Herbal Healing for Cats: Tackling Kidney Disease and UTIs Naturally | The Feline Wellness Summit

Welcome to the Cat Dad Show. My name is Scott Colby, and today I'm going to share with you a clip of my interview with Rita Hogan. She is a clinical herbalist, and in this clip, I asked her how herbs can help support cats dealing with kidney disease. This was a really meaningful question personally for me as my cat Mia had kidney disease before she passed away a year and a half ago. So I think you're going to enjoy this clip. Rita was a guest for my feline Wellness Summit. If you want to hear the entire interview with Rita, as well as interviews with 20 other Feline Wellness experts, you can go to felinewellness summit.com and grab a free ticket. For now, enjoy that clip with Rita.

So I feel that kidney disease is so prevalent in cats because they eat dried food. The kidney is very dependent on moisture. It needs moisture, it needs minerals to function correctly. And although, you know, kibble and dried foods are very convenient, right. You can just leave it out and your cat can, can eat when he wants to. It's at a detriment. And so many cats, you know, die of kidney disease and cats in the wild do not, so very seldom will they die of kidney disease. So because they're eating, you know, a cat, appropriate species, appropriate diet. Cats are obligate carnivores. They do not need any vegetables or anything like that. They, you know, they have very strong microbiomes, strong acid in their stomach. You know, the stomach acid helps them with pathogens and it, you know, the rest is, is kind of in the books as far as cats are concerned. You know, of course that makes them different than dogs, right? So I think that's one of the main concerns. Another thing is dealing with all of our emotions because a lot of cats are in the house, you know, and they're dealing and they're very, cats are very intuitive. They're very sensitive and they deal with all of the stuff that's going on even though they're kind of, you know, they're just laying there, right. A lot, a lot of the times that are running across the house that, you know, we're with their back arched and getting into trouble, right. But they spend an inordinate amount of time sleeping and they just are laying there taking in all of the emotions and vibrations that are going on in the house. Our stress is their stress. It's the same for dogs and for everyone in the house, we kind of all sync up, right? There's great science based institute online called the Heartmath Institute Institute. And wow, you know, the Heartmath Institute really has opened everyone's eyes with evidence based research in that when you are in a household, a lot of all of our hearts really do sync up and eventually we're all kind of on the same line and share the same stress. So that's really interesting. You can take a look at that in your spare time. But herbs can really help. Herbs can work in a preventative manner versus a reactive manner. I think having a plan is so important. I know that, you know, my cat Bones, that was my last cat, he. He died at about 23, but he was diagnosed with kidney disease at around 16. And I think, let's see, three years into it, he had a real bad bout of it and, you know, lots of symptoms. I had to go my own path in that department. And he lived until he was, I think, I think 23. I think he was just turned 23 or just about to 23. So I'm not good with timelines, but I think that's about it. I know he was over 22, so, yeah, and we had to develop a personalized plan for him, but it did help. And there's so many herbs that are really good for the kidneys in general. And that's where we want to support the kidney before kidney disease happens. And we can do that through diet, and we can also do that through herbs.

What are some of the herbs that would be good at supporting the kidneys?

Well, I mean, before we get into the herbs, I think that it's important to acknowledge, like, what are some of the symptoms that. Because. Because if you want to work in a preventative mindset or if you have a dog or. Sorry, I'm going to slip. I'm going to slip. If you have a cat with kidney disease. Right. What are some of the signs, you know, that things are kind of going south, like for kidney disease. You know, vomiting, projectile vomiting, you know, loss of appetite. Skin conditions start to come up. Crusting and sometimes oozing skin conditions can be a big indicator of that. Things are going south for. For cats. But like for just general kidney symptoms, there's quite a few, like weak teeth. Okay. So when you have weak teeth, we know that the kidneys need help. Low immune function, ear infections, fear of noise. So, you know, we were talking about Carl, I was talking to friends about Carl, and Carl's very jumpy. And he's my cat who just had a kidney issue from stress from house construction. Right? Fear of noises, extra jumpy, extra scared. That is a sign that the kidneys may need some support. And then cats that are constipated, cats that groan a lot or make a lot of noise when they lay down. And then, you know, you have those red flags that the UTIs, the cats that get UTIs, the cats that have bladder infections, that are starting to get stones, that are starting to be. That have bouts of incontinence, all of that is saying, hey, my kidneys need some assistance. Because a lot of times people just focus on the urinary tract and the bladder, but it's the kidneys that rule them all, right? So we can look at the kidneys and get a yearly protein scan for kidney disease, get a yearly baseline that, you know, a urine sample and have it. Have it tested, get a yearly blood and have that tested, you know, so that we can again come from that preventative mindset. So some herbs that are really good for kidneys, you know, I like to start off with something that's super easy. Parsley. Right? Parsley. And, you know, sometimes if you Google parsley, you're going to come up with, oh, parks. Parsley, you know, is toxic. Parsley is not toxic to cats. You want to know your parsley? So the parsley that I recommend is the Crispum brand. And when you're buying parsley in the store or if you buy a plant, just look at its Latin name and make sure it's presto, Petrosilium crispum. C R I S P U M. That is a safe form of parsley for your kitty. And you don't give a lot. It's antioxidant, it's full of chlorophyll, it has calcium, it has vitamin A and C.