A Path With Paws

Every day we see Ali become more comfortable with us and learning how to be a dog in America.

Yesterday we braved the rain to go to Marymoor for a Formosan Mountain Dog meet up. There were about fifteen dogs of many different colors and coats but all around the same size and shape. We had our big moment when I let Ali off leash for the first time outside our yard. She exceeded my expectations by not only coming back when she was called but also keeping an eye on either Adam or me. It was more like she was watching us to make sure we didn’t run away then that we were watching her. She seemed to be saying, “now that I have people who feed me and love me I am not losing track of them!” It was so much fun to see her running free and getting to play with other dogs.

The people there were great and we got to hear so many stories about these brave, loving and intelligent dogs. They were excited to offer us advice on cats, training and being able to let go of a loved foster. Many of the dogs there had much rougher lives than Ali, being hit by cars, having broken body parts, and having rubber bands put around their necks which slowly dig into the flesh and is a way dogs are sometimes killed in Taiwan. In spite of all this I saw an amazing group of dogs just enjoying themselves.

A few days ago Ali started stealing our socks and putting them in her bed so she could suck on them. She had had no interest in toys up until that point. We decided to take her up to the Mud Bay to buy her some things since we preferred she have her own instead of the socks, even though she was gentle with them. We bought her an earth stuffed toy full of little earths. When we got home she was super excited, shaking the big earth and throwing the little earths into the air and running after them and pouncing on them. It was so fun to see this former street dog having fun!

Her favorite new toys are a little duck and chicken that make bird sounds given to her by my friend and local shaman Rose De Dan. You should have seen Ali’s eyes light up when Rose made the chicken make the chicken sound and then handed it to her. Ali walked around with it in her mout,h so proud, and then lay it at the front door so she would not forget to take it with her when she left. These toys were favorites of Rose’s dog Puma who recently passed away and I think that makes them even more special. Ali now sleeps with the chicken between her paws at night.

Yesterday after the park we met up with Rose and a friend of hers at the PCC. Ali’s hips were a little sore after the park and they gave her some reiki work, which she really enjoyed. Rose’s friend had recently been diagnosed with cancer and Ali seemed to sense that she needed some comfort. She lay down against her in the parking lot of the PCC offering love, energy and support. It seems I have a little healer dog in my hands. I have found when I am upset or if Adam and me get in an argument she is quick to offer her comfort to him or me in a gentle but firm way.

So on to the cats. Despite what I thought Ali has decided that she might be able to live with cats. We had a trainer out yesterday morning who pointed out that she could have easily already killed a cat if she wanted to. As I write she is laying in the middle of our living room with a cat sitting behind her and next to me on the couch grooming himself. One of our other cats just announced herself, jumped over the baby gate and walked in front of Ali. Ali lifted her head to watch but that was all. So the jury is still out on that one but it looked like with enough work it might be possible. It helps that the cats are also learning not to run in front of her.

Meanwhile Ali has decided that she needs to guard the house for us. Unfortunately she sees the paperboy as a threat and since he comes at 4:45am wakes us up. The easiest solution seems to be to cancel the paper and get a good night sleep instead.

I could write so much about this special little girl but I’ll leave it at that. I do want to leave you with a video of the shelter most of these Taiwanese dogs come from. The numbers alone are amazing and the work the volunteers do with these dogs are heartwarming.
Good Life?

Also see What is it like to have a Taiwanese street dog – Adventures with Ali
and Taiwanese dogs – Why we rescue

This is a great new workshop offered by my friend Rose De Dan and Peggy Gilmer who is a leadership coach. I am planning on taking it myself.

Nothing develops our abilities or heals us as quickly as time spent with animal teachers in sacred ceremony.

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Long ago people and animals had a relationship based on mutual trust and respect; indigenous people celebrated the sacredness of Horse and honored the spiritual connection with powerful ceremonies.

Over time that understanding and connection has been mostly forgotten. And, in losing connection with the spirits of our Horse relatives, we have also lost connection with our own.

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Join us, Rose De Dan, Wild Reiki and Shamanic Healing, and Peggy Gilmer, Leadership and Self Mastery Coach at Silk Purse Farm, for a collaborative and groundbreaking adventure in a truly lovely and unique location.

During this very special weekend we will spend time in sacred ceremony and dialogue with the Horses who can show us the way back – helping us to heal and renew the bond that we once shared.

In the process you will gain insights and experience energetic shifts that will strengthen your ability to communicate and connect with all animals as teachers and partners.

So that we may have the support of spirit allies we will invoke sacred space in the Peruvian shamanic tradition for the duration of the weekend. Opening sacred space makes it possible for Spirit to manifest profound connections, insights and energetic shifts for all participants.

Our intention for being with the horses is threefold: to connect with them, to learn from them, and—as partners—to work together in healing and in ceremony to co-create a new way of being.

Located on the Enumclaw Plateau overlooking the Cascade foothills, Silk Purse Farm is home to a herd of equine coaches who playfully and skillfully teach humans to be better partners to animals…and other humans.

