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In the spirit of Halloween, I remember lots of fun times growing up as kids when my sister and I would enjoy trick or treating, watching scary movies, and indulging in our favorite sweets. Images of witches stirring herbs into a boiling cauldron, creating potions and casting spells only add to the folklore and fantasy of the holiday. One of the tools in my holistic health toolkit is herbal medicine. There are lots of ways to use herbal remedies for cats. Have you used any before?
A far cry from a witch’s brew, herbal medicine has been around for as long as there have been humans on earth. “Herbs are the foundation of modern pharmacology and have been used to make many mainstream medicines including aspirin and morphine. The practice of herbal medicine involves the use of elements of plants, trees, or shrubs. These parts can be prepared as extracts, poultices, herbal teas, and in many other ways. Herbs have played and will continue to play a major role in our society’s medical systems and will have a major role in healing the sick and providing ways to manage illness in a holistic and effective way.” (www.herbalremediesinfo.com)
There are even herbal remedies made especially for our pets! A couple of brands that I use with my kitties are PetAlive and Pet Wellbeing. I currently have Lili on Urinary Gold and Kidney Support Gold because of her recent UTI and kidney failure hospital stint. Hershey is also now taking Kidney Support Gold to give his 15 year old kidneys some extra support since his recent blood work showed early stage kidney disease.
Check out these natural ingredients and their roles in Urinary Gold for Feline Urinary Tract Health:
Did you know plants and herbs were so powerful and effective? The downside is that they can have a strong smell and taste kind of funny, and you know how picky and sensitive cats are to smells and flavors. Therefore, I either mix the medicine into wet cat food or mix it into a tablespoon or more of baby food meat. My cats LOVE baby food, especially Gerber’s Chicken with Gravy. They think it’s a treat and don’t realize I sneak medicine into it!
While sometimes it’s necessary to use antibiotics, they can way over prescribed and can have negative side effects. For example, Lili was sent home with Clavamox from the hospital. However, it made her nauseous, and she threw up clear foamy liquid several times. As a result, she didn’t want to eat–and we had to get her to eat or risk hepatic lipidosis, a very dangerous and sometimes fatal liver condition. Antibiotics also kill both the good and bad bacteria in the gut, so it’s imperative to include a high quality probiotic. Once I switched Lili back to a combination of herbal medicine and homeopathy she no longer felt nauseous and was able to eat.
I always prefer to use natural remedies as a first resort and avoid toxic, man-made pharmaceutical drugs with side effects. As with all remedies, muscle testing is key to determine if something will work for your cat and determining dosage protocols. Remember, when you give the body the right tools it can heal itself! And there’s nothing scary about that!
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Hmmm, why would you use Achillea millefolium which is toxic to cats?
Any herb or plant given in large quantities has the potential to cause harm to both humans and pets. This particular product was designed by a veterinary herbalist and the percentages of each ingredient are small enough to be safe and can be beneficial. Using multiple plants or herbs can provide a synergistic benefit over one single plant.