Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (68 page)

Note:
If your dog isn’t eating well, force-feed vitamins separately, using these daily levels: toy and small dogs—10 milligrams B-complex and 250 milligrams vitamin C; medium-size dogs—as indicated in recipe; large and giant dogs—50 milligrams B-complex and 2,000 milligrams vitamin C
.

If your dog is eating well enough but losing weight, then increase the meat and fat in the recipe to compensate. The weight should be held steady
.

FELINE DIET FOR KIDNEY PROBLEMS

• ¾ pound (1½ cups) ground chicken (with skin) or turkey
  
• 4 cups cooked white rice, enriched
  
• 4 eggs
  
• 2 tablespoons cold-pressed safflower, soy, or corn oil
  
• 3 teaspoons Animal Essentials Calcium (or a scant 2 teaspoons of eggshell powder)*
  
• ¼ teaspoon iodized salt
  
• 1 teaspoon parsley (a natural diuretic, optional)
  
• 5,000 IU vitamin A
  
• 2,000 milligrams vitamin C (½ teaspoon sodium ascorbate)
  

Taurine and other cat vitamins (about 5 days’ worth—we want to add at least 250 mg taurine to this recipe amount)

50-milligram level B-complex (or 5–10 milligrams per day)

* These supplements are from Group III calcium supplements. See chapter 4 for more information.

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Serve raw if the cat will accept it. Otherwise, mix all but the vitamins together, bake about 20 minutes in a moderate oven, and then wait until it cools to mix in the vitamins. Your cat may have a poor appetite, so to some extent you will need to cater to him to keep him alive. Occasionally, substitute 1 to 3 teaspoons of liver for part of the meat. Be sure to provide plenty of fresh, pure water (filtered or bottled) at all times. Also encourage drinking by providing meat or fish broth (warm) once or twice a day.

Yield:
Feed as much as your cat will eat. This makes about 5 to 6 days’ food for the average cat
.

Note:
If your cat isn’t eating well, force-feed the vitamins separately. Follow the label directions for the cat vitamins and give 5 to 10 milligrams B-complex per day and 250 milligrams vitamin C (
teaspoon sodium ascorbate) twice daily
.

Many cats with kidney disease will develop a state of low potassium levels in the body, which further complicates the situation and creates symptoms in its own right. If your cat does not respond adequately to the treatments suggested here (and below), consult your veterinarian about adding a potassium gluconate supplement to this diet.

Other therapeutic measures are to avoid cigarette smoke; chemicalized or chlorinated water (use filtered or bottled); highly processed, overcooked, spoiled, or commercial foods; stress; excessive heat, and unnecessary exposure to chemical products, car fumes, and polluted environments in general.

Vigorously brush the coat and skin regularly and give a weekly bath with a natural, mild, nondrying shampoo. Provide regular, mild outdoor exercise and exposure to fresh air and sun. Always allow easy access to a place for urination and defecation. Make lots of pure water available for drinking at all times and feed the daily rations as two meals instead of one (if that has been your practice).

Herbs and remedies that may strengthen your animal’s kidney tissue are listed below. Pick one of them to try.

Herbal
—Alfalfa (
Medicago sativa
): Using the tincture, 3 times daily give 1 or 2 drops to cats or small dogs (it can be diluted), 2 to 4 drops to medium dogs, and 4 to 6 drops to large dog. Continue until you see an improvement, then reduce to once a day or as needed. Alternatively, you may use alfalfa tablets, giving 1 to 4 twice a day (depending on the animal’s size). Crush and mix with the food.

Herbal
—Marsh mallow (
Althaea officinalis
): Prepare an infusion by adding 2 tablespoons of the flowers or leaves to 1 cup of boiling water. Let steep 5 minutes. Or make a decoction (which is more potent) by simmering 1 teaspoon of the root in a cup of boiling water for 20 to 30 minutes. Twice a day give ½ teaspoon to cats or small dogs, 1 teaspoon to medium dogs and 1 tablespoon to large dogs. Try mixing it in the food. Continue for several weeks and then taper off to twice a week.

Homeopathic
—
Nux vomica
(poison nut) 30C: Use Schedule 4 (
view
). This remedy is useful as an occasional treatment for uremia. Often, it will help with the symptoms of toxicity, especially nausea, vomiting, and feeling generally ill.

Homeopathic
—
Natrum muriaticum
(sodium chloride) 6C: This treatment will help with the body’s use of water. It is indicated for the cat or dog that is very thirsty and prefers cool surfaces to lie on. Use Schedule 6(a) (
view
).

Homeopathic
—
Phosphorus
(the element) 6C: This is helpful to the cat or dog that has strong thirst for cold water and frequent vomiting after drinking or eating. Usually there is a decreased appetite with weight loss. Use Schedule 6(a) (
view
).

Homeopathic
—
Mercurius vivus
(quicksilver) 6C: The indicative condition is the development of ulcers in the mouth or on the tongue. Breath very foul, saliva increased,
often sticky. These are symptoms of uremia and can be helped by using this remedy. To maintain improvement, the diet must be adjusted to reduce protein or it will recur. Use Homeopathic Schedule 4 (
view
).

C
RISIS
T
HERAPY

A severe crisis in an animal with weak or failed kidneys is best handled by your veterinarian. Often the technique of intravenous fluid administration is critical to survival because anything given by mouth is immediately vomited. Your veterinarian may show you how to give daily fluid injections under the skin, which can help many cats to survive for additional months or years—often much longer than dogs survive with similar treatment.

