A reader of the Healthy Animal Update asked why it is normal for cats to not need to drink water to stay hydrated. She also is having trouble switching off dry food.
Her questions:
Hi,
Just getting around to reading the recent Healthy Animal Update. I have a question. Why should a healthy cat
never need water? I’ve had cats all my life and they always had a bowl of water with their “dry” food. Many
of them lived long lives and two died with vaccine related sarcoma but they all were fed the same thing over
fifty years. I understand the reasoning behind the article but in our fast paced life and a need for a pet we did
the best we could, did we do them a great injustice? I have three now and are trying to ‘convert’ them to raw
beef and ground chicken but they are not taking to it very swiftly. They nibble and walk away, come back and
nibble some more.
How long is it safe to leave raw food out?
Stop the dry meal all together?
And what about water. Like any mammal, we all need to be hydrated. My one cat will drink continuously for 2 minutes. Whats wrong with him?
Well, guess that was one long question but if you can direct me, I would appreciate it. LONG LIVE
HOMEOPATHY.
Pat Siemer
My answer:
As homeopathic practitioners, we are always asking lots of questions about daily activity and changes that happen with treatments. Also, most of us took Samuel Hahnemann’s writings seriously so watch for obstacles to cure and realize that everyone has a unique vital force. over time, we observed that healthy cats (with none of the Early Warning Signs of Internal Imbalance and no illness) who were not on dry food rarely, if ever, drank water.
As some researched this, they realized that cats are originally desert animals and their kidneys had evolved to take all the moisture needed to stay hydrated from their raw meat diets (live mice, etc). With the advent of dry food we saw a sharp rise in kidney disease, just as with the advent of processed foods for people we saw a sharp rise in diabetes.
Then we noticed that cats (not on dry food) who were drinking before we treated them for their illness (skin, digestive, etc) stopped drinking. Often the first sign people noticed that the cat was unwell was beginning to drink more frequently.
Certainly some cats on dry food live a long life as they have more robust kidneys that can withstand the overuse. Now, long life to me is over 20 for cats. One of BrightHaven’s cats lived to 34! (raw food, homeopathy, Reiki, Flower essences, no vaccines and was adopted at 18).
It can be difficult to switch cats to a fresh food diet and it is worth every minute of the effort. Dr. Jean Hofve recently did an interview (www.LittleBigCat.com) where she said it is worth it to increase the raw food by a molecule a day!!
I find that most cats addicted to dry food will switch if you:
- Stop free feeding dry and feed small meals that leave them a bit hungry.
- Before putting down their dry meal, put down different foods to see what they like when they are hungry (maybe do this one meal a day or whenever you have time). Dairy – milk, cream, cheese, parmesan cheese, cottage cheese, etc; eggs – cooked and raw; cooked chicken, beef, turkry, etc that are deli roasted or deli meats or home made; raw meats; fruits & veges, especially cantaloupe; fish – tuna, sardines, canned or fresh salmon, mackerel, dried bonita flakes; and holistic pet store treats.
- If you do not find treats they like, use an herb or coffee grinder to pulverize dry food. Put down the raw meal or the canned food and top it with the ground dry food.
- Some cats need holistic treatments to be healthy enough to stop their addiction to dry food.
To answer a few of her other questions. You can leave the fresh meat out for 30 minutes, maybe even longer.
The cat who drinks for 2 minutes probably does not have an “illness” in conventional thinking. He is showing that his quantum field (which keeps him healthy) is out of balance. Until he is off dry food, though, we will not know if it is food induced or truly a vital force imbalance that needs to be treated with homeopathy, Reiki, or more.
Check the classes button for upcoming classes – Oct 19 – harrisburg, PA; Oct 21 – Lancaster PA (part of the Great Dane special show); Oct 25-Nov 1 – Calgary alberta Canada (homeopathy); Nov 16 – Nutrition – 4 speakers – Herford, MD.
My cats eat only fresh foods and having helped many people switch their cats to fresh food diets I have found that cats like rabbit, rabbit organs and pork. Sometimes to make the transition to real food it is helpful to get the kibble out of the house or put it in the freezer. Some cats will hold out as long as they can smell the kibble. Once this diet change is made litter box oder disappears and stool volume is greatly reduced. The health benefits for cats is amazing when they are fed real foods . Thanks for addressing this issue! Grace Waymire
Thank you, Grace, for helping cats switch. Many people need that help. Can we add your email for people to contact you? You are so right about getting the dry out of the house or in the freezer. Also, I always suggest putting a small amount of dry in the freezer because sometimes when a cat is ill and not eating, only the dry will entice them. It is best when you grind it to a fine powder to use as a top dressing.
I have heard that rabbit is tasty to cats and that is a good protein to use in rotation.
Another way to gets cats to eat better is to do Reiki on their food before you put it down. I strongly suggest everyone become attuned to Reiki – pain relief, healing, detox, fix your car and make yukky water taste better.
I have 2 older cats that I inherited from my daughter when she moved away. She only fed dry for several years. We revamped their diet and they eat canned food with added things from our table..fruit/veggies/a sardine now and again.
One of our cats loved running water..if I am watering a plant she runs to try and get her tonque under the stream..or she will sit in the bath tub waiting for drips of water..its all in the movement for her..the other cat will drink out of a fresh bowl of water a few licks here and there but nothing like the water spout cat…too funny
what a great example of improved health. These cats are certainly having fun and you are enjoying it. Playing with water is not the same as thisrt – it is just a fun behavior. One goal for you would be to switch entirely to fresh food, and to purchase it from local farms. Also, from the book, The Source field Investigations by David Wilcock reporting on the work of Backster, please pray before putting down any food since polygraph tests show that plants and animals “feel bad” when eaten and prayer diminishes that “feeling”.
You may want to post your comment and my reply on the Animal Wellness website so other people can see the benefit of feeding fresh food and stopping dry. If you want to subscribe, you can save money by using my code CCDVM.