No Prerequisites: No previous experience with animal communication, horses, riding, shamanism, or energy healing is required, only a willingness to connect with the Horses as teachers.

Prior to the workshop:

Two one-hour preparatory teleclasses are included in the fee and attendance at BOTH is a requirement for participation in the August 11-12 workshop.

These teleclasses are designed to offer participants basic training, guidance, support and community-building before we meet with the Horse teachers. The call will include some shamanic journey work and there will be daily practice exercises for afterward to help strengthen awareness and the ability to foster connection during the event. (Yes, there is homework, but it will be fun!)

The first teleclass is July 10 at  6:00 p.m. PDT
The second teleclass is July 24 at 6:00 p.m. PDT

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During the workshop we will: interweave the energy from storytelling, shamanic journeys and ceremonies with visits, interactions, guidance from the horses play with horses who openly provide feedback, learn with you, and never judge join together in ceremony for personal and global healing discover our own intuitive capabilities for use in daily life and with our own animal companions identify and release energetic blockages that are holding you back

This class offers the opportunity to participate in smaller groups with one-on-one attention as well as focused individual work for a fuller and more intimate and enriching connection with the energy and the horses.

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FOOD AND BEVERAGES

The fee for the workshop includes cost of training plus beverages and lunch both days. Dinner Saturday night features community-style potluck dinner. Details will be provided upon registration for planning purposes.

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LODGING

Workshop fee does not include any travel expenses incurred or lodging. A list of the closest accommodations and contact information for them will be supplied after registration. All lodging is about 10 minutes from Silk Purse Farm.

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TRAVEL INFORMATION

By Car: If driving from the Seattle area, travel time is approximately 1 hour.

By Airport: Sea-Tac, Seattle, WA, is closest, located approximately 27 miles and 40 minutes away from Silk Purse Farm.

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Who We Are

Wild Reiki and Shamanic Healing LLC

Rose De Dan is a shamanic practitioner, Reiki Master Teacher, animal communicator, author and artist.

In 1995, while living in Worcester, Mass., she had a life-changing experience during a Reiki class and was gifted with a vision of a healing practice for animals. In pursuing that vision, Rose began to remember her childhood dreams and passion to help animals. In the process of becoming an energy healer, animal shaman, and voice for the animals, Rose found her practice evolving into building bridges between people and domestic and wild animals, and has been bringing people and animals together in ceremony since 1998.

“Months after the workshop, my animal communication/healing work continues to improve and my own animals are responding in clear and positive ways…It was very empowering to be in an entire group of people who share my love of, and commitment to, animals…I learned from each and every one. Rose, you’re an inspiration. I wish I had known you 30 years ago when I was trying to figure out why I’m here.” — Kathy Dunn, Norcross, GA

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Silk Purse Farm

Peggy Gilmer is an Executive Coach and Leadership and Self Mastery Coach for Children and Teens. She’s also a Reiki III Practitioner and owns Silk Purse Farm where she has partnered with her herd of Tennessee Walkers for 15 years, helping her clients to become the best version of themselves. For more information about Peggy’s work in general please visit her website. For more information on her work with horses please visit The Feel of Mastery or tune in to her blog Light from the Barn: what animals know about life, love and leadership.

“I don’t know if I can imagine a more powerful and rewarding combination of wisdom resources – a seasoned executive coach, well-loved horses, and a gorgeous natural setting. You will be astonished by the breakthroughs available to you at Silk Purse Farm. Being in the natural world in the company of a wise human guide and the complete honesty of horses is a pleasure in itself. Add showing up with a willingness to listen to body, heart, mind, and spirit and you are guaranteed to go deep and move fast. My capacity as a leader in the workplace, as a parent, as a friend, and as a person committed to growing the greater good expands each time I work with Peggy. “Magnificent” begins to describe the journey!” — Bridgett Chandler, CEO, Campfire NW

As many of you know, two weeks ago Ali came to live with us from Taiwan. We are fostering her for a group called Salty Dog Rescue.

So what is it like to have a street dog from Taiwan?

I asked this question before fostering her and couldn’t come up with a whole bunch of answers by Internet searching.

Surprise number one was that Ali came potty trained – I certainly was not expecting that. Not only is she potty trained but she will not poop on our property and prefers not to pee in the yard if she can help it. It means walks are very important but that she is a very clean and neat dog.

However it was difficult last week because she accidentally ate some old cat vomit. Very gross! This gave her diarrhea and since she wouldn’t poop in the yard it meant a night of me not understanding why she keep needing to go outside but would then kept run to the gate and jump up and down to get out of the yard. I was convinced that she hated us because we were not keeping her permanently and she had figured that out and was trying to run away in the night. Instead she was desperately trying to say, “please, please let me out, I really, really need to poop!”

The night after that she was better luckily but it still involved one walk at 3am. Not to mention trying to scrape diarrhea off of your neighbor’s lawns because your dog will not poop on yours.

The other thing that I really didn’t consider is how smart Ali is, and not in a Border collie or lab kind of way. We don’t have natural selection in our dogs in the United States. We pick and bred mostly for looks or for very specific intelligence traits. Ali is here because her parents knew how to make it on the streets. They knew how to blend in, get food, read people very, very well and get along.

