Blog Archives
Cats are Good at Hiding Illness
The Cat Owner’s Guide to Health Emergencies provides cat owners with concrete methods for coping with the most difficult feline crises, including solid answers on when to wait and watch and when to act quickly. Why was this an important book for you to write?
As an emergency veterinarian, I frequently witness the impact of the knowledge gap among cat owners, particularly when it comes to emergencies. Cats are notorious for hiding illness, making it challenging for owners to recognize when something is wrong. While we do see cats brought into the emergency room for minor issues that likely could have waited, we also encounter many cases where subtle, yet crucial, signs were overlooked, leading to unnecessary and often unsafe delays in care. Cats are not small dogs— they will conceal illness for as long as possible. That’s why it’s so important for owners to be prepared and knowledgeable about which symptoms may indicate a serious problem.
My goal with this book is to equip cat owners with the education and tools they need to confidently assess their cat’s health. This book offers vital insight into common emergencies and toxicities, while teaching practical methods for evaluating a cat at home. While no one wants to think about emergencies, especially when their cat is healthy, I strongly encourage a degree of advanced preparation to reduce stress when emergencies do arise.
I believe this book can be a valuable resource for all cat owners, but its greatest benefit may be for newer cat owners, adopters, and fosters.
What gap were you hoping to fill that other pet care books don’t address?
It’s no surprise that I love books, and I deeply respect and admire all those out there aimed at improving pet lives by supporting their owners. That being said, I noticed a few patterns in some of the existing books that I wanted to approach differently. Many books on this topic offer valuable and accurate information but can be visually overwhelming, often feeling like reading long articles or textbooks. Personally, I find those types of books challenging to get through, and I’m sure many pet owners feel the same. My goal with this book was to present information in manageable, digestible chunks that are easy on the eyes. To further enhance usability, I color-coded the chapters for quick reference, so owners can easily identify sections even when the book is closed.
Additionally, I’ve seen pet care books that are more story-based, using anecdotes to illustrate key lessons. While these books are excellent for teaching, I believe they’re not ideal for quick reference. My book is designed to serve as a practical guide, both to prepare owners before emergencies happen and to provide clear reference points if a concern arises.
What sets my book apart is my background as an emergency veterinarian. The scenarios highlighted in the book are ones I encounter regularly in my practice and conversations I have with pet owners often. The knowledge and expertise I bring to the table offer pet owners practical tools and a deeper understanding of their pets’ health, all presented in a way that is friendly to non-medical individuals and designed for quick, easy reference when it’s needed most.
You highlight specific dangers like urinary obstruction and open-mouth breathing. Why are these so frequently misunderstood?
Urinary obstructions and open-mouth breathing are two excellent examples in the book where misconceptions and lack of knowledge can result in missing vital signs. Let me explain why these issues are often misunderstood.
Urinary concerns, particularly in male cats, are extremely dangerous. Male cats can develop urinary blockages that, if not addressed quickly, can be fatal. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of this. A common misconception is that urinary changes in cats are always due to a urinary tract infection, which is more common in female cats. In fact, it’s really quite uncommon in males. This misunderstanding can lead to delays in seeking care, allowing the condition to worsen. Another factor is that cat owners don’t always pay close attention to their cat’s use of the litter box. Unlike dogs, whose bathroom habits are more noticeable during walks, cats’ litter boxes are often hidden from view, making it easy to miss important signs. While urinary obstructions can’t always be prevented, I believe that greater awareness could lead to earlier recognition and, ultimately, better outcomes.
Open-mouth breathing in cats is another issue where education can make a significant difference. Cats are not small dogs, and this distinction is crucial when it comes to respiratory issues. Many people mistake open-mouth breathing in cats for normal panting behavior seen in dogs. However, cats are obligate nasal breathers—meaning they breathe only through their nose. Since they do not breathe through their mouths effectively, open-mouth breathing (panting) is a sign of respiratory distress that should never be ignored. Note that overheating and pain can sometimes lead to short bursts of open-mouth breathing—which should resolve quickly.
Because cats are so adept at hiding symptoms, it’s important for owners to know how to assess their cat’s health. In the book, I not only highlight key warning signs like these but also provide practical tools for owners to evaluate their cat’s hydration, posture, gum color, behavior, and more. The goal is to help owners answer the critical question: Is this behavior normal or abnormal?
If a reader remembers just one thing from your book in a crisis, what do you want it to be?
There are a few key points I hope readers take away, but the most important is this: cats are incredibly good at hiding illness, often masking problems until they become serious. Even small changes in behavior or health can signal a bigger concern underneath. If you notice something concerning, it’s crucial to have a veterinarian assess the cat.
