Following are selected posts to the Holisticat (TM) Mailing List on the subject of asthma. There's a lot of information here, and the posts are arranged in ascending chronological order. If there is a particular word you're looking for, it's probably best to utilize the "Find in Page" function in your edit menu!

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<24 Apr 99  From: Tracy R. Re: Powdered Alfalfa Leaf>

Diane,

I purchase my powdered alfalfa leaf from Whole foods (a local health food store, that has stores throughout the US).  They have a web site at www.wholefoods.com  you can check and see if they have a location near you, or you can order some of their products over the net. Apparently they don't offer the loose powdered alfalfa, but they do have a couple of different alfalfa tablets....

Tracey Rentcome
Great Dane Rescue of Houston Inc.

I'm so glad to hear that Aldonza has become a happier cat recently! That's terrific.

<<I am intrigued by the idea of liquid chlorophyll which Jean mentions is a blood builder.  Is this strong flavored?  Seems I remember someone mentioning  on this list some time ago that their cats love chlorophyll in their water and line up to drink.  Can it be put in food?>>

Diane Stein in Natural Remedy Book for D*gs and Cats says that liquid chlorophyll, unlike the hard-to-dissolve powders or spirulina, has very little taste. Yes, it can be put in food or added to liquids.

BTW, she has some interesting comments about liquid chlorophyll:
<begin quote>
Liquid Chlorophyll is another detoxifier and tonic at the same time, both catabolic and anabolic in action. It is an intestinal, internal and local antiseptic, and it inhibits bacterial growth. It is a blood cleanser/detoxifier and red blood cell builder, and a general energy tonic without hyperactive results. The chemical composition of chlorophyll is one molecule away from that of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying portion of the red blood cell. Instead of an iron molecule, chlorophyll's composition contains calcium. This is highly useful for animals and people with arthritis, hip dysplasia, bone dis-eases, or muscle cramping. Chlorophyll
removes toxins from the bones, blood, tissues, and intestines, particularly heavy metals and lead. (Lead accumulation is a hazard of feeding a pet some commercial pet foods.) Chlorophyll is useful used internally and externally for a pet with body odor, abscesses, or skin sores. Use it internally for any digestive problems, constipation, or diarrhea, and any situation where
detoxification is indicated.
<end quote>

So altho it won't help her anemia, seems like it might be a wonderful supplement for Aldonza's arthritis, if she will accept it!

<<Jean also mentioned liquid kelp.  Does it have a strong flavor and is it added to food or water?>>

Stein says: Kelp is the best possible trace mineral supplement; alfalfa is its nearest alternative but is not as good. It is available in powder and in concentrated liquids; the tablets are not recommended for pets. Use the liquid about one drop per day for a cat ... (As a guideline, for her own thyroid deficiency she uses six drops per day in water with chlorophyll and/or aloe vera juice.) Use the powder or liquid added to food in the daily diet. Avoid kelp which is harvested from polluted U.S. coastal waters; Norwegian kelp is considered to be clean and safe.

I don't know about the liquid kelp, but the powder has a fairly strong taste which my cats like!

In a message dated 5/18/99 11:10:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time, FraDCat@writes:
<< I'd like to start supplementing with liquid chlorophyll just for the health  benefits, but am unsure as to how much, how often, and which brand to use. I  find that many juices have so many added ingredients to stabilize or preserve  that I'm afraid to use it on the kits.  >>

I use the Nature's Sunshine in my cats' water and also my own.  Chlorophyll is one molecule different from human blood plasma, so you are practically giving a transfusion when you put it in their water.  My cats love it.  I just put a few drops into the water bowl, it turns the water green, and they line up to drink it.

<<Does anyone know if liquid chlorophyll is manufactured from sources other than alfalfa?>>

Jean, apparently it can be - here's some information from the Balch nutritional healing book:    Green Magma contains chlorophyll (among other things) and is made from young barley leaves..  Kyo-Green is a "highly concentrated natural source of chlorophyll, amino acids, vitamins and minerals, carotene, and enzymes."  Kyo-Green is a combination of barley, wheatgrass, kelp and green algae chlorella.

Chlorophyll is actually the waxy green substance extracted from green plants, so in that sense, it could be obtained from a variety of different green plants, not strictly alfalfa.

Hi everyone, thanks to all who wrote about chlorophyll & alfalfa.

