Unless you live in a rural area and are diligent about keeping up with your cat's immunizations, one of the best things to do for your pet is keep it indoors. Besides the threat of being hit by a car, feline AIDS and leukemia are on the rise. Additionally, indoor cats are less likely to mark their territory or use an unusual location as a toilet, making human life a little easier. Also consider the option of having your cat spayed or neutered. Having a cat "fixed" helps avoid the abandonment of unwanted kittens and putting to sleep of "surplus" cats.
For health care, many human herbal treatments work on animals too, including cats, but in smaller amounts {check with your Veterinarian first as some human medications have different effects on or can be harmful to cats}. For example, garlic powder, goldenseal, liver powder, fenugreek, and bonemeal mixed into your cat's food or made into a tea added to its water, act as a tonic that also deters fleas. Some cat lovers even use Bach Flower Remedies or color therapy to help their cats.
In the case of flower remedies, honeysuckle is recommended to lift spirits of a melcancholy kitty, and aspen for easily frightened cats. For color treatments, follow this basic guideline, adding the suggested color into your cat's environment wherever possible:
YELLOW: for perking up a depressed or listless cat
BLUE: for overly frolicsome kitties
GREEN: to improve your cat's autonomy and confidence
RED: to encourage mating
GRAY: to improve your cat's independence
BROWN: to keep a cat from wandering excessively
BLACK: to improve your cat's stamina and focus.
PURPLE: to increase your cat's playfulness and appetite
Rather than buying commercial vitamins, make your own from turkey livers, ends and pieces of vegetables, and cornmeal. Blend and cook until very thick. Serve your cat a little bit daily, again adding garlic if fleas are a problem.
Here is a list of other health problems you may encounter, together with advice on how to deal with them:
BLEEDING: Apply pressure to the wound with your hand. If the bleeding does not stop, tie a small piece of cloth above the area and get the cat immediately to a veterinarian. If you cannot reach a professional within twenty minutes, release the cloth slightly, then retighten, so that the animal will not lose the limb from lack of circulation.
BREATHING: Mouth-to-Mouth resuscitation works on cats too. Just take care not to breathe too hard. Remember that cats have a much smaller lung capacity than humans.
BROKEN BONES: Wrap the animal in a blanket or towel to keep it immoblized, then transport it to a care facility.
BURNS: Apple cider vinegar to the area with cool water. Afterward bathe the area in aloe gel, yougurt, or honey.
CONSTIPATION: Sprinkle a tablespoon of powerded milk on your cat's food in the morning, and a tablespoon of graham crackers at night. If the condition persists over several days, call your vet.
DIARRHEA: Mix 1/4 tsp honey with 1/4 C. apple juice and let the cat lap it as it wishes. Alternatively feed the cat cooked rice mixed with lean ground beef that is well cooked.
EAR MITES: A drop or two of warm garlic-laden olive oil drowns the mites and also eases the itching. Or clean out the cat's ears with a cotton ball soaked in a little wormwood oil. Also mix a drop of tea-tree oil with a drop or two of olive oil and place in ear with a cotton swab.
EYE RINSE: For watering eyes make a tea of comfrey and fennel or celandine. Store in a cool area, discarding the mix when it turns cloudy. Apply 2 drops in each eye twice daily.
FEAR: Various conditions can frighten an animal into a traumatic state in which it is not in complete control of itself. Do not move quickly toward it at such times, but speak slowly and calmly. When you can approach the cat, pet it slow, even stokes until it calms down.
FLEAS: Lavender, fennel, ceder, mint, sassafras, rue, and eucalyptus all deter fleas. Put fresh herbs in your pet's bed, wash its bedding with a final rinse of aromatic oils, comb tinctures regularly into the cat's fur, or dab its collar with the oils or spritz the carpets with any of these oils.
Also add a bit of brewer's yeast and garlic powder to your cat's diet two to three times a week. Always begin flea prevention two to three weeks before the start of the season and continue it to two to three weeks afterward to keep fleas out of the house during winter.
GAS: Let the cat eat some angelica, caraway, or fennel.
HAIR BALLS: Give your cat a little vegetable oil or lard. Let it lick it off your hand so that on other foreign substances are introduced.
HEAT: If an animal shows signs of overexposure to the heat, wash it with a cool {not cold} cloth and slowly give it water. Do not let it lap up too much water or it will become ill.
ITCHING: If your cat likes baths, try old-fashioned oatmeal soap to combat the scratching. Or, dab a little warm oatmeal on the affected areas.
JOINT SORENESS: Rub rosemary tincture on the affected area.
POISON: If your cat has consumed something it should not have, give it milk blended with egg to asbord the toxin until help can be reached. If possible, take a sample of what it consumed to the veterinarian.
SHAMPOO {dry}: Mix equal amounts of orris root powder and cornstarch to which any mild aromatic has been added. Brush it through the cat's hair with a palm brush.
SKIN IRRATATION: Dilute thyme or mint oil by half with oil vinegar and dab it on the sore regions.
TICKS: Apply vinegar, alcohol, or an oil soak to loosen the tick, then remove it with tweezers.
WORMS: Symptoms: dull coat, inflamed eyes, vomiting, cough. Feed garlic and sprinkle food with a thyme tincture.
Caring for your pet at home can be very fulfilling, but there are many circumstances under which you should seriously consider consulting a veterinarian. These include breathing troubles, poor appetite for several days, injuries where the bleeding cannot be stopped, seizures, diarrhea, odd swellings, and sluggish behavior for more than two days.
By the way, you can now purchase medical insurance for your cat. There are several pet insurance groups in approximently forty states. Ask your veterinarian which group, if any , he or the insurance offers.
Reference: Cat Magic, by Patricia Telesco
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