I finished a comprehensive course in veterinary acupuncture in 2006. It was intense. Thinking about health from a Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine standpoint as opposed to our standard Western approach is just such a different mindset, but once you think about it, it makes sense. Our bodies are not a collection of closed systems that function independently of one another, yet we’re trained to treat them that way. Once you step back and see the entire organism as a collective effort, your entire approach takes a shift.
August 30th is National Holistic Pet Day, celebrating the myriad ways we take care of our pets’ bodies, minds, and hearts as well as the way we function as part of a larger pet community. Given that I just got back from a conference celebrating that very thing, it’s a perfect fit.
Holistic health its core simply means taking the big picture into account, which makes perfect sense to me. It’s hard to think changing a pet’s diet will make a significant difference if they get no exercise and live in a high stress environment. They’re all puzzle pieces. It’s really not that different from our own lives, right? “I’ll have a double double, a chili cheese fries and a diet Coke. DIET, please. I’m watching my figure.” etc.
A recent survey of 700 pet owners asked them what they currently do to contribute to their pets’ overall well-being.
Out of 700 respondents, 74.8% have dogs and 57.7% have cats
78.7% of pet owners surveyed exercise their pets regularly
2.1% take their dog for Doga (Dog+Yoga!)
26.2% learn about holistic living at their local pet food or natural food store
59.5% use non-toxic household products
48.9% use natural supplements for skin, coat or digestive care
43.7% take their pets for regular dental check ups
54.8% play mind stimulating activities and games with their pets
5.7% take their pets for acupuncture
44.8% help a local rescue or shelter
47.6% use all natural shampoo and grooming products
Well, you all know how I feel about doga, but I’ve done the rest to varying degrees. Do you have a favorite health-promoting activity? Any you’re dying to try?
We take our cats to a holistic vet and use a food that claims its “holistic”. We are very lucky to have a holistic vet just a few blocks away from our home and to be honest with you we have found that costs much lower for medications and treatments, especially for a cat that has ongoing medical conditions.
We also use all natural non toxic house cleaners, which is for us and the cats.
I would love to see some more products for cats to get them active, they have figured out the laser pointer and will only chase things for so long. I wish there was cat daycare as we have a very active 5 year old cat that seems to get into everything when we are not home.
Ohhh, maybe I can help…
1.) Get a bird feeder and put it outside a window your cat likes. And/or get a cat windowsill perch so they can have a better vantage point for watching the world outside.
2.) Get treat dispensing toys. Kong has a “Wobbler” for cats, but mine found it way too big and scary. I just cut some treat-sized holes in a paper towel roll, and pinched and taped the ends shut. You can put treats or catnip in it. When fat or lazy cats come in to the vet hospital, we recommend putting their dry food in treat dispensers so they have to expend energy in order to get fed.
3.) Go to the bookstore and peruse their cat section. There are dozens of “things to do with my cat” books out there… unfortunately many of them aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. I cna’t remember the name of the one I like… Go and look at them, and see which ones have ideas you could use for your cat. “50 Games to Play with your Cat” and “Playtime for Cats” seemed promising when I looked at them on Amazon, but I found my ideas from going to the bookstore. You don’t want to buy a book that will say things like “Get them a feather. Get them a scratching post.” Um, yeah, DUH. They have toys you can make, as well as new games to play (which is great since they’ve already mastered the laser pointer!)
4.) If you are feeling really ‘crafty,’ make a treat tower out of paper towel rolls. The bottom layer begins with 5 rolls laying side by side, glued together with Elmer’s glue. The next layer is 4 rolls, but cut about a half inch off each side, to make them shorter than the bottom layer. Secure that layer to the bottom layer. Then stack (even shorter) three rolls for the next layer, etc… The top roll should be about half to 3/4 the size of a toilet paper roll. When I stuck treats in this for the first few times, my cat could NOT figure it out. But once he did, he loved it! I can throw some treats in there, and he’ll work on it for about two hours.
Just to be clear, it should look kind of like this:
O )____
OO )_________
OOO )______________
OOOO )___________________
OOOOO )_________________________
front side (showing they get shorter as you go up)
Also google “indoor cat enrichment” for more ideas. 🙂
Ahhh, my diagram didn’t work. OK from the front
O
OO
OOO
OOOO
OOOOO
From the side
)___
)________
)____________
)________________
)____________________
Hmmm, it aligned it to the left again instead of it being centered, oh, well, you get the idea… sorry for the mess.
I absolutely get how the tower should look, but do you pinch the ends closed to hold in the treats? Don’t they fall out when kitty bats them around. VERY creative!
I love when my readers answer questions much more thoroughly than I ever would be able to. Thank you for this!!
Thanks for the ideas!! I love the idea about the dry food for my chubby tabby!!!
And the tube Idea is great too. I will start saving my tubes.
The only problem is that the cat with all the energy, does not like treats! Can you believe it? he also does not like cat nip…. See my problem? LOL
The chuby tabby on the otherhand will get a great deal of use out of this! thanks!
To lin… No, with the tower you don’t pinch the ends closed. It’s more like they have to get used to being low to the ground, and sticking their paw waaay in to fish them out. Now my cat is so good, I don’t use the top ones at all because it’s too easy. But it’s so cute to see him stick his arm in, hook his little paw, and draw out the treats!