I feel like Ali constantly watches us and learns from us. She also is the only dog I have met who doesn’t get tangled on a leash. The second the leash is in the wrong place she corrects it. When I walk her I feel more like I am working with a trained dressage horse. It seems like she can read my mind on where we are going and what my next thought is just by observing my body language.

Yesterday we were at the Fremont street fair with Ali and it was very crowded. She did very well, greeting people and other dogs in our path nicely until we hit the food and then she because completely crazed. There were all these people with plates of yummy smelling food and she wanted some, even more, she needed some. It was if her survival depended on it and it probably did at some time in her life. Before I knew it I had a dog dancing on the end of the leash. She would bound into the air, balancing on her hind legs and looking very cute in front of everyone we passed with the plate of food. Not the easiest thing to deal with when you are the person on the other end of the leash. I felt like I had a circus dog!

I’m sure she learned to stand on her hind legs to look cute and get food and that is how she survived on the streets.

We finally took her aside and feed her a whole lot of jerky treats we had picked up from the Darwin’s pet food booth. After that she calmed down a bit but still wanted to dance in front of people. I’m thinking there may be a good trick in this once we get all the basics down. Right now we are still back at sit and stay.

The cats are a bit harder. I think she has learned that if something small runs you chase it. One of my older cats quickly put her in her place by whacking her on the nose early on. That one whack sent her yelping to the far end of the room and since then the two of them are fine together. The two younger boys are a different story. We are slowly all learning to coexist and she does fine with them if she is on leash or if someone is petting her. We are trying to teach that very good things happen (you get lots of love) if you are in the room with cats and don’t chase them. I am hopeful that she will get this with more time and we have a trainer coming out on Saturday to help us with the process.

I keep on thinking she is going to finally get this cat thing down right before she gets adopted. But that will be good for her because it means she can go to a home with cats. However I picture my cats saying, “so we finally become friends with the dog and right when she is fun you get rid of her. What gives here?”

The third thing I didn’t realize is how hard it is going to be to give his girl up. She has now bonded with me, Adam and Martin. She sleeps with us at night. She is with me almost all the time when I am not working. And she is so sweet and loving and is starting to feel like a member of the family. I look into her eyes and worry about her feeling like we have betrayed her when she goes to a new family. At the same time I know we are giving her an excellent start in this country and in her new life. I know that with time she will get used to a new family and learn to love them as much as she loves us. And if they can provide plates of yummy food even better!

A week ago I went to the airport to help out a local group called Salty Dog Rescue and came home with a foster dog.

And so begins my journey with Ali, my Taiwanese street dog.

As we wander around Seattle meeting people, I get the same question over and over again.

We have enough dogs in this country – why are we bringing in more?

I know, I know but anyone who has been to a country with a large stray dog population knows the misery of what being a dog can be. It makes a lot of what we see over here in shelters look like nothing.

In Taiwan there is estimated to be between 500,000 – 1,000,000 stray dogs on the streets, yes that is a million. Dogs are viewed as a nuisance by some and there are those that put out inhumane bear leg traps. Dogs end up losing parts of their legs in the process and many die horrible deaths from abuse or starvation. There are of course many dog lovers there also but the number of strays is too overwhelming to be solved by simple adoption – there is too many.

Yes I know, adopting out these dogs is just a branch of the problem.

The root of the problem is spay/neuter and education and there are groups over there working on it. Meanwhile there are all these dogs and as many dog lovers knows – it is hard to look a dog in the eye and tell them they don’t matter.

Sometimes you have to focus on the branches in order to tackle the root of a problem. When we focus on the branches instead of the root by bringing dogs to this country, we are also helping the groups over there that are striking at the roots of the problem through spay and neuter and education. It is a long hard road they are on and being able to look some of these dogs in the eyes and tell them that there is hope and that they can be loved and respected, is a big thing to these rescue workers when you see so much suffering on a daily basis.

Believe me, when I did shelter work, if I had to go to work each day just to spay/neuter and euthanize I would not have been able to do it very long. It was the fact that I was able to help individual animals, be able to look in their eyes and say, “we will find you a better home.” Without this I could not have done the hard parts of my job.

So bringing dogs to this country opens a ray of hope beyond what can be achieved by just adoption within Taiwan. And if you are one of those lucky dogs who does make it over here you have a chance to have a home, have a human who loves you, have food and safety and also become an ambassador for all the dogs back in Taiwan who are not so lucky.

More on Ali soon….meanwhile here are some links to read more about Taiwanese dogs

Animal Rescue Team Taiwan is the group that Ali came from over in Taiwan. You can use Google translator if you want to read it in English.

Here is a little about the Formosan Mountain Dogs
which these street dogs are descended from.

Salty Dog Rescue is the Seattle group, which brought Ali over here. They have a list of dogs up for adoption and who need foster homes. They also have links to articles on the animal abuse in Taiwan.

All the photographs of dogs in this article are looking for homes, click on their photos for more information.