When preparing to transport the cat, safety is key. Make sure the cat is secured in a carrier, and if necessary, gently wrap them in a towel to get them safely into the carrier. Also, remember that the veterinary team is also invested in your cat’s wellbeing. Effective communication is essential, so share what you’ve observed at home in a clear, chronological order if possible. We’re always most successful when we work together—pet families and veterinary teams.
The Cat Owner’s Guide to Health Emergencies: Essential Tips to Recognize, Respond, and Prepare for Cat Emergencies
The Cat Owner’s Guide to Health Emergencies is a practical, veterinarian-written manual that tries to do something genuinely difficult: give anxious cat owners enough clarity to act fast without pretending they can replace a clinic. It moves from preparation into crisis, covering emergency planning, the ten most common feline emergencies, the ten toxicities Dr. Gal Chivvis sees as especially important, the signs that distinguish “watch closely” from “go now,” and a final toolkit of checklists and flowcharts meant to steady people when their nerves are likely to fail them. What stayed with me most was how concrete it is. This is a book that doesn’t just say “be prepared.” It asks you to know your nearest ER, keep a carrier ready, think through CPR decisions before panic takes over, and learn what a dangerous breathing pattern or an abnormal bladder actually looks like.
The book is calm without being bland, and authoritative without sliding into that chilly, overconfident tone that a lot of medical guides fall into. Chivvis writes like someone who has seen frightened people arrive at the worst possible hour and understands that information is only useful if it can still be absorbed under stress. The best sections have a sobering vividness. Her explanation of a linear foreign body, where swallowed string can make the intestines “accordion,” is memorable in exactly the right way. So is the repeated insistence not to pull visible string, not to dismiss open-mouth breathing, not to confuse urinary obstruction with constipation, and not to wait for toxicity symptoms before acting. I also appreciated the small humane details, like the note that visitation may sometimes be discouraged while a cat is in oxygen because seeing their owner can worsen distress. Moments like that give the book emotional credibility. It knows the medicine, but it also knows the strange helplessness of loving an animal you can’t fully question or comfort.
The prose is clear and serviceable, and the repetition built into the format can make the middle stretch feel instructional. Each section follows a familiar sequence of signs, causes, what to do, common interventions, and prevention, which is excellent for reference. I found that structure more helpful than limiting. It mirrors the thinking the book wants to teach. Notice. Assess. Don’t improvise recklessly. Call. Go. The ideas themselves are sensible and grounded in lived emergency practice. I especially liked the way the book pairs high-stakes warnings with prevention that feels doable: keeping cats indoors to reduce abscess risk, treating panting as abnormal, managing litter box stress, recognizing the danger of lilies and ibuprofen, and using simple observational tools like resting respiratory rate, hydration checks, and pain scoring. That practical intelligence gives the book its real force.
I found this to be a useful, reassuring, and refreshingly unsentimental guide. It offers preparedness, lucidity, and a steadier hand when things go sideways. I’d recommend it especially for first-time cat owners, multi-cat households, and anyone whose instinct in a crisis is to freeze, second-guess, or start doom-scrolling. It’s a caring and trustworthy book, and in a book about emergencies, that matters most.
Pages: 195 | ISBN : 978-1967320004
Heart Trouble for ZZ
Heart Trouble for ZZ is a delightful and educational picture book that teaches children the importance of caring for a sick pet. The story centers on ZZ, a spirited and playful dog whose only desire is to enjoy life despite a concerning diagnosis from his veterinarian. When the vet warns that ZZ might have a heart problem and advises him to stay calm until the test results are in, ZZ tries his best to settle down, but his exuberant nature gets the better of him. That’s when his loving family steps in, offering the support and guidance he needs.
The adventures of ZZ throughout this vibrant children’s book are a joy to witness. His antics, whether bouncing on the couch or racing around the yard, perfectly capture the playful spirit of a typical dog, and children will be thoroughly entertained by his lively behavior. However, beyond the fun and silliness lies a deeper lesson. As readers follow ZZ’s journey, they learn ways to help a rambunctious pet calm down, even when it’s essential for their health. Heart Trouble for ZZ excels in demonstrating gentle and compassionate ways to care for pets who struggle to settle down when it matters most.
The book’s charm is further enhanced by Zoe Saunders’ stunning illustrations. Her use of a soft color palette and beautiful sketch-style artwork vividly conveys ZZ’s emotions, whether he’s feeling frightened at the vet or discouraged while hiding in the closet. Every page is a visual treat, and children will be captivated by the expressive depictions of ZZ’s experiences.
Heart Trouble for ZZ is a heartwarming and insightful children’s book, ideal for families with pets, especially those dealing with health issues. Even for those without pets, young readers will be enchanted by ZZ’s rambunctious nature and come away with a valuable lesson in caring for loved ones.
Pages: 34 | ASIN : B0DFVTFHT1
Important Veterinary and Animal Care Information
In Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health, you examine the pet food industry’s impact on pet health and set forth best practices for a healthy diet and appropriate animal care. Why was this an important book for you to write?
