How to Get Your Cat to Live “Forever” (and How to Heal Your Cat)

Okay, so I know my cat won’t really live “forever,” but she’s already exceeded my expectations by 5 years. Yup, you heard right. My cat Koto is three months away from being 20 years young!

She came into my life in 2016 when she was already 13 years old. Back then, she was very young for her age. She loved to race around my apartment playing with toys and loved to attack my feet under the covers as if they were mice. But then in 2018 everything changed. I went on a two-week vacation and boarded her at a cat hotel. As a requirement for boarding her, I had to get her up to date with vaccines. At the time, I wasn’t too concerned about this. I even thought I was doing something for her own good. Even when her vet expressed some concern about giving her 3 vaccines at once, I didn’t understand the danger. Luckily, he only gave her two and wrote an excuse for the rabies shot.

I went happily on my vacation, not knowing that anything could be wrong. In fact, she seemed fine for several months – until I began noticing that she was constantly chewing on her skin. Within one month, the overgrooming caused massive red, itchy, crusty bald spots all over her little body. I was horrified. She seemed to be suffering so much and I had no idea what to do.

Consequently, I took her back to the vet. As a standard practice, he gave her the run of the mill treatment for hot spots – an antibiotic shot, a cortisone shot, and a course of antibiotics for the week. Within a week, her itchiness was gone and her skin was healing. I thought this was the end of it. But within a few months, the whole thing started up again. She was itchy and constantly biting and licking herself to the point of creating massive scabs all over her body. When I took her back to the vet they told me, “This isn’t even a bad case of it.” Again, not knowing what to do, I let them give her more antibiotics and another cortisone shot.

But this time things were different. Three days later, I noticed her sitting on the floor hunched over and breathing shallowly. Something was wrong. I watched her for a day or two but there was no change. At the time, I just learned how to communicate with animals and knew how to do a “body scan.” When I did the body scan, I saw that her heart was enlarged. Then I did an internet search and found that cortisone shots have been known to cause congestive heart failure in older cats. I was beside myself in panic. I brought her back to the vet and they assured me she was fine, even after x-raying her heart and lungs. I went home thinking I must be crazy. Several hours later, they called me and told me that the radiologist looked at her x-ray and determined her heart was in fact enlarged. They told me to make an appointment with a cardiologist as soon as possible.

All I could think was, “this can’t be happening.” I was just trying to help my cat and in doing so, I put her life at risk. I made an appointment at the cardiologist, but it was four days away. I wasn’t sure she could make it that long. There was nothing I could do other than to give her Reiki. So, I did. I gave her Reiki in the morning, then at lunch on my break from work, and in the afternoon as soon as I got home. I gave her as much Reiki as I could. I did this for 3 days straight.

On the fourth day, we went to the cardiologist. They took blood, they ran tests and didn’t find anything wrong. They took another x-ray and put it up against the one from 4 days ago. The cardiologist showed me something surprising. She pointed to the x-rays. “See how big her heart was on Monday? And see how cloudy her lungs were? Now look at the one from today. Her heart is half the size and her lungs are almost clear. I agree she was on the brink of congestive heart failure, but she’s getting better. What have you been doing?” I stood there for a moment perplexed. I almost said, “nothing.” But then I realize it was the Reiki. So, I told the vet. “I’ve been giving her Reiki – it’s an energy healing technique.” When she looked at me and I thought I saw her roll her eyes. I could see she was skeptical, but she said, “Well, whatever you’re doing, it’s working. There’s nothing we need to do for her now.”

Her hot spots inevitably came back, but this time I wasn’t worried. She was otherwise healthy and I knew there was some way to naturally heal that too. I experimented with some homeopathic treatments which helped a bit and some herbal tinctures, but she couldn’t stand the taste. Finally, I tried flower essences after someone told me about them.

Flower essences are liquid extracts in which the vibration, or “essence,” of the flower is captured. It is believed that all flowers have a healing archetype which heals at a “vibrational” or “subtle” level. And all that heals at a vibrational level has no choice but to heal at the physical level – just like with Reiki. And as Reiki practitioner, I know the body has the innate intelligence to heal itself, but sometimes that intelligence needs a boost, or rather to “remember” how to heal itself.

After experimenting on myself with several different essences, I came upon one called “Self-heal.” Instinctively, I knew that’s the one that Koto needed. According to the Flower Essence Services website, “Of all the many essences, Self-Heal flower essence (Prunella vulgaris) is the one that works most directly from the mental and emotional realms right into the life (etheric) body that determines the health and vitality of our physical body.” After a few months of using this essence, her hot spots were gone – without any pharmaceuticals at all.

Since then, she's been in good health and even her kidney disease was well maintained. However, in the fall of 2022, she developed irritable bowel system (“IBS”). I thought it was a temporary situation, but it didn’t go away. I gave her probiotics, clay, herbs and CBD but nothing worked. I thought that maybe she was finally nearing the end of her time here on Earth – which would’ve been fine with me, but I didn’t want her to suffer. It seemed like any food I gave her ran right through her. Without going into too much gross detail, I was cleaning up liquid poop from the floor several times a week, and sometimes a few times a day. I suspected she wasn’t absorbing many, if any, nutrients. I was at my wit’s end and even the vet was at a loss. “Well, she’s 19” he told me, meaning there probably wasn’t much we could do.

