Interview with Pat McKay, Raw Food Advocate

Pat McKay was referred to me by Dexter Del Monte, an Animal Communicator, when I was talking to her about Caymus’ recent vet visit.

1. I understand that you are the founder of the Society for Animal Homeopathy.  What was your reason for founding such an organization?

The main purpose of SfAH is to provide information and advice regarding nutrition and classical homeopathy because both of these modalities are essential for optimum health for our cats.  Many people are not even aware of the option of using natural health care as opposed to Western or Allopathic medicine.  I like to provide some free basic information so people can start asking questions about these options.  I answer all emails personally; no question is too elementary.

2. I understand you are a big supporter of the raw food diet.  Can you tell us a little more about what a raw food diet entails and what the dangers are with canned or dry food for cats?

Felines in the wild eat only fresh kill.  Cats are very adept at killing; it is a sport for them as well as a source of their food.  If they aren’t hungry, they leave their prey for other carnivores who aren’t as clever and quick as they are.  They do not bury their prey and go back and eat it later as do canines.  All of a cat’s nutrients and fluids come from fresh kill.  The closest we can come to that domestically is to feed raw meat. And that raw meat must be food fit for human consumption, because there is no way of knowing what is in anything labeled as pet food no matter what these commercial pet food companies claim.  Pat McKay Raw Food Basic Recipe

3. One of the concerns I have with a raw food diet is salmonella as well as giving my cats the hormones that come in our meat.  Do you feed your cats organic meats?

Cats’ digestive juices are extremely acidic, and those acidic juices kill any salmonella or E coli.  Do not assume that because a food is cooked that it is free of salmonella.  One of the worst cases of salmonella was in 1998; 500 tons of cooked baby food cereal…yes, cooked cereal…was contaminated with salmonella; many babies died, and you did not hear about it on mainstream news broadcasts; did you?  In all the years I have been suggesting raw meat for cats, I have never had anyone report to me that their cat was stricken with salmonella or E coli.  During these same years I did hear about cats contracting salmonella from canned cat food.
I do not feed organic meat mostly because of the cost, but mainly because organic meat in this country is not truly organic.  The farm animals are vaccinated; they are treated with antibiotics if they are ill; they drink tap water; and they graze next to highways and freeways.  I feed what is referred to as naturally-grown or free-range or cage-free which is essentially the same as organic, it just isn’t certified, so you are not paying for a lot of paperwork.  I have my own food formula called HARMONY FARMS, produced by H F Meats in LaCrescenta, CA. It is certified by the USDA as food fit for human consumption.

4. How did you get into what you’re doing?

During the 70s, I was a court reporter in Los Angeles; many of the areas I was required to work were not the safest areas of the city, so I had two Doberman protection dogs who would accompany me when necessary.  During our training sessions, the trainers and other people training their dogs would ask me why my dogs looked so terrific, trained so easily, and were so obedient and observant.  Nutrition was the key, and I have to say people were quite shocked when I said I fed raw food, but because of my dogs, they were willing to try it for their own.  After ten years of court reporting, a situation where no one is ever happy, I decided I needed a break from listening to such horror stories in our courts.  One of the trainers said that I really needed to start a nutrition business for cats and dogs…which I did.  In 1981 I opened a nutrition center on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles which eventual grew to three nutrition centers:  Pasadena, Woodland Hills, and one on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.  People do want an alternative to vaccines, drugs, chemicals, and pet foods.  I closed my facilities in 2003, believing I was going to retire; then I kept hearing from clients who needed help and now it is all by email so that I can stay home with my own animals:  Dutch, Josie, and Bobby.

5. Can you share with us one of your favorite homeopathic stories?

MISS KITTY: One of my most recent stories just within this past month:  (I’ve changed the name)  Miss Kitty, a 16-year-old with hyperthyroid, who just had dental surgery stopped eating, was seriously constipated, and had already lost weight.  With the guardian’s diligent care and force feeding, Miss Kitty is doing well at this point; eating a bit on her own and with the stimulation of homeopathic remedies her mouth is healing.

MR KITTY: A cat that I helped many years ago first started on my raw food program at age 9; within a month or so, he no longer had a body odor, his ears that had always had a heavy black waxy discharge since he was a rescued kitten were clearing up as well.

About two to three weeks later, Mr Kitty started drooling on one side of his mouth.  After he continued to drool for another week, he was brought to me, and I said he looked like he might have a tumor or an abscess and recommended that he see a veterinarian.

