asked by a reader exactly what is the “big deal” about Veterinary Secrets Revealed? The reader was wondering if most of what I teach is simply a condensed version of Veterinary School for Pet Owners. And my one word answer.. NO

I did learn a lot about animal disease in Veterinary School. I was taught conventional ways to treat disease. was told to Vaccinate yearly. was taught to feed “all in one nutrition” commercial kibble. One of our big sponsors was Hills, and as Veterinary Students, we received discounts on Science Diet food for our own pets. The thought being that if you feed it to your own pets, then you are likely to recommend it to your clients. was taught that Home Diets were BAD.

• I was taught that you would be CRAZY to feed RAW pet food.
• I was told about the science and benefits of a variety of “new” medications..
• Everything we talked about was backed by research.
• I was taught NOTHING about alternative healing, except from professors telling me that it doesn’t work.

Here is what I heard about the various types of alternate options:

• Herbal Medicine..Doesn’t work.
• Homeopathy..NO scientific basis..a waste of time.
• Chiropractic..It won’t help pets and may cause harm.
• Supplements..Most are useless, and only make pet owners feel like they are
• doing something.

So I went into the world of Veterinary Medicine practicing conventionally. Conventional medications..and their side effects. surgery for many things. Talking clients out of any alternate option. Telling them why they should NEVER feed Raw Food. Extolling the benefits of yearly vaccines. In fact it wasn’t until my beloved older dog Hoochie died that I really made
the switch. I truly believe that much of what I did contributed to his death.

Most of you have heard the story before, but the quick summary is that he developed cancer at age 8, and I suspect part of this was due to him having multiple yearly vaccines, being fed ONLY commercial kibble, and being on a pretty potent
anti-inflammatory medication.

It is possible that if I had even given him a common Herb called Milk Thistle in combination with the anti-inflammatory, then his liver may have been OK. But I had never even heard of that, so I did NOTHING alternative.

So what are the “Secrets” of Healing never taught to Vets?

1 That there are many ways to heal, NOT just conventionally, and we must look at all the options, weighing the side effects with the benefits. An example would be using a Herbal combination called Skin Eze vs Steroids. Most of the time the
Steroids are used, but few Pet owners are aware of ALL of the side effects, such as Liver disease and Diabetes.

2. Be open minded. Just because Dr XYZ say that there is NO scientific basis does not mean that it doesn’t work..It could mean that there is NO mon*ey in it for The Drug company, so they won’t fund the study. AN example of this is with
a plant growing in your garden, Dandelion. It is an effective diuretic, and it is a nutrient source, BUT you can bet that 99% of Veterinarians have NEVER prescribed it as it doesn’t come in a pill, from their pharmacy, and it had few SCIENTIFIC
studies.

3. Question what you are told and marketed..Sure that wonder drug looks great, but WHY is that pharmaceutical company spending SO MUCH mon^^ey on advertising?As Veterinarians we get much of our continuing education from Industry Reps.. They are in the business of selling a conventional drug/food/vaccine..QUESTION what they are saying. An example is ALL the big glossy ads selling Rimadyl..How often to you hear about ALL the side effects? And there are MANY.

4. Diet is KEY. And NOT all Nutrition comes in a BAG. Draw the analogy to your own health. Would you be healthier eating all your food that comes in a bag or can OR Fresh fruit and vegetables, organic meat, and without ingredients you can’t even pronounce? The SAME thing applies to your dog or cat..If you want a healthier pet then you’ve got to feed them healthier, including food that you make at home and Raw food.

5. Exercise. Not just a walk to the backyard to go pee. AT MINIMUM 30 minutes of running twice a day. Our pets were designed to MOVE. The benefits of Exercise are immense- from weight loss, to better behavior, to endorphin release, to preventing most of our chronic diseases. If you want to have a HEALTHY pet and AVOID the Vet, then commit to exercising regularly.

6. Vaccines. As little and as few as needed. I am convinced that I have my own dog far to many vaccines, and this CONSTANT bombardment on his immune system wore him down, ultimately leading to Cancer that ended his life. If I had to do it all again, I would have given him a FRACTION of the vaccines that he had. And vaccine reps are GREAT at informing Veterinarians about the Newest upcoming disease.. BUT if our pets were eating well and not over medicated, then their immune systems would be in better shape to challenge these diseases.

7. Encourage Pet Owners to be INVOLVED. To have a healthy pet, it is imperative that you as pet owners are KEY in keeping your pet healthy. You KNOW your pet BETTER than anyone. You can make decisions about pet food, about exercise, about vaccines, about alternate medical options. An empowered Pet Owner is a Wonderful person..You become further bonded with your pet.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t see your Veterinarian, but that you work in conjunction with them, making suggestions and questioning their advice. Emergencies are always going to happen, there is still a place for conventional Veterinary Medicine, BUT as an EMPOWERED Pet Owner, you can Help prevent disease, and utilize alternate options. This could be something as simple as Massage for your dog’s sore back–This twice daily massage may mean that you could avoid that potentially potent Anti-inflammatory.

