My Green Kitty

My kitty is not actually green, he is an orange tabby but he lives a green life just like the rest of my family. Last year my husband and I were waiting on the adoption and it seemed like it would never end, we decided to take home a "kitten band-aid". Thus a little orange kitty became my feline child. While waiting for a name that seemed to fit we called him "the kitten" or "kitty" after a week or so we would just say the word kitty and he would come running and meow, so Kitten became his name.

Kitten is an eco-friendly kitty with a natural vet. Don't worry, I am not one of "those people" my cat is just that...a cat! I keep a balance. Our vet is great! She told me that if Kitten was an inside only kitty that he did not need any additional shots outside of the ones he had in the shelter. Also, inside kitties so not need conventional tick or flea medicine. If you do track in something on your shoes which gives your kitty live-in bug tenants then you can feed him a little brewers yeast (one tsp. daily in his food). The bugs hate the taste and will drop off of him in a hurry. I vacuum about every other day so this has never been a problem for us.

We feed him "Spot's Stew" which I buy from Whole Foods. It was one of the brands that my vet recommended but I chose it because all the ingredients were FOOD not weird stuff that I cannot pronounce. Plus, I read in Healthy Child Healthy World that most pet foods have the "four D's" which are disabled, diseased, dying or dead animals as meat for the food, I wanted to avoid my sweet kitty eating gross food but I also wanted to avoid foods that might cause diabetes. I kept the same rules for the cat as I do for my family, if you do not know all the ingredients then you do not eat it! This way if you get a curious toddler who sneaks a few kitten food pebbles you will not have to freak out. We also supplement with scraps from our dinners like salmon or chicken, he loves it when we share. Just make sure not to give him anything with bones, the tiny fragments can hurt his intestines. 

Inside cats need litter boxes which is my least favorite part of having a kitty. Our vet warned that little kitties sometimes try to eat their litter so you must choose wisely. We tried several litters before finding one that everyone liked. I have read several articles over the years urging people not to use clay litters so I tried wheat and corn. Both of those did not do a great job of masking odors and they would get stuck to kitty's paws which then spread around the house. Next I tried recycled newspaper pellets. Kitten hated those and started to look outside of the litter box for another place to do his business which alone was a reason to try a different litter but on top of that they also did not do a good job of masking odors. Finally I tried pine pellets. After one or two trips to the box they begin to break down into a powder which is handy because it tells you when it is time to clean out the box. They also mask odor fairly well and Kitten did not seem to mind. Finally, a winner!

When we first took little Kitten home he was the definition of "scardy cat". Everything frightened him, which was sometimes funny but mostly just sad. He ran from sounds like a phone ringing, movements like me walking into a room and new people. I was concerned that he was SO high anxiety but after a few weeks he calmed down...and then we had family visit. The whole process started again. Poor kitty! Our vet gave us an herbal supplement called "Animal Relief Formula" it is a blend of flower essences that have a calming effect on cats and dogs. It is natural, safe and impossible to overdose. All you have to do is put a little in their water bowl and it helps to keep them calm during anxious times. This has been great when we have visitors or during times when he becomes super high strung for no apparent reason.
I hope this helps you with just a few of the important choices we make for our pets. When I think of how much joy and love this little kitty brings to my life I know I am doing the right thing. Just like with anything else we learned through trial and error I included some resources for you if you want to do more research on your own.

Resources

Healthy Child Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan

Spot's Stew: http://www.halopets.com/faqs/spots-stew.html

Animal Relief Formula: http://www.animalsinourhearts.com/store/flower-essences/animal-relief-formula.html