Dealing only with what is sold as 'Liquid Chlorophyll' - not with the combos such as Green Magma, Kyo-Green, etc. which contain other ingredients - I looked at a couple of brands here, both derived from alfalfa. Trophic (a Canadian brand) listed sodium chloride as an ingredient and World Organics, as Laurie mentioned, didn't list any other ingredients.

My local HFS contacted World Organics and reported that their brand also contains sodium chloride. World Organics said that all liquid chlorophylls will contain it b/c its addition results in easier flow through the cells and facilitates absorption by the body. Or words to that effect. The message as passed on wasn't all that clear! There are 100mg of sodium chloride in each tablespoon of World Organics' liquid chlorophyll.

World Organics' brand also includes methyl propyl-something - the HFS gal wasn't sure of the rest - I checked my dictionary and it could be methyl propyl ketone, a 'colorless, slightly water-soluble liquid used chiefly in solvents esp. lacquers' - hmmm... Any chemists out thr who can help?

Some time ago Leah wrote, drawing from the Tilfords' booklet:
<quote>
Alfalfa, which I mentioned earlier as an appetite stimulant, can actually cause nausea in *some* animals if used in large quantities over an extended period.  So, if we used it continuously for a kitty cat that was constantly struggling with nausea (as many are when terminally ill), it might be more harmful than helpful.  In the short term, though, it's fine.
<end quote>

Dr. Wynn posted:
<begin quote>
Until more is known about the pharmacology of useful herbs, predicting safe herb dosages for animals will be a risky business.
Herbs not to be used for cats are those high in ... coumarins (found in red clover, Trifolium pratense; alfalfa ...
<end quote>

So assuming that the brands sold as Liquid Chlorophyll use alfalfa as their source, I think as always we have to be a little cautious.

wordlady@wrote:
<< - I looked at a couple of brands here, both derived from alfalfa. Trophic  (a Canadian brand) listed sodium chloride as an ingredient and World  Organics, as Laurie mentioned, didn't list any other ingredients.
My local HFS contacted World Organics and reported that their brand also  contains sodium chloride. ....
World Organics' brand also includes methyl propyl-something - the HFS gal  wasn't sure of the rest ->>

Hi Jean,

Thanks for checking that out!  I had tried to find a phone number for World Organics to check when I first bought it, as I like to do, but couldn't get a number.  When I posted that it listed no other ingredients, I almost wrote "but I have yet to verify that" but it seemed sort of paranoid.  I guess it's right to be!  That's so ANNOYING!!  You'd think people who make things that people use for cleansing fasts, etc., would be a little more conscientious.

Do you think you could get the exact name of the methyl whatever, since you hfs talked to them and knows how to contact them?  There are some methyl things that are good, like MSM, for instance.  I'm not too worried about the small amount of salt, in our particular case.

<<Dr. Wynn posted:
<begin quote>
Until more is known about the pharmacology of useful herbs,  predicting safe herb dosages for animals will be a risky business.
Herbs not to be used for cats are those high in ... coumarins (found  in red clover, Trifolium pratense; alfalfa ...
<end quote>>>

Yeah, when the discussion of alfalfa first arose, I searched my entire harddrive for something that sounds like that post from Dr.
Wynn, because I thought I had read something about too much alfalfa not being good for cats.  I thought it was an article I had saved off the internet that talked about the dangers of a lot of herbs for cats.  It sounds like maybe the same thing.  I remember I was upset it said red clover, because that's in Essiac, although it really seems to have helped a lot of cats, so I wouldn't necessarily avoid red clover, just not go overboard.  Could you send me what you have?  I'm always so afraid to use any herb with cats, even though I use them all the time for people, because you just can't guess how their metabolism will react.  And there seem to be so few experts, and even they disagree.  Like what's up with Dr. Schwartz recommending willow bark for cats when salicylates are so poisonous to them???  I suppose in tiny amounts for certain things it could be used, as even aspirin can, but I'd be afraid to have people messing with it.

GoForaSail@wrote:
<<Yes Jean I agree. Anyway, why go out and *buy* this kind of a supplement? Why  not just put wheat grass and other grasses they sell for cats in a juicer and  give your sick kitty a t. a day.>>

Yep, you're right Emily, wheatgrass is great for cats and the enzymes and all from the fresh juice are so important, which you can't get from a bottle.  If you don't have a juicer you can chop it into the food, but the juice is so much more concentrated that i would at least buy it an ounce at a time from a juice bar and give about 3CC's at a time (loses a lot of vitamins within minutes, though, once the cell walls are broken).  But...you could probably pay for a juicer pretty quick at the prices they charge!

