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by J.L. White-Bear (c)1999
Let food be your medicine
~Hippocrates
Food not only supplies energy for growth, metabolism and healing, but acts as a medicine. The proper
diet for any individual will help heal and bring the body back to balance.
Juliette de Bairacli Levy has been a pioneer
in the area of herbal medicine and natural raw diets for animals. Her Natural Rearing principles have helped many to prevent
disease in their companions and create the robust health that only a natural approach can bring. It is undeniable that all
species thrive on the foods upon which they evolved.
Cats are carnivores and have evolved on a diet based on raw meat,
in the form of small prey animals such as rodents, birds, and rabbits. Fresh air, sunlight and exercise round out the natural
approach to cat health. If cats are allowed access to the outdoors, they will find most of the grasses and herbs needed for
self medication.
Divided meals fed throughout the day are much preferable to one big meal, which may cause bloating.
Two meals, morning and evening, are good, but even better would be three or four smaller meals.
A varied diet is the
closest to what mother nature provides cats. In the intestines and stomachs of their prey, wild cats obtain varied plant matter,
including grains, fruits and nuts. Try some of these occasionally, mixed with cereals, and minced or crushed for digestibility.
PROTEIN SOURCES
Cats who are allowed to explore the outdoors, thus obtaining much needed sunshine and exercise,
will also hunt. Fresh caught wild game can be an important part of a cat?iet. This is the best food he can get.
Proteins
to offer cats include beef, beef liver and heart, lamb, chicken, chicken gizzards, turkey, duck, venison (and other wild game),
rabbit, cod, sardines, mackerel, tuna, eggs, and milk, preferably raw and unpasteurized.
Meats and fish are best fed
raw, but may be lightly steamed or baked.
Fish may be fed, but for cats whose appetites have become depraved with
cooked food diets excessively high in tuna,it is better to give them choices of meat foods from the above list, and additionally
even rodents if they are available. This is the closest thing to a natural diet for them.
CARBOHYDRATES
Cats may
be fed a variety of cereal grains, including cracked wheat, cornmeal, rolled oats, rolled barley, millet, and well cooked
brown rice. Potatoes, both sweet and white, may also be used.
A little raw bran may be added to replace the roughage
cats would obtain from the feathers, hair and skin of their natural prey.
VEGETABLES and FRUITS
Raw greens are
vital to health. Cats should be allowed to forage for their own wild grasses and green herbs. At home they may be given any
healthful greens you can find, such as kale, collards, dandelion, watercress, parsley, clover, turnip and mustard greens.
Carrots and other orange vegetables may be shredded for digestibility. Otherwise, they may be steamed or baked. Raw
minced sprouts and alfalfa powder (about 1/4 tsp. daily) or sprouts are also good.
Offer a bit of fruit as a treat
occasionally, such as apples, cantaloupe, peaches, and so on.
Sea vegetables are extremely nutritious, being high
in minerals, including iodine, which promotes healthy hair and skin. Seaweeds such as dulse and nori may be fed raw (soak
the dulse and toast sheets of nori over a flame), but thicker heavier ones like kelp (alaria), wakame, and kombu must be thoroughly
cooked. Seaweeds may also be obtained in a powdered form. If you forage for your own sea vegetables, be sure they are not
polluted and that you know which species are safe and not poisonous.
MISCELLANEOUS
Food should be warmed to room
temperature, neither cold nor too hot.
Raw bones are well loved and beneficial to cats. Never cook them or they may
splinter.
Frozen poultry bones will splinter, so be sure the meat was never frozen.
Feed bones only after
a meal, when they will be well mixed with other foods. That way there will be no danger of a bone piece damaging the intestine.
Intestinal gas is also minimized this way. Turkey and chicken neck necks provide excellent bones and raw meat for cats, cut
in one-inch rounds (ask the butcher to do this for you).
Oils should be fed additionally, balanced with oily foods
which may be given (such as sesame tahini, whole mashed olives, almond butter, and so on). Feed the equivalent of 1/4 to 1/2
teaspoon, depending on the size of the cat.
A balanced and adequate diet will provide the needed vitamins. If you
desire to add a vitamin supplement anyway, they are available in health food stores.
Vitamin C powder is one vitamin
that is important to add to the diet, for it can be so helpful in stress reduction and immune boosting. Approimately 250 mg.
per day may be given (depending on the size of the cat), by sprinkling on the food.
Vitamin E is also useful at times.
Give approximately 50 IU daily (or 100 IU every other day). Wheat germ is an excellent natural source of vitamin E.
The
taste of nutritional yeast flakes is enjoyed by cats. They are high in B vitamins. If a commercial vitamin supplement is not
used, you may use about 1/4 tsp. daily.
Fasting allows the body to rest and detoxify. Fast your healthy cat one half
day per week.
SAMPLE ACTIVE ADULT CAT DIET
Breakfast
Bread lightly spread with butter or tahini; or grain
and milk
Midday
Flaked cereal with beaten raw egg, olive oil
Dinner
Meat, with bran, kelp powder,
minced greens
Evening
Light meal (see breakfast)
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White-Bear lives in Chugiak, Alaska, and does interspecies
communication (animal telepathy) and spiritual healing for companion animals. She can be reached at 907-566-3400.
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