It makes me so frustrated when people force-feed their sick dogs and cats on the mistaken–and deadly–notion that the animal needs energy! There’s no better way to increase the likelihood of your pet dying than to force it to eat food it can’t digest.
Animals are more instinctual than humans and have not been brainwashed into a certain mode of action. Animals who become ill or injured stop eating, find a warm spot, and rest until recovery. If humans were smart, they’d take note and follow their example.
A lot of energy is used up in the digestion and assimilation of food. This energy is better spent in elimination of toxins and repair of tissues. Fasting does not mean starving. The body contains all the nutrient reserves needed for the body, and using nutrient from the body’s stores is far more efficient than digesting it. The energy saved from digestion is then diverted to healing.
To stop the food intake takes a heavy load off the internal economy. The work of digesting and assimilating food and of discarding the waste and refuse portions all ceases. The heart and lungs have less work to perform. The liver and kidneys are given a rest. In fact, the whole physiology is given a rest. The energy usually employed in digesting and assimilating food is now used for eliminating or neutralizing the toxic matter that is forcing the reaction… Food that is eaten in acute disease does not nourish anyway. The more the patient eats, the worse he becomes so that the danger lies really on the other side. –Herbert Shelton, Human Life Its Philosophy and Laws
The body has only so much energy with which to repair itself. If this energy is diverted to eliminating food forced on the animal, attempting to excrete drugs, nervous exhaustion from trips to the vet, inability to sleep due to nausea and constant handling by humans hoping to “show their love,” then you will wear your animal out.
Leave it be! It’s so much smarter than you are.
It is of no advantage to urge food upon the stomach when there is no digestive power to work it up. There is never any danger of starvation so long as there are reserved forces sufficient to hold the citadel of life and start anew its main-springs.
For when sustenance becomes a prime necessity, the digestive apparatus will be clothed with power enough to work up some raw material, and a call made for it proportioned to the ability to use it. And if there is not power within the domain of life to save the organism, it must perish. –Jennings, Tree of Life
My cats fast when ill and I leave them alone. The only thing I make sure they have is water and a warm place to sleep. It’s scary as hell not doing anything, because every vet will want to “do something,” and if your animal dies you will be blamed for not taking it to the vet for treatment. But if the animal dies under the vet’s ministrations, the disease will be blamed. How very convenient.
Here are my cats who fasted and recovered without food or drugs.
Tip Toe: Has fasted three times, 7 days each preceded by vomiting. Took her to the vet. Normal bloodwork. Vet wanted to treat with antibiotics. I declined. She’s 15 years old and still with me.
Toby (pictured above): Bloody diarrhea for three days, fasted 8 days, followed by bloody nose, sneezing and coughing. Normal bloodwork. Vet wanted to treat with antibiotics. I declined. She’s 15-1/2 years old now.
Lyla: Upper respiratory and eye infections. Fasted 8 days. I don’t even take them to the vet anymore. She’s 15 years old.
Tibbs: Upper respiratory and eye infections. Fasted 3 or 4 days. I’ve learned by now to just leave them alone. If they’re going to survive, they need all the energy they can muster. She’s 15-1/2 years old.
Under ordinary circumstances, the generalized food reserves of man and animal are capable of sustaining functional and structural integrity for a considerable time without more food being consumed. Under the most favorable circumstances of quiet, rest and mental poise, these reserves are capable of holding out much longer… These reserves are stored up for just such uses and there are times and conditions when they must be used. Indeed there are conditions of “disease” in which it is impossible to make use of food from any other source–conditions in which the body is unable to take the raw materials and make use of them. –Herbert Shelton, The Science and Fine Art of Fasting
Additional reading:
Feeding My Cats Whole Raw Rabbit, Chicken, Duck and Turkey
Cats Get Sick after Cross Country Road Trip
I Think I Poisoned My Cat
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I to have discovered that the only time I bring my kitties to the vet is when I KNOW they need more then love and care. In doing this however I have one cat that starts to dyhydrate so I need to watch for that, then you might consider the eye droppers. You need to know your cats.
All my cats who have fasted became dehydrated. Three of them drank very little water. One became ill recently and drank a ton of water but was dehydrated nonetheless. I figure their bodies know how much water they need, and they’ll drink what they need.
Last time I took a cat to the vet with upper respiratory who was given fluids, I ended up putting him to sleep a few days later after the fluids collected in his belly. No more for me. No more interference.
We each do what we think is best and right.
Hi Joanne,
This could be a YMMV kind of thing, too. I had two cats and a dog for 16 years. One of my cats absolutely needed to be left alone from a treatment standpoint when she was ill. The other cat became very ill and did need to be hydrated and I’m convinced he wouldn’t have made it without the intervention.
My dog became very ill at age 14 and had horrible serum measurements of both the kidneys and liver. I was told he likely had cancer and three weeks to live. He couldn’t keep food down or hold his bladder. He went from 21 lbs to 15 lbs in about 10 days. I gave him small amounts of boiled chicken breasts about four times a day and he began to recover rapidly and lived two more years. I now think he likely ate something toxic that made him sick. Naturally, if he did not want the chicken, I would not have given it too him, but he went crazy for it.
If I ever have another pet I will feed it a grain free diet.