I said a prayer and waited for the solution to come. A few weeks later I saw an ad for a new cat food brand – Smalls. This is one that’s all natural and made only of ingredients that cats are biologically made to eat. Just like when I saw the flower essence, I had a feeling this was my solution. Also, I had nothing to lose. So, I signed up for the trial run. A big box came filled with dry ice and a plethora of meal packets for my kitty to try. There were four varieties of “Human-Grade Fresh” within the big box - fish, bird, cow and “other bird.” Each packet had the ingredients listed right on the front label. The “bird” only contains three ingredients which are chicken, chicken hearts and chicken liver. Nothing else. I’ll admit – the purity of this food made me doubtful that my kitty who most likely spent the majority of her life eating grocery store paté brands would go anywhere near this. I defrosted a packet in the refrigerator overnight. When it was ready to eat, I peeled the plastic open and put a hefty spoonful into her special bowl. I set it down on the floor and held my breath. If she didn’t eat it, I had no idea what other options I had for her IBS. But to my sheer delight, she gobbled it up – while purring! So, I gave her more and she ate that too.

The next morning I got up and nervously peeked into the hall to see if she left me anything to clean up. But there was nothing there but a sparkling clean floor. I tiptoed over to her litter box and saw something I hadn’t seen in months – an almost fully formed poop. Then, the next day, there it was – a totally normal poop. Something I hadn’t seen in months. It was the miracle I was waiting for!

It’s been several months since she’s been eating Smalls and she’s still doing wonderfully. Now I have my other kitty, Ray Charles, eating it as well.

This experience made me realize that how you nourish yourself and your pet is everything. Regular pet foods that come in a can or kibble (gasp!) do not support pet health; they only contribute to “dis-ease.” Period. If you feed your pet (and obviously yourself) whole, biologically appropriate foods, then the chance of dis-ease is greatly diminished. In fact, I suspect that most ill health in pets stems from the commercial pet foods we, as a society, have been feeding our pets for so many years now. So, get your cat on a whole foods, biologically appropriate diet if you’d like your cat to have a long and healthy life.

How to Get Your Cat (or Dog) to Live Forever*

• Mimic the outdoors. Make sure your cat has access to a sunny spot if they’re indoors only. The sunlight has so many healing qualities and regulates hormones in cats. This will help keep them happy and in sync with the cycles of the seasons. To further mimic the outdoors, grow some grass for your feline friend. My kitty Ray loves this grass blend.

• Watch what you say. This goes without saying, but watch the words you use when speaking to your cat. Make sure they’re positive and loving. If your cat does something you don’t want him/her to do, you can explain to them that they’re behavior made you upset, but avoid calling them names or putting them down at all costs. Remember, it’s called “spelling” because your words literally can cast a spell.

• Give them good water. Make sure your cat has access to the best drinking water you can afford. Filtered or spring water is best. Avoid giving them tap water if possible. Extra credit if you have a pet fountain like this one from Catit. It’s much more natural for a cat to drink running water, plus the movement gives the water more vital energy.

• Engage with them! A good brushing session or some play time with best cat friend will keep them feeling loved and as we know, love is the ultimate healer.

• Use energy healing. Albert Einstein is famous for saying, “Future medicine will be the medicine of frequencies.” Reiki is a healing frequency that will keep your cat’s vital energy free flowing which again, prevents dis-ease. You can learn to do it yourself or book a session for your kitty. Pets also love healing sound frequencies that you can find on Spotify and Youtube.

• Get help from flowers. A profound flower essence blend for healing all types of anxiety or trauma in pets and people is Flower Essence Service’s Five-Flower Formula. It is a wonderful ally for all shelter pets, pets healing from illnesses or even for taking a trip to the vet. You can put a few drops of the essence in your pet’s water bowl, but for an even greater benefit, put a few drops on your fingers and rub the drops onto the tips of their ears (on the skin, NOT inside ears) for a transdermal application.

• Deeply nourish your pet. Nourish your pet in the best way you can. Smalls Cat Food is my top choice because it’s clean, natural, has simple, biologically appropriate ingredients and my cats love it. Sign up now and get $10 off your trial purchase.

To really make the best of your cat’s health, book a Reiki healing and animal communication session with me. While sending your cat the healing energy of Reiki, I will also communicate with your cat (or dog) about how they feel and how you can make their life even better. Your pet will appreciate that you took the time ask them about their needs!

*When I say “forever” I mean a really long time. Not saying your cat won’t ever die. Sorry. ☹

***Please keep in mind that I may receive commissions when you click on the links in this page and make purchases. However, this does not impact my recommendations. These are all products I personally use and enjoy.