Also, Tabitha… re: not liking treats. Hmmm, maybe there is some sort of dried meat treat (like chicken or liver) that your cat might like?
I love the cat tower idea. I have been trying to find another interactive food toy for Abby that will accommodate the large size of her kibbles (she’s on a dental diet). Their seems to only be one good commercial one available, but this would work great. Plus it’s practically free.
I know! It’s free, and they are actually pretty durable. I made another one for the house cats at our hospital, and it has been drooled on, dropped, thrown up in cupboards… and even though its a bit crunched, still totally functional. And I think it’s been 6 months…
All my horses get Chiro treatments, it is amazing the number of mysterious problems that clear up once they are aligned and not in pain anymore. I also have done acupuncture and massage. All my animals get the best, least processed foods I can find. They all get exercise, training, mental stimulation (Esp Finn!)
Our vet is very open to holistic medicine and is a certified acupuncturist on animals of all sizes. I love that we can talk about food, lifestyle, health issues from multiple perspectives, anything really that will help my babies live well. We switched to more natural foods a few years ago and have a great holistic/natural pet food store right next door to the vet (which has a canine rehab center and public doggy pool next door to it).
Wow, that place sounds fantastic!
I’ve been thinking about raw foods lately, as my old boy Lamar gets the most icky scabby skin rashes in the summer and some have had good luck with this. I think veterinary acupuncture is a great idea, and I do T-touch with my dogs all the time. It relaxes me as much as it does them.
Whoa! LOVE the treat tower idea. Thanks, Leigh! I’m always looking for ways to make my cats work for their food. While not SUPER overweight according to my vet, I’m trying to keep them that way. They are both highly food motivated and specialize in acting like they’ve never been fed in their lives. (And that’s a lie.) They’re often home alone, so I like to leave them with “projects” sometimes.
I suspect that one of them will be more willing to work at it than the other. (This is also the one who figured out how to open the timed food dispenser I used to use when I was going to be home late or away overnight.) There’s only one way to find out!
I love that there are more natural food and treatment alternatives these days. While I occasionally do order the chili fries with a Diet Coke — just like I occasionally give my cats their favorite not-so-great dry food as a treat — I think the investment in quality, natural food they (and I) eat 90% of the time pays off in lower vet and doctor bills. It was my vet who sparked my interest in quality pet food, when my first cat (who had been a stray) never seemed to be satiated. He suggested a higher quality canned food and it solved the constant begging problem. (Now instead of *constant* begging, it’s only when I go anywhere near the refrigerator. Believe it or not, it’s a great improvement!)
Dr. V — I’m a long-time lurker, but your blog is a favorite lunchtime diversion. I’ve read most of your archives and laughed, cried and learned. Thanks for what you do!
Oh, wow, how awesome, didn’t know you were on board with that stuff! I think it’s the main pitfall of the “modern” medicine, that it concentrates on individual parts rather than on the individual.
My vet is Dr. Calm and that is her REAL name…chiropractic, acupuncture, herbs as well as “traditional” veterinary. 4 1/2 months ago, I euthanized my 10 year old Karelian Bear dog after an 8 1/2 month cancer/no cancer/cancer … I found Dr. C toward the end and she made a huge difference in our last months together. AND is making a huge difference with my 14 year old diabetic cat. It is a generalization, but I find that whether it is human or veterinary…medical folks who work with holistic/homeopathic and western methods, tend to listen better to ALL that is going on and they help choose a treatment vs a tendency to treat symptoms from the folks that subscribe to only western options.
Dr. Calm. I love that. I don’t necessarily think it’s an unfair generalization about listening- that in itself is a big component of getting the big picture, right?
Yep :)!
Yep :)!
Hi Y’all,
We had a vet back in the 70’s who went to Asia to study accupuncture. When he returned he used it on some of our performance horses. One with a bad back had what people thought was a miraculous turn around. This vet still has a practice totally dedicated to holistic medicine. He originally was a brilliant traditional vet. He has since discovered holistic treatments for most of the ailments caused by misquitoes and ticks.
Come on by,
BrownDog’s Human
I’ll admit to being one of those people with an overweight indoor cat on a low calorie diet that doesn’t get a lot of – scratch that, any – exercise. Practically the only way to get him moving is to run around the flat with an open tin of tuna, which I then can’t really feed him because he’s on a diet. I can also chase him with a vacuum cleaner, but that’s just cruel. I tried hiding treats in a toilet roll with the ends pinched shut, but even with catnip inside he just paws at them a little, and when the food doesn’t come out he gives up. I’m going to try the tower idea, as he might try harder if he can *see* the treat. He chases a laser pointer for about a minute before he gets lazy and just watches it. He’s also not very smart or adventurous, so he has not tried pushing doors open with his head (and by extension a cat flap on a litter box confounds him), shows no inclination to explore boxes or bags so I can’t turn these into toys, or climb furniture (other than to get to his seat on the couch). I’m going to have to check out some of the resources above for extra-creative ideas for lazy kitties!
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We Love Dr. V! Keep up the good work, we are really looking forward to featuring one of your great tips on out blog!
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