My friend Pam of FCAT keeps on sending people to my site to get information about urinary issues in cats. Last night we were talking and I said, “I really need to write an article on that.” “Yes you do, “ she answered. So here it is.

So here is the short list of what to do to help prevent crystals in your cat and a little about treating FLUTD. This is a lot more information beyond this list and I hope you read it also.

1. Feed your cat like the carnivore they are. Usually this is all you need to do for prevention if your cat doesn’t have FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease or crystals. This would mean feeding a high protein canned, cooked or raw diet that is high in moisture and high in meat. I’m talking 80% meat or more, no grains, no dry, at least 70% moisture and very little fish. I prefer a raw diet if you can do it.

   Here are some diets that work very well. I originally had a second best list of canned but you know something, with the internet you can order the canned foods even if you live in the middle of nowhere so you don’t get a second best list, these poor kitties with urinary issues need the best!To make it easy, I have links to buy all the canned food recommended below on Amazon.com. If you live in a large enough town or city you can also buy these at your local natural pet store.

   • Make your own -Here is the raw food I make for my kitties. They eat this 95% of the time with a little Instinct and Weruva if I get behind in making it. See Making Crazy Awesome Cat Food – part two

   . With using free range meat from the local food co-op, I spend about $50 a month per cat to make this. If I used cheaper meat it would be about half that cost and still much better than anything you can buy.

   • Your local raw food made specifically for cats. In Seattle we have two great companies Darwins and Natural Pet Pantry. Both of these companies are excellent. Look for one in your area. I also love Rad cat but it is expensive if you are feeding a herd like I do. More and more companies are making raws that you can buy at your local pet store – ask around.

   If you can’t find a raw, canned is second best.

   • Instinct canned food for cats. Any meat flavor is good. This food is 95% meat with good ingredients. Click here to buy Instinct Grain-Free Chicken Formula Canned Cat Food by Nature’s Variety
   • Weruva is a great food also, up there with Instinct. There is a little potato in this one and you have to use only the grain free varieties which is about half their line. I do not recommend using the fish flavors. Click here to buy Weruva Cat Food Paw Lickin’ Chicken on Amazon.com.
   • Tiki cat chicken and egg Koolina. Only this flavor, the others have too much fish! Click here to buy Tiki Cat Koolina Luau – Chicken with Egg In Chicken Consomme
2. Reduce stress in the house, as stress can alter urine pH – Here are some products that can help.
   
   • Comfort Zone with Feliway Spray for Cats
   • Bach Pet Rescue Remedy – I like putting 3-4 drops in the water dish every time it is changed.
   • Animal Apawthecary Tranquility Tonic – this one is a strong herbal and I do not recommend it long term without the direction of a vet. The valerian is very bitter and can be a little unpleasant to take. For urinary issues I like mixing it with Animals’ Apawthecary Tinkle Tonic which helps to soothe the bladder. The combination can be very helpful for many cats with FLUTD.
3. Glucosamine can help if there is a FLUTD component to the crystal issues. Glucosamine helps to repair the bladder wall and decrease inflammation in the bladder. I like using the Zuke’s Hip Action Treats for cats if they will eat them. A 10lb cat needs two treats or 100mg of glucosamine a day.
4. If your cat has active FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease) or crystals, make sure you have a vet to work with on this issue. You need to do constant monitoring of their urine. You may need to use western medicine to quickly change the pH of your cat’s urine and deal with active inflammation, infection, or crystals. Make sure there is not an urinary tract infection or stones.

We didn’t used to have large issues with crystals in cats because guess what, if your cat eats a diet that cats were meant to eat, meaning mostly meat, they almost never have crystal issues. But as the foods have gotten more filled with grains and fillers over the years and as more cats are put on dry food these issues have come up more and more.

Crystals are painful and in male cats can cause a complete blockage of the urethra. If blockage occurs and your cat cannot pee this is an emergency and you must immediately get them to the vet or the urine can back up into their kidneys and cause kidney failure and death. Bad stuff!

Crystals can be part of a disease process in cats we call FLUTD or feline lower urinary tract disease. More about that later.

Let me just stop and say here. You need to have a vet to work with on this issue especially if you have a male cat. It is really important. You need someone to monitor what is going on with their urine.

So what is this crystal thing all about?

When I was in vet school we saw a lot of struvite crystals. These crystals form in the urine of cats that have high PHs, aka alkaline urine. Carnivores have acidic urine – if you eat a diet mostly of meat you do. Herbivores have alkaline urine, a natural product of eating plants. Cats should naturally have a pH of between 6-6.5. Struvite crystals often form when urine pH is 7 and higher.

So why does this happen? Awhile back we started feeding our cats foods with more plants – aka grain and potato and less meat and the pH of their urine rose.

In addition crystals form easier in concentrated urine. Cats aren’t great about drinking a lot of water. When you feed a cat a diet of dry food they still don’t drink a lot and they are in a steady state of mild dehydration all the time. That leads to concentrated urine and makes it easier for crystals to form.

So we made two mistakes, we took away the moisture cats need from their food and we started feeding them like they were omnivores. It made it cheaper and more convenient for us but it didn’t work so well for our cats.