A confluence of personality traits (scepticism, obduracy, and determination) coupled with life experience presented me with glittering multi-dimensional information. In the palm of my hand, I held what I believe to be the most important veterinary and animal care information to emerge in the 21st Century. It was both my good luck as a scientist and my inescapable obligation as a global citizen to communicate the information to a dependent public and their animals.
From my epiphany in the late 1980s, and following blowing the whistle on the junk pet food/veterinary alliance in 1991, I knew that the information was critical for the welfare of pet carnivores and worth billions of dollars to the human economy and natural environment. In December 1992, I published a short article “Raw meaty bones promote health” that showed how previously difficult to treat diseases resolved with dental treatment and the ‘miracle’ effects of a raw meaty bones diet. And in that same month, on Christmas morning in 1992, I woke with the fully formed Cybernetic Hypothesis of Periodontal Disease in Mammalian Carnivores, a hypothesis that I believe will one day revolutionise medical and veterinary science.
Back then, at 53 years of age, I understood that communicating the information could not be left to random chance. I had to ensure that the information was assembled between the covers of a book for the benefit of future generations. The book provides 13 chapters in support of Chapter 14, “The Cybernetic Hypothesis.” Along the way, vital information about the collusion of the vet profession with the mass pet poisoners in the junk pet food industry took centre stage. Reinterpretation of the immune system function and exciting aspects of apoptosis (programmed cell death) and biofilms (how bacteria live in nature) were in their infancy. To me, they were riveting aspects of a set of subjects mostly suppressed by the dead hand of the junk pet food/vet alliance.
A core aspect running as a theme throughout my research was the crucial need for carnivores to rip, tear, and gnaw at the meaty bones of other animals. It’s the key to the carnivore code and their reason for living. It’s their highly prized reward for the risks entailed in doing a good job in their role regulating prey numbers. ‘Like a dog with a bone’ domestic dogs, cats, and ferrets exhibit the same craving for the reward—raw meaty bones—as do their wild cousins.
Unfortunately for pets and their owners, a cult of Born Again Raw Feeders (BARF) emerged in the 1990s. The cult followers of their guru Ian Billinghurst traduced the fundamental raw meaty bones carnivore code. According to them, dogs are omnivores and a mush of pulverised meat, bone, and vegetables was all that was needed. Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health was written with a view to countering the BARF nonsense and returning the focus to the pet food/vet multi-billion-dollar fraud.
I want the book to provide the foundation for successful billion-dollar legal actions against junk pet food companies, both cooked and raw, and the corrupt veterinary profession and thus enable a scientific renaissance benefitting pets, people, and the planet.
How much research did you undertake for this book, and how much time did it take to put it all together?
1991/2/3 were exciting years of dietary and periodontal disease (gum disease) discovery and writing. It was akin to visiting a new continent, a new planet even, and making exciting new findings around every corner. We, by whom I mean my veterinary colleagues and I, were conducting clinical research and I was burying myself in the gum disease and ‘nutrition’ literature. In the next few years up to 1997, we consolidated our findings in verifiable, repeatable theoretical and practical treatment and prevention options.
In 1997, I sold my veterinary practice to devote myself full-time to finding literature references and writing down the text. First, I had to learn to type and use a computer. I even acquired a custom-made chair to ensure the many hours to be spent at the computer would not be compromised. By the end of 1999, the first draft of the manuscript was completed. The year 2000 was spent finalising the manuscript with the help of two separate editors, seven lawyers, book designer, and typesetter.
In early 2001, printing contracts were signed and the book was all set to be published. However, the printing firm reneged on their contractual obligations due to possible retribution from the pet food/vet collaborators. It was a tense time fearing that calamity would befall the project. Fortunately, a new printing company was prepared to run the risks, and the first copies rolled off the press in August 2001.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about pet care?
Most people have a poor understanding of the biological needs of pets. They don’t think of them as modified wolves or feline desert predators with essential needs to rip, tear, and gnaw at the meaty bones of other animals. Pet owners, through relentless false and misleading propaganda, have been sold a package of bogus concepts: That pets are animated furry toys whose daily needs are met by the furry toy formula on the supermarket shelf and if things go wrong then the furry toy fixer (the vet) is on hand to assist.
Pet keeping was popularised in the 1860s courtesy of Jack Spratt and Charles Cruft who were intent on marketing their junk pet food biscuits. They developed pedigree dog shows to promote the keeping of dogs (modified wolves) as essential accoutrements to everyday life. Now after 150 years of false and misleading promotions, the community knows only what the junk pet food/vet collaborators tell them. And these days things are made worse by a plethora of book writers, bloggers, and sundry influencers who swamp the communication channels with their madcap raw recipes and formulas.
