Well, in this third post about our miserable skin problem, I’m thrilled to finally report some progress on the itch front. I’m kinda stunned by it, too.
Less than 24 hours after giving Rumi his first colloidal silver sponge bath HIS FUR STARTED GROWING BACK!! I’ll start doing this with the other cats very soon.
Many thanks to Lin Gregerson of Sterling Naturals in Shelton (jlgregel@hctc.com or 360-432-0289)!
They’ve been getting a colloidal silver supplement for about a week now.
Lin also made custom flower essence tinctures for each cat. I have to admit that I’m open-minded but skeptical about flower essences. My first experience with them was with my cats about 15 years ago. I saw an immediate effect and have used that same essence from time-to-time ever since. When I read descriptions of how flower essences work, I shudder & shake my head doubtfully. But I can’t deny what I’ve witnessed first-hand in my cats. Soooo… Hey, if it works it makes me happy.
Last week I also increased the amount of raw food in their diet. And we switched to a special formula for cats & dogs with severely compromised immune systems. (Developed by Raw Advantage with help from holistic vets.)
With all those changes in the past week, it might be any one of them (or the combination) that led to his fur regrowth. But it was truly an overnight occurrence, which leads me to believe it was the topical colloidal silver.
Everyone is still itchy, but not as frenetic about attacking the itches.
We have an appointment with a vet dermatologist next week. I’m dying to know what’s ailing my cats, but if they stop itching before then, I’m gonna cancel the appointment, stick with the current remedies, and hope it’ll soon be a thing of the past.
Series: Lifes-an-itch
It might be the silver, but I’ve known other people who’ve switched to raw and experienced positive changes like that in the first 24 hours! My brood is all only raw fed, and doing fantastic on it. If you haven’t heard about it yet, and are looking to economize on your bulk meat purchases, there’s an excellent yahoo group for residents of Washington and Oregon: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/WAzzuOR_BARF/ I joined 3 months ago and am averaging around $1.20/lb for amazing, mostly pastured meat.
Hi, Hillary.
My cats have been on a raw food diet for a few years now so I know it’s not the raw food that made the change. True, I went to 100% raw recently, but I can’t imagine that has had an impact on this particular issue except to keep their immune systems in balance without adding synthetic supplements.
Most people experience benefits of raw food diets by simply adding a chunk of raw food every day. That’s only about $1/day if you buy what I consider to be the absolute best organic, commercial raw food on the market: Raw Advantage.
I, personally, would never make my own raw food because making high-quality, safe raw food at home is extremely expensive. For example, raw meat in grocery stores meant for human consumption is allowed to have WAY MORE dangerous bacteria because it’s intended to be cooked. In order to buy sushi-grade raw meat, or to buy from local farmers in order to butcher the animals myself, is simply not practical for me.
For $35/month it’s hard to beat Raw Advange’s 100% organic, high-quality, local ingredients. (With meat from cage-free, sustainable farms that the founder of Raw Advantage personally inspects! If a farm won’t let her drop in to inspect and make sure they’re up to her standards, she won’t do business with them. Pretty cool.)
I’ll write more about raw food diets in a later article. I’ve seen amazing things happen with animals eating raw food diets and I’m a huge proponent.
Kari
Contact Lin & see what she says. I’m sure she’ll tell you if colloidal silver is the way to go with Romeo, or if there’s a better remedy.
Her prices are *very* reasonable. (Much more economical than buying from other sources I peeked into.)
Quality varies quite a bit among sources of colloidal silver. Before I gave the cats any of her products, I did some research & learned that there are huge differences in product quality. Because of that I’d only buy from Lin or the Oly Food Coop (cuz they’re picky about product sources).
Really glad to hear that there’s some improvement Kari. Maybe I should try some of the silver stuff on Romeo. After his surgery in November, his hair has taken a very long time to grow back in some of the area, and it’s still very thin. When we went to the vet for yearly checks recently, she had no idea. Hmmm………