<<Elaine, (or anyone) earlier you mentioned that you add liquid chlorophyll to your kittie's water.  I went to the HFS just now on my lunch and was reading>>

Here's a little para on chlorophyll from Diane Stein's Natural Remedy book - also I'm forwarding to you a longer post on chlorophyll. Frazier recommends 1/8 tsp liquid chlorophyll or Green Magma 3xdaily for diarrhea, so seems that used in moderation it shouldn't cause it.

The only reservation I have is that somewhere I remember reading about long-term use of alfalfa not being good for cats - I *wish* I could find the reference - and liquid chlorophyll is made from alfalfa. So, like all herbs, I guess, on-again off-again would be best!

P 35
"Liquid Chlorophyll is another detoxifier and tonic at the same time, both catabolic and anabolic in action. It is an intestinal, internal and local antiseptic, and it inhibits bactgerial growth. It is a blood cleanser/detoxifier and red blood cell builder, and a general energy tonic without hyperactive results. ... Chlorophyll is especially good to add to aloe vera juice. Taken together, they may be used daily as a general tonic for a weak, ill, or recovering dog or cat. ...an eighth teaspoon three times daily for cats with diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome ... For general use, add it to food; for pets on a fast add it to liquids (herbal teas, broth, or water). ... This is a whole food rather than a medication."

In a message dated 6/15/99 2:12:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time, dblalock@writes:
<< Elaine, (or anyone) earlier you mentioned that you add liquid chlorophyll to  your kittie's water.  I went to the HFS just now on my lunch and was reading  on the bottle how it says to keep out of reach of small children and it  mentioned to discontinue if cramping and diarrhea developes.  Can anyone  tell me what a safe dose would be and how often?  Has anyone ever experienced cramping and diarrhea from this?  Also, I'd just like to know a  little bit more about it in general.  I thought this would be a simple way  to get some more good stuff into my  cats but wanted to get some more info first.  Thanks!  Also, would it be  safe for my approx 6-7 week old kittens?   >>

From the "How to Herb" book:

"chlorophyll is the 'blood of plant life.'  It is the life force of plants and contains life giving nutrients that are easily assimilated by the body. It has the same effect as iron and is a natural blood builder.  It is a great natural healer and cleanser for chronic conditions internally and externally.  It stops growth and development of toxic bacteria.  Disease causing bacteria find it difficult to live in the presence of chlorophyll.  It counteracts toxins.  It accelerates tissue cell activity and normal regrowth of cells which helps the body heal faster.  It inhibits the metabolic action of carcinogens.  It helps purify the liver and eliminate drug deposits, old toxic material, chemical spray on food, artificial flavoring, colors and other coal tar products that may become stored in it.  It deodorizes the bowel and entire body; is a natural antiseptic to the intestinal tract.  It  aids in rebuilding damaged bowel tissue and helps to eliminate mucus.  It helps to keep colon healthy because it destroys toxic and disease causing bacteria."

I left out some parts that I thought were not salient regarding animals.

"Because the information on chlorophyll is so abundant, it is difficult to condense it.  However, one thing is clear, chlorophyll is so valuable to the body that chlorophyll should be part of a daily regime."

As I have said before, my cats love it.  I also take it as a multi-vitamin. We have seen no adverse effects.

Elaine Crews, N.D.
Up With Herbs

In a message dated 6/16/99 7:04:14 AM Pacific Daylight Time, KECrews@writes:
<< "chlorophyll is the 'blood of plant life.'   >>

Elaine, I have chlorophyll in tablet form - no yeast, fillers, etc.  Is this as effective as the liquid?  It's easier to grind up the pill than to give the liquid - something about the taste, I guess.

In a message dated 6/16/99 12:19:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Jnglecats@writes:
<<  Elaine, I have chlorophyll in tablet form - no yeast, fillers, etc.  Is this  as effective as the liquid?  It's easier to grind up the pill than to give  the liquid - something about the taste, I guess.  >>

Should be just fine.  It just takes a bit longer for the body to break it down to use.  The bottom line should be the same, though.