To learn more from Dr. Andrew Jones veterinary secrets check out his site: Vetinary Secrets Revealed

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If you are getting fed up with your cat scratching your soft furnishings you may be planning to declaw him. Please don’t do this. In England declawing is termed “inhumane” and “unnecessary mutilation.” In many European countries it is illegal. If you declaw you are crippling and maiming your cat.

A cat’s claws are not toenails- its more like a bone. Declawing is like amputating your the top bone in your toes or fingers. The surgery is painful and the cat will still be in pain for a while after surgery, yet still has to walk on those painful paws.

A declawed cat can no longer do all the things she instinctively wants to do. She can’t climb, even indoors because she has lost her way of gripping and will fall, with a shocked look on her face. “Why can’t I do this anymore?” she thinks. She can’t scratch or groom herself properly, she can’t defend herself against dogs or nasty people, so she feels insecure, her balance is affected and she is deprived of the psychological comfort derived from scratching.

A declawed cat may become neurotic and develop psychological problems. She may resort to biting because she feels unsafe. Sometimes the claws re-grow but are deformed and may easily become infected.

Please don’t get your cat declawed, its very cruel and I amsure that as a cat lover, now that you know all this you will not even consider declawing your cat.

Read this cautionary tale if you are still not sure: Declawing Problems

I do know what a pain it can be to have your furnishings damaged like this. My cat Alfie damaged our stair carpeting when we first got him. I was able to stop eventually him by spraying the carpet with a special spray from the pet shop, just wish I had known about it sooner! ( Now if you could please tell me how to stop him bringing half eaten mice in and leaving them on the stairs…!)

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If your furnishings are getting scratched, and repellant sprays are not suitable for the fabric, there is another humane solution. Claw caps called Soft Claws , created by a vet, will solve the problem for sure. You apply the claw caps to your cat’s front claws. Only use these if your cat never goes outside though, because it does prevent them from defending themselves.

Feline De-Clawing Alternatives

Technorati Tags: declawing, cat,catdeclaw

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Yesterday I made Alfie a batch of raw food using the recipe provided by Dr. Pierson DVM on her cat information web site.
Dr. Pierson has adapted the recipe that is provided by Anne here: making your own cat food.

I understand from reading both of these web sites that many people are reluctant to give their cat raw food. I find this surprising because cats can’t cook, so how would they have eaten anything but raw food in their natural state?It is becoming clear that cats do better on their natural diet than on the one we have been giving them. Not only that but we can not trust pet food manufacturers to provide a healthy diet. Lately there have problems with imported foods from China, but its not only the imported foods that have caused recent problems. I wrote yesterday about why dry kibble is bad food for cats.

Most of us have given cats cooked food because canned cat food is what we are told to feed them on. Canned food is better than dry food as long as the quality is high and it isn’t full of animal by-products, wheat and other ingredients that is harmful to cats. I bought some food for Alfie that was very high quality but he refused to eat it. I must admit t he smell wasn’t very nice.

Because he wouldn’t eat the canned stuff I decided I would make his food. Fortunately he is used to raw food. He is only 6 years old and right from the start I investigated cat foods and discovered that raw is best. I had never put any extra nutrients into it because he was also having some dry food which provided those extras. If he isn’t going to get dry food any more then I needed to provide a balanced diet for him. Hence my efforts with the recipe for home made cat food.

I need to buy an electric grinder! Yesterday I used the old hand grinder that I have had for years and it was tough going. I bought a whole rabbit and ground it bones and all, it caused the little grinder some problems. Anyway I battled on and got quite a good upper body workout for an hour pushing the rabbit through! I added egg yolks and some heart from the supermarket and also some beef cut into 1/2 pieces. ( I note that Dr. Pierson says that beef is not recommended for cats, only saw that after I had finished) The chunks are for his teeth- he has to chew to keep them healthy. I didn’t add the other supplements given in the recipe because I found an all in one supplement that had all these in it and I decided to use that instead. I will add it to his food at the time of feeding because I am a bit scared it will put him off eating it and I didn’t want to have all my hard work thrown away by adding it to the whole batch.

Smelling all this he came and sat in the kitchen and watched, so I gave him him some there and then, just to see if he liked it. He loved it!

Of course he is used to raw food. If your cat isn’t it might not be so easy. But it can be done. The trick is to do it gradually, adding it to his current food, a bit more each day. Dr. Pierson has some advice on that if you want to try this with your cat. Its worth it if it gives him a longer and healthier life.

Recommended Reading on Cat Health: Home Study Course Vetinary Secrets Revealed

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I just posted a couple of new things.

