Expert: Dr. Christina Chambreau - 10/17/2008

Question
My cat Pickles is approx. 10 yrs old. She is a completely indoor cat. Lately ( a few months?) she has been having rather loose bowel movements. Not quite diarrhea, as she has not had an accident, but more watery than usual and twice a day. Her diet consists of Science Diet rd dry which she free feeds, and twice a day a very small amount of Iams lamb and rice (an 1/8 of a small can per serving). She drinks plenty of water, usually just after eating when it has been freshly changed. She is as active as usual, her coat looks good, does not seem to be in distress and otherwise her behaviour seems unchanged. My question is, under the crcumstances, should I be concerned about the change in consistency and frequency of her bowel movements? Thanks for your help.

Answer
Yes, I would definitely find out why she is having loose stools. The answer may be as simple as parasites (worms) or as complicated as inflammatory bowel disease. Dry food is not good for most cats, and even the conventional university veterinary specialists are recommending not using dry food.

This would definitely be the time to find an integrative veterinarian to work with. This is a person trained in many different approaches, including using conventional drugs only when absolutely needed. For an older cat with potentially severe problems, please make sure you are working with a good one and be in charge of knowing if she is more active and playful and the stool is improving. There are good ones and great ones, and a few that really are not even holistic. Go to www.VetAdviceLine.com and read the article in the library about selecting and working with a holistic veterinarian. There are other great articles there, as well.

FIND A HEALER
You can go to the web sites for each type of holistic practice and use their referral list to find one near to you:
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine: www.IVAS.org & www.TCVM.com
Chiropractor - www.animalchiropractic.org
Homeopath (these can often help you by phone if no other holistic practitioners are nearby that you like): www.theAVH.org
Wide range of other treatments: www.AHVMA.org, American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association

There are also lots of practitioners and approaches that are used by trained people that you can find by searching the Internet.

The drawback with the above websites is they become outdated quickly. If you wish some help selecting the very best practitioner for your animal’s problem, call the Veterinary Advice Line (They answer the phone “Legal Advice Line or My Professional Advice”, because they do that as well as veterinary advice, because they do that, too), speak directly with a veterinarian who can help you find the best local holistic practitioner. 866-4-VETNOW

YOU BE THE HEALER
I also strongly recommend getting some training in understanding the wide range of approaches to health so you can be in charge of what you choose for treatments for your animals. This would include only vaccinating when young except for legally required Rabies and exploring feeding fresh foods, not processed. What is best for you to eat – junky processed foods, or locally grown, fresh foods? Also, you can learn Reiki (which can take the "bad" out of vaccines and any needed drugs, or even make food healthier), massage, HTA, TTouch, flower essence therapy, aromatherapy, and many more things you can do to help heal your animals. In addition to classes (see below), there are many very good list serves filled with people experienced with not vaccinating and feeding raw meat diets. Go to yahoogroups.com and look for “Just say no 2 vaccs” and “Raw Paws”. As with human nutrition, there are many different opinions, so you need to experiment and see what makes your animals more or less healthy. Keeping a journal can help you decide what is working and what is not working (www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com).

www.ChristinaChambreau.com has a listing of courses taught by her and others that may help you. You can do searches online for the many other classes and lectures available. Go to www.theAVH.org for classes every November as part of the annual conference.

Healthy Animal Update is an emailed newsletter that is occasionally sent out – to sign up – go to www.ChristinaChambreau.com. While there check out classes and products. NuCat Vitamins are a real favorite and there is currently a sale on the liquid form.  

From the comfort of your home - 6 week Teleclass/Webinar on the 7 Keys to Healthy Pets. January 2009 -  for more information, to register and get your free gift - go to http://www.simpledogtrainingsecrets.com/7keys.html

Good Health and looking forward to seeing you/hearing you in some of my classes.
Oct 25 is in Harrisburg, PA.
Dr. Chambreau