Power, prestige, and profit are the driving forces that ensure relentless misinformation rains down from every direction—and the animals suffer in silence.
What is one thing you hope readers can take away from Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health?
I want readers to appreciate that the book contains vital interlocking pieces of information with significance on several levels. It identifies underlying fallacies, teases those fallacies apart, and recommends solutions of immense significance.
I want everyone to first stop and attempt to unlearn and reject the bogus concepts they’ve been force-fed this 150 years past. If, and I fully understand the difficulty, owners find unlearning difficult, then I hope readers will hold their previous beliefs in suspense and start over again. I want readers to understand that as The Canine Journal review stated:
“Just a quarter of the way into Dr Tom Lonsdale’s Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health the thought crossed my mind that here was a Silent Spring [the book that kickstarted the environmental revolution] for companion dogs and cats. By the time I was halfway through I was in no doubt.”
I want everyone to read the book several times because as Alison Tyler wrote:
“As a five times reader of Dr. Tom Lonsdale’s book Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health I find it useful to reflect on what each reading gained for me, particularly when assisted by Dr. Lonsdale’s suggested reading list.
My first reading of Raw Meaty Bones was shortly after publication. It was a literal read and produced a reaffirmation of beliefs I had long held regarding the collusion and corruption of the veterinary profession, working hand-in-hand with multi-national corporations.
For several years I had followed Dr. Lonsdale’s work and writing. The book brought all into focus.
But there is a bigger picture contained in the book — though some aspects were elusive on the first reading. What seems on the surface to be a straightforward issue — multi-national companies through propaganda and lies stealing from the world and harming animals with the willing assistance of the veterinary profession — is in fact the foundation, the building blocks, for issues and changes that stretch across professions, belief systems and disciplines.”
And whilst we’re waiting for the raw meaty bones revolution, I want individual pets to be rescued from the ravages of processed food, whether cooked or raw.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
Cats, dogs, and ferrets need raw meaty bones to stay strong, healthy, and happy. This timeless truth, however, has been lost to pet owners, with disastrous consequences.
In Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health, ‘whistleblower vet’ Dr. Tom Lonsdale draws upon decades of research to explain how industrial diets devastate pets’ health, with tartar-encrusted teeth, sore gums, and stinky breath signalling the downward spiral of sickness, suffering, and endless trips to the vet.
He shows why dogs and cats crave the ripping, tearing, and crunching of raw meaty bones – nature’s miracle treatment and preventative. As well as providing the right nutrition, the tough, chewy texture has medicinal benefits: keeping their teeth clean, gums healthy, and breath sweet. This, in turn, benefits their immune system, heart, liver, lungs and kidneys.
First published in 2001, and still as relevant today, Raw Meaty Bones makes no apology, exposing a veterinary profession lost without a moral compass, beholden to multinational ‘junk pet food’ companies.
The pet health revolution starts here, protecting your pets, your wallet, and the natural environment.
Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health
Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health, by Dr. Tom Lonsdale, is an eye-opening exploration into the world of pet nutrition. It challenges the norm with a bold proposition: the best diet for our carnivorous companions is one that mimics their natural eating habits, primarily consisting of raw meaty bones. Through an engaging narrative, Lonsdale critically examines the pet food industry and its impact on pet health, offering a fresh perspective on what truly constitutes a healthy diet for domesticated animals.
Dr. Lonsdale’s writing style is a blend of informative and persuasive, making complex veterinary concepts accessible to a broad audience. His arguments are well-structured, guiding the reader through a logical progression of ideas from the problems inherent in commercial pet foods to the benefits of a natural diet. The book provides a passionate and dedicated perspective on the pet food industry, offering insights that will be enlightening to many readers. While Lonsdale’s enthusiasm is clear throughout the text, it also opens up opportunities for readers to seek out additional, varied viewpoints to enrich their understanding. This approach highlights the importance of a multifaceted discussion in scientific matters and encourages readers to explore the topic further to form a well-rounded opinion.
The most compelling parts of the book are the case studies and personal anecdotes from Lonsdale’s veterinary practice. These real-life examples effectively illustrate the health transformations pets can undergo when switched to a diet of raw meaty bones. The book thoroughly examines the pet food industry, presenting its critique with a depth that emphasizes the author’s deep commitment to animal welfare. The book is very detailed. It serves to ensure the reader fully understands the complex issues at hand. This reflects the author’s passion for the topic and their desire to inform and educate readers about important aspects of animal care.
Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health is an enlightening read that challenges conventional pet nutrition wisdom. It’s a valuable resource for pet owners seeking to improve their pets’ health through diet, as well as for those interested in a critical look at the pet food industry. This book is especially recommended for pet owners who are exploring natural diets for their pets and veterinary professionals interested in alternative perspectives on pet nutrition.
Pages: 500 | ASIN : B0C3WFSM3N
