Green Smoothies for Pets

Continued from the October 2010 Raw Family Newsletter…

(A Fragment from “Green Smoothie Revolution” by Victoria Boutenko)
© Copyright by Victoria Boutenko, www.rawfamily.org

This cat had been given insulin shots regularly for many years. When Sergei arrived, his friends were hovering around their cat looking concerned. It appeared their kitty was behaving strangely. It was breathing rapidly and sometimes fainting. Jack ran to the cabinet only to find that they were out of insulin shots. It was the holiday season, and all the stores in town were closed. Amanda began to cry thinking that their beloved pet was about to die. Sergei suggested that they let the cat outside, in case it intuitively knew what might help. Amanda protested, “But he’s an indoor cat and he will get hit by a car if he is let out. He has never been outside in his life.” Sergei replied, “Well, I don’t think you have much to lose at this point.” They decided to let the cat out, and opened the door. The kitty quickly ran out and aimed directly to the green lawn. He began to vigorously eat the grass. All three humans were watching the “sick” cat in amazement. Within minutes the kitty visibly felt better. He quietly went back in the house and fell asleep on the couch.

Several weeks later Amanda called Sergei and told him that when they took their cat to the vet, the doctor explained that the cat was misdiagnosed, and insisted that it never had diabetes to begin with. He said that the cat suffered not from an illness but from malnutrition. Since then Amanda and Jack had been letting their kitty out and even buying him wheat grass. The cat was acting more playful and looking much healthier.

My brother’s family lives on a very tight budget, and can only afford to buy the cheapest food for their cat Timothy. Unfortunately, my brother’s wife loved houseplants and had a plethora of them all over the apartment. Following his instincts, Timothy consumed one houseplant after another until he had eaten them all up, even the cactuses. I thought they were exaggerating these stories until I had the chance to host Timothy for one weekend, while my brother moved. These two days were plenty of time for Timothy to devour my daughter’s ferns, palms, and especially aloe veras.

Greens are healthful for cats and dogs; they make their fur shine, boost their immune system, prolong life, and protect against cancer. Dogs can safely eat same green smoothies that you prepare for yourself. For cats you have to prepare a special blend without fruit, as most cats don’t like fruit and don’t digest them as well.

If your pet doesn’t like green smoothies yet, you may want to teach them. For example, my cat, Masya, didn’t like the green smoothie at first, so Valya used an eye dropper to put a few drops in Masya’s mouth every time we made one for ourselves. Within a week she was happily licking green smoothie from Valya’s palm. Now she enjoys a little bit of green smoothie a couple of times a week. Our cat’s regular serving is 2-3 tablespoons, twice a week.

Our neighbor has two dogs and they will drink any green smoothie that I offer them, and even got their owner Nancy curious about green smoothies. She read Green For Life and now enjoys green smoothies too! We included a few recipes for green smoothies for your cats and dogs in the recipe section of this book.

Since I live on a mountain slope, close to the forest, I decided to check if wild animals would be interested in green smoothies. One evening, I made a gallon of green smoothie out of apples and kale. I poured it in a large bowl and set it outside across from the window. As it began to darken, a raccoon came by to have a sip. He was followed by a family of skunks, and even a big dear. Later that night I awoke from a tremendous racket. A huge brown bear had come down to find out if there was any smoothie left over. I was so amazed that I pulled out my video camera and captured him, but the video turned out too dark. Even though I wouldn’t recommend that you conduct such an experiment in your neighborhood, I was astonished with the results. It seems all animals instinctively know they need greens to stay healthy, only they are much more eager to consume them then we are.

(A Fragment from “Green Smoothie Revolution” by Victoria Boutenko)
© Copyright by Victoria Boutenko, www.rawfamily.org

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