Basil...

Hi all. I'm in a bit of a bind with my finicky-eating-sensitive-tummy kitty...


-The only food he can eat right now is Royal canin Sensitive CR (wet) and RD (dry)... due to his sensitive tummy.

-The second issue is that he has to eat a fairly high volume of food since he's only 4 months old (he needs kitten-sized calories, but it's regular cat food)

-third issue is that he won't eat the canned food if it's more then a day old (and it's $1.30/can).

-fourth issue is that the amount of wet food I feed him ends up sitting for a few hours and drying out because he's so picky and slow

Ok... so the vet said to try a bit of basil to stimulate him to eat faster/more wet food - and it's working wonders!!!! It also doesn't seem to be upsetting his tummy.

So my questions are:
-if I sprinkle a little basil on all 3 meals every day, is that ok??? (is it one of those things that becomes toxic? I'm not putting much on, but I want to be safe)
-is there anything else that might work? The vet suggested a bit of chicken broth....????

Thanks all!

P.S. if anyone has any other recommendations for "sensitive tummy" foods (especially ones that come in smaller cans), I'd love to hear!! I'm quite baffled about the food choices out there.

hmmm, I haven't heard about basil, but until I hear otherwise, I would not expect it to be one of the herbs to cause concern.

Here is another herbal remedy for upset stomachs. It is good for people as well as cats, altough not on a regular basis as milk can also cause problems in lactose intolerant cats. If your cat cannot digest milk, then substitute water or even one of the kitty milks:

1-2 tbsp caraway seeds
1 cup whole milk

Crush the seeds (I use a mortar and pestle). In a medium pot bring the milk to a boil but be careful not to scald it. Turn off the heat and add the crushed seeds. Cover, let steep for 20 minutes, then strain out the seeds.

Let the cat drink the milk, and add the seeds strained from the mixture to her food.

Caraway hs been a long time remedy for diarrhea and stomach aches.

You can also make catnip tea but since your kitten is only 4 months old, I would wait until she is older before trying catnip.

Here is a recipe for a treat that is supposed to sooth upset tummies:

2 tbs caraway seed
2 tbs dill seed
1 tbs valerian root
1 tbs dried rosemary
1 tbs dried parrsley
1 6 oz can o tuna or chicken in water
3/4 cup cooked rice
3 tbs soy sauce.

Combine all of the herbs and grind in a mortar and pestle. Put the herb mixture, meat with water, rice and soy sauce into a blender or food processor and mix well, adding either rice or water to get the right consistency. Feed 1/4 cup a day. Store the unuused portion in the fridge where it will keep up to a week. It can also be frozen.

(btw - this recipe shouldn't be given to pregnant cats)

(From: 10 herbs for Happy, Healthy cats by Lura Rogers, Storey Communications, Inc. 2000 available at www.storeybooks.com)

Hope this helps.

Kathryn