Customer Reviews

Veterinarians Guide to Natural Remedies for Cats : Safe and Effective Alternative Treatments and Healing Techniques from the Nations Top Holistic Veterinarians

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2 star:		(1)
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I can not say enough good things about this book. I refer to it more times a day than I can count. It contains vital information that all pet lovers should know, from the quality of foods we feed them to the treatments for illnesses they get. I unfortunatly got this book after I lost my beautiful Ragdoll cat to fatty liver disease. Had I gotten it while he was alive I believe there could have been hope to save him. I still have three other cats though and this book is my "Bible" when it comes to their care. My other Ragdoll was on a "prescription" diet that was supposed to be good for her. After 4 months of diarrhea (that the vet kept giving pills for which did no good), I found this book. I changed her diet, gave her milk thistle, some probiotics (for one week), and she made a 100 percent turn around. This book also contains many telephone numbers where you can order herbs if you aren't lucky enough to live in an area where pet health stores (or people health stores) are available. I highly recommed this book. It is informative, thorough and will really open your eyes to your pets health.

As one of the veterinarians who contributed to this book, I was interested to see some of the comments, especially about garlic.

Garlic is in the onion family and does contain a small amount of the onion's toxic ingredient (thiosulphate). While I have seen red blood cell damage from as little as one meal of baby food containing onion powder, I have not seen such problems with garlic. In fact, garlic is a common ingredient in many pet foods and supplements, usually in small amounts as a flavoring agent. For instance, I have recommended Missing Link for my feline patients for many years; it contains garlic, but I haven't seen any damage from it. Cats being cats, they are far less likely than dogs to eat a food that contains too much garlic.

The article from TC Instincts actually says: "*continued* use of garlic or onions can *eventually* result in hemolytic anemia." This suggests, as has been my experience, that it takes long-term feeding of a significant amount of garlic to cause anemia. As with most things, the old saying "Moderation in all things" is well heeded in this case. (The reviewer also states that dogs can handle garlic and onions; that statement is dangerously false. Dogs are also susceptible to toxicity from these plants; onion toxicity is quite common in dogs.)

In holistic medicine, the fundamental principle is to tailor treatment to each individual animal. It still requires you to watch your pet closely, and to be alert to any changes in its condition. The holistic veterinarian depends on the person who sees the animal every day, to monitor each treatment for any positive or negative effects. This goes for any modality, including herbs and homeopathy, both of which can be very harmful if not used properly.

Anitra Frazier's book is terrific, but bear in mind it is 15 years old. She recommends 20% of the diet to be grains; today, we know that cats do not handle grains well, and a high grain content (such as is common in dry foods) contributes to obesity, diabetes, bladder problems and other diseases. She also highly recommends garlic as a supplement. So while her book contains much good advice, you shouldn't just follow it blindly without balancing it against other sources of information, and constantly assessing your animal's response to each change.

In the same way, this book contains a great deal of valuable information. As new information becomes available, some bits may become outdated. However, to dismiss the entire book because of one (controversial) item is really throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Veterinarians' Guide to Natural Remedies for Cats is a welcome addition for those who wish to pursue natural remedies for their cats. It gives the reader a variety of choices in each section, so that one is able to select one thing, and if that does not accomplish all that one hopes, one is able to make another choice. Many modalities are mentioned including homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic care, massage, and herbal medicine. There is discussion of a healthy diet as well. Mr. Zucker interviewed a number of holistic vets from around the country and compiled their suggestions into this much awaited volume. I can recommend it highly.

Finding this book was a Godsend. After purchasing several other "natural cat care" books, this book exceeded all expectations and made the others a waste of money. This is the only book you'll ever need to keep your cat healthy, or in my case...to save its life. After my cat was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease called Fatty Liver Syndrome, I followed the suggestions of several veterinarians in this book, as well as utilizing "conventional" medicine with my local veterinarian and her blood enzyme levels were normal after only 3 weeks! Normally, recovery takes twice as long. This book offers alternative and supplemental care that is infomative and practical. I highly recommend it.

This book should be called Feline Nutritional Education for Dummies, because if you are feeding your pet cat food you definitely need this knowledge.

In brief, this book gives case studies of sick felines and how through nutritional healing they became well. This was achieved through feeding a diet of human grade ingredients along with nutritional supplements. The cheapest place by far to purchase supplements online is "iherb".

The holistic veterinarians that give information in this book are the finest in the United States.
Many of these veterinarians give recipes for a cooked homemade diet. However, the ultimate diet is raw, but in order for one to eventually transition their feline there, you first need to build a strong foundation, that this book gives you.

You will become motivated to change by understanding what is in pet food, then you will get the knowledge building blocks on how to make the nutritional transition to a true feline species appropriate diet.

Moreover, this book gets right to the point and may be difficult for many people to accept.
Many individuals are in denial that pet food just cannot be bad for their pet, if you are a person that is convinced through deductive argument based on scientific facts then this book is for you.

Of the dozens of books I've purchased online, this book has the distinction of being the first one I've ever returned. Having read the comments of other reviewers, I expected this to be a cutting-edge remedy and nutrition guide. Instead, I found it to be a haphazard collation of miscellaneous remedies offered by a number of different vets. These remedies lack adequate detail on indications, contraindications, preparation, dosage and treatment, and at least one of the remedies I looked up was simply a promotion of the vet's own product. Homeopathic medicines were suggested as blanket remedies for things such as intestinal parasites, with no consideration for the complexities of homeopathic prescribing.

In this book, garlic is suggested as a flea remedy; garlic ought never to be given to cats as it (and onions, shallots etc.) can cause potentially fatal hemolytic anemia. Here is one of many internet sources for this information: http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/garlic.php

There was at least one remedy for dogs in this book. Is this not a book for cats? Cats and dogs have very different needs and tolerances; for instance, dogs can tolerate garlic and cats cannot.

I own many natural/alternative healing books for cats, and this is the ONLY one that has post-its sticking out everywhere that I've saved reference points to return to. Also, after cross-referencing with other books, it is almost always this book whose advice I follow with 99% success. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for anyone's pet library.

My vet recommended this book to me to help aid the diet of my adopted old diabetic/kidney diseased cat. It's an eye opener... some of the information about pet food is shocking! This book has been so helpful laying out your basic health care, lists healthy food recommendations, food recipies. and great holitistic help with ailments. My youngsters are getting a much healthier start with me just being better informed. Highly recommended!

I was browsing around for natural cat health information, and read the review below, titled "Disappointing".
I just found out today that cats can't tolerate garlic when I took my very sick, very anemic cat into the vet and realized that I may have contributed to the problem! I've used Anitra Frazier's book "The New Natural Cat" like a bible for years, and it is a good book, but maybe she needs to revisit the garlic issue, which she highly recommends as a treatment for cats.
I've just been to the website the reviewer mentioned, http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/garlic.php, and it seems to corroborate what my vet was telling me today - and i was very unwilling to hear.
The other reviewers seem to love the book, but I'd say that if you really want a great book on taking care of a cat, get Anitra Frazier's book instead -- just don't give garlic to your cat -- at least not till there's more information about it.

This book is a valuable resource filled with alternatives to conventional treatment for your cat(s). I found this book to be very well written, informative and honestly presented. If you are looking for natural alternatives and real answers to your cat's care and longevity...you have come to the right place.