One day a few weeks ago, my daughter Rebecca informed me that her cat, Victor, was not eating his food. She told me he had not eaten all day. I went to examine him and he appeared to be not feeling well. I couldn’t detect anything physically, so I thought maybe he was fasting, as some of our cats and dogs have done before, whenever they didn’t feel well. Usually it was temporary and they would bounce back after a day or so. So we would watch him closely. All of our animals are outside animals, so they often encounter things that inside animals don’t. I decided to apply some Lavender essential oil on Victor’s back, since Lavender is so good for a variety of ailments. It sure made him smell good.
By the next day, Victor was lethargic, and still refused to eat or drink, but he was not in distress. We always pray over our pets, and so the children and I prayed over him. I noticed that he mostly wanted to sleep, so we would make him comfortable, and cuddle and pet him. He purred contentedly, though we still didn’t know why he was sick. I thought about taking him to the local veterinarian, but it was Thursday afternoon by that time, and the vet down the road was already closed and was closed on Fridays. I knew I could take him to the emergency vet if the condition warranted it, but that would also be expensive. Because Victor still didn’t want to drink water, and I didn’t want him to get dehydrated, I would squirt water in his mouth several times a day. By the evening, as I was petting him, I noticed that he had a swollen knot on his neck, under where his collar would have been. Beth had taken off his collar earlier in the day because she thought it would make him feel better. In retrospect, that was a good thing.
I began to suspect a bite of some kind. When Rebecca looked closely at the knot on his neck, she could see some red spots that looked like a bite. I cleaned the area with peroxide, and I used essential oils of hyssop, myrrh, lavender, geranium and copaiba. I applied these oils in the “Kitty Raindrop Technique” which is explained in The Animal Desk Reference – Essential Oils For Animals, by Melissa Shelton DVM, Holistic Veterinarian. This book is my go-to reference every-time I need to apply oils to our animals. I have used the oils on our horse, cats, dogs, chickens, and rabbits, with good success.
On the next day, Victor mostly slept. I continued to use oils on him, and continued to give him some water, but he still didn’t have an appetite. I was glad he was sleeping as I knew this would allow his body to heal. We were going out of town the next day, so I was hoping and praying he would get better. On Saturday, as we were preparing to pack the car for an overnight trip, Victor was himself again and was eating and drinking water, thank the LORD. My sons were going to be staying home to feed the animals, and they were glad that Victor was on the road to recovery. He eventually lost the hair around the bite, and it drained and then scabbed over. He made a full recovery. After a few days, I stopped applying any essential oils, and just let him continue to heal on his own. I would totally recommend The Animal Desk Reference – Essential Oils For Animals for your home and farm library!