First a video or two about how to bath a cat - should you ever wish to. Remember cats don’t really need bathing on a regular basis, they keep themselves pretty clean. When you have watched the first video you will see a list of more cat bathing videos under it. Its under the tab above “videos”.

Have also posted a free ebook on cat care. It includes a section on cat food and declawing ( don’t!) and more. You can pass it on but you can’t edit it. I hope you find it useful. Find it under “Free” above.

Technorati Tags: free-ebook-cat-care, cat-video, cat-bath

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If you are spooked by all the cat food recalls and other problems with current commercial cat foods Dr. Lisa A. Pierson DVM has a website packed full of useful info on feeding cats. There is a list of the best quality canned food and info on why we shouldn’t give cats dry kibble. (Also this info is in my free e-book - under Free on the tabs above )

Dr. Pierson also gives a lot of detail on making your own cat food at home plus a homemade cat food recipe   recipe. I am not reproducing it here because its hers and also because she gives so much detail on her site as well as the recipe.  The recipe etc is here: Make Your Own Cat Food

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Technorati Tags: cat food, feeding cats, cat food, homemade cat food recipe

What do you feed your cat? With all the publiciy about poisons in chinese cat foods lately I guess we are all avoiding the Chinese fakeaways now.

But its not only China that is careless of our cat’s health. Did you know that many vetinarians are saying that we shouldn’t be feeding dried kibble to our cats? Its too dry and they don’t make up for it with drinking enough water- cats need wet food. Also dry food has various other problems - or so I have recently learned:

1. They contain insufficient animal based protein and an excess of vegetable protein.

2. Many contain animal by-products as their main or only source of protein. By-products are animal parts considered unfit for human beings to eat, such as feet, intestines, feathers, egg shells and can even include organs from diseased livestock.

3. They contain too much carbohydrate. Cats are pure carnivores that neither need, nor can they thrive, on the amount of carbohydrates in dry foods.

4. Cats do not always drink enough to make up for the lack of water in the food. Insufficient fluid causes kidney and bladder stones.

5. Many use unhealthy preservatives such as such as BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin.

6. They can lose nutrient value due to their long cooking time at very high temperatures.

7. Oils in them can become rancid after being stored in warehouses and supermarket shelves.

8. There may also be extremely dangerous and life-threatening fungal toxins found in them.

Sounds nasty doesn’t it? Do you want to risk it? I don’t and am now in the process of weaning my cat off it. Its not going to be easy and he is rather grunpy with me today. I am mixing a bit in with his new food- more on that next time- but I think he knows what I am up to!

Technorati Tags: cat, food,, dry, kibble,feeding, cat

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How do you tell whether your cat is putting on too much weight? Here is some guidance that I learned from a vet.

“When viewed from above a dogs and cats should have a discernible waistline just in front of their back legs. When they are getting a little bit overweight there is a straight line from their chest down to their hips. If you are looking at them from the side their tummy should tuck up towards their hip, whereas if they are getting overweight, its just parallel to the ground.”

I checked Alfie’s figure after reading that and I think he is starting to get a bit fat! Its winter here and so he goes out less often and so gets less exercise- but I haven’t been feeding him any less. Now I plan to cut down on his portion size- just as I am trying to do for me! I am sure he will be happier and healthier without his extra weight, must be hard for him to climb a tree- which he loves to do, if he gets too overweight. Fat cats are unhealthy cats.

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Oh dear, I just got sent a YouTube of a very fat cat. It didn’t make me laugh. No, I thought it cruel and sad. Those poor overweight cats are kept inside all day and they are given too much food and no exercise.

The poor things are not happy cats and will die young. It isn’t amusing to overfeed your cat. Cats are active, sleek and beautiful in the wild and when taken good care of as pets. Letting a cat get so overweight is abusive. I won’t be posting any of those videos here!

Ths blog is very much about cat health and if you do have any cat health issues go to this review of a manual on natural therapies for pets, including cats of course.

Cat Health Information

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This is a brand new blog so its not very populated yet. But I have lots of info to share with you. I also would love to have you share your info here. Just use the comments box below. Anything about cats- doesn’t have to be cat health specifically.

Oh and you can click on the icon on the right to save this to any of your favorite social bookmarking sites. Do you know about It is a way to share your favorite sites with other people. It also allows you to find sites other people are bookmarking on any topic. Such a great idea because it means that robots from Google or Yahoo etc. don’t decide what you want to read. You get to see what human beings think is a useful site or blog. Isn’t that better?

Those robots are programmed using various formulae such as how often the word or phrase you searched appears in the page, how old the page is and how many other important sites link to it. Now that isn’t very helpful for new sites and they just don’t get found. Also spammers can stuff their pages with words and fool the robots. You must have noticed how some searches pull up sites with just nothing but adverts on them. The owners want you to leave asap via their adverts served by Google!
So use the new and find better sites. If you find any about little felines please let us know.

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