Once the food companies figured this out, many of them started adding urine acidifiers to their foods. After all it’s cheaper to add a chemical then to make a food that is good for cats with high meat content. The problem with this is that many cats now ended up with urine that was too acidic which we didn’t know would be an issue until we started seeing oxalate crystals forming in their urine, which we have seen learned tend to form when the urine pH is low aka too acidic, below 6. So in trying to solve the problem we overdid it.

Companies that make prescription diets have worked with this by adding the perfect amount of acidifiers to an omnivore diet to try to imitate the pH that would naturally happen if we just feed our cats a diet for a carnivore. Most prescription foods are made with poor protein sources and lots of fillers and chemicals. Most cats I see on prescription diets end up with health problems as they age.

It all seems like a lot of trouble when you consider that if you just feed your cat like a
carnivore who doesn’t drink a lot of water, you almost never see crystal issues.

So how do we feed our cats like the carnivores their bodies say they are and avoid crystal issues?

The best way is by feeding a raw, home cooked or canned diet which is grain free and very high in meat and moisture. If possible, it should also be potato free as potato is a starch and processed in the body similarly to grains and is also in the nightshade family so can cause inflammation in the body. I also recommend not feeding much fish and avoiding fish completely if your cat has had issues with crystals. The high magnesium content of fish can contribute to the issue of crystals.

So that is all easy and good but there are also some other factors that come into play.

Let’s talk a little about FLUTD. Feline lower urinary tract disease is a complex of symptoms that make a cat painful in their bladder and often leads to inappropriate urination and sometimes blockage in the males. Many times these cats have painful bladders, bloody urine, straining, and crystal formulation. Most of the time there is not an urinary tract infection but sometimes there can be infection tied into all the other issues.

We still don’t completely understand this syndrome. Over the years it has had many names and many treatments. Every western conference I go to I make sure to attend the lecture on FLUTD and guess what it ends up that none of the treatments really work all that well and we still don’t know exactly what causes it. For those of you that know anything about interstitual cystitis in humans, it is a very similar disease, it may actually be the same disease. IC in humans is also very poorly understood and hard to treat.

Stress can change the pH of urine. We know when it comes to FLUTD that stress plays a large role. Make sure that your cat has as low stress as possible. Sometimes a little rescue remedy in the water can really help. Feliway pheromone spray also can be helpful, as the pheromones in it help a cat to feel at ease. If your cat has FLUTD or crystal issues and is very stressed, talk to your regular or holistic vet about anti-anxiety meds or herbs. Consider having a behaviorist come to your home and work with you to make your cat more comfortable. Animal Apawthecary makes a nice tincture called Tranquility Tonic which helps with stress, however I do not recommend this being used long term without the advise of a veterinarian and I almost always mix this one with their Tinkle Tonic which reduces bladder inflammation.

Urinary tract infections can also cause crystals. Make sure your vet runs a culture of your cat’s urine to rule out the possibility of a urinary tract infection. Just trying a trial of antibiotics does not rule in or out an urinary tract infection. Many antibiotics are also anti-inflammatory and even if there is not an urinary tract infection you will often see a temporary resolution of signs. If there is an urinary tract infection I always recommend antibiotics. It is the safest and easiest way to treat the problem. Unlike in humans who often times know right away that they have an urinary tract infection, cats often have had it for awhile before we diagnosis it. Because of this I do not recommend using herbs alone to treat UTIs in animals.

Occasionally cats can have stones. These can sometimes be dissolved out with special diets, medications or herbs. Occasionally these need to be surgically removed. X-rays will diagnosis most stones but sometimes an ultrasound is necessary. If symptoms persist consider doing the diagnostics to rule out this issue.

When it comes down to it, this issue is from us feeding our cats a diet they were never meant to eat. The best thing you can do for your cat friend is to put them on a healthy cat appropriate diet. When it comes to FLUTD and its other factors find a good vet team to work with. To find a holistic vet in your area see How to Find a Good Holistic Vet.

So the next time you send someone to Path With Paws, there is urinary information here!

As with all information on this website check with your cats’s veterinarian before making any changes to their treatment protocol.

Cats, yes let me talk about the cats. I have four of them myself who share my home and they are wonderful lovely beings. This is not an article about how to treat specific cancers in cats – for that see my book Integrative and Alternative Methods for treating cancer in cats and dogs. This is an article about things we need to consider in cats and how they really are not just small dogs.

When it comes to cancer in cats they are a lot harder to treat than the dogs. There are a couple reasons for this. One is that I think cats hide their cancer more than dogs do. They really don’t let you know they are sick until it is pretty involved. And cancer is harder to treat when it is advanced.

However I think the largest reason they are hard to work with is that most cats hate medications. They spit them out, they run away from you and they know if you put something in their food! Ok so yes I have worked with some cats that you can put things in their food and they will still eat but most will not, especially if they feel sick. I have had people in tears in my office because their cats have decided that they hate them because they are trying to put all these things down their throats.

Because of this sometimes we make the decision to not treat them with anything or just with acupuncture. It really comes down to quality of life. It is important that we don’t make the end of their life miserable.

