One of the great myths that I hear often is that only older dogs and cats will detoxify. This is not true.
If the puppy or kitten has some toxins in it, has been eating low quality foods or when the mother's milk was not 100% healthy due to the mother eating a low quality diet, then the puppy or kitten can detoxify.
Here's a funny story — one of the things I love about being in a tropical country like the Philippines is that I can swim in the ocean. One day, while I was still operating my cat sanctuary, I went for a swim. One of the stray cats I was helping was slightly more domesticated than the others. So I would let her inside my house.
One day, as I opened the door to go for a swim, she walked in — pregnant as can be.
When I came back from the swim, there was a cat and kitten in my wardrobe! Yes, there was only one kitten born. Most of the stray cats only gave birth to one or two kittens at the most. This is because they simply were not healthy enough to have more than this number of kittens — even though I was feeding them a wholesome diet.
This little kitten became known as Tiger
and she's still with me today.
A few days later, I go for a swim again and I notice a little kitten on the road looking for its mother. It was obvious that someone put the kitten there — this often happens in the Philippines because people want the kittens or puppies to die when they can't take care of them.
Immediately I picked the kitten up, took her to my house and fed her some food. She was still young and she was hungry — but she was looking for her mother because when I came back from my swim, this little kitten was back on the road looking for her mother.
Now I knew all of the cats in the area because I fed them all — and so I quickly realized this kitten had no mother. I wasn't planning on adopting her because I would rather she be with her mother. But alas, I adopted her and named her Chink
.
This actually all worked out quite well because I have two cats that are about 1 month in age difference.
But here's what I wanted to tell you — after about 2 weeks of Chink living with me and eating a wholesome raw meat diet, she began to detoxify. She had loose bowel movements, which meant I had lots of cleaning to do. It lasted for a few days and that was that. Clearly Chink was not healthy when I got her — nor was her mother.
Tiger, on the other paw, did not detoxify — at least not then. Tiger had a mother whose breast milk was healthy and full of nutrition. Tiger went straight onto a wholesome raw meat diet and so she has always been strong. She never detoxified like Chink did because there was no need for her to do so.
Later, when Chink was about 6 to 8 months of age, she created an abscess near her right armpit. This abscess stayed with her for a week or so and then just disappeared — a sign that Chink was, once again, detoxifying. Tiger, well she never did any of this.
When Chink turned about 10 month of age or so, she began to pass worms by vomitting her food. Now the worms were not dead — they were alive and moving.
When Tiger turned 10 month of age, she did the same thing — she coughed up some worms (roundworms to be exact).
It's possible that some worms also came out on their stools, but I did not see any and of course, once covered in the cat sand, it is hard to see the worms.
Later, when both cats turned about 14 months of age, they both passed some more worms — a sign of detoxification.
But why would they pass worms if healthy?
The reality is that puppies and kittens have a weak or lower level of immunity. But as they start to get older, usually around 10 months of age, they start to get their immunity stronger. At which point they can and do eliminate worms as long as they have been fed a wholesome raw meat diet.
Generally, the body overcomes the roundworms as cats and dogs mature. A healthy cat or dog will generally clear them out and maintain a certain amount of immunity from then forward.
Now, usually vets will encourage you to deworm your puppies and kittens at about 6 months of age. But if you are feeding a wholesome raw meat diet and are patient, then you will more than likely find that your puppy or kitten will naturally pass the worms — a sign they are both maturing and getting healthier.
Worms are often passed, from mother to kitten or puppy, in utero — that's just the way it is. But we can naturally deworm our pets by helping them build a strong constitution — that is, build strength from within and it all begins with, as you guessed, a wholesome raw meat diet.
When you do have a kitten or a puppy, do remember that you have become its mother now — discipline it as necessary, not in a cruel or abusive way, but in a way similar to what its mother would have done. Puppies and kittens need discipline otherwise they will rule the roost
— translated this means they will be the boss and rule the house.
Individuals such as Cesar Millan and Barbara Woodhouse are two individuals who have taught many how to take care of their dogs. Cats, well they are a bit of a different story — nonetheless, cats have their own way of disciplining their kittens and cats have their own way of socializing.
Female dogs and cats are a great example of natural motherly instincts. The females teach their kittens and puppies not with words, but by actions as they lick and groom them, play with them to teach them how to hunt — everything is taught with silence.
More information about feeding puppies and kittens can be found in Part 3 of my book.