Please note:   Mr Kitty did not exhibit any signs of the malignancy until his body started to get healthy from the raw food; then his body was strong enough to present the malignancy.  This is why people, and even veterinarians, feel that raw food causes an ailment, because the body is too weak to present the illness until after being on raw food, so naturally, the first thought would be that if an animal became ill after feeding raw food it must be the food. However, common sense would tell you that this malignancy did not happen in two to three weeks. It was developing for months or years.

The veterinarian took a look at his mouth and immediately said he believed Mr Kitty had bone cancer of the jaw and that in order to save him, he would have to remove his lower jaw.

It was decided that the operation was not an option. The guardian had seen a cat that had that same operation, and that cat was unhappy, couldn’t eat or drink properly, had a gaping hole on the bottom of his face, couldn’t keep himself  hydrated or groomed.

Mr Kitty was brought back to me because he decided to treat Mr Kitty homeopathically.  The guardian did want to get a second and third opinion, and he wanted a veterinarian to monitor Mr Kitty through this procedure.  The second opinion resulted in a diagnosis of euthanizing him, and the third was by a holistic veterinarian who felt she didn’t have any better solution than what had been suggested; however, she was willing to monitor Mr Kitty.

The visible area in Mr Kitty’s mouth near his lips started out at about the size of a kidney bean, plus other parts of the tumor wrapped his jawbone causing him to drool and making his face asymmetrical.
Mr Kitty was put on  Bio-enhanced, living-cell, organic vitamin C. (Real vitamin C, not ascorbic acid.)   The supplements in his raw food were calcium, magnesium,  probiotics, CoQ10, magnesium oxide, vitaminD, omega 3s, and a potent antioxidant.  I mention the supplements because there is another theory that supplements should not be given while fighting cancer, because it heightens the cancer’s ability to grow. I don’t believe that. I find that good supplements that build the immune system while destroying the cancer are very effective.

Mr Kitty’s drooling went from constant to occasional in the first two weeks; it stopped completely two weeks later.  The tumor stopped growing; it seemed to remain static for about a month, and then the second month it started to get smaller.  After three months the tumor was about one-half its original size.

Throughout the treatment Mr Kitty remained playful, had a great appetite, and externally appeared healthy, happy; maintained his weight and a great coat.

Four  months after we first started, the tumor was completely gone. Mr Kitty continued to have check-ups by the holistic veterinarian every three weeks for the next three months.   No sign of any tumor.  Mr Kitty then had another bout of illness about seven years later at age 16 where he was in an unknown state of collapse, and was again treated homeopathically at that time.  It took about a month to get him back to health.  After I lost contact with his guardian, I heard that he was euthanized at 19.5 years of age.

MR A: An 11-year-old diabetic cat whose  glucose level was 362 (normal levels are between 80 to 150) was on 2 units of insulin twice a day was immediately put on my raw food program, including the supplements.  To make a long story short, in eight days his glucose level was 242, at which time the vet agreed to lower the insulin to 1 unit two times a day, and in two more days it dropped to 173.  The vet who was monitoring  MR A, truly thought there was an error in the test and did it again with the same results.  The guardian’s email to me:  “Mr A has improved in his energy level and attitude; his urine output was less; he came to sit on my lap.  His eyes are bright and not sleepy looking.”  This was all within two weeks.  The veterinarian agreed that at 150 he could start coming off of the insulin completely.

This is a case where you need to monitor the glucose levels on a daily basis, because too much insulin is always more serious than not enough.  The guardian didn’t feel she could monitor the glucose levels on her own, so that’s why she chose to work with her veterinarian, which was fine with me, as long as we could get the vet to believe it was really happening.  Interestingly, the vet never contacted me to find out what was done nutritionally or homeopathically for Mr A.

6. I noticed that you sell products on your website – did you develop these products and why are they important to give to your cat?  What was your reasoning for developing them?

I did develop these products.  Over my 30 years, I’ve formulated at least 40 or more products: vitamins, minerals, herbs, glandulars, and homeopathics.  Some more complicated and expensive than my present formulas.  About three years ago when I could see we were all in for serious economic problems in this country, I felt I had to come up with a complete, yet affordable, product, so I formulated BIO-8 which is a combination of eight Bio-enhanced, organic, living-cell, whole-food nutriments that are essential for all of us:  cats, dogs, and people.  I wanted to do just one product, however, in order to provide all the essentials, including the most natural form of omega 3s and vitamin D, I had to have one oil-soluble product, CLO-3-Pearls to go with the BIO-8 which is in both powder and capsule forms.

As many of you know, I am working on transitioning my cats from a wet food diet to a raw food one.  The subject of cat food is a difficult one as there are so many variables for not only the cats but also the humans, so my goal is to provide education and knowledge so that you can make your own decision.  Thank you to Pat for taking the time to do an interview with me for the site.  Do you have any questions for Pat?