• I have found that in most cats I get, at most, three things I can give orally. More than that and I find you start getting reactions and cats spitting things out and hating their people. There are some cats that can do more than three but not that many.

  Because of this I really hate to see folks surfing the internet and buying up every herbal in sight and trying to give them. Yes, yes I know that is how you got here and I appreciate you being here but if I can give you one piece of advice it would be to find a holistic vet to work with who can help direct you to the one or two or three things that will work the best for your cat, not someone else’s cat.

  The other thing I have found is that if I can either use glycerine tinctures and combine herbals so that there is only one thing to give or figure out what is going to work the very best that can really help. Sometimes this ends up being a western drug, sometimes an herbal. Sometimes we can do both.

  Above all else I don’t want cats to be in pain so sometimes this is a pain drug. Sometimes it is possible to give them injections, even better. Many people think they can’t give injections to their cats but really most cats do fine for injections and it is so much easier than getting something down their throat.

  Some medications can also be made into a form that can be applied to the ear and is absorbed through the skin. This can also be an excellent option for cats.

• Fluids can go a long way in making cats feel better, if they are not drinking or eating well. These are given under the skin with a rather large needle but once again most cats don’t mind. They can help to increase energy, help them to eat better and help them feel better overall if there is a dehydration issue.
• Acupuncture can be a wonderful therapy for cats. Most casts like it and most importantly it does not have to go down their throat. Acupuncture can help slow cancer down and help with pain, appetite and energy.
• Eating is also very important. Many cats that are sick are quite picky with food. I love to see these guys on a homemade or high protein canned but really I want them to eat. So if they aren’t eating, a little tuna, a little salmon, baby food, whatever it takes. Get them eating. They will not feel well if they don’t. Sometimes we use appetite stimulants if they will not eat.
• Last let me say a few words about surgery and chemo and radiation.

  First surgery. Cats don’t always do as well as dogs with it, if you are doing surgery internally. They usually do quite well with surgeries to remove cancer on the surface and also do very well with amputations. Bone cancer and fibrosarcomas need to be removed if possible. With abdominal and especially with thoracic surgeries, really weigh the pros and cons and ask a lot of questions about recovery.

  Chemotherapy and radiation. Once again I feel like these are harder on cats. Chemo can be very effective for some lymphoma cases and often 1-3 treatments can put them in remission. Radiation can be very effective for certain surface tumors. Other than that. I really do believe that if the prognosis is not glowing or if they will need many, many treatments they do not do well.

Cats often have a sense of their own mortality. They may decide they don’t want extensive medical intervention. I really think that is ok. It saddens me to see the animals I work with die but I do believe that cats often times know when their time is close and are at peace with that.

I think more than anything, when it comes to the kitties, the most important thing is to look deep into your heart and do what is right for them. Not what the doctors say, not what is right for you, not what anyone says on their website or in their book. Sometimes they are ready to fight and live and sometimes it is time to keep them as comfortable as possible for what time they have here with us and then help them peacefully pass on.

1. That night my mother tucked me into bed and whispered to me, “remember tomorrow we’re going to find a puppy.” I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I lay there thinking about who my dog would be.

2. Maybe he would be a small white fluffy puppy, so soft and snuggly –
Or a big husky with a wooly thick coat to keep me warm –
Or a pug with a funny face who snorted all the time and made me laugh –
Or a bouncy golden retriever with floppy ears who I could play ball with.

3. Slowly my eyes became heavy and with my head full of dogs I fell into a deep sleep and dreamed.

4. In my dream I stepped onto an empty beach along a desert. I could see cactuses off in the distance raising their prickly arms in the air and waving at me. I stopped to pick up a handful of white sand. It felt warm. I watched the small bright pebbles run through my fingertips.

5. A little dog trotted towards me. He was thin and wet with a brindle coat of browns and blacks, colors woven together like an Indian blanket. Sand matted against his wet fur sparkling slightly in the sun. One of his ears was torn and bleeding and he looked at me with big sad eyes.

6. I bent down to talk to him. “Do you know which way your home is little dog?” I asked him. He shook his head, spraying me with water and sand.

I reached out and let him sniff my hand. “Do you have someone who loves you?”

7. He looked at me, cocking his head to the side.
“Is your home with me, are you my dream dog come from the stars? Did you travel through galaxies to be with me?”

We stood inches away from each other, the two of us from different worlds. “Did you come into my dream or am I in yours?” I asked him.

7. I walked down the beach and he continued to follow me. “You are my person.” He told me, “I am Triskele”

“How can I be your person little dream dog Triskele?” I asked him.

“You are my person,” he repeated looking up at me.

8. We danced through the waves together, splashing each other and laughing. We built sandcastles in the damp sand and finally when we were both tired…

9. We sat together and I put my hand on his bony side as we watched the sun go down into the sea and the sky become an explosion of reds, pinks and purples. He curled up next to me and lay his head on my lap as I stroked him gently.

