Dear Friend,

Melissa loves to be outside. Now that she’s more than 2 years old, we have reached many satisfactory agreements about her comings and goings.

So when the heat wave was announced in the weather report I told her about the temperature being hotter than normal and requested she be home no later than noon.

Mostly Melissa comes in at the agreed upon time, so I wasn’t concerned when she left around 7:30 a.m.

Noon came and went, but no Melissa.

I spoke with her telepathically.

Nedda: “Melissa, you’re supposed to be home by now. What happened?”

Melissa: “I’m fine. I’m on the ground under a bush and it’s pretty cool and comfortable here. I’m resting.”

Nedda: “I wish you were home. Do you plan to come soon?”

Melissa: “I’m going to stay here and come home when it’s cooler.”

This made good sense. I know she’s not used to this type of heat, and staying quiet in a relatively cool spot was smart. I wasn’t pleased with her being out there, but there was nothing I could do.

Melissa didn’t show up until around 5 p.m. Starlight went into the woods to meet her, which is not a common occurrence.

Melissa was walking very slowly and Starlight was staying behind her, encouraging her. Starlight had been in the house most of the day, although she had spent a few hours on the enclosed porch in the heat with the sliding doors open to the outside world. She was feeling just fine.

Melissa usually bounds toward the house when I call her, but not this day. I was concerned, but allowed her to walk the whole way on her own.

When Melissa came into the house, her behavior wasn’t normal. She was clearly hungry, and usually attacks the food, but didn’t. She licked at it a bit, but didn’t eat.

Then she rested.

Then she drank a few swallows of water, went to the food dish but still didn’t eat.

I decided to give her some of my home-made electrolytes for cats.

I pulled up a half dropper of electrolytes and added two pulls of the same dropper of plain water. She hadn’t drunk enough water for such a hot day, so I wanted to get water into her too. I gave all this by dropper to Melissa. I also put 1 pull of the electrolytes directly into each food dish.

Within a minute or two, Melissa drank some water on her own. Electrolytes are salty, which encourages whoever takes them to drink.

Then Melissa ate half a bowl of food. This was a good sign. She didn’t vomit it up, which was an even better sign.

I put fresh, cold water in the water dish, and put another dish next to it of cold water and electrolytes. She drank more water, rested, and eventually cleaned up the rest of the food in her bowl and even ate a little more from Starlight’s dish.

The next morning, I expected Melissa to be just fine, but immediately after eating her entire bowl of breakfast, she vomited the whole thing. More electrolytes clearly were needed, and I put some directly into her mouth. In a short time, she was fully recovered.

Melissa is not going out again in this heat no matter how much she asks to go and protests staying in.

The media warnings about the summer heat waves go something like this: “Don’t leave your children or pets in a car.” “Drink lots of water.” “Go to a cooling center.” And many other important guidelines are given for you, your children, and your animals.

What are electrolytes?

Electrolytes are essential minerals—like sodium, calcium, and potassium—which conduct electricity when dissolved in water. They regulate nerve and muscle function, hydrate the body, balance blood acidity and pressure, and help rebuild damaged tissue.

You and your animals lose electrolytes through sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, and even mild dehydration due to excessive heat. Poor kidney function causes too many electrolytes to be expelled in urine.

Electrolytes must be replaced. If not, there can be serious consequences, including death. remember all those stories of athletes who have heart attacks during practice and games? It's not just lack of water - it's lack of electrolytes!

When a human or animal has insufficient electrolytes, they often won’t drink or eat on their own and become severely confused.

Years ago I created a homemade electrolyte formula that is perfect for cats and I keep some made up in the refrigerator at all times.

I did this because my Siamese friend, Violet, had developed renal deficiency and I felt that using electrolytes could reduce or eliminate the need for subcutaneous fluids. This plan succeeded.

You can give cats Pedialyte, but it has chemicals in it and sugar and flavorings, all of which really aren’t good for felines.

In an emergency, you use what’s available, which is why I keep electrolytes in my frig ready to go at a moment’s notice.

As a free gift, I'm sharing the formula here.

1/4 cup lukewarm water.

3/8 tsp Celtic sea salt (or pink Himalayan salt.) ¹

1/8 tsp potassium salt (potassium chloride) ² 

Enough purified water to make 2 full cups.

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¹ Do not use regular table salt, as it contains sugar. Also, sea salt and Himalayan salt do not contain any potassium.

² NOW brand supplements offers Potassium Chloride in powdered form. Some pharmacies might also have potassium salt.

Note: If you have to order the potassium chloride, you can start immediately with just the salt and add the potassium salt when it arrives.

Place in large jar, cover with lid, and shake. Keep refrigerated.

Give by dropper directly into the side of cat’s mouth a few drops at a time.

If you put it into a bowl of water, you don’t really know how much electrolytes the cat is getting. Also, a cat who needs electrolytes often won’t eat or drink. I only did this once I felt Melissa had had sufficient electrolytes for her to drink on her own.

You can cut the whole formula in half if you only want to make a little at a time.

I usually give 6-8 drops at a time to my cats. OK to give this a second or even third time if necessary after waiting a bit to give the cat’s body a chance to accept the electrolytes. You'll see them perk up and have more energy and start eating and drinking.