An additional supportive treatment is that adapted from herbalist Juliette de Bairacli-Levy, who advises that you withhold all solid food until the crisis passes. Instead, give:

Cool parsley tea: Steep a tablespoon of fresh parsley in a cup of hot water for 20 minutes. Give 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons, 3 times a day.

Barley water: To make this, pour 3 cups of boiling water over a cup of whole barley. Cover and let steep overnight. In the morning strain and squeeze out the liquid through muslin or cloth. Add 2 teaspoons each of honey and pure lemon juice. Feed your animal ¼ to 2 cups of this liquid twice a day. (Make a bigger batch if necessary.)

Parsnip balls: Combine raw, grated parsnips (which help to detoxify the kidneys) with thick honey (an energy source). Roll into balls and give as desired. This combination is more likely to be accepted by dogs than cats—which are notoriously difficult to give anything unusual to by mouth.

Enemas: Make pure water available at all times. If your pet has trouble keeping fluids down, however, give 1 to 3 enemas per day until vomiting stops. For every 20 pounds of weight, make a solution combining ½ teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon potassium chloride (a salt substitute available in many groceries), 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 500 milligrams vitamin C, well-dissolved in a pint of lukewarm water. (See instructions for administration in chapter 15.) When an animal is dehydrated, it will retain the enema solution rather than discharging it, and this will help replenish the blood.

After the crisis stage, you can slowly return to using the usual food utilizing the maintenance program already described. Remember, the single most important thing is to give large volumes of fluids to rehydrate the tissues and to flush the kidneys. Without adequate fluid, treatment will not be successful. If vomiting is severe and continuous, use the suggestions under “Vomiting.” Particularly, try the homeopathic remedy Ipecac, as described in that section.

LIVER PROBLEMS

The liver may be the most important organ of the body. It is involved in innumerable processes, including: the manufacture of blood proteins, fats, and the proteins responsible
for blood clotting; storage of energy (as glycogen) for production of blood sugar as needed by the body; storage of the fat-soluble vitamins and iron; the detoxification of drugs, chemicals, and other unusable substances; the inactivation of hormones no longer needed, and the secretion of bile and other factors necessary for proper digestion. As if these tasks were not enough to keep it busy, the liver also must filter blood coming from the digestive tract to keep potentially harmful bacteria from reaching other parts of the body. It is the organ that prepares toxic material and waste products for subsequent elimination by the kidneys.

Therefore, as you can imagine, inflammation of the liver (hepatitis) and other disturbances of this vital organ are very serious conditions. Symptoms of liver trouble include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice (yellowing of the tissues, best observed in the whites of the eyes or inside the ears in animals), perhaps the passing of light-colored or “fatty”-looking bowel movements (from insufficient bile and poor digestion), and the swelling of the abdomen from fluid accumulation.

Liver malfunction is caused by many conditions. Viral infections or the swallowing of poisonous substances are factors, but in most cases, it’s hard to tell just what initiated the problem.

T
REATMENT

Because the liver is so central to the whole process of breaking down and using food, treatment includes minimizing the work it must do by fasting or feeding small, frequent, easily digested meals. In the early, acute stage of liver inflammation, fasting is best, especially if a fever is present. Follow the directions for fasting given in chapter 15. Keep your dog or cat on a liquid diet for a few days until his or her temperature returns to normal or there is some improvement. During this period, give the following treatments.

Vitamin C: 500 to 2,000 milligrams four times a day, depending on size. This is most easily given as sodium ascorbate powder dissolved in a small amount of water. (¼ teaspoon is about 1,000 milligrams.)

One of the following remedies can also be helpful.

Homeopathic
—
Belladonna
(deadly nightshade) 30C: This is most useful for the stage of fever, restless agitation, hot head, and dilated pupils, and is often the first remedy to use. Schedule 2 (
view
).

Homeopathic
—
Nux vomica
(poison nut) 6C: Use Schedule 6(a) (
view
). If this does not help within a few days, try this next remedy:

Homeopathic
—
Phosphorus
(the element) 6C: Use Schedule 6(a) (
view
). These animals are usually thirsty, vomit easily, have diarrhea, or very narrow, hard stools.

As the animal improves and the symptoms subside, ease it onto a diet similar to that for kidney failure. You should, however, reduce the fat content by using lean meat and eliminating the added oil. Eggs are usually well-
tolerated by the liver patient, as are grains. Feed small amounts at a time, dividing the day’s ration into four servings, and warm the food to room temperature. Hold back on fats until the condition is normal. Then reintroduce them, starting in small amounts.

After a month or two of recovery, you can gradually and carefully move back to the basic recipes as outlined in chapter 4. During this time of healing, emphasize raw foods as much as possible (cottage cheese, eggs, meat, and finely grated vegetables). Some foods, of course, must be well-cooked for digestion (like grains and beans). Combine the foods only after the cooked ingredients have cooled. This precaution will provide optimal amounts of unaltered nutrients needed for the quickest possible recovery. If these foods are accepted, try including raw grated beets (about one to three tablespoons) every day as a liver stimulant. One to two tablespoons of fresh minced parsley is also useful.

During recovery, also continue the vitamin C. If, after some improvement, there is a relapse, go back to using the last remedy that was most beneficial. Usually the vitamin C can be discontinued after all symptoms are gone.

LYME DISEASE

This disease was first recognized (in people) in Europe in the early 1900s and has since been reported throughout Europe, Australia, Russia, China, Japan, and Africa. It has been called Lyme disease in this country since 1975, when it was first found to cause arthritis in children in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Considerable research revealed that the condition was caused by a spirochete (a microbe related to syphilis, though not spread by sexual contact) and transmitted by tick bites.