10. As it became dark I started to miss my bed and home. I looked up and saw a light behind me. It was a door opening along the sand dunes and looking through it I saw my bedroom. I turned to Triskele and said to him, “let’s go home.” I climbed up through the door but when Triskele tried to follow he could not make it through. I put out my hand to help him but the door and Triskele faded away as I reached out for him.

“I’m sorry little dream dog Triskele, I thought you could come with me but maybe you’re just part of my dream. Rest little dream dog. I hope that I see you again,” I said sadly.

11. I woke to the sound of rain with my dream dog in my heart. I lay in bed feeling sad and missing him.

The light came on and my mother came in. “Wake up Irene, today’s the day we go to the animal shelter to get a puppy. You don’t want to be late,” she said.

12. I quickly dressed, ate breakfast, and brushed my teeth. We were going to the animal shelter!

13. The rain poured down as we drove, and drove some more. Finally we turned into the driveway of the shelter. The sound of barking dogs met my ears.

14. My mother talked to the woman behind the counter. “No we would really like a puppy so we can train him to be kind and gentle although we might consider an older dog if she had been with a good family before.”

15. We walked down the aisle through the kennels of dogs. There were small ones and large ones, plump ones and thin ones, one with long hair and long legs, funny looking ones with crooked teeth. But none of them were my dream dog Triskele.

16. We stopped in front of a kennel of small puppies. They bounced around like little fuzzy rubber balls, playing with each other. The woman put a small black and white one in my hands and I held him close, smelling his puppy scent. But then I was sad. “You are not my Triskele,” I said to the puppy handing him back to the woman. “Although I’m sure you’ll find a good home.”

17. My mother looked at me. “What about one of these puppies?” she asked pointing to the others.

I shook my head no. “I don’t want a puppy,” I said “ my dog is all alone somewhere. I want to find him.” I could feel tears coming into my eyes.

18. “Triskele did you travel back to the stars?” I thought, “are you visiting the moon. Will you ever come back to me?”

19. We went to leave and were walking out of the kennels when I noticed in the last kennel a little curled up brown and black body in the corner. I bent down and whispered softly, “Triskele?” He raised him head and looked up at me with his gentle eyes, wagging his tail he slowly approached. I reached out my hand to touch him through the gate and he licked me cautiously.

20. The woman opened the gate on the kennel and he leaned into me. I gently scratched his ears, noticing a jagged scar along one of them.

“I don’t know, “ my mother said, “he seems a little scared, I’m not sure about the breed, and he’s not a puppy Irene.”

21. “He’s my dog,” I told her, “This is Triskele. He’s coming home with us,” and I held him close to me, burying my face into his short fur.

“I guess if you’re sure, “ she said. The woman who worked at the animal shelter smiled at us. “He’s had a hard life but he’s very sweet and gentle,” she said.

22. “Triskele, this time you really are coming with me.” I told him. Triskele looked up at me as if to say “thank you for helping me find my way home.”

23. That night I feel asleep with my dog Triskele, not only in my heart but also asleep at my side.

This story is dedicated and written in memory of a stray semi-feral dog who I met on a beach in Mexico. It is also dedicated to all the amazing people across the world who work with homeless dogs – the world is a better place because of you.

I hope that some day I can self-publish this and use it to raise awareness of the lives of homeless dogs and that there are many amazing strays and homeless animals of all shapes, types and sizes that need homes. At this point I am learning to be an artist so I can bring it to life with pictures. For now thank you to everyone who licensed their photos through creative commons and allowed me to use them.

This afternoon I once again was making crazy awesome homemade cat food! I recently came up with a new recipe that they really like. To see the original check out Making Crazy Awesome Homemade Cat Food. I found my oldest cat had a hard time with the eggs, so this one is egg free and higher in meat.

Crazy awesome cat food, take two

• 8 lbs raw chicken ground in a food processor (can substitute beef, buffalo, lamb or turkey)
• 1/4-1/2 lb chicken liver ground or chopped
• 2 cans sardines in water
• half a 15 ounce can of pureed sweet potato
• 6 teaspoons Animal Essentials Natural Seaweed Calcium
• 2 teaspoons Healthforce Vitamineral Green Powder
• Taurine Powder (only if meat is cooked)

Yes, it is that easy and they love it!

One recipe makes enough cat food for four cats for a week or one cat for 4 weeks. I keep three days at a time out and freeze the rest.

The Healthforce powder is a great supplement for us humans also, I take it myself.

Most of the time diarrhea is not a serious issue and will pass in a day or two. Often times with dogs it is due to eating something they shouldn’t. Cats are more prone to have transient diarrhea from stress. For information on chronic diarrhea see Chronic Diarrhea in Dogs – Herbs and Diet to the Rescue.

There are some simple days to treat acute diarrhea in cats and dogs but before we talk about those, some symptoms that you should take seriously.

Reasons to see a vet immediately

1. Very young puppy or kitten – these little guys can quickly become dehydrated and are more prone to parvovirus and panleukopenia that can be deadly.
2. Extreme lethargy – this may be a sign of more serious disease.
3. Vomiting with the diarrhea – an animal can quickly become dehydrated if they are losing fluids from both ends. If they vomit once or twice, are not lethargic and are eating then you may be able to wait but if vomiting is extensive or continues for more than a day see your vet.
4. Blood in the feces or black stool – can be a sign of bleeding ulcers in the stomach or of a disease called Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis or HGE. Both can be deadly. It is common to have a small amount of red blood with diarrhea but it should not be excessive. With HGE you often have more blood than feces.
5. Diarrhea with neurologic symptoms such as shaking, problems walking or seizures. This could be a sign of toxin exposure or more serious disease.

So what do you do if your dog or cat has diarrhea (this is assuming they are eating well)

1. Pumpkin – One of the most simple and easiest ways to treat diarrhea. Not only does it treat diarrhea but also helps with constipation. I use 1 teaspoon with meals for cats and small dog and 1 tablespoon or more for medium to large dogs. Most animals really like the taste of it.
2. Stop Diarrhea formula (Zhi Xie San) – This is my favorite herbal formula for diarrhea,see What I made today – Stop Diarrhea Formula If you have a holistic vet you work with they may be able to make it. Ask them! If not Zhi Xie San is also available for purchase in my etsy shop Kingdom of Basil
3. Slippery elm – can be a great coating agent to both the stomach and intestine. Animals’ Apawthecary Phytomucil is a great product that includes slippery elm and other herbs that coat and sooth the gi tract. Sweet and easy to give it is easiest for cats and many dogs. Slippery elm alone can be bought in powder and cooked with a little water to make a syrup or given in capsules to larger dogs.



4. Bland diet for dogs. Many times this guys need something easy on their digestive tract. Rice, chicken broth and chicken breast cooked together in a pot makes a nice bland diet. I usually feed for two to three days and then slowly work them back to normal food. Cats usually are picky when it comes to food and will often not eat a bland diet.
5. Rule out parasites by taking a fecal sample to your veterinarian. This is especially important with dogs and young kittens. Older cats are less likely to have parasites especially if they are mostly indoors.
6. Fasting is an option but should only be done if your animal is an adult, not geriatric, and does not have other health issues. I always provide water. If you fast do it for 24 hours and then move into a bland diet. You can also do a broth fast where chicken broth is offered but no other solid food
7. Probiotics – can help to rebalance the bacterial flora of the intestinal tract. There are many animal products out there but human probiotics are also fine to give. I often recommend opening the capsules and sprinkling on your animal’s food. The best probiotics are found refrigerated at your local health food or supplement store. One of my favorite refrigerated ones is Udo’s – most health stores have it. If you order it online make sure it comes cold packed. Two of my favorite non-refrigerated ones that you can order online are Vetri-Mega Probiotic and Thorne Bacillus CoagulansVET
8. Bach Rescue Remedy or other ways to manage stress – some animals get diarrhea from stress. In this case stress is the root cause and needs to be addressed. A little rescue remedy in the water can help. There are other stress management techniques including Feliway for cats and DAP for Dogs which are pheromone sprays that reduce anxiety, Thundershirts for dogs and behavior management.

If your animal’s diarrhea is not getting better within 24-48 hours or if they get worse during that time see your animal’s veterinarian. Most diarrhea is transient and quickly passes but it could be part of a larger health problem. Some animals have chronic diseases that cause diarrhea such as pancreatitis, liver dysfunction, and inflammatory bowel disease. Many of these suggestions can help with such illnesses but there are other ways that often work better and have longer lasting results.

This article does not take the place of veterinary care. If you are animal is sick see your veterinarian.

People are often amazed that I do acupuncture on the little guys – the cats, the rabbits, and the chihuahuas. I even have one little yorkie who is smaller than the chihuahuas I treat.

One thing I miss about doing house calls is that I don’t often get to meet everyone’s complete animal family working at the clinic. There is something fun about getting to know everyone and becoming part of that family.

However I do have some animals who come in together for acupuncture or bring along friends. One of my favorite animal families includes three chihuahuas, a cat and a large dog named Boomer. And sometimes they all come in together! If you have been to my clinic you know my treatment room is quite small so this is something. Usually we end up with the chihuahuas, Pickles, Bambi and Oliver and the cat Harley on the couch with me and their human mom Mary and Boomer on the rug. We all fit!

I often find that little dogs are a bit nervous about acupuncture but they quickly warm up to it. Pickles used to shiver but now she proudly jumps on my lap and enjoys herself. I enjoy getting to snuggle with her during treatments. Harley the cat happily curls up with his chihuahua friends and the only thing we have to worry about is one of the little dogs accidentally sitting on one of his needles. He is one cool cat in a household of dogs.

Bambi is the newest addition to the family and is an elderly little girl with a host of problems, eye, skin, heart and mobility. Her human mom Mary fell in love with her and brought her home and is busy nursing her back to health. She also is now enjoying getting her treatments.

Oliver and Boomer just come along for the ride but seem to enjoy being part of the crowd and I enjoy getting to see them every month. They don’t seem to understand why they don’t get quite as much attention as the girl dogs.

I love that my practice includes animals of all types, personalities and sizes. I love helping